Pick N Mix Week 6 - Domestic Animals / 3 shades of blue

Late post this week and I do apologise - work has been super hectic and its been all that I could do to keep awake for tea before falling asleep on the couch.

This is what should have been posted last week, which was domestic animals OR 3 shades of blue.

I went with 3 shades of blue.

Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure

I'm a bit of a nerd, this is no secret.

For years I actually refused to read Harry Potter, I can't remember why. When I did get round to it, I have to be completely honest and say that I really could not stand 2/3rds of the main characters. But I persevered and read all of them, and from considerable thought on this topic I can definitely would (like to) be in Ravenclaw. I even own an official Ravenclaw silk house tie. I loveses it so.

So it was safe to say that when I bought China Glaze Frostbite and one of the new Maybelline glitter toppers - Bronze me up! - this weekend, I had to use them together.

Pokemon Challenge Gen II, Round 17 - Steel Type

I'm nearly at the end of the Gen II pokemon journey, which makes me both sad and excited. Sad, because I'm almost done, and excited because I totally can't wait to do Gen III in the new year! Stay tuned for more details in the next month on that one, but first - the last type group of the challenge, Steel.

Steel was one of the new types introduced in Gen II, along with Dark, and its another of the types that I don't really use often. Some existing Gen I pokemon were retyped as dual-type to include steel, so I've gone for one of these this week...

Pokemon Challenge Gen II, Round 15 - Ghost

I love Ghost pokemon. Mostly I'm big on Ghastly, but Gen II brought in one of my other big favourites - Misdreavus.

Hallowe'en 2013 - Things that go BUMP in the Night...

What better to go bump in the night than...

Frankenstein's Monster!

Pokemon Challenge Gen II, Round 14 - Dragon

This round posed a small problem - there was only one new Dragon pokemon introduced in Gen II, which was the water/dragon type Kingdra. But its not cute or derpy looking, so it clearly wasn't going on my nails haha.

So back a generation I had to go, for Dratini!

Pokemon Challenge Gen II, Round 10 - Psychic

WOBBUFFET!

Wobbuffet is painted in BarryM Cyan Blue, with details in the usual Models Own Pro Jack's Black and Sinful Colors Snow me White

Somehow I've ended up with two copies of the same picture for this mani, rather than more than one useful picture... so I'm gonna leave you with a GIF.

An InLinkz Link-up

ER31DC Week 27 - Inspired by an Artwork

OMG I'm so late with these! I've had these done and photgraphed for about a fortnight to be honest, and for some reason I'd absolutely convinced myself that I'd post them (when I clearly have not!)

Inspired by the artwork of Andy Warhol, or more specifically this print of Marilyn Monroe.

I was never good at appreciating art, I'm not gonna lie.

Pokemon Challenge Gen II, Round 9 - Ground

I barely use ground pokemon. In fact, if it ain't fire or psychic I'll probably not use it. But there are some pokemon I adore simply for their derpy faces, or their appearance in the anime.

This one is clearly in the derpy face category.

WOOPER! (Beware, GIF heavy post below!)

Models Own Velvet Goth Collection - Absinthe & Valerian

Models Own released one of their new autumn collections quite recently and I managed to beat the rush and grab two of the shades from my local Boots (buy one get one half price too!).

I'm terribly predictable and despite my self-imposed ban on new polish I managed to pick myself up the blue (Valerian) and the green (Absinthe) out of the 5 colour set. The ones I'm missing, Sardonyx, Amethyst and Obsidian - Red, Purple and Black respectively - are a definite temptation after seeing how these two beauties came out.

Beware... this post is pic heavy!

Pokemon Challenge Gen II, Round 7 - Poison

There aren't many poison pokemon I like. Maybes Grimer / Muk, Ekans and Oddish, but I've already done Oddish and Ekans, and I can just tell how Grimer/Muk would come out. Lets just say its a good thing y'all ain't seen creepier-than-creepachu Ditto that I tried last year. I've seen horror movies that were tamer than that creepy looking thing.

Then, all the way down at the end of the list for gen II, at number 211... Qwilfish!

ER31DC Week 26 - Inspired by a Pattern

Stripes. I love stripes.

Swatched - A England Galahad

Just a short swatch post whilst I'm setting off on my jollies - hopefully nothing will explode whilst I'm gone!

I've been after this polish for months now, and when Mr Painted-Claws got overexcited and gave me one of my birthday presents early I nearly exploded when I opened this up.

Galahad is such a beautiful blue creme, bright and bold and absolutely gorgeous. I know I'm gushing, but I really think this may be one of my favourite polishes.

The pictures above show two coats, although the second coat was pretty much just out of habit - this is a super pigmented creme that goes on amazingly and dries quite fast. These pictures do have a topcoat of Seche Vite, thus the amazing shine, but on its own its quite shiny as well.

Pokemon Challenge Gen II, Round 4

Water Round!

I love octopi. Its a bit odd how much I really do love these bizarre creatures, but they're great. So naturally, I went for Octillery as my Gen II Water pokemon choice.

ER31DC Week 23 - Inspired by a Movie

Apologies for the massive lateness of this post, but I'm off on my holidays on sunday and last minute panic is in full swing in the Painted Claws household. And by that I mean my other half keeps telling me not to worry and I keep writing insane lists and losing things.

This mani was inspired entirely by Rachael over at Racho's Nail Love and one of the mani's she did for a recent challenge - Comic-Con Geek Week Day 3.

I love Stargate. I remember watching the film so many years ago and absolutely adoring it. I even had the video game for the Mega drive back in the mid-90s. I was terrible at it. But the thing that captivated me most and the one thing that ties all of the various versions together is the gate itself.

ER31DC Week 22 - Inspired by a Song

Nothing jumped out at me to do for this one, so I decided to stick my iTunes on and let it decide for me. Thankfully my music collection is varied beyond most people's wildest imagination, and the first song it threw up on shuffle was this beauty...

Pokemon Challenge Gen II, Round 1

Welcome to the first week of the Pokemon Challenge Gen II!

The first round is Normal type pokemon, and this round I picked....

Quickie Mani - Slate & Gold

Nothing like recycling a good swatch for a nice mani.

This was done on top of the Revlon Blue Slate & Sally Hansen Gray by Gray comparison mani, mainly to test out my new purchases from the Born Pretty Store.

Comparison: Revlon Blue Slate & Sally Hansen Gray by Gray

Apologies for the quietness here lately, but the sun has come out and as a Northerner I feel duty bound to spend as much time it in as humanly possible. We have to make the most of what sun we get - it could be next July before we see it again. Winter is coming, don't you know.

This, however, inevitably leads to me being a little pink in places and having to hide for a couple of days whilst I cool down and stop feeling a little ill. Thanks to yesterday's family barbecue, today is very much a hiding-and-cooling day.

So whilst Mr Painted Claws did manly DIY things in the back yard, I sat in the living room and played with my polish.

Contrary to what your eyes are telling you, this is actually two different polishes. Revlon Blue Slate and Sally Hansen's Gray by Gray.

Swatched - Ellagee's Grand and Miraculous Spaceship

Wednesday is swatch day! Got a absolutely beautiful indie here from the lovely Ellagee - this is Grand and Miraculous Spaceship, from the World of Laughter collection.

I've been after this polish since I first spotted it on the Ellagee Facebook page before its release and I really was not disappointed when I finally got it.