Thank you .... 2013

Courtesy of Madame Samm!  Thank you!

I happily bid adieu to 2012 

and heartily welcome 2013!

I am thankful for those who supported me, 

   for you helped me find my foundation,

I am thankful for those who challenged me, 

   for you helped me discover solutions,

I am thankful for those who listened to me, 

   for you helped me find release,

I am thankful for those who inspired me,

   for you helped me through dark times,

I am thankful for the voices in my head 

that say "you can do it ..."

   for your voices are becoming louder

 than those voices in my head

 that say "you can't"

I am most thankful for those of you that ask for no "thank yous" at all

   for you are truly holders of special places in my heart.

I am thankful for the new life I am finding. 

 I am thankful for the daughters I have been blessed with. 

 I am grateful for the new job and wonderful group of people

 I have been so fortunate as to have become a part of, 

 I am thankful for the roof over my head, the quilts to wrap

 around myself when I'm cold, and for the ability to put 

food in the cupboard and gas in the car.

I am on my knees with gratitude to God

for bringing all of you and all that I have

to be thankful for in my life when so many

more have so much less.

Today I will even be thankful for my broken

sewing machine which has been down for more

thank a week ... just today, mind you, for

I've spent that much more time enjoying 

my daughters these past few days and

they did not mind that their Christmas

quilts weren't completed .... but yes

they expect me to finish them soon ;)

I wish each of you more love, more happiness, 

and, of course, more time to be creative, in 2013!

Happy hugs and warm-hearted wishes,

New Year's Eve Appropriate

Hey everyone! If you live in Croatia, you know that Maybelline's new polishes are (almost) here, which means the old polishes are on sale! I love sales so I took advantage of the awesome prices and picked up a few Maybelline polishes. The red one on these pictures (and by itself in the photo below) is number 150 'Fruit Juice'. It is just the most beautiful red, I cant believe I never noticed it before - it has amazing durability and great shine - and it's a one coater, ah, it's just perfect. Go to your stores and grab a few of these, you will NOT regret it! The glitter on top (I think I will wear this look again for New Year's Eve, it looks very appropriate for that night) is by 'Smart Girls get more', it's one of their limited editions, number 142. The first few times I saw it I walked past it in the stores and decided not to get it, but since I ended up getting a few more from the limited edition collection, I got this one as well, and luckily I love it when it's on my nails. I did not even wear a top coat over this! Anyway, see you in the next post, hopefully you guys have some nice plans for the last day of 2012!

Gold Fever Is A Christmas Shade

Hello all! Well I decided to add a little bit of sparkle to my look from the previous blog post, because I felt it wasnt festive enough. And what better way to do that than with Essence's 'Gold Fever'! What a great polish, gold and red glitters mixed together, it looks amazing. Actually, it's the same color-combination as my christmas tree. The 'Gold Fever' I have is from the old bottle design, but I've seen this shade is still available in the new bottle under the same name, and I havent noticed any change in the formula. Here are a few more pictures, hope you guys are having a great day! ;)

Ombre effect with real leaves

Hello lovely people! First of all, sorry that my hands look so dry in these pictures - the cold weather is hurting them. So in this look I used real leaves, and while when I use leaves I usually place them over the entire nail, here I cut them up in little triangles and placed them over the nail. As for the ombre effect from the title of this post, I'm not sure if you can see it in these photos, but this particular leaf is a bit darker at the tip, and goes lighter towards the base, so I cut up triangles from different parts of the leaf, achieving the ombre effect. In reality, ombre is much more visible when you place the leaf over the entire nail (will have to feature that look soon). Anyway, the technique of doing this is fairly SIMPLE, the same as placing feathers or similar things on nails - apply nail polish, while it's still wet place leaf over it, and once the bottom polish is dry, apply base coat. Here are some photos before the top coat:

The reason I wasnt very happy with this look was that I chose as a base color a polish that really isnt suitable for this. It's from essence's 'Nude Glam' line, the shade is called '01 Hazelnut cream pie'. This baby is a two coater (unless if you're being super careful) and I found it very difficult to work with. Also it dries very slow, which makes it not suitable for this particular look. Now, lets talk about the leaf that I used.

First of all, I will NOT write the type of plant I used for this look, for one simple reason - this plant, even though it's very common (you probably have it in your garden) it is also highly poisonous!! I know how to handle it, but I dont want anyone to have any accidents, or leave it around the house where children might get their hands on it. The plant cant really harm you unless if you eat it, but you must wash hands well after touching it (to be fair, you really should wash hands well after touching any plant). I hope I havent just scared you out of trying this look haha ;) Dont worry, unless if you have a habit of eating strange plants LOL, you're going to be perfectly safe! Now, a few tips if you're planning on trying this look:

• Top coat is a must, for obvious reasons.
• Find a leaf (or a petal, works the same) that is VERY THIN (big thick plant parts will not lay right over your nails), and you want to press it between 2 big books for a few days. You want the leaf to be thin and flexible, but NOT dry or crunchy, because then you wont be able to work with it. Some plants work well for this, some cant be used at all, you just have to experiment. ;) 
• Once the leaf is ready cut out little triangles and use tweezers to apply triangle to nails while the base polish is still wet.
• Make sure you use a white or nude bottom coat, so the leaf or petal's details are visible. If you use a darker polish then place over it a white or yellow petal; again, to emphasize the details of the plant.
• Like I said, be careful if you dont know much about plants, some very common ones are also very poisonous (you'd be surprised). Always use a bottom coat (or two), and wash hands well after handling plants, and dont leave them around the house if you've got kids or a younger brother or sister, or a very curious dog/cat. ;)

Well that's it - I hope you try this out, it's so much fun and it's great for you creative girls out there. I've used plants in my manicures quite a lot (before I started this blog), and my favorite look is a dry red tulip petal over the entire nail. I'll try to do that particular look soon. If you try this out, please let me know in the comments below, I'd love to see other people's work! Until next time, I hope you guys are having a great time over the holidays! Love, J.

I wish you ...

 

I sincerely wish each of you every happiness

you could hope for, and more!

 

Courtesy of Madame Samm ... Sew We Quilt

Words ... words have been missing from my blog and now, after recent events, I have no words that can even begin to express the depth of sorrow I, like so many others, feel for all of those families... I have absolutely no imagination for the reasons and want none that would lead me to understand it ... my daughters are first and second graders.  I was in a news void before, and am more so now ... just being grateful for every moment I am blessed with them in my life.  So the words I have now ...

God bless .... God bless the families that remain, God bless the teachers who return to the school rooms, and God bless each of you for surviving the best you can.

I started my new job about six weeks ago... therein lies most of the reason for my absence. Full time leaves little time for much else besides just existing and these days existing is an accomplishment!

I've been doing extra work outside of my regular job and kids by picking up quilting and sewing jobs when available. Amongst the hemming of pants, and binding of quilts, and making of purses and mini bags for a craft bazaar and gift orders, I put together this t-shirt quilt for a lady who wanted to surprise her daughter for Christmas. Finished it last weekend:

 

She made my day when, after her husband came by to pick it up, she called

me to say that she cried when she saw it as she had no idea it would

be so wonderful ... how much nicer can it get ?

This past week I made a crayon/marker roll up and another make up case

though I didn't stop long enough to take photos.

I also finished this ... remember this wreath from my

Fall into Fall block?? I finished it! I gifted it to a friend

and told her it had an identify crisis ... I made it into a

pillow case, though it could be used as a table topper

or even as a wall hanging .... since I couldn't make up

my mind I figured she could do with it what she wanted.

Yesterday morning I started with this:

And by the end of the day, I ended with this:

And today, I got this top finished:



Yes, my girls have been absent from the house, so ....

They are both getting quilts for Christmas.... now

whether or not I get them quilted tomorrow is another

guess ... my sewing machine ceazed up again today

and put a kabosh on me finishing these babies.

After an hour or two of calm ... I opened the machine

and dusted, and oiled, and cranked,

and my patience paid off ... I got it working again!

Again ... Thank you God!

I apologize for the pictures .... took them with my phone.

Heaven only knows at the pace I'm going that I'm lucky enough

to grab a picture, let alone a good one. Besides, I think I drained

the battery on the camera at both of my daughter's Christmas

programs these past two weeks :)

I did take this picture on my phone, thought it

was pretty darn good ... subject matter obviously

the best! Please take a moment to give who ever

is in your life a hug, a touch of comfort, or a kind

word ... and if you are feeling very generous

share a kind word with a stranger ... you never

know if that word will make their day!

I wish each of you and everyone you

hold dear a very merry Christmas!

 

Midnight Date Gorgeousness

Hey guys! This gorgeous blue shade is a polish by Essence, from the 'nail colour 3' collection. The shade is called 'midnight date'. This is the first time I'm trying one of these double-polishes, and as far as the shade goes, it's beautiful. It's a magical dark blue, it really does look spectacular. The downside is - this baby is a chipper. I'm telling you, it will last you a day and a half...TOPS! I wore it with no top coat, and that's the mistake. Essence has an amazing top coat  from the 'studio nails' line, so if you put that on top of this, you should be fine. I was really disappointed, I am in love with this shade, but it has such bad durability. Too bad.... :(

Despite the chipping, I'd still recommend you get it - I havent seen a blue shade as gorgeous as this one in a long time! Until next post, take care! ;)

Inspired by Coffee

Like I said in my previous post, I do wear La Roche-Posay polish A LOT, so I get tired of it just like it is. I usually do a gradient over it, but this time, since I realized it's the exact same color as my mom's favorite coffee, I decided to do a bit of drawing...LOL Those are supposed to be coffee beans actually hehe. I guess I need to get a hang of this...I ended up enjoying this look, though I believe it would have looked better if I just added the brown tip. The dark brown is by Catrice, shade is called 'Bruno Brownani'. It's a beautiful dark brown. The light shade is a polish by La Roche-Posay, featured in my previous post ;) Hope you guys are all having a great start of the week! ;)

See you later, love, J <3

La Roche-Posay polish is the best!

I've been planing to write about this brand of nail polish for quite some time, but whenever I'd wear them, I'd get bad weather or something, and the pictures were unusable. So here I am, finally, third time's the charm. Some time ago I took a break from wearing polish to try a nail-treatment to make my nails stronger. Well for years now if I want to give my nails a break, there's no need to stop wearing nail polish-I just wear La Roche-Posay! Seriously, there are no words to describe how amazing these polishes are - they would last me 10 DAYS on my nails, chip free (I know, amazing), and I'd have to remove them eventually because my nails would grow too much....gorgeous shades, they protect your nails and make them stronger, and you dont have to stop wearing nail polish!! Now the sad thing is, these are NOT available to buy in my country, but should be available throughout the rest of Europe (only in pharmacies I believe), and you can check them out HERE. Now I have seen that since I've last gotten my hands on these, they have changed the packaging, which makes me so excited since it's time to get a new one. I have 2 bottles of the same shade, however this shade that is on my nails has been discontinued (or so it was last time I checked). At first I didnt like it in the bottle, but placed on my nails it's amazing - such a gorgeous brown shade! Looking at the new bottles, I am eager to get my hands on a red shade! Anyway, to stop myself from blabbing on: amazing polishes, worth every cent, and if you have problems with your nails, you should look for these - they will make your nails healthier and stronger, and you wont have to give up wearing polish!

LOL You KNOW nail polish is AMAZING if I have 2 bottles of the same shade and they're both used up! (And I have over a 100 polishes, I forget how much)....Love these babies, I'm so glad I discovered these, and I am in love with the gentle warm-chocolate tone, I love the way it looks on my nails <3 See you in the next post! ;)

My First Mat Polish

So the other day I noticed in a store a mat polish on discount, and I decided to pick it up because I've never tried them out before and was curious what it would be like. I bought Deborah's Sense Tech 100% Mat, shade 03. Though in the bottle it appeared more blue, it's a very dark blue, almost black. The first day I wore it I was amazed, I though it was sensational...however the down side of this polish is not very good durability - it will look great for 2 days TOPS, and then it will start to chip. Like, huge chunks will chip off. The reason I did some stamping on it was just to see what it would look like. I think stamping would look awesome on mat polishes, I just need to get a better hang of these things LOL (since I made so many mistakes doing this stamping hehe). Anyways, I'd recommend this polish, as long as you know it will last 2 days on your nails, and after that...not so much. :( If I'm correct these will no longer be available. Which is good, the rest of Deborah's polishes kick ass. Here are some photos before the (criminally bad) stamping took place, and I hope you enjoy them and have a great week! ;)

Tools and nail care

Hey everyone! So for the last few weeks I have been using a new treatment on my nails to make them a little bit stronger, so that's why I havent posted much lately. I was thinking, why not talk about the products I use? For a long time I have used BioProl's 'Nageltherapie-Stick' to make my nails stronger and healthier, and I have been super happy with this product, but someone recommended me a new product (much cheaper) and I decided to try it out. Here's a picture of it:

It's Eveline's '8in1 Total Action'.To be quite honest,the difference in price is visible-the expensive stuff does work better.:( Though, if you dont have serious nail problems, and just want to give your nails a break from all the polish, I think this product might work great for you. While I did feel that this polish/treatment protected my nails while I was wearing it, I dont think it made them stronger or more durable for the long run. I have however been super happy with Eveline's color-polishes, so you should check them out if you havent already! ;)

Now as for what type of brush I use to clean up my nails after I apply polish (especially after doing a gradient) I have seen many girls use make-up brushes, or even essence's eyeliner brush (because of the great shape), I would not recommend this. Make up brushes cant handle the acetone, and after using them twice for this purpose the hair will start falling out and will start sticking funny, and can easily mess up your art-work. What I recommend is buying a painting brush, one which has all the hair in a straight line, and which has a thin shape. (If you live in Croatia, like me, go to Muller, they have a great selection, and good prices too). This will last you a long time and it can handle the acetone without the brush getting damaged.

Now as for the nail file I use, I have switched to a glass nail file a long time ago, and I never went back to any other kind. I use Mont Bleu's products and I am super happy with them, you can check out their products HERE. Before I was using a glass nail file, my nails would chip a lot, and now that's been put under control. If you dont like using glass nail files, then I recommend using Alessandro's nail files, they were the best among the non-glass ones, and I still use them occasionally when I need to shorten my nails a lot.

To smooth out the surface of my nails I use essence's studio nails nail file (just step 1, I dont use this to shorten my nails). This makes my nails silky smooth and makes polish application very easy.

As for the sponges I use for gradients, I use make up sponges. I used to buy sponges which had a texture that was more similar to that of a kitchen sponge, but I find that make-up sponges work so much better (I also buy these at Muller). 

Hope you girls enjoyed this post, from next week I will be back to wearing nail polish again, and I've got some pretty awesome ideas. Have a great weekend guys! ;)

Ombre In The Fall...

Hey everybody! I did not wear ombre nails for a while, so I loved wearing this look-it was different and so much fun! So let's get to it-the polish on the thumb is Sephora's 'City Amazon', two coats. The forefinger is Catrice's 'Grey's Kelly'-now this color has a purple(?) undertone, and it's two coats. This polish is really weird, I cant really say if it's a grey or a brown color. The middle finger is Catrice's 'Dulce & Havanna' - what a beautiful shade -I fell in love with it! The ringfinger - Catrice's 'Bruno Brownani', another gorgeous brown shade, and the pinky is Essence's black stampy polish, which is a true dark black, i love it!

Whenever I wear ombre nails, I pair it up with very simple jewelry, so with this look I wore just simple black rings. If you havent tried ombre nails, you have to do it - when I saw them in a photo, I thought it would be too much; but once it's on your hands it looks amazing! Here are a few more photos, just because I LOVED wearing this look! ;)

See you in the next post, hope everyone had a great week! ;)