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*