Right Down The Middle

Starting off with two coats of Electric Purple by Accessorize and waiting for it to dry before applying scotch tape at a diagonal. Then using Models Own in Lemon Meringue on the tips (two coats) and waited for this to dry a bit before peeling the tape off.

Then dotting along the line where the purple and yellow meet with Andrea Fulerton's Dot and Flick tool. I was a bit too speedy and didn't allow enough time for the black dots to dry and I smudged them when applying a top coat. I hope this isn't too obvious.

I love the how the purple and yellow look together, what do you think? 

North Devon's Braunton Inn

Luke and I went off to the Braunton Inn for a bite to eat. The Braunton Inn used to be called Tarka Inn, I can't quite remember when they changed the name, but it must have been in the last few months. We had a lovely meal, here is what we ate.

Shared starter of chicken goujons with a side salad, flat bread and a tomato mayo.

We had the same main meal of hunters chicken, chicken breast with BBQ sauce, bacon and cheese. We also had a side of beer battered onion rings.

The location of the pub is lovely, right on the edge of the water, it is fab sitting in the garden during the summer.

The meal (including drinks, coke and an Appletizer) came to around £26, not bad. The service was fantastic, even though it was busy, our waiter was attentive and friendly. 

Block Orange with Matte Dots 2

Two coats of Block Orange from Barry M with diagonal dots using Andrea Fulerton's Dot and Flick pen finished with a matte topcoat by Rimmel.

I don't usually wear orange but this is one of the brightest ones I own and just fancied something a little different. I applied two coats, the nail line is still visible but because I knew I was dotting over the tips it didn't bother me too much.

Using Andrea Fulerton's Dot and Flick pen I dotted diagonally over the tips of every nail waited for it to dry then I applied one coat of Rimmel Pro matte finish. I found this did smudge the dots slightly but it isn't too obvious.

Some manicures just look better shiny and I think this is one of them.

Spring Time Water Marble

I had another go at water marbling, it is tricky but I am quite happy with how this manicure turned out. I have only tried this method a handful of times.

I applied one coat of Models Own Beth's Blue as a base and I used Jack Wills Electric Pink, Barry M Spring Green and Models Own Blue Lagoon to marble with.

Have you ever tried water marbling? If so, any tips and tricks? I think this is one of those methods which will just take time and practice to perfect.

Cheers To You on this Holly-Day

I hadn't done a sponge gradient manicure in a while so I whipped out Holly-Day from China Glaze (2011 Christmas collection) and Cheers To You, also from China Glaze (2010 Christmas collection)

I am loving this Holly-Day green shade, I applied two coats, I did find it a little runny, so I was careful, but it is such a gorgeous dark green.

A little messy but you get the idea of the colour.

I do like these two polishes on their own, but I am not so sure how I like this manicure on me, my sponging isn't great and I feel like their is something missing, another element, another colour to go on after the silver? Hmmm, I just am unsure, thoughts please?

Bargain necklaces

This is going to be a short post but I just wanted to share these two bargains I bought from the Accessorize sale. These two items were 70% off.

This adorable necklace has lots of hearts with different patterns on them, the chain is quite short on this one. Price in the sale £3.

Next up is a bronze necklace with purple butterflies, leaves and random beads. This necklace is long and the detail goes all the way down which I love. This was also £3.

Vinyl Record with Butterflies

I haven't played with my stamping plates in a while so I created this quick manicure. Two coats of Vinyl Record from LA Girls (one of my fav blue polishes sent from Nicole at Noir Lacquer in one of our earlier swaps last year) then stamping using Konad special polish in black and using the butterfly design on Art Deco plate A95.

I have used this polish in so many of my manicures, it is one of my fav blues, it applies so smoothly and the colour is so rich and creamy. I know this isn't important at all, but I love the shape of the bottle too.

It's My Turn with Black Crackle

Using my latest holographic polish, It's My Turn from the Kaleidoscope collection by China Glaze and Andrea Fullerton's Mock Croc shatter polish.

I do love this polish, but it is so sheer, it took three coats to build it up, but on its own it is stunning. 

Sorry, I didn't realise the second picture was so blurry until after I loaded it! As I mentioned in a previous post about this polish, some of the black text on the bottle has worn off, but I heard this is quite common for older CG polishes.

Such a wonderful polish on its own, but I wanted to see how it look under black crackle, here is Andrea Fullerton's Mock Croc without a top coat. 

Crackle tends to dry to a mat finish, but I prefer it shiny, so one coat of Seche Vite to complete the look.

I normally wear a bright colour as a base for black crackle (just so it doesn't look like just black nail polish that has chipped!) but I quite like the way the holographic gold shimmers underneath.