Where have I been???

Hello lovelies!

I hope you've all had a lovely summer, the weather here in the UK has been spectacularly good for a change. I have been AWOL for some time now and if you follow me on social media you may already know why but for those of you that don't... I'm pregnant! Below is the announcement snap we shared in June.

We found out we were expecting in February so as well as not really wanting to over-expose myself to some of the nasties in some nail products, I also had to pack up my nail room and all my goodies into boxes to make way for a nursery! We've since been doing a whole laundry list of DIY and baby shopping as well as more recently, looking for a new house altogether so I would never have had the time to keep up with regular posting anyway. 

I'm still unsure as to whether I'll get back in my nail blogging saddle once my little bean makes an appearance in late October (if he/she is on time), we'll see how things go and how much time I have on my hands but I just wanted to check in with you guys and say "hey, I'm still alive and very much kicking" haha ;)

Maybe see you soon?!

Rebecca x

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: 3 Shades of Purple

Hellooooooooooooo there!

I have been gone soooooo long! Again I've been busy with Lane's Loves and also been down with the flu for the last week which is totally sucky but gave me time to catch up on some journalling. I was determined not to miss out on a prompt so better late than never I bring you three shades of purple with dotting tools being my additional theme...

This was so super simple thanks to leaving all this lovely negative space which y'all know I'm a nega fan of. I used three purple Barry M polishes being Orchid, Lap of Honour and Sparkling Amethyst and three different sized dotting tools to create this pretty random pattern and finished with Sally Hansen topcoat.

I adore how this mani looks and how quick it was to do because I can't tell you how long my list of jobs is for my new little business. I still have so many things to make and my ideas just continue to overflow lol!!!

Well I'm off to get myself the umpteenth Lemsip of the day before a little more planning, I'll be back here towards the end of the week with the next mani in this challenge...

Have a good one loves!

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Things That Fly

Hello, hello beauts!

I have been totally off the radar again I know, things have been pretty busy in the past week with an attempted return to work for the first time since my heart op in November... Let's just say it wasn't very successful and is a bit of a sore point lol! So one thing that is definitely flying at the moment is time, and I almost did something along those lines but when it came to it I needed something EASY. Inspired by the recent frosty mornings and the abundance of crows in my neck of the woods at the moment...

I started with an undercoat of Maybelline Colourshow Cool Touch before applying one thick coat of the Hare Polish Wrapped in Plastic. I then stamped using another colorshow polish called Blackout and MoYou London Gothic plates 04 & 07. Finished up with Barry M Plumpy Topcoat which has quickly become a favourite.

Being a grey-phile I do adore this particular Hare and the flip of warm and cool colours really captures the tone of the mornings at the moment.

I've nothing much else to say tonight my loves, it's been quite a draining few days and I've been busy with Lane's Loves too so for now it's time for a cup of tea, a big fat bar of chocolate and putting my feet up!

Have a lovely weekend all.

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Pale Blue Base

Well hello there my lovelies!

I've been nowhere with my nails over the last week or so, partly because I have been a busy bee with all my Lane's Loves stuff and partly because I got a tad lazy with our little weeks break in the challenge on the 1st! Anyhoo I'll be trying my best to get this train back on track starting with this pale blue mani, my pattern for this colour prompt is dots and I did something super simple that just popped into my head and suited my need for something quick...

I teamed up two Picture Polishes for this manicure, the base being two coats of the lovely Tiffany and then the dots done in the super delicate Eerie with a small dotting tool. I finished it with a splash of Barry M Plumpy Topcoat and that's a wrap.

I wasn't sure if something so simple would look a little half baked but actually I really like this dotty border instead of a full nail pattern. The colours are just gorgeous together too, I do love my PP's!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend and have as good a Monday as anyone can haha!

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

Lane's Loves Launch!

Happy New Year Loves!

So as well as welcoming in the new year and all my new planner goodies for 2016 I also launched my new planner blog and my planner accessory shop on Etsy! I think I mentioned my plans for it all in my last post but now it's a reality - EEK. If there are any planner girls out there I would love your guys' support in my new venture Lane's Loves! To mark the occasion I've done some nails inspired by my branding...

I used two coats of Barry M Cotton for the base and once dried for a good forty minutes or so I taped off the stripes using vinyls from She Sells Sea Shells before giving a coat of Maybelline Colorshow Black To Basics and immediately removing them again. I then used a dotting tool with Bazza Strawberry Ice Cream, Berry Ice Cream, Blue Moon, Lemon Ice Cream, Mint Green and Models Own Bora Bora for the confetti gradient before finishing with Plumpy Topcoat.

So I had hoped to post this yesterday to match my launch date but just as I got myself comfy with a cuppa and some biscuits, Windows 10 decided it was time to do an update that lasted over an hour by which time I'm sorry to say I was watching my eyelids haha.

So that's a wrap for tonight my lovelies, I'm off to get planning & making for my little Etsy shop which I will shamlessly link HERE. I hope you all had a lovely time welcoming in the new year and are enjoying this long weekend before the real daily grind restarts!

Rebecca x

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: New Year

Goooood evening my loves I do hope you've had a happy holidays!

I have emerged from Christmas hibernation and am now very much looking forward to New Year, I'm a fan of new starts in general and I think a new year is the best regular one we get. As I've been mentioning over the last few weeks I've been putting the final pieces into place for exciting plans and the 1st of January will be the official 'launch' date so that together with finally getting my mitts on all my 2016 planner goodies has me positively bouncing with excitement so I wanted a sparkly, celebratory, firework-esque kinda mani...

I started off with two coats of the super stunning Barry M Black Grape from their A/W Midnight Gelly collection. Then I took both Color Storm & Blogger from my Picture Polish stash to layer this pretty glitter/confetti ombre before finishing with some Plumpy Topcoat.

This is exactly what I had in my minds eye, a bit of grown up glam that's got me in the mood for some Champers! That Bazza base is just to.die.for and I must get more use out of it before the winter is out.

So that's a wrap for this weeks challenge, don't forget to check out what the other ladies have on their nails for New Year below! In the meantime I shall at last fill you in on my exciting news...

www.lanesloves.com

My new planner blog and online accessory shop launching January 1st!!! You may have picked up that I am a planner & stationery addict, always have been and always will be, I'm also a dab hand with arts and crafts and have finally put those talents/passions together in one thing so watch that space as it fully develops over the next few days, wish me luck!

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

Review: LadyQueen Christmas Nail Wraps

Good evening loves!

I was recently contacted by some lovely people over at LadyQueen to do a review of some of their products and as I was already looking at some of the nail art transfers available on their website I thought why not?! One of the items I chose for review was the super festive Merry Christmas Snow Nail Wraps because I'm all about being able to do quick mani's during fantastically busy times such as Crimbo...

Unfortunately this mani didn't turn out to be quite as quick as I'd hoped because on peeling up the first sticker I realised they were red and transparent stickers on a white backing card. I wanted the white background so first had to paint my nails with a coat of Barry M Cotton. 

 

Due to having the white undies the nail wraps just wouldn't stick down well enough to the surface of my nails and their fairly deep c-curve, they became puckered around the edges and pulled up the paint from my nail. The curve at the cuticle was also too round for my wider area which left a little white space in places.

Overall I think the quality was good as far as thickness, printing and stick but the downfall was my painting an undercoat of white and the awkward fit on my shaped nails. If you would like to try your hand at some super-easy nail art then pop on over to the LadyQueen website and use code QWMS15 for 15% off any purchase.

I hope you're all enjoying the festivities tonight, have a very Merry Christmas!

Rebecca x

*the featured item was sent to me FOC for my honest review*

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Christmas

Hello my lil beauts!

I've gone a bit off schedule with this '40 Great Nail Art Ideas' mani because A. I wanted it to be a bit closer to actual Christmas and B. I felt utterly poo all week last week lol! I tried to muster some energy for a fantastically festive piece of nail art over the weekend but in the end I went as simple as it gets because I just couldn't muster enough and I don't need much excuse to pull out a negative space mani...

Started with stamping MoYou London Festive Plate 03 in Barry M Pomegranate and finished with a lick of Plumpy Topcoat. I did say it was simple!

Who doesn't love a candy cane?! I remember cheap boxes of 12 candy canes (usually from Superdrug) being a staple Christmas gift for school friends throughout my childhood and early teens hahaha, simple times!

I'll have a couple more posts for you this week but in the meantime enjoy all the festivities in these exciting days leading up to CHRISTMAAAAAS! :)

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

Throwback Thursday: Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

Hi-di-hi peeps!

This Throwback Thursday we are visiting good ol' 2012 again with this super cute and super festive Rudolph the red nosed reindeer mani. I'm totally starting to feel the festive spirit in the air now although today it might be the saharan smog and blood rain that's on the way LOL... I do love taking time to look back and see how much things have changed especially at this time of year as we draw closer to a whole new shiny twelve months!

You can see my original post from way back when HERE. While you do that I'm off to finish wrapping up the last of the Christmas pressies to arrive and get them in boxes ready to post out to family far and wide tomorrow!

Warm winter love to you all,

Rebecca x

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Winter

Hip hip hooray, it's Friday!

The theme for this weeks challenge is 'winter' and how fitting it is because it surely feels like winter out there right now. I had to brave the yukky winds and rain this afternoon to go and pick up a prescription and I can't tell you how relieved I was to push that front door closed on the world again; I've even had to turn the heating up a notch or two tonight brrrr...

For the base I used two coats of Maybelline Colorshow Marinho which is a lush deep, delicately shimmery blue. I then stamped the snowflakes on using Barry M Silver Foil and MoYou London plate Festive 03. Finished it up with a coat of Models Own Jack Frost and Sally Hansen Silver Slingblade.

The glitters in Jack Frost and Silver Slingblade are so different that I think they really help to give that 'snowfall' feel to this mani. Super wintery no?!

Have a lovely weekend everyone, I shall be wrapping some Christmas gifts ready to send out in the post next week, not long now!! Don't forget to check out what winter looks like to my fellow nail tarts below...

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

Throwback Thursday: Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Good morning!

I'm going a long ol' way back to December 2012 when I was a mere baby blogger this Throwback Thursday. I thought it would be fun to share some of these much older mani's so you can see just how much my nail art, photographs and posts have changed; it's so easy to forget where we started with something and it's nice to be reminded of how far you've come. That's exactly the reason I started blogging and I'm chuffed to still be here three years later...

You can see the original Christmassy post from 2012 HERE, I've just noticed that it was done for Sat-ART-day!! Who remembers that?!!?! I love this cute design and I might just have to recreate it one of these days...

I'll return tomorrow with the next installment of the 40 Great Nail Art Ideas challenge, it's nearly Fridaaaaayyyy! :)

Rebecca x

Humpday Hare: King Of Carat Flowers

Hello, hello loves!

It's humpday and definitely time for a Hare Polish. I wanted to go for one of my older ones this time and King Of Carat Flowers was the one that caught my eye, it's a beautiful soft dusky grey gelly packed with a mixture of gold and lilac glitter pieces with iridescent blue glitter and delicate gold flecks. It sings to the grey-phile in me and feels super wintery I love it...

This is two coats of the stunning Hare finished with Barry M Plumpy Topcoat and some pretty floral 'Good Girl' stickers from Essence which have tiny little diamantes in the centres; I think they make a nice little accent to this delicate indie polish.

This mani almost feels like a mini winter celebration which is most fitting for me at the moment because although my health is still up and down, I've been busy working away on those exciting 2016 plans I mentioned a week or so ago and I'm doing a little happy dance inside... Not long now! 

I'll see you beauts tomorrow with a Christmassy TBT mani and I'll be sure to fill you in on those plans as they unfold over the coming weeks!! :)

Rebecca x

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Glitter Topper or Flakie

Happy weekend lovely people!

It's been miserable windy & rainy weather here the last couple of days and looking at the raindrops on my window panes was very much the inspiration for today's '40 Great Nail Art Ideas' mani. I needed to use a glitter or flakie topper and some decals, I chose to use another kind of those Born Pretty Store bubbles decals as seen in this post HERE because they are just awesome! I really should have thought it out better and made the glitter much more of a feature but hey, I'm just glad I'm still hanging in there with it at the moment lol...

I kicked this off with two coats of Barry M Sky Blue. I then applied the Born Pretty Store water decals in this lovely green/blue colour and finished with two coats of my favourite glitter topper, an absolute golden oldie Sally Hansen Silver Slingblade. Super quick and simple and totally reminding me of rainy days!

I'm trying out different camera and light settings at the moment so please bare with the range of photos you may see over the next few posts #firstworldproblems. I think I managed to catch this one well enough to share with you guys and I hope you enjoy it.

Well it's time for me to bunk down on the sofa with a cup of tea, catch up TV and my planner. Hope you all have a cosy weekend and stay safe out in those high winds if you are venturing out!

See what my fellow tarts have been up to with glitter below...

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

Throwback Thursday: It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Evening all!

Been quiet again this past week I know loves, it's been a pretty rough few days but I'm hoping that I am just about rounding that darned corner and starting to feel a bit better so things should start picking up the pace again soon! Meanwhile I have been plotting and planning big things for 2016 which I will be letting you all into as this year ends and on that note... Have you noticed it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here?! Time to join in the festivities...

I'm not quite sure where the time has gone but this mani is from around this time last year and I'm pretty sure it marked the putting up of the tree in my house, you can read more about how I did it HERE. I'm not quite feeling the decorations yet this year so think I'll go with the 12 days before rule and for the first time ever I haven't treated myself to an advent calendar, I guess that's what being 30 does to you! LOL.

I do love this mani, I'm a massive fan of a dotticure and somehow making a tree shape out of one brings me pure joy hahaha, I think I might have to try a new recreation of some sort over this festive season.... Hmmm....

Rebecca x

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Cartoons & Comics

Hello lovely peoples!

As promised on Thursday, I have pulled some classic cartoon/comic nail art out today for the '40 Great Nail Art Ideas' challenge. This ol' goody has been on my to-do list for the best part of two years hahaha, I don't think I'll ever have enough days in my life to do every design I would like to try on my nails.

I chose to go with all Barry M for this one starting with two coats of Get Set Go from the Speedy collection for the base. Once that was well dried I used the Bazza Black & White Nail Art Pens to draw the frame and highlights and finished with coat of 3in1.

This look is so fun I'm loving it. I've sort of put it off for so long because I've dreaded doing the frames, if you get messy with the black clean up can be a mare to say the least. But doing it with the nail art pen worked a treat and any excess on the skin simply peeled away once dry. Better result than I expected, you beaut Barry!

That's all for tonight folks, have a great weekend and don't forget to check out what my fellow tarts did with the cartoon/comic prompt below...

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

Throwback Thursday: Christmas Lights

Good evening beauts!

Things have been a little slow here on the blog this week as they have at home. I've been feeling totally out of control of my own body with these SVT episodes and have spent as much time as possible (which is a lot folks) sleeping. Today was the first time I ventured out of the house in a few days because I literally HAD to start my Christmas shopping before it's too late to get things posted. I only managed a measly two hours before I was knackered but I thoroughly enjoyed the cold afternoon, early dark, twinkly lights and even a tiny glass of Bucks Fizz in Boots!

I think these nails featuring the lovely Ciate Mineral Clarity from last years advent calendar are a perfect throwback for today, simply perfect! You can see more details in the original post HERE.

I'll be sharing my '40 Great Nail Art Ideas' mani on Saturday because I just haven't been up to painting them so far, between tomorrow evening and Saturday morning I hope I'll be able to pull something together!

Goodnight loves.

Rebecca x

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Grey & Colour

Hello, helloooooo!

Unfortunately I didn't get to return to work yesterday, instead I spent 10 hours in A&E. Looks like my heart op wasn't so successful after all and my body is just super tired out! Luckily I already had this mani done and post scheduled... This weeks prompt in the '40 Great Nail Art Ideas' challenge is 'Grey & Colour' which is like music to my ears being the total grey-phile I am and my personal pattern is 'Circles'. I knew exactly what I was going to do with this because I had literally just received some nail mail which included coloured bubbles water transfers!

I used two coats of Maybelline Colorshow Cool Touch for the base and then used these cute coloured bubble water transfers from Born Pretty Store to add my required colour and circles! Finished with a lick of Barry M 3in1 Topcoat. 

I love this Colorshow shade it's one of my favourite greys in my collection. I'm pleased with these transfers too, I got several different colour sets so I'm looking forward to thinking up some other designs to incorporate them into.

If you want to make a purchase from Born Pretty Store you can use my code: R2X31 for 10% off and remember to take a look at the other ladies grey & colour work below while I go take a much needed nap.

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Your Job

Hello, hello and happy Friday peeps!

This week's '40 Great Nail Art Ideas' theme is a good one because it's a little challenging and also allows everyone to get to know each other a little better which is awesome! My job is in Reception & Facilities for an NHS Clinical Commissioning Group so A LOT of my time is spent on the telephone organising things, ordering things and helping people out. It's a very busy, random role with lots of good colleagues and I love it, I can't wait to return later next week after my post-op recovery is complete!

For this mani I finally cracked open one of the numerous Wynie polishes I picked up for a bargain €1 while on holiday in Spain this summer. No.806 is a gorgeous shade and pretty close to that 'NHS blue' we all know. I used three thin coats for the base and was very happy with the formula. For the telephone/bubble art I used a small nail art brush & dotting tool with Barry M Black & White polishes. I added the white highlights with a nail art pen and the black outlines and words with a Sharpie before finishing with topcoat.

I'm pretty pleased with how this slightly off-the-cuff mani went, it was a bit last minute because I felt kinda rough yesterday. I was really pleased with the Wynie polish so I am just dying to try the others now, look out for them in posts coming soon!

I hope you enjoyed finding out about the 'everyday' side of me I can't wait to read about the other ladies' job roles and you can check out all about them down below...

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

Humpday Hare: When The Melting Clock Strikes Midnight

Good evening beauts!

I was super excited to receive a new Hare Polish for my collection today from an amazing lady's polish destash. When The Melting Clock Strikes Midnight is a gorgeous white jelly with ultra chrome flakies that twinkle with purple, teal, blue, green, pink and gold. I am in polish love...

This is two thin coats of WTMCSM over Barry M Coconut undies. Once dry I used some half moon vinyls from She Sells Sea Shells, painting in the gaps with Gold Foil Effect to create this 'ruffian' nail art and finished with topcoat.

The lighting just wasn't quite right tonight and I couldn't capture the true beauty of all the colours shimmering from the white... This makes me a little sad lol. I'm going to have to make some new adjustments for these dark winter nights. To help you visualise imagine the most delicate magical dragon's egg hehehe.

See you with the next installment of the '40 Great Nail Art Ideas' challenge tomorrow.

Rebecca x

Throwback Thursday: Armistice Day

Hi loves!

Don't worry I didn't lose a day somewhere I do know it's Wednesday but I've done a bit of a swapsie this week and I think it's deserved. My Humpday Hare is moving to tomorrow to make way for a special #TBT today. I did this mani for Remembrance Sunday last year and I wanted to bring it back this year to mark today, Armistice Day (or Veterans Day for those of you in the USA).

I really loved this mani and it's because I love the sentiment of today too. It's important that no matter your views on the government, military or wars you honour all those that have fallen for you, for if they had not volunteered you may have been forced to be in their shoes.

Lest we forget...

Rebecca x