Velvet and Suede

Happy Friday the 13th y'all!!!
First off, I'm glad that you seemed to enjoy my little DIY post, I will definitely do some more of those if its something you enjoy :)
Today we have Julep Minka, what they describe as an oxblood suede. I see it more as a rusty colour, but julep did not have the best luck with describing the colours in this collection. Ah well. This lasted a decent amount of time. Suedes dry crazy fast, but that also means they are more prone to chipping, unfortunately. It lasted 2 days chip free, but got some wear by the 3rd, when I took it off.
I adore the suede look still, and I think it's perfect for fall. Not to mention how great a nice 2 coater that dries before your done both hands. Totally great when your in a rush.
Plus, it totally went with the cupcakes we got. Mmm, I love me some red velvet cupcakes. Thanks mom!!!
Artificial and natural non direct lighting.

Lemme Fix That For You

Recently I came in possession of a beat up Apple charger. I almost threw it out, but figured if check to see if it worked, as I need (okay, want) one for my car, since I am a heavy phone user and full batteries are never a bad thing :) Why not take advantage of my Civic's USB port?
And guess what? It worked! Hurrah! I wasn't expecting that though, so the next problem arose. It was pretty beat up. There are scuffs and cuts and, as you can see, it has torn on the end and in the middle. I thought about different methods of fixing it and ended up using a wee bit of white electrical tape to fix the rips. But there was still the whole general ugliness of the thing. I figured I'd just have to deal with it, but had the wonderful epiphany of using a bit of washi tape. I recently got a set of 4 in various simple, clean designs and bright colours. They were only $1- for all four! And washi tape seemed like the perfect thing to use. Cheap, easy to use, easy to remove it need be and most importantly; pretty! Lol. It was super easy and I covered the whole cord without much effort or tape. This is perfect for broken cords, and I've also added a bit on the ends of my other ones to prevent them breaking. I recommend 100%!
Simple, cute and affordable. Just simply rip off a piece of tape in desired length and wrap lengthwise (I've added quick pictures to help better explain).

**Just as a disclaimer, tampering with anything electrical has its potential risks and dangers, and caution should always be used during and after changing the piece. However, with that said, I have been using this for a couple weeks now and no negative issues or problems have arisen thus far. Just use common sense and caution.

Stephanie Randomly Chatting, Probably To No One...

A long chain of events and just general business has taken me away from blogging. We've had a ton o' fun with day trips and small vacations (nothing major this year though, hopefully next summer), and doing LOTS of home reno and DIY. Cuz this gal Does It Herself! Lol, I'm sorry for that outburst... But there had been lots of buying and selling on kijiji (luuuvvvv that site), painting, rearranging and creating. I have to show you guys the makeup section of my bathroom now that it's painted.
I've also been volunteering lots at my lovely cat rescue, singing dancing and acting with my theatre troupe, who I have done Monty Python, Hairspray and West Side Story with. Also, dealing with my defective knees, who had been a major pain.
Anyways, I've also found my self a new passion, because one or two money sucking, time wasting hobbies are clearly not enough. But fish are small and pretty and colorful and they move and they are shiny and I like them. And they don't eat your mangoes off the table when you aren't looking (cough cough, Blue), and they don't scream at you for food (guinea pigs...) and they don't knock everything over with their cone collar after their neutered (...Lily).
I've had some trials and tribulations, but I am really enjoying it. The tank is really stunning.
Plus, I think the tank accents my nails quite nicely.
Now for a random assortment of photos I've amassed on my iPhone.

Citrus Mixer

Hey everybody!
See I told you :D here I am with another lovely nail post. And lo and behold, we have some nail art!
Keep in mind that my nail art is crazy simple. Half moons, gradients, ombrés, simple stuff like that. I don't think I'll ever be one to paint the Mona Lisa or Last Supper on my digits.
Anyways, this is a simple duo tone colour block mani using Essence Lime Up! and Walking On Sunshine. Lime Up! is now available in the new bottles, but my pretty shimmery sunshine yellow has been discontinued.
This was three coats of each, plus top coat. Super easy, and crazy long lasting. This picture was taken on the 4th day of wear.

Get On Your Tuxes!

Wow. It's been a while hasn't it? I just checked to see when the last time I posted was. 10 days ago. Whoa. So, here's another quickie notd post, in my sad attempt to catch up... I am working on some new content and just getting out of this rut though, so yay to that!
Behold- Black Tie Affair, Hard Candy's take on this whole black and white party. And while I think you'd get kicked out of an actual black tie event for wearing this, it's fun and cute and was super cheap. They're like $4 normally and I had a $1 off coupon. This was great, one thick coat on top of China Glaze Aquadelic, in my bathroom lighting.
It's funny, because I remember that huge big dramafest between Lyndrella and Cover Band when they copied her, and now every drugstore, salon and indie brand has there own version. I personally have no problem with dupes, with any kind of brand, as long as their not too blatant and preferably in a different price bracket. What do y'all think? Do you agree with me or take a different stance?

Dubai Royalty

Secret confession: I do nail art a lot. Like a lot. But I never post it on the blog. Like never. Why? I have no idea. Mysteries of life I guess. But I really want to post it more often, because that's what you viewers want. Here's something simple today, a nice glitter gradient using Ulta3 Pot Of Gold, and Bloom Dubai. Both of these are Aussie brands from the wonderful girls out there. Thank you! Dubai is soo glowy. I wish it would translate to camera. Sigh. Just imagine a rich purple crushed velvet in nail polish form. And combined with the gorgeous yellowy gold of Pot Of Gold, it looks so royal and extravagant. I love it. The way I did the gradient was by painting a coat on just the tip, then some a little bit higher, then another higher up to form a gradient. This was two coats of Dubai. It was too thick for the little mini bottles brush, but a little bit of thinner made it a dream. Artificial lighting.

May Be I'll Catch Up With My Haul Posts?

Hey Guys! Happy Canada Day and 4th of July!!! I had a pretty Canada mani, but I forgot to take a picture and when I came home they were beyond repair. We went to a local park for fireworks and saw Hedley and Anjulie and I was rough on my hands. Sorry! Hopefully you all a had fun, patriotic week!
Time for May's haul! And yes, I know it's July... sheesh at least it's not Aprils...
May was a pretty quiet month though, I only bought enough for one picture! So the Color Clubs were full price. Ouch, I know. The store was having a sale on everything... Except Color Club, and I only found out after I paid and checked out. But it was a cheaper store, so they were still only like $17 together, instead of $10-$15. And other holos are MUCH more. Justified! Everything else was cheap. The Claire's (full sized) were 10 for $10, and I got them to hit the limit, they stripers were $.97 and I want to get into nail art more, so I got them. I really need to start posting my attempts. I just never post them, and I don't take pictures half the time because when they are all zoomed up on a screen they look much worse than IRL. Then they Sally Girl was $1, but I got it to get a free bag, and then it was an extra like, 20% off too. And I've been wanting a clear glow top coat. The two Claire's minis were from a friend. She didn't like them and had gone all gloppy so I saved them from a garbage and thinned them and I really like them! So win!
That's it! See you later :D

Left to Right
Cherubic, Blue Heaven, Unnamed Magnetix, Unnamed Glow In The Dark, Unnamed Mini Neon Coral, Unnamed Mini Neon Green, LA Colors Art Deco Purple Glitter, LA Colors Art Deco Dark Blue, Sally Girl U Glow Girl!