Ghosts of Christmases Past (Photo Glut)

Hello Finging Fiends! Happy New Year! Sorry that this is a month late lol. I hope all of your Holidays went well! Mine were ok... they could have been better, but I felt homesick, tired and uninspired.  The holidays were pretty rough for me because I am unemployed, but since I am creative I made jewelery and finished a painting for my oldest sister's birthday.  I was fired around this time last year and it sucked that I found myself unemployed 2 Christmases in a row.  There was a lot of moping and crying and me feeling sorry for myself. I guess it was naive of me to think that I would have found something by now, but 4 months is the longest I have ever been out of work and things are getting kind of grim.

I'm trying to stay productive and keep busy job hunting as well as keeping my spirits up.  I had some parties to go to before Christmas, so that felt good.  It was also my Hubs's birthday on December 22, so that was a pretty fun party.  I was kind of annoyed that I baked so much and nobody ate it! He loved his cake, but I was like "Is everyone on a diet... before Christmas?! Is my baking really bad? Am I the only one who likes sweets and is that why I look like Momma June whilst everyone is slimming down?".  It is stupid now that I see in writing what goes through my head when I feel anxious.  It feels good to get it out and laugh at my imbalanced brain.

I did some really great nail art over the holidays so I'm just going to post a photo glut, then once I am up to date I will post more often (ha ha let's see how long this Resolution lasts... hey shut up brain! I resolve to not fall for your negativity!). There will be many posts with just photos and less rambling because I am still new here.  I may make a second blog with more personal stuff : ) since I have so many photos to share and maybe you are not here for whinies, but here for the shinies.

I wanted my nails to look like a soft early morning snofall.  This design was pretty sweet and subtle.

Penny the tortie cat under the tree.

Some of my favourite decorations. Frog Flapper Lady and Frog Dapper Gentleman... and a mushroom.

The Angel looked lonely, so Jack Skellington Serenaded her.

Penny waiting for Santa.

Nothing says Christmas like a Pickle ornament! I lost the star on my Christmas tree nail art.

Paaaaaaarty!

Glitter and a Chikadee.

The oh-so-popular snowflake.

Cult Nails Flushed, Claire's Mystical and a Color Club's Wild at Heart.  My 3 current faves... it was like Christmas came early!

Penny sneaking into the background... or me intentionally putting her there because of her cuteness.

If you like any of the art, you can ask me in the comments what nail polish I used.  I didn't really feel like listing all the stuff I used.  I got a Helmer for Christmas (Yay! Thanks Hubs!) and I am currently re-organizing my collection.

Nuit Blanche 2012

Well this past weekend was Nuit Blanche (all night art exhibits around downtown Toronto) as well as one of my sisters' birthdays.  I made her a yummy cake but forgot her present so my sister of the year card did not get punched lol.  I really need to practice making frosting more because I know how I want my buttercream to taste but it is not quite there yet. If you have any tips please add them to the comments.  I am basically trying to make it less sweet and more creamy.

So after hanging out with my sister and her friends and having yummy dinner, the texts began to flood my phone (Can Adria come out to play?).  I ended up missing the bus (really I don't know how he didn't see me) and waited an hour for the next one.  I want to rant but I will save the TTC rant for another time. I finally met up with my friends and my Hubs and we went to find some art.  We didn't see many of the exhibits and were a bit disappointed with the lack of displays this year, but we had fun anyway! We drank Mulled Cider tea and I spiked mine with a bit of Whiskey.  Something about 40 Creek Whiskey and Cider... it just screams fall! Don't worry I don't drink to get drunk so I really enjoyed it :)  So after wandering around the financial district in search of art (the most concentrated area of exhibits).  We ended up on King St. at around 3:30 in the morning and I was starving! There was no way I was going to make it with that long lineup at Tim Hortons... I just wanted a bagel!

Stop motion film of different vegetables growing.  Very informative and relaxing :)

Can you guess what this is made from?

Frosting!

Humber Bay Exhibit... It was on the Humber Bay Bridge since this summer.

It looked like a weird sea creature.

It had colour changing LED's that you can control with an App.

Messages on floating blocks with Throwies inside.  Throwies are LEDs with a watch battery electrical taped to it.  I barely went to the bathroom all night because I was scared of lineups.

This one just looks cooler than it sounded.  It was a suspended electric guitar that was being raised and lowered with amplified feedback.  Worst mass ever... I didn't even receive communion!

Drunken Streetlamps near the Cloud Gardens.

This one was really cool: It was a drive through fun house with projections and a guide.  The line was crazy though!

There were guys with microphones attached to their sweater cuffs as they speed solved a Rubix Cube.

Space invaders! Apparently you could play along.

Thumb: Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, Color Club Smash Hit and Wet 'n Wild Silver Frost Index: Nina Ultra Pro Black, Revlon Silver Dollar, and Essie Set in Stones Middle: Whirlwind White, Love and Beauty "Cannonball", LA Girl Glitter Addict  Uninhibited, Sally Hansen Glass Slipper  Ring (sorry about the chips!): Color Club Worth the Risque, Claire's Holo Topcoat Pinkie: Nina Ultra Pro Black, Ardene Paris Nights (I'm holding a Kozik Smorkin' Labbit vinyl art toy in my left hand)

Thumb: Nina Ultra Pro Black with Claire's Silver Crackle  Index: Whirlwind White, Love and Beauty "Cannonball", Essie Set in Stones  Middle: Nina Black, Revlon Silver Dollar and OPI Servin' Up Sparkle  Ring (gradient): Sally Hansen Pewter, Ardene Hollywood Star and Sally Hansen Glitz Gal  Pinkie:Whirlwind White LA Girl Uninhibited and OPI Servin' up Sparkle (right hand)

I did some art inspired nails.  I chose to do black and white because that is the colour of all the Nuit Blanche billboards.  I wanted to capture the vibe so I also did some abstract stamping, but it looked so bad I should have just done a plastic wrap mani.  I could have called the whole thing a failure because it turned out so different from the original idea, but art is art and it was salvaged by GLITTER! I did each nail different because it is something I have never done before and it had a greater effect in the end. I wish I could have taken close up shots but my nails were jacked up! I promise I will do this again because it was so fun doing such an obnoxious mani :)

-A.C.