Kitten update! *warning: pic heavy*

I've slacked with showing you the fosterkittens, so today I'll just throw a whole bunch of pics online :) The oldest 2, the brother and sister, got their shots and chip last week and found a new home within a few hours. And they'll stay together, I'm so happy with that! Their new owners will pick them up tomorrow, and it'll be nice when it's a bit calmer (right now I have 7 cats in my house, my inner crazy cat lady is pleased, haha), but I'll sure miss these 2 adorable kitties!

Because I added sooo many pics, I'll only show this one here, to see all the other pics, click below :)

In random order!

It's a bad quality pic, but aren't these 2 adorable? These are the 2 that will be leaving tomorrow!

Here's the one with the injured face, Ysera, and as you can see a little bit, her left side looks a bit odd. That won't change much anymore but she improved SO much! And she's not as afraid anymore, turns out she really is the sweetest little thing :)

This little bundle of joy I called Naeva for her time here. Right now she has an infection in her eye, but the meds for it should work soon :) And she loves to cuddle in my hair, aaawww!

Ysera and Naeva will stay for a few more weeks until they're big and healthy enough for their shots and chips.

Here's the little lady that's leaving tomorrow, I called her Tara, but her owners are of course allowed to rename them and I'm practicing with their new names. But they're kittens, so it's not like they'll listen anyway!

My Dewey isn't always sure what to do with the kittens, poor thing. Sometimes he plays with them, sometimes he attacks a bit more serious, at times he washes them... Last few days he got a bit frustrated, especially Tara and Amin (or Amientje as I call him in Dutch) can be a bit annoying and all over him! But earlier I caught him sleeping with 2 of the kittens in a basket ♥
As you can see, Amientje isn't really impressed by Dew, lol.

I think she looks like a little angel here :)

Favo sleeping position, front paws in, back paws stretched!

Tara has such adorable big and soft paws, love them.

Isn't Amientje pretty?

Even though his eyes don't always look straight forward :D

Dew threw the kitchenpaper on the ground, fun stuff!

Little thinker, ahh I'm glad she and Yse won't leave just yet!

Amientje likes to hang on my neck and snooze a bit, so cute and soft! Until he wakes up and thinks "hey, an earring, I can has?" >.<

Tara likes to hang on the couch instead...

And they all enjoy helping me at the pc! Although things can get a bit hard when there's a paw holding down some buttons, lol.

Especially Naeva loves my screen, must get that little arrow! And she's quite a talented writer I must say ^^

I thought it would be fun to give 'em catgrass...Sue shows how it's done, but the kittens didn't quite get it...plants are to play with, not eat!

Poor Sue wasn't pleased with Tara slapping her precious grass.

And then things got worse...

After this I saved the plant :)

Cute paws ♥

And I'll end with the ones that are leaving again.

I hope you enjoyed this picspam!

Now of course this is a nailblog, but while I'm showing the kittens, I'd like to inform you a bit about fostering as well. Unfortunately a lot of animal shelters are packed with animals, especially kittens around this time of year. And loads of shelters are always looking for fosterhomes! For example, my local shelter could always use homes for kittens without a mum (like the ones above), pregnant females or females with their litter, cats that need to recover from an injury or disease, dogs that need to recover, and pups. The food costs, vet bills, etc. are -over here at least- handled by the shelter, so all you need is time and a lot of TLC to give. A camera is handy too :) Maybe you, or someone you know, never thought of fostering but would love it as much as I do!

If you have a cat and think it would be fun to have a litter of kittens, please consider the huge amount of animals still waiting for a loving home. Neutering your cats is always a good thing (also to prevent certain health and behaviour issues later on) and you could instead have a look at your local shelter for a foster option :) That way you can still have the joy (and the wrecked house, lol) of having kittens! They usually get neutered by the shelter as well, so they won't add to the problem later on either.

Now, back to cuddling my adorable little guests :) Thanks for looking!

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OPI & Nicole by OPI Fall collections - Preview

Edgy Elegance

OPI Launches the Germany Collection for Fall/Winter 2012

OPI embraces runway trends with the Germany Collection for Fall/Winter 2012. Drawing inspiration from Berlin, an exciting new fashion hub that blends classic looks with the avant-garde, the collection’s twelve shades offer a mixture of vibrant color, urban-chic neutrals, and reds in variations from light to dark.

“Designers showcased rich colors and striking textures for fall,” explains Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director.  “The Germany Collection beautifully complements these looks, with standout shades in various hues of red and burgundy – the season’s ‘new black.’ Sapphire, black olive and lime yellow are married with creamy neutrals in honey, taupe and nude rose.”

“The overall feel of the Germany Collection is elegance with an edge,” adds Suzi. “The varied palette of colors adds another accent to the list of special touches – think beadwork, paneling, fur and embroidery – that walked the runways during New York Fashion Week. Wearing these shades on fingers and toes is a great way to accessorize a range of looks for the season.”

Germany by OPI includes the following shades: 

From left to right, top to bottom:

Danke-Shiny Red
You “Bitte” try on this ravishing ruby before it’s too late!  

 
Deutsch You Want Me Baby?
A self-assured shade of shimmering red-orange.

 
Every Month is Oktoberfest
Prost! Here’s to the prettiest plum in the Biergarten. 

 
German-icure by OPI
The best burgundy shimmer in the business. 

Suzi & the 7 Düsseldorfs
The most beautiful bright purple of all.
 

Unfor-greta-bly Blue  

Everyone’s favorite Fräulein loves this über shiny blue.
 

Berlin There Done That
A traveling taupe that’s seen it all. (Yep, that too).

 

Don’t Pretzel My Buttons
A haute honey-beige that can always make you smile.

My Very First Knockwurst
…and what a magical rosy-nude rendezvous it was!

Schnapps Out of It!
Shake off the blues with a shot of fall’s must-have mauve!

 Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine!
A bodacious black-olive? We say “Ja! Ja! Ja!”

Don’t Talk Bach to Me
There’s nothing mellow about this sassy lime-yellow!

Germany Collection nail lacquer shades contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and each includes OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™Brush for the ultimate in application.

Germany by OPI will be available August 8, 2012, at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $8.50 ($9.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer. 

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Accessorize with Lacquer!

Nicole by OPI Launches Five NEW Fall Shades, Exclusively at Target

Nicole by OPI announces five new nail lacquers to be sold exclusively at Target this fall. With richly pigmented formulas in shimmering shades of deep blue, gold, purple, mauve and green, these five hues can be worn as the ultimate accessory to the season’s hottest styles, from military-inspired jackets and heavier brocades to micro floral prints and leather.

 “Nicole by OPI is excited to bring the fashion-forward Target guest new lacquers for the fall season,” remarks Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, Nicole by OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director.  “Not only do the shades add the final touch to runway trends, the shimmery finish adds elegance and depth to these trendy colors.

The five new lacquers include:

From left to right:
 

Mer-Maid for Each Other
This green is so hot it was made just for you!  

For Gold Times Sake
Go on and try on this gold…

If the Blue Fits…
This blue fits all!

Just Busta Mauve
You will want to put on your dancing shoes to wear this one.

Iris My Case
Because this purple is amazing.

 

Nicole by OPI nail lacquers and Nail Treatments contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. Nicole by OPI formulas are long-lasting, fast-drying, and salon-quality. These new Target exclusive shades will be available August 2012 for $7.04 each at select Target locations nationwide and online at Target.com.

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Indulge in Luxurious Lacquers!

OPI Launches New Diamond Dust-Infused Designer Series Shades for Fall 2012

            OPI releases two newhigh-shine hues – DS Indulgence and DS Luxurious – to join the Designer Series by OPI collection this fall. Fusing fashion and technology, the Designer Series lacquer formula is enhanced with real diamond dust, offering light reflecting, multidimensional color.

DS Indulgence, a radiant red-violet with a shimmering, golden finish, will launch along with DS Luxurious, a captivating coral-red with a golden glisten. With these two additions, Designer Series by OPI will offer 12 glitter-filled, highly-saturated, breathtaking colors.

            “Red nails are the epitome of glamour, and this fall OPI is adding two dazzling reds to the Designer Series line,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “With vivid color and intense shimmer and shine, these lacquers create a bold, high-fashion accessory statement. DS Indulgence provides a deeper, classic red look, while DS Luxurious incorporates rich auburn pigments.”

 Indulgence & Luxurious

 

Designer Series by OPI nail lacquers contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and each includes OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™Brush for the ultimate in application. DS Indulgence and DS Luxurious will be available beginning September 2012 at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $12.50 ($14.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer. 

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For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com.  Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

ABOUT OPI

As the world leader in the professional nail care industry, OPI is committed to providing high-quality products and services to both salons and their customers, along with a focus on industry safety and innovation. Known for its exceptional formula, fashionable colors and iconic names, OPI’s heavily-pigmented lacquers are super rich, long-lasting and chip-resistant – offering an affordable luxury to consumers. OPI nail lacquer is available in over 200 shades and contains no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. Each lacquer features OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Currently, OPI is available in over 100 countries and retails a full line of professional items, including nail treatments, finishing products, lotions, manicure/pedicure products, files, tools, gels and acrylics.

Nicole by OPI/Target Fall 2012

For more information, visit nicolebyopi.com. Follow Nicole by OPI on Twitter @NicoleByOPIand become a Facebook fan!

About Nicole by OPI:

Nicole by OPI offers a salon-quality range of bold, fashion-forward nail lacquers. The brand’s heritage is based in OPI’s well-established foundation of excellence in both color and technology, providing premium products to a broad range of consumers looking for trendsetting nail lacquers.

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Dragon and a milestone!

Yesterday I got my 2000th follower with GFC...two thousand!! As I already said on my Facebook page, I never ever imagined anything near that amount, it's mind-blowing! What can I say really, thank you all! :)

Now, on to the polish. Today I'm wearing Dragon, and because I wasn't too pleased with my previous swatches, I wanted to make some new ones. Especially some sunlight pics! But just my luck, I managed to get 4 pics before the sun hid behind a cloud, lol. Anyway, here's Dragon again!

A England Dragon.

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Kingston

Hi all! Just a quick post today with a shiny beige polish! It's not a polish with a crazy holo effect, but when I'm in the mood for a nude color with a little something extra, this one's perfect. It's like a work appropriate color that comes to life with a bit of sunshine :) Bonus points for the easy application!

W.I.C. by Herôme Kingston.

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DV8

As you probably heard by now, China Glaze will bring out a new holographic collection called Hologlam next year. Needless to say, I can't wait! ^^ I love their holos, I just wish I bought more of them when they were more available, but I do have a bunch and today I'm wearing one of those pretties.

China Glaze DV8.

As you can see I changed my watermark and I might change it around a bit more, perhaps make it a bit bigger or more obvious, hmm. I don't want to have a big watermark over my pictures, but I didn't like seeing my pics around with the mark cropped off, so now it's on my finger instead :)

Thanks for looking and have a nice day!

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Pink zigzag

Aaand here's another mani made with a bag! My plan was to make a diagonal silver zigzag, then use the dark pink one on top of it. But unfortunately the metallic silver didn't come off the bag in 1 piece, next time I'll try it on a different material. So instead I used the pink zigzags on the top of my nails now. I haven't used rhinestones for quite some time, but this mani could use a finishing touch :) The rhinestones are the same color pink as the basecolor that I used, but they don't look so pale irl. I really like how crisp the pattern gets with this method! =)

China Glaze Something Sweet with China Glaze Fuchsia Fanatic.

I haven't given an update on the kittens in a while now, shame on me! So expect some massive kittenspam somewhere in the coming days :) But I just put all the pics that I made with my phone to my pc, and I forgot I had 2 of them help me show this mani! The 2 you see here are also the oldest and tomorrow they're getting their first shots, then next week they can go up for adoption already. Time sure flew by!

As you might have seen on my Instagram (ooohshinies), this one likes to slap polish!

The little lady below has huge paws ♥ but the angle is making her and her cute paws look bigger than she really is though!

I wish I could use them as background, but usually they're too playful and interested and I just end up with blurry pics, lol. So I'm having my hand near them instead =)

Thanks for stopping by!

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Another bag mani!

Hi all! After yesterday's pink ziplock bag mani I wanted to try out some more, so today I went for a different scissors and a different colorcombo. I have to say, I love the rounded scissors more, but this one worked nice too! I have loads more of these shaped scissors, but unfortunately most of them have a pattern that's way too big for my nails. But I do have another one that I'm eager to try out, so I have a bag already polished and waiting for next time ^^ I find it a bit tricky to peel off and cut the polished patch though, but it's still so much easier than taping a shape like this and getting a clean result after removing it! :)

Sally Hansen Green Tea with A England Saint George.

Gotta love Georgie in sunlight!

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How To: Nail applications/decals

Let me start by saying that I'm far from being an expert at creating nail applications/decals with a ziplock bag, in fact, I haven't messed much with it at all! But this method works for different things, and I figured I'd try it out a bit more and make pictures and write it all down while doing so :)


What you need is a ziplock bag or plastic alike, or as I found out later, oven paper. That works great too! There are some other materials that work as well, see the tips below for more suggestions. Then of course you need polish and top coat, the other materials all depend on what you want to do with it. But here's a bunch of things you could use:

- hole or figure punchers (smaller figure punchers without all the little loose details is what you want, but I don't have those)
- scissors, straight or shaped
- dotting tools
- toothpick or anything else pointy
- nail art brushes
- stripers
- tweezer (not on the picture)


And here are some ideas for what you can do with it!

Dry marble.
For this one I made 2 stripes of polish on the bag and used a toothpick to drag lines between them, then let it dry. You can use it as a full-nail application, but I'm gonna use it to cover my nail partially.
I don't think that mine turned out so well though, so compared to this I'd prefer the look of the regular marbling. But I'm sure that with a bit of practice the result could be a lot nicer, and this is much easier and cleaner for sure!

China Glaze Senorita Bonita and China Glaze Gothic Lolita.

Dotting/freehanding.
Draw anything you like with polish, and again, let it dry. After it dried you can of course add more colors to it, and let dry again. I think this could be great for making your dominant hand look good as well!
I tried to make some lines with a purple striper, but I don't have much experience with stripers and I ended up with a big blob of polish in the middle, lol. But that's the nice thing, your mani won't get ruined, and you can just start again or do as I did and cut off the excess :)


Funky lines.
You could of course use tape and a (shaped) scissors to create a line on your nails, but if you find taping a bit tricky (especially with shaped lines), I think this works nice! Simply use the polish of your choice on the bag and let dry, then cut it out later.

Essence tip painters Purple Boost and Silver Sparkle, China Glaze IDK and Nubar Hyacinth Sparkle.

What to do next:

When the polish on the bag is completely dry, you can carefully peel the patches off (a tweezer is handy here) and use them as you like (update: please scroll down for pictures of this). I used a hole puncher, a normal scissors and shaped scissors. When you use a hole puncher to make circles, remove the bottom that holds all the punched out circles so your polished circle doesn't get lost between the other circles (realized that just in time, heh).

You can press the patches into slightly wet polish, if your basecolor is already dry you can just use some top coat and press them into the top coat instead. Or when it's warm like it was here today, just place it on your dry mani, it seems the patch gets a bit sticky from the warmth. But take your time with placing them, I noticed they can tear fairly easy when they're a bit stuck to your nail already and you want to move them. After that, add top coat to seal in your design and you're done!

Basecolor is China Glaze Sweet Hook.

Now these were my practicenails, but I think my indexfinger actually turned out great! So I went for a pink version of that on all my nails :)

China Glaze Dance Baby with China Glaze QT.

Update: 

I wanted to show the peeling off as well, so I made a quick accentnail and took some pics of it. Because I didn't have decent lighting inside yet, I made some of these pictures outside in the sun, and the peeled off polish got a bit wrinkly from the warmth as you can see well on the pic with the scissors. If you do this inside, the peeled off patch will look more like it does where I have it on my hand.
You will always end up with a wrinkly bit on the patch when you use a bag though, that's from starting to peel it off, so always make the patch bigger than your nails.
After sticking it to your nails, press the sides down well, then do a cleanup and apply your top coat.

China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le with A England Tristam.

A few tips:

- Make sure the polish is applied fairly thick, or if needed, apply several coats. I found that the patch easily tears when peeling it off the bag when it's too thin. If the edges of your patch are thinner, you can cut out a piece of patch with the bag still attached to it, then peel off the polish from that piece of bag to prevent tearing up the edges.

- Make sure the polish really is completely dry. I noticed that the glitters took by far the longest to dry, and I even added a quick-drying top coat to them on the bag. But while the rest was already on my nails, that still wasn't dry! So the circle I created with it didn't turn out perfectly round, I should've waited longer. But I think you could also polish a bag and just leave it to use another day!

- If the application doesn't have clean edges after you applied it to your nail, you can use your regular way of cleanup to fix that. Just make sure you take it easy and use enough remover!

- When applying your top coat, wrap your tips as well so you get a smooth and clean looking result there too. And apply your top coat floating (don't let the brush hit your nail), because as you can see on my middlefinger with the stripes, my application started to smudge a bit there.

- If you want to create little details that aren't attached to each other, start with a coat of clear polish on your bag and make your design on that, so it all comes off in one piece.

- And here's a tip I got in the comments, peeling off the polish is much easier when you use silicone-coated paper (like oven paper), silicone sheet, or the bottom of a silicone cupcake mold instead of a ziplock bag. Thanks for the tip, Chiro! Update: Oven paper indeed works very well for peeling the polish, and a metallic polish that didn't work with a bag worked fine with it!

- Another tip from the comments, runny polishes work best for the dry marbling, and lifting up the plastic and tilting it around works really well. Thanks for the tip, Makeup Withdrawal!

- Nailz Craze shows that instead of a bag or oven paper, you can also use a stamper! It's very similar to the technique above and works good too. In short, you can leave a stamped image on your stamper, color it in, and close it all in with top coat. Then peel it off and apply it to your nails. This way is also nice for practicing fine nail art, you can just hold the stamper in your hand and draw on it, which some of you might prefer over drawing on oven paper or a bag!

- Spektor's Nails uses this technique also for splattered nails, no more messy fingers and too big splatters! 


If you have any other tips, I'd love to hear them! Thanks for looking :)

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