Sunday, October 4, 2009

Jewels, berries, gumdrops, beads

Hello ladies,

I have a simple Halloween manicure today using Milani Orange Burst and black jewels from NYC New York Color. My friend David took me to Silver Lake Park today as a respite from the extravaganza of being locked out of my apartment Friday into Saturday. I'll have a Konad manicure on Tuesday once I have everything sorted. I still have a pending visit from maintenance on Monday to reset the padlock. My key lock on the knob is fully functional at present.  

My keys must have fallen out of my purse when I was taking pictures at the garden on Friday afternoon. I didn't notice their absence until nightfall. After retracing my walk for several loops, I recruited an accomplice at the cafe. We scaled the fence into the garden and together we searched the gravel paths with a flashlight. I was really amused that he thought, rather chivalrously, that he would climb and I would wait on the law abiding side of the fence for his return. In response, I handed him my purse and over I went. I explained I had been locked in and had to climb out so this was familiar, but in reverse. My story surprised him and he asked: Were you scared to be locked in? I replied: No, it's a garden

Our venture didn't yield keys, nor did my return at daylight. This time David and I scaled the fence. I ran into a big German contractor on the street and asked him if he could break into my apartment. He grabbed his tools and followed me into the building. The only neighbor at home didn't have the emergency number so I let the gigantic man with the tool set attempt to defeat my padlock. Perhaps I saw one too many car commercials about German engineering, so I was expecting more precision and less body checking of the door accompanied by bilingual profanity. Another neighbor returned, emergency number at the ready. I dismissed the German and waited for the regular maintenance person. The state of my door after German engineering was frightful. The door frame was on the floor. The wood around the lock was brutally chiseled and I was still on the wrong side. Even after removing the cylinder where the key fits, the padlock wasn't budging.  It was now the maintenance person's turn to wield a hammer and body check my door. I did get to meet all of the new neighbors in the course of the adventure. I remarked that the entire building was going to be taken down and all that would remain standing would be my front door. Now it is clear why I didn't have time for Konad stamping this weekend.





The rhinestones resemble poke berries. 
This is an agate skull. I cannot remember the specific type of agate, but I can do a bit of research on Thursday if anyone is curious. The finer lines remind me of wires. Overall, it has a paint splattered pattern. 


David's man hand makes it's second appearance, this time holding rhinestones. He was trying to help me because the silver backing was showing a lot of reflection. Now ladies, I spy six of each type of jewel. For those of us with ten nails, this could be irksome. Perhaps the rest of the word decoration went the way of the other sixteen jewels. My friend Lisa compared it to making the number of hot dogs match the number of rolls when the counts in the packages don't correspond. 

I found the rhinestones easy to apply with tweezers. I stuck them into the polish when it was still tacky and sealed them with one coat of CND Air Dry. The topcoat lessens the faceted appearance and rounds them to resemble glass beads or tiny candy pieces. It's a simple way to create an elegant Halloween look.

Milani Orange Burst has a similar formula to my beloved Totally Cool. It has glassy shimmer in a jelly base. I used three coats over Zoya Get Even to ensure opacity. The polish has amazing shine and shimmer refraction. The color could definitely work summer into autumn or any time you require a vibrant orange. 

Happy painting, ladies. May you each spend your time on the preferred side of gates and doors. 


13 comments:

  1. Your poor front door, at least you know it would be hard for someone to break in!

    That color is so pretty on you! lol that is quite an odd number of gems to put in a package, maybe they wanted you to mix and match :D

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  2. Diana you really get into situations with being locked in and out! Kae has a good point. I hope you had a place to stay. I hope someone will turn in your keys. That's very scary to lose them. On the other hand your manicure is gorgeous. Love the color and the jewels. That was a good analogy about the jewels and the hot dogs! Love the skull, it's just perfect for the season. Hope everything turns out all right.

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  3. I guess that no one will be breaking in! I love the mani btw!

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  4. Oh dear! Hope everything will get sorted out and well for you soon! LOL at your door being the "last man standing"

    btwn, that's a gorgeous nail colour!

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  5. Oh what a nightmare story - hope you get things sorted soon

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  6. you poooor thing,that was some errr adventure you had hehehe,hey at least u meet the neighbours hehehe i love this mani,and those rhinestones look great they really do remind me of berries..

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  7. What an ordeal you went through :/ I'm glad you're getting your life back together after that, hopefully you can find some humor in it, but still! Your nails look amazing, and the shade you chose is glowing. Those are cute little rhinestones and tell David thank you for the assist!

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  8. Beautiful mani and I'm sending some good luck your way! ((hugs))

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  9. Kae: It is reassuring in an odd way that so much noise and brute force was required. I guess I like a matched set or a few rhinestones as accents. Otherwise, I would feel like I was wearing sparkly Lucky Charms.

    Lucy: I never seem to do anything half way. ;) I was totally fine. I stayed with a friend nearby. I really wasn't afraid at all. There were people around to look out for me. The city has a neighborhood feel. It was just one thing after the other until it became hilarious. It was nice to relax and do a manicure after such a day. Lisa is very witty. I have a collection of crystal skulls, so you will see more throughout the month. I love their expressions.

    gildedangel: It's good to know the perimeters are secure. :) I'm glad you liked the mani.

    Berry T: I have one repair still needing to be done. I am pretty much over the whole situation. It was so ridiculous! I thought it would make a good story. I am glad my nails brought delight.

    Cali369: You are so sweet. Thank you.

    Skye: Only me, right? I feel like I can turn anything into an adventure. I wanted to bite those rhinestones.

    Mary: I was doing lots of head shaking and laughing throughout. I approached the situation with a whole lot of tenacity. I'm glad I had a chance to do the manicure and get out in nature afterwards. I think David thought I would crop out his thumb. I love how it's right by the word "starlet". It cracks me up!

    Evil Angel: Thanks, love. Your luck came though. I managed to win a contest today. Yay! :)

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  10. Oh dear! I am late AGAIN! I love your garden and now your locked out of house story! Same thing happened to me yesterday - NOT a laughing matter I guarantee you! Love Milani Orange Burst what a stunning colour and I was very excited to see David's sexy man hands again ;) xx

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  13. Danielle: The key thieving faeries got us again! You may be seeing some other sexy man hands here in the near future. David will certainly be returning however. I have no shortage of rhinestones for him to hold. ;)

    italiancharm: Thank you! I am glad you are enjoying the posts.

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