Mani(c) Monday

I... feel like I should re-introduce myself.
Hi. I am Valerie, the Sassy Housewife, wife of Z and mama to Sam. Creative brain, space cadet, sewist, quilter, painter, DIYer, lover of marshmallows, and author of this blog that has been dead for the past couple months. 
It's nice to (re)meet you. It's nice to be back.
Some of my kind readers and dear friends have been asking me whats going on? And I don't know, really. I mean the holidays hit me hard. I feel like they were a coma that I haven't fully awakened from yet. I know it's the end of January and everyone else in the world dealt with it and moved on, but I'm not quite there yet. So please be patient with me. I want to get back in the swing of blogging... I need to. I enjoy it, and love the creative and brain outlet it offers me, but sometimes it feels big and overwhelming and I just need to step out for a bit. So I stepped out.
But now I am back.
With no promises of regularity.
So there's that.


Here's something fun to get us started on an unseasonably warm Monday. (I mean, I know I live in KS, but 66 degrees in January is weird.) It's crazy.
My good friend Amy Lee recently converted me to The Fancy Side. In Amy's words, "The Fancy side is like the dark side, but with glitter and pretty stuff." She is mostly referring to her new nail polish/nail art obsession to which I have also been sucked in. Which is actually pretty significant if you know me and my history with polish... I have mostly always been terrified of it. I would even go so far as to say I was anti-polish. I mean, take care of your nails, a nice manicure doesn't hurt anyone, but I never really liked color. Until recently. And I don't even really know what it was that changed my mind. I just suddenly wanted fancy, fun fingernails.
My very first fancy side mani was done at Amy's house after a few glasses of Sangria, So I feel like I can confidently blame either Amy or the Sangria or both for this particular life change.

Sparkle fade
essie: Beyond Cozy

I have started simple. Nothing too outrageous while my collection of polishes and my obsession is slowly growing... Z likes the 'sparkle fade' and compared it to drum set finishes. It's his fav.

Golden and braided
China Glaze: Passion

My sister got me this super shiny gold for christmas and I got fancy using this video tutorial to 'braid' an accent nail. Fun and festive, right?
On NYE Amy created Champagne nails for me with a subtle gold and tiny bubbles... and would you believe I never even took a picture? They were so amazing. We'll have to make it happen again sometime.

OPI: Sprung

Then I spent a couple weeks trying to cover a nail that caught a zipper and broke... like halfway down the nail bed. It was not pretty. And it hurt like crap. Which is why my ring finger nail is freakishly short and chunky here from the repair wraps I kept putting on it.
This color may be my new favorite... it's coppery, gold, and pink all at the same time. It's a bit more sparkly than a metallic but not quite a microglitter. It's amazing. And shimmery. And definitely Fancy Side bait.

OPI Liquid Sand: Can't Let Go

 This 'Liquid Sand' color is a textured matte finish with little glinty things in it. And you all know how I'm a whore for texture, so I love it. And it's purple which is my favorite color, so I double love it. Nothing fancy about this one, because the polish is already extra fancy.

essie: Sand Tropez
and a Sharpie!

This shade is my fav nude right now. I like neutrals with a bit of something to make them pop. This pop is courtesy of Sharpie! I used the 'bronze' one in the method described here.

Eyelet lace
OPI: Hawaiian Orchid

This one was created using dotting tools... super simple. But I really thought it was sweet and cute, maybe for valentine's day? Then after staring at it for a few days it started to look like octopus tentacles to me? Which freaked me out so I had to take it off. (maybe I have just inhaled too much acetone fumes...?!)

I have actually really enjoyed doing my nails. It's my little naptime guilty pleasure. I sit down and relax fox about 15 minutes and do may nails. It's kinda nice. It's a break from the crazy. And anyone who has (or has ever had) a toddler knows how crazy and manic a mama can feel if she doesn't take the time to relax even for just a few tiny moments each day.
I feel like I am getting better at my nails... especially at that dominant hand! So hard to master. For that reason I havn't really done anything toooooooo crazy with my nails, but I am having fun learning. You should check out some of the nails Amy Lee has done... her's are crazy fun!
I don't know if I can commit to making this a regular installment on the blog... but I do have a few things I still want to show you about my nails. Some tips and tools for beginners and junk that I use, etc. Plus I'll want to show off my manicures as I get better and more adventurous. What do you think, anyone else interested in Mani mondays?