Mardi Gras!

There is a whole lot of different in this post!

I have to preface this post by apologizing for the photo quality and the lack of 'proper' clean up. Originally, I had not planned to post this mani at all because I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but after some coaxing from some friends I decided to share it. And it totally grew on me!

Going into it I knew what colors I wanted to use, but I didn't have a plan. Eventually I decided on 'organized chaos' and set to work doing pretty much whatever came to mind. The results are...fun. At least, I think so anyway :)

I used 3 main colors -
Purple - Color Club - Cosmic (from Claires)
Green - Rimmel 60 Sec - Camouflage
Gold - Color Club - Winter Affair

Additional colors and tools -
Glitter - China Glaze - All That Glitters
Zoya - Gilty - 18k Gold Top Coat
Stripes - Random gold striper
Stamp - Konad M60- Stamped with Color Club Winter Affair
Wet & Wild - Blacke Creme
Scotch tape
Fan Brush
Hole reinforcement stickers (for hole punched paper)
2 different sized dotting tools
Make up sponge

Left Hand Run Down:
Index - Scotch tape mani - 'Cosmic' purple base, China Glaze 'All that glitters', gold stripe
Middle - Color Club 'Winter Affair' with 'All that Glitters' gradient. 
Ring - Konad M60 stamped with 'Winter Affair' over black. Sponged on 'Cosmic' and 'Camouflage' around the edges. Sponged on a tiny bit of 'All That Glitters'
Pinky - Fan brush with 'Cosmic', 'Camouflage' and 'Winter Affair' 

Left Hand

Left Hand

Left Hand

Right Hand Run Down:
Index - OoOo I just realized I forgot which stamping plate I used. I'll look this up and get back to ya'll. Anyway, stamped the scroll design with black and gold over 'Cosmic' base. Sponged 'Camouflage' on top. Added a teeny tiny bit of gold glitter (Color Club 'Sultry Diva') on top of the green.
Middle - 'All That Glitters' over 'Cosmic Base'
Ring -  Half Moon Mani - 'Winter Affair' base. I used one of those hole reinforce stickers for paper to create the half moon. Painted the tip blacked and used 2 different sizes of dotting tools for the dots.
Pinky - Scotch Tape Mani - half stamped with Konad M60, half glittered with 'Glitter All The Way'. Added the gold stripe for kicks.

Right Hand

Right Hand

My thumb turned out way better than I had expected. I have always admired these checkerboard type manicures but it always seemed like such a hassle to get everything to line up right. And it was, kinda, but not  nearly as bad as I had imagined. My only failure was not waiting long enough for the base coat to dry before I put tape on it so I had to redo it. I top coated it with Zoya's Gilty to complete the Green/Purple/Gold theme.

These nails were so outside the box for me but I ended up really liking them. Definitely something fun and different for a holiday that is exact that; fun...and different.

TL;DR
- Thank you to the guys who pushed my car out of the snow this morning!! <3 <3 <3 
- I am so ready for spring...out with the snow!
- There is a baby opossum living under our deck.
- And baby bunny prints all over the backyard! Yay!
- Shout out to Jess at Too Cute-icle because shes awesome and shes had a rough couple of days. Love you!

BONUS: Too Cute-icle and Fox Claws Valentines Day Promo! From now until Valentines Day we will include an exclusive, limited edition, 'love' inspired polish by Too Cute-icle with every rack order! You may get a mini, you may get a full size, but you will NOT get this polish ANYWHERE else! (Promo runs from 1/16/2013-2/14/2013. Not valid on orders placed before 1/16/2013) You can find our Etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FoxClaws