Wednesday, March 7, 2012

birthday musings.

it's my birthday!

age one: the beginning of my love for cake.

<3<3<3
pisces choon :: water sign
 by chris theibert of choonimals.com




cupcake nails! on my list of mani's.



betsey johnson b-day party. my kind of celebration! 


wildfox dreaming. want. want. want. want.

last years 27th birthday party pics. that makes me 28.
                           
                                    
Van Halen's Jump was #1 the week I was born in 1984.
I love this song! I used to jam out to it in high school during track season
before I would do {win} the high jump, it seemed fitting.

Steve Jobs demos Apple Macintosh, 1984. 2 months before I arrived on this earth.
crazy how far apple has come! 



Monday, March 5, 2012

stormy seas.

Monday Manicure :: Stormy Seas <3

Sally Hanson Hard as Nails base in White On
teal Stripe down in the middle in Forever 21 polish
detail down in black by Kiss nail art
top coat Nailtiques formula 2
Saw this after the fact... via missladyfingers.com
MANICURE MUSE: Querelle Jansen in Pringle of Scotland for Exit Magazine

DIY. fringe necklace x joomi lim.

DIY fringe necklace 
:: inspired by Joomi Lim.

lime & black necklace on the bottom left retails for $435 at Bergdorf Goodman.
most of them run between $400 - $500.

 
my version <3
Under $40!


supplies:
crystal necklace 
assortment of sharpies
jewelry snips for adjustments 
fringe in two colors
a hot glue gun
embroidery floss

I got my necklace from 'So Good' jewelry on Broadway below Grand Street. 
Everything there has been 50% off lately, so it was only $12.50.
I wasn't happy with the length, so i snipped off the excess.
I ordered my fringe off of Ebay. I got both colors from Ebay seller A Treasure Nest for under $10.
To keep the fringe from fraying, make sure you lay down a thin bead of glue to secure the ends. Bottom left photo shows before & right shows the edge after the glue, you can see it if you look really hard. 
With the shape of my necklace, I decided to make 2 panels to work with the V in the center.  Using the necklace as a guide, just eye ball the measurements. It's all very approximate.  The green fringe I doubled & the black I tripled using hot glue to secure everything. 
If you want to add some color to your crystals, sharpies are perfect for staining the 'diamonds'.  I tried several colors & learned that it can be removed with nail polish remover if you're not happy, but it gets messy.  This time I used green, but as you will see in the final photo's I settled on purple.

I also had intended on sewing everything together with my embroidery floss, but I quickly learned that it was way too bulky to get the needle though, so in order to create the illusion of sewing I just did a quick stich over the top to add a punch of color.
Then I assembled all of the elements with my hot glue gun.  Because I used two separate panels, it left a gap in the center, so I just added a filler piece to the back and it's not noticeable at all.

Final Version.  
Purple crystals with black around the neckline.  Also, If you decide to remove the marker after it's assembled, be very, very careful. If you look closely you can see just left of the center that I accidentally stained some of my fringe green. :(



More inspiration photo's of the crazy expensive versions!






If you're have trouble finding crystal necklaces, 
check your grandma's jewelry box, local flea market's, costume jewelry stores & forever 21! 

I found the above necklace at the Brooklyn Flea market this weekend.
Vintage 1950's necklace $45. This would be perfect, but I'm going to leave it just the way it is.
It's so pretty.

This one's from forever 21. I think it's amazing, but I haven't been able to spot it in the store and there's just something that kills me about paying $8 shipping for a $12.80 necklace. Anyway, here is the link to the Rhinestone Bib Necklace, it looks like a stunner!

update: photo's of how chiara from the blonde salad style the original. 



Thursday, March 1, 2012

neon tipped.


March 1st Manicure! 
Today, I went with something a little bit more subtle. [for me at least] 
2 coats of base color in Endless Possibilities by Revlon & 
tips are done in 1 coat of Forever 21 Neon Pink.
It would be easier to use a skinny brush, but still manageable with a normal sized one.
They key is to make sure it doesn't get too thick on the tips, otherwise it will chip sooner. 

Below: a collection of other neon/nude inspiration nails. <3




image via wah nails

image via foam