Cotton Candy Water Marble

I love water marbles, but they take so much time.  There is a lot of trial and error with the polishes to get them to work properly.  It is very frustrating, but can be oh so rewarding.  I was trying to get some inspiration the other day, so I stood in front of my polish rack.  A polished jumped out at me, and then it's 4 siblings came right along.  I originally intended to do a dry marble.  I did a test on paper that looked interesting.  When I tried to do it on my bare nails to test it out however, the polish ran and pooled everywhere.  Now I remember why I didn't care for the Sally Hansen HD High Definition line.  Pretty colors, but so thin and runny.

These are the 5 colors I used, and in what order.

I used a white base to make the polishes look more like what they do in the bottle.  In the future I might try it again with a silver foil base to bring more of a shimmering quality.  I had a few problems with bubbles, but I haven't figured out what was the cause.  Maybe different water.  One thing I did learn though: Always keep the same exact amount of polish drops in your water!  A few nails looked slightly more pastel than neon, and then I realized why.  I wasn't cramming as much polish into the glass.  I had to do some adjustment on the color to get it fairly close to what it really looks like.  I am not that red, Haha.

Sorry, I didn't get a good photo of my right hand.  This is almost a week later.  I am pretty hard on my hands at work, so there is some tip wear.  Also, cleaning up with the brush around the cuticles with my left hand is pretty hard.  No one cares in person however.  They all raved about these nails...

Essie Shine of the Times over Zoya Julieanne

I know a lot of people have seen this colour before but I just have to add my photos because it is lovely. It is Essie Shine of the Times and I put it over Zoya Julieanne which is a dark shimmery purple base. It really brings out the different colors of Shine of the Times. I missed the boat on sally hansen's Hidden Treasure, so I was super excited when this new color came out. Flakie polishes are so fun and I hope they can develop different color shifts. On the close ups of the thumbnails you can see the purple shimmer coming through.

Harry Potter!

11-11-11.  The last Harry Potter is coming out on dvd.  HP is something I thought that I would never like that much.  I watched the first 4 and then just quit watching.  They were good but I wasn't crazy about them. I decided that I better watch the others before the Deathly Hallows part 1 came out in theatres.  Then I liked those so much that I read all the books in about a month.  Here is the manicure I wore to Deathly Hallows part 2.

This is done with the plastic bag technique.  Take a sandwich bag, do your designs on it, and then peel and stick onto wet polish.  I would of never been able to do the HP logo with my left hand.  With something I want to be recognized, I will revert to that technique.

So I have the logo, the deathly hallows, sword of Gryffindor & a broomstick, Harry's glasses and of course the Gryffindor G.

Oh and seeing as I live in FL, last year I had annual passes to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.  Well, they opened the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  If you are a HP fan, and are ever in Orlando.  YOU MUST GO!  It is so awesome. 

Here is a couple of photos so you can get just a small little taste of how cool the world is.



Okay.  Butterbeer is so delicious.  But, it is non alcoholic, and served cold or frozen!  Now, I know we are in Florida, but in the book it is warmed up. The best part of the drink is this one to two inches of white creamy super sugary caramel flavored stuff on top.  Overall it tastes kind of like cream soda, but I hate cream soda, so I'm not sure why I like this so much!  

This is the sorting hat inside Hogwarts right before you get on the ride.  He talks and sings and is generally all around awesome! Walking through the school is really neat but rather dark so it was hard to get photos because I only had my cell phone for pictures.  You get to see Hermione, Harry, and Ron as they sneak you out of class.  You get a visit with Dumbledore in his office.  You walk through the greenhouse and get a peek at the baby mandrakes.  It is just so fun to see everything! 

Here is the Hogwart's Express.  Just parked right in the middle of Hogsmeade.

Here is a wide view of Hogsmeade.  The shops are so fun to visit.  Ollivander's, the joke/candy shop, the three broomsticks, so on so forth.  Oh, and the women's bathroom!  Moaning Myrtle is played through the speakers talking to you.  It's too bad the bathroom isn't all stone.  It's a boring commercial bathroom.  Haha.