A new tendency

Hi ya'll,

I haven't forgotten about my little blog, I've been busy doing thing besides my nails, well I have been painting them just not photographing them that much. I wasn't sure at first about posting pics of the other things I do but then I figured hey it's my blog and it is named Tammy's Tendencies so today I'm showing you another tendency of mine which is sewing.

Sewing is something I truly enjoy doing, it can be relaxing and quite addictive. My Mom has always sewn and it's just one of those things I absorbed. It's actually a little amusing to me now that I sew because in high school I almost flunked Home-Ec! My school had plenty of sewing machines and we had to make the dumbest most unflattering skirt ever, then wear it to school on what I call prairie day. Well I had no intention of making that stupid skirt. I remember sitting in class not working on it at all and thinking to myself  "I'll just take this home and Mom will sew it for me", so that's just what I did. Well to my shock and surprise Mom wouldn't do it!! She told me I was more than capable or something like that and seeing  that flunking the class seemed even worse than sewing that ugly thing I sewed it, wore it on the required day, and then never looked at it again.

Well I think I've come a long way! While I still won't make something that I consider ugly I enjoy the process very much. My skills are not that of a true seamstress and I have basically no pattern making skills so I just read and follow the instructions the best I can and usually come out with pretty good results  (at least I think so).

So in any case here is a pic of one of my latest projects, my new coat.

 

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. What do you think???

 

Here's a closer pic of the collar, it has this awesome little pleat detail.

 

 

And here's a shot of the lining.

 

 

How fun is that fabric!?!?

 

In case you're still reading and have any interest the coat itself is made from McCalls 5717 which I scoured the internet to find. The outer fabric is a wool tweed and the lining fabric label also says it's a wool but it's feels soft and slippery. I did make one change to the pattern, the instructions/directions call for a gathered skirt ruffle on the bottom of the coat but I thought it would look a little more sophisticated less childish if I were to pleat it (like the collar) so that's what I did and IT WORKED!

 

So honestly what do ya think?? I hope you like seeing stuff besides my fingernails in all their painted glory  lol (and if you are here just for my nails don't fret there will be more). A couple more of my tendencies may be making their debut on my blog too, my knitting needles and crochet hooks are starting to feel neglected and with the cold weather coming some hat, socks and glove making just might have to be done.

 

Well that's all for now so enjoy your day and ta ta for now,

Tammy :)

Orange ya Glad

Hello there and Happy Tuesday to you!

Today I have some more gorgeous sparkly autumn lusciousness for you! I did my best to get some good pics for you but believe you me these pictures just don't do these polishes enough justice.

This is Zoya Tanzy on my index, middle and pinky finger and Rainbow Honey Hoof Wrassle on my thumb and ring finger. All my nails have a base coat of China Glaze Code Orange (which is gorgeous on it's own also) to make the glitter removal process a bit easier.

You have got to check these out in person, they are so much prettier in real life! It's like I am wearing some of the prettiest pumpkin pie on my nails. Alas if only pumkin pie was glittery! These polishes are not a bright orange, more of a burnt orange with attitude. I have been wearing this for more than three days now and the tip wear is so minimal that I may actually keep it on for another day or so!

Here's a little bottle shot for ya,

So what do you think? Do you wear any orange polish? If you're looking to pick any up I recommend any and all of these!

Ta ta for now.
Tammy :)

It's Fall Y'all

Hidy ho there!

Here where I live in western New York it sure is autumn. The nights have been crisp, the leaves have changed and we have had some frost and even a freeze. I live in what is known as "ski country" which means quite a bit of snow in the winter and it also means that I am surrounded by hills and more hills full of deciduous trees that are absolutely spectacular this time of year.

With so much autumn beauty around me I decided to celebrate the fall season with some super pretty glittery goodness.

 

 Isn't this pretty? A super quick mani that is very eye catching. The two polishes I used are China Glaze Harvest Moon and Lush Laquer Paradise Cove. Harvest Moon is a super gorgeous sparkly copper just like a new penny on steroids. Paradise Cove is an awesome glitter polish chuck full of copper and turquoise hexes in a few sizes and there are even some small blue bar glitters which lay very nicely and even better there seem to be some holo glitters as well! What more could you ask for?!

If you like glitter polishes I highly recommend Lush Laquer, none of their polishes is disappointing in any shape way or form! They can be found here on Etsy for $8.75 for a full 15ml bottle.

Hope your enjoying your fall, ta ta for now,
Tammy :)

Argyle

Hello and happy Friday to you!

The challenge may be over but I'm still painting my nails. Today I have a super fun and a super cute design to show you. While reading one of my favorite nail blogs, Let Them Have Polish, I came across an argyle design that I thought was one the best executed argyle patterns I had seen. She has been having some guest posters and they are doing a bang up job. You can see it here, isn't it awesome???

I have been wanting to do argyle nails for a while now and when I saw these I decided to go for it. I picked colors that go with the season, grabbed my striping tape, dotting tool, some patience and set to work.

I love how they came out! I plan on wearing them all weekend.

 

The polishes I used are Zoya Dove (light grey), Sinful Colors Slate (darker grey), and China Glaze Short and Sassy (wine) and the white for the dots is Pure Ice Super Star.

 

Do you like accent nails like this? I do! I love having pattern on my nails and painting only a couple accent nails keeps it from being to busy and gives it an elegant look (to my eye). Would you prefer all your nails with pattern?

 

 

 

 

If you haven't tried argyle yet you should! If you want to know how I did it let me know and I'll show ya, it's truly not hard and the pay off is big!

 

Ta ta for now,

Tammy :)

Gems

Hello there!!

Today is the final manicure from the Let's Do the Time warp Challenge. I have had a lot fun participating in my first nail challenge and have discovered a few new blogs to follow as well as some seriously talented nail artists. I also pushed myself to attempt free-hand nail art myself and while not perfect, hey, I tried!

On this 8th and final day we are to recreate a favorite mani from among our fellow participants and while my skills are not up to the level of a lot of the participants I still had a hard time making a choice, big surprise there, I can be so indecisive sometimes.

My indecisiveness had me stuck between 2 choices and when I looked at the two manis more I decided that they would actually make an awesome mani when used together. I chose to recreate Amber's Diamond Your Timeless to Me Mani and Polished's Coco Chanel We Can Do It. I really loved both of these, beautiful gems, timeless simplicity, black nail polish, sparkle, what's not to love?

Thanks for the inspiration ladies, I hope I did them justice! For the Chanel nails I used boullion beads instead of a dotting tool for some dimension. The polishes used were Zoya Purity (white), CG Fairy Dust to make the diamonds sparkle, SH Black Diamonds over SH Black Heart for the base color on all my nails.

So what do you think? Did you enjoy any of my looks? Any hints or tips for me? Thanks so much to Lindsey and Nail Polish Canada for hosting and sponsoring the Let's Do the Time Warp Challenge!!

Ta ta for now.

Timeless

Hello to all of you lovelies in cyberspace!!

It is day 7 of the Let's Do the Time Warp Challenge, there is only one challenge left :( Today's title is 'Your Timeless to Me' and we are to create a manicure inspired by something that was popular both then and now. This was a toughie for me, should I do a mani of an actual person, place or thing? a fashion style? a hair style? architecture? I had quite a few ideas. Hmmmm what should I pick?

Well the prompt says 'something popular then and now' so I chose a few popular things from then and now!

I chose patterns that are ever so timeless. I mean honestly we all have worn at least a few if not all of these patterns/prints; houndstooth, polka dots, stripes, floral and animal print

I chose colors; red, white and black. These have been wardrobe staples forever!

I chose the half moon mani which is incredibly popular then and now.



What do you think??



 

 

 

 

 I love this look, it was a ton of fun to wear! While it did take a little bit of time (mostly for drying) to accomplish it was well worth it. The red polish is A England Perceval, the white is Zoya Snow White and the stamping was done with Konad Special Black.

The next challenge is to recreate a favorite mani from another participant in this challenge, I wonder what I'll choose!?

Ta ta for now.



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FP Little People

Hello there!! Today is day six of the Let's Do the Time Warp Challenge. If you don't know this is being sponsored by Nail Polish Canada and Neverland Nail Blog and I am having a blast. Thank you Lindsey and Nail polish Canada!

On day six we are to 'use that childlike imagination and dream up some nails inspired by a classic game or toy'. Holy cow was this decision hard to make. Having 4 brothers and 1 sister we sure did have a lot of toys around our house, so I got to play with just about everything! When mulling over what to depict I had so many ideas, Lite Brite, Mr. Potato Head, Twister, GI Joe, Barbie, Hot Wheels, I mean really you name it I probably played with it. My mind actually became overloaded with all the choices and I kinda felt a bit overwhelmed.

The actual topic title of todays challenge is 'They sure don't make 'em like they used to' so I thought about that for a little bit and went back into my childhood and remembered a toy that I just loved, still do. This toy is certainly not made like it used to be, from what I understand the 'traditional toy' stopped being produced in 1990. Originally they were made of all wood, then wood and plastic and today they have taken on a whole new shape and size and name.

The toy I'm talking about the is Fisher Price Little People. If you don't know who they are here's a link to a search I did on them. Oh boy did I love playing with these! They had a farm with all the animals and the hay loft door mooed when opened, they had a castle with Princesses and Princes and Kings and Queens, there was an airport and airplane, there was a house with all the funiture including a sewing machine, they even had a circus. Ohhhhh the memories!!!! Seriously I just keep going on.

I chose to represent the actual Little People I played with as a child and actually living near the headquarters of Fisher Price I have a small collection of their toys including the ones I'm posing with. So without further babbling I present my first attempt at this type of nail art, my literal representation of the Fisher Price Little People. (please don't laugh to hard)

 

 

Boy does the macro setting magnify flaws!

 

All in all not tooo bad for my first try??? Don't ya just love the dog? Oh and the grumpy little boy, I always wanted to make him smile just once. The grumpy one in my hand is vintage and maybe even a prototype because he is a she, no cap and there's a bow in her hair.

 

This was my favorite challenge yet, it brought back my childhood, which is LONG gone, and I tryed something that was a true challenge to me!

 

Thanks so much for looking and take some time today to play with some toys even if it's only in your memory.

 

 



 

Influential Women

This post is a little adult themed so if you are offended by such things you may want to skip this blog post.

And now that I have the attention of the rest of you........ here we go!



Hello there! Today is day 5 of the Let's Do the Time Warp Challenge and we are to do a manicure in honor of an influential woman. When trying to decide who to pick to portray I kept getting hung up on the words influential and woman and then it hit me.

Rather than one woman I chose a group of women who throughout history have had a rather big influence on society. Good or bad, right or wrong these women have changed the course of many lives, they have been around (or should I say have gotten around) since biblical times.  Heads of States, Governors (well almost any politician these days) the Secret Service and even the regular ole Joe (or maybe John) has, uh, been influenced by these ladies. They have, uhm, raised up the ego and, er, brought down the reputation of many men. Apparently these gals have quite a bag of tricks because some of them make a ton of money doing something most of us do for free! Oh the things these ladies know, the secrets they have heard, the, uhm, issues they have helped to resolve. 

If you haven't figured it out yet I have chosen to portray the women who by CHOICE have opted to follow the 'worlds oldest profession' and I don't mean motherhood. Yep that's right I picked The Call Girl aka the hooker and prostitute.

 

This mani was actually a bit fun to wear and my husband well let's just say he loved it! I chose his favorite shade of hooker red which is Zoya Sooki topped off with CG Raspberry Festival and for the fishnet stocking nails I used Zoya Cho with Konad black polish for the stamping and some black rhinestones.

 

 

 

So what do you think? Is this subtle homage to the Ladies of the Night something you would wear?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Arsenic and Old Lace

Today is day 4 of the 'Let's Do the Time Warp Challenge'. The theme for today is 'Lights, Camera, Action' and we are to choose a nostalgic movie, song or piece of litereature and transform it into a manicure worthy of the spotlight.

My inspiration is a very old movie/play called Arsenic and Old Lace. For those of you who aren't familiar with the movie it's a dark comedic murder movie in which a pair of old ladies put old bachelors out of their misery by poisoning them with elderberry wine laced with arsenic. It starred Cary Grant in the lead role of Mortimer. Here's a link to the WIKI article on it.  If you get a chance to see it do so!! It's truly an amusing story.

My manicure based on the movie has quite a nostalgic feel to me and I had to stop myself from adding any further embellishments to it. I had planned to put wine glasses, poison symbols and bottles in there too but in the end I chose not to and went with this dark but elegant look.

  

I started with a base of Elderberry Wine (China Glaze Short and Sassy) did a gradient with some Death (SH Black Heart) and then stamped the corners with Lace (Loreal The Perfect Trench).

The stamping hides the gradient in the above pics so here's a shot of that, click on the photo and you'll get a better view (for some reason I can't resize more than two images) I love this gradient!

I am really enjoying wearing this mani! So dark and mysterious and yet so wearable.

Thank you so much Lindsey for hosting this 'Let's Do the Time Warp Challenge!

I Remember When.....

Hi there!! Today is day three of The Let's do the Time Warp Challenge and my nails are outta this world. The theme for today is 'I remember when.......' coming up with a design for this topic was a little difficult for me, there are just so many things I remember.

There are quite a few historical events that have happened during my lifetime but unfortunately the ones that really stand out are a bit heavy themed, plane hijackings, bombings, wars and I didn't want to represent those on my nails!

My parents, God love them, were nuts and traveled with my 5 siblings and I all throughout this great nation of ours. We have seen a lot of things that most people only get to see on tv (Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, Mesa Verde, Disney World, Bryce Canyon, Zion, you name it I probably saw it).

So you may be asking at this point 'what on earth did she paint on her nails????'. Well I picked a place my parents were not able to take me because you see I Remember when the Hubbel Space Telescope was launched !

To me this was one of the coolest things ever!!!!! I love space travel! I remember being a bit bummed that it was going to take a little while for the pictures to show up and I also remember snickering a little when they had to fix the mirrors on it.

So without any further babbling from me I present my Hubble Telescope Travels through the Perseus A Galaxy Nails.

see the Hubble Telescope on my thumb

 

 

Here's my inspiration, The NGC 1275 also known as Perseus A. Photo is courtesy of NASA and the Hubbel Space Telescope

 

What do you think???? My first galaxy nails and they are based on a real galaxy! Did I nail (ha ha) the Perseus A ?

Thanks so much for taking a trip back in time with me and remembering the Hubbel Space Telescope!

It's Vintage Darling

Hi there!!!

It is day two of the Neverland Nail Blog's Time Warp Challenge. Today's challenge is called 'It's Vintage Darling' and we are to feature a look from the past. My inspiration is a look that was made popular in 1965 from a painting that came from 1930 and is still on trend today.

My nails are based on a dress by Yves Saint Laurent called the "Mondrian" Day Dress and it was on a cover of Vogue magazine. Ysl's inspiration is from a painting called Composition II in Red, Blue, Yellow.

The "Mondrian" look is everywhere, remember The Partridge Family's bus? Ever heard of color blocking? Are you on Pinterest and checking the nail looks there? Read nail blogs? I was really quite surprised to find so many things that have been inspired by a simple dress made in 1965.

Look mom I'm on the cover of Vogue!

This mani is probably one the most time consuming manis I have ever done, lining up all those little bits of striping tape requires quite a bit of patience, but once again this is something most anyone can do!

So what do you think? Looks pretty modern huh? Nope, It's Vintage Darling!

First Nail Challenge!!!

Hello there. Today I am participating in my first ever Nail Challenge! Neverland Nail Blog with Nail polish Canada is sponsoring it and it's called Let's Do The Time Warp Challenge. If I manage to figure things out here in Blogger world there will be little pics at the bottom of my post that link to others participating in the challenge.

So... day one of the challenge is titled 'I should have been born in.....' Well quite honestly I have always been pretty happy with the time I was born in so that is the decade I chose to depict on my nails. While I was wayyyyyyy toooo youuuung to have all the fun (he he) that a lot of people were having during this time I have always loved all the colors and graphics and music, etc. from the '60's!

Peace, Love and Flower Power Rule!!

GROOVY MAN

I'm still quite new to decorating my nails so freehand designs are not happening, this is stamping and dotting tools. There is a little learning curve but with a little practice anyone can do this!! Give it a whirl!

 

All the pretty little polishes I used, love love love colors!

 

 

The little pics I told ya about (hopefully) go ahead and click on them...

Ok so I can't figure out the in-linkz tool quite yet so here is a link to Neverland Nail Blog where you can see everyone else that is participating because she know how to use the tool (ha ha). 

I figured it out for real now, all I had to do was check my spam folder and follow the directions, dah.



 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

I have some new polish!!! It's a brand called Rainbow Honey and I absolutely love it. It has the cutest packaging, unique polishes and awesome customer service!

The glitter polish I'm wearing in the photos is Rainbow Honey's The Element of Magic over Avon nailwear pro+ (which I'm also pretty impressed with!). I bought a mini size of this polish because I generally don't wear too much purple but I'm thinking that may change.

Isn't it pretty!? The polish itself has different sizes, and shades of purple glitter in a purple base that shimmers blue when the light hits it right. It looks like there is some tiny holo dust type glitter in there as well.

Do you see the blue shimmer on the tops of my nails?

All in all I really like this polish and I bought a few other colors. The only problem I had with this polish was with the brush on the mini polish(es). While the bottle is just the cutest thing the cap is just too large when trying to use the mini brush.

See what I mean? adorable little box and bottle for the mini polish but mini brush with big cap.

Are you wanting some Rainbow Honey now? Take a peek at their website to see all the glittery goodness.

Tata for now, have a good one,
Tammy :)

Hidy ho there.

Summer is quickly winding down here but there is still time for a few more hot manis. I'm still working on getting the freehand cheetah print down so I gave it another whirl, this time with neon! I absolutely love this look, it is just fun to wear.

This is China Glaze's Flip Flop Fantasy with SH Hard as nails (black) and Pure Ice (white). The pictures didn't come out too bad but IRL the color is just a bit brighter. It's not eye searing but most certainly bright.

 

 

Isn't It fun?????

 

 

 

 

Isn't it pretty with the hibiscus???

 

 

 

 

 

Gotta go, summer is winding down and I need to go and enjoy it!
Ta Ta for now
Tammy :)

 

Tristam!

Today I am wearing A England's Tristam. This polish is absolutely amazing and second to none. If I could only own one brand of nail polish it would be A England without a doubt. You might think with such quality that there would be a high price tag but you would be wrong. A England polishes, depending on the exchange rate, are usually under 10 US dollars and they are shipped free. Every color I have used can be a one coat wonder so a bottle will go a long way.

Tristam is a gorgeous denim blue with linear holographic sparkle, think of your favorite blue jeans with a little bit of pizzazz added. I usually have trouble with blues being way too bold and brashy looking on me but not Tristam. It's truly a polish that can be worn any time of the year.

Enough gushing, onto the pics

Look at the lovely holo rainbow!

No garden or flowery pics today, just a England and all their beauty. Here's a pic of my current collection of A England polishes.

Go get yourself some A England polish and have an awesome day!
-Tammy:)

Water Lily

One of the things I tend to do in the summer is spend quite a bit of time in the garden. It's so peaceful and I am always amazed by the simple beauty of flowers. Our garden takes up quite a bit of our yard and includes a koi pond in which we grow water lilies and other aquatic plants. A few years back we were visiting a friends garden who has a much bigger pond and in it I saw the most beautiful water lily ever! It's a lily that actually changes it's color, it starts off a pale pink with yellow edges and turns more of a peachy pink/coral as the days go by. Welllll I just happened to find a nail polish that is just as gorgeous, it's called Nebula and it's from an Etsy shop called Sparkles by Julie. It is the perfect color for my skin tone and it's going to be my go to polish!

First up a pic of the lily. These are in the pink phase.

Pretty huh? Don't mind the leaves they got rips in them during a recent hail storm. Now for the nails.

The pics aren't really capturing the pretty holo sparkle in the polish, it's so pretty irl.



The accent nail is another Sparkles by Julie polish called Peach Jelly Belly with some loose glitter on top.

Here's the fun bottle shot.

And here is a pic of the koi pond.

Until next time, have a good day!