Reverse French Mani

Hello there! Sorry for my so very late post.

Lets get down to business! I went to Walgreens the other day and purchased a few Sinful Colors from the Castaway collection, few as in 3 bottles. Nothing else was really caught my attention. However, this one was one of them.

This polish is called Zeus. You can't really tell but this has a beautiful purple shimmer. Unfortunately, it doesn't really show up on the nails. It's so gorgeous in the bottle! I was a tiny bit disappointed. But I really enjoy looking at the bottle. I might just use to this to franken and experimenting to see what I can come up with. Anywho, I used 2 coats. Surprisingly, at1 coat it was already pretty opaque. Then I used China Glaze Icicle for the french at the bottom. I like the way it turned out. I'm just not all that used to it. It's a tiny twist, but I'm liking it. One thing I have say, this is like my 10th bottle of buying a Sinful Colors nail polish and for some odd reason, they all seem to be thick in application for me. Does this happen to any of you?

Oh, and look at the snow we just received this morning! It's the most snow we've gotten since. Winter. Beautiful isn't it?

Anyways. I hope you all had a wonderful day!

What do you think of the unexpected reverse french?
Anna

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Twinsie Tuesday: Franken Polish

This week’s Twinsie Tuesday Challenge: franken polish.

Firstly, I want to thank Amanda at Amandalandish and all the rest of the talented bloggers for allowing me to be a part of Twinsie Tuesday. I cannot stress how honored I feel to be involved with this! So thanks again!

I actually didn’t own a single franken polish until I was put to this challenge. I then began experimenting with a few polishes that I don’t use and came up with a few of my very first frankened polishes. I was having so much fun! I could not believe that I have never tried this before. I admit it’s a tiny bit challenging but so rewarding when you’re finally able to pick up that polish and stare at it in awe! With that said, this is what I came up.

The picture seriously does no justice. There are very tiny purple glitters that you can’t see and it really just adds to the polish. I really love the color. It looks really elegant and definitely something I don’t already own. I used 3 coats. Easily, it could’ve been 2 coats but I wanted it to look perfect! 

I started out with the bottle filled with a topcoat ¼ of the way. I then added a black based polish that contained very tiny purple glitter then added a shimmery nude to help lighten the color. Lastly, I added a gold glitter polish and voila! 

Anywho, I really hope you enjoyed this because I did! What do you think?

Anna

Don't forget to check out the rest of the awesome girls who are involved in Twinsie Tuesday!

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Ashley at Art Evolve

Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I''m just me...ChiChi

Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...

Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...

Katherine at Haul of Fame

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails

Rachel at Top Coat It

Sarah at See Sarah Swatch

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Glitter Obsession 300 Follower Giveaway

Check out this awesome giveaway!!!

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Half Matte Glitter Bomb

Just messing around some more with the matte. I'm sure if you can tell if the glitter is supposed to eventually fade down the nails but my nails are so short you really can't tell. I did it on a fake longer nail and it looked absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately that wasn't my case. However, I really liked the way it turned out. Sort of feathered. My sister said she really didn't like the matte black part that was close to the base of my nail because it looks like I colored it what a sharpie. I took a second look, now I'm not diggin' the matte black so much anymore. I sort of have to agree unfortunately. But what do you think?

It was really hard to get a clean crisp line with the glitter as I am sure would be able to imagine why. It didn't turn out exactly perfect but it's definitely fun to look at. Can you tell the ends of my nail were glossy not matte? I hope so. In this mani, I used Milani Black Magic with China Glaze Lorelei for the glitter then Elf Matte Nail Polish Finisher at the base of the nail. Lastly, I hope everyone is having an awesome weekend so far! Only one more day and we're back to Monday, sadly. Oh! One thing, for the first time ever I franken'ed my very own polishes. It was so much fun! A lot of thought and creativity! I can't wait to share!

Do you think matte black nails look like a Sharpie mani?
Anna

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Black and Gold

Praise God it's Friday! Yay! Yesterday, I attempted to do my nails. I sort of like the outcome but didn't have enough drying time. My little guy started getting really grumpy and my husband who originally said he was going to watch him didn't - he went to sleep. So that led me with no choice. Some polish had gotten all over my face and his face. So I only got a picture of what was left. The right now looks pretty now. So now, I have to do my nails again, I actually sort of liked it even though it looked sort of fail.

See the bubbles?

I used 2 coats of Milani White then sponged on Milani Black Magic and with a dotting tool, I added in the gold using Sally Hansen Guilty Pleasure. I really enjoy the color combo just not exactly the design. I'm not sure if you can tell but I barely had time to put on my top coat and was in a rush hence all the bubbles (especially on the ring finger). Other than that, I hope to redo this mani. I'm still gonna keep it for a day or two. In the mean time, try to come up with something else. Is it just me, or it sort of has a grungy feeling? Well, I hope you all have a great weekend! (=

What do you think of it?
Anna

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True or False?

I just wanted to share this with you because sometimes I have this problem. So I'd say definitely true for me.

(Pictured from Pinterest)

Does this happen to you as well?
Anna

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Sally's Beauty Clearance

Hi! So I ran to Sally's Beauty just because I felt like it and fortunately for me, I saw these beautiful China Glaze polishes on the clearance rack on sale for ONLY $1.99! I was shocked! They had a few different polishes including the Crackle ones but these two were the ones that caught my eye.

China Glaze Lorelai's Tiara (left)

China Glaze Blonde Bombshell (right)

Who could resist such beautiful polishes for only $1.99? As I was preparing to pay for the polishes, the cashier who helped me also informed me that all China Glaze purchases were $1 off. I was blown out of the water! My total came up to be $3.19 after taxes! That's about $1.60 a bottle. 

So check out your local Sally's Beauty! I am sure they still have awesome polishes hanging out in the clearance section! 

Planning to make a stop?

Anna

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Mini PRO FX Haul

Have any of you used this brand before? I bought the base coat a while ago on a whim since it was on clearance not thinking much about it since it was a few dollars. When I got the chance to try it, my polish no joke lasted for 2 weeks, no chip. I was seriously amazed!

I sometimes don't use this just because it the polish lasts forever and I don't want my mani to last that long, but when I know I won't have the chance to do my nails for a while, this one is a lifesaver! The bottle says epoxy bond base coat, DBP and toluene free. It's 1 fluid ounce. Totally worth the purchase considering the awesome job performance.

When I went shopping the other day I saw a few other products of the same brand and wanted to try them out to see how they worked. I haven't tried it yet but I am very anxious.

I purchased the cuticle remover, top coat and cuticle oil. You can find this brand at Wal Mart for less than $7 dollars I believe. You get about a good 2.5 fluid ounce for the cuticle oil and top coat. That's a lot, compared to a regular .5 ounce top coat for $11-13 (Seche Vite and Voila).

Have you heard or tried this brand before? If not, would you like to try it?
Anna

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Golden Goddess

First off, I am really really loving this mani! Before applying on any polish, I had no idea what I was going to do but I went on ahead and randomly picked up a polish and painted my nails, erased them cause I didn't like them and literally I did this about 3 times before my hubby forced me to just pick a color and so I did. I was stuck with Sinful Colors Glass Pink. I sat there and looked at my other polishes for another 10 minutes and free handedly painted on Sally Hansen's Guilty Pleasure at the tips of my fingers then added a coat of Elf's Golden Goddess halfway down my nails. And voila!

You probably can't see the pink and gold flecks but it is absolutely beautiful. At first, I was like "what a mess" but now, I actually want to keep it on my nails and not do a new mani. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed it!

What do you think of the color combo?
Anna

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Old Polish: Purple Vintage

I can't seem to recall where I saw a photo with a very similar design hence the fact that that was where this design came from. However, I really enjoyed this mani when I had it done. It almost looks vintage!

I used Revlon No Shrinking Voilet then with a jelly polish I added Sally Hansen Salon Manicure in Shell We Dance? I really LOVE the Salon Manicure but it's a little pricey for a drugstore polish. For a couple cents more, I could already purchase an OPI polish. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this mani!

Do you think it's a little vintage?
Anna

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Mini Lush Haul

I went shopping over the weekend and purchased a few products from Lush for the first time! I knew that there is a Lush store somewhere near where I live but I never had the time and didn’t want to just drive all the way out there to buy some health and beauty products. But, I saw that there was a Lush in the mall and made a stop. I only purchased 3 things but I am super excited to try them out! I can’t remember the names unfortunately. That doesn’t help you out all. But there are SO many great products from Lush to try out so you’re really not going to miss out on much. 

The bath bomb smells.. I can't really describe it but it is one of the newest bath bombs that they have. There are flower petals that are individually hand picked from Turkey just for these bombs. How special is that? Then I bought this green soap. I'm not sure what it is called but it goes in the tub. And let me telly you, it smells so yummy! It's so fresh! I just want to eat it! The last thing I purchased was a facial cleanser. I only purchased a small amount to try it out. The sales person that recommended this said this was one of the best selling cleansers. Maybe it's true? Or not, either way I bought it. So this concludes my mini haul. 

Do you have/own(ed) any Lush products? If so, what do you recommend?

Anna

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Matte OPI Road House Blues

Hello! I hope you're having a good weekend so far! Today, I decided to mess around with Elf’s Matte Finisher Nail Polish and this is what I came up with. This is my first time with any sort of matte finish with ny nails and I am really enjoying this mani. I hope you will too!

I used OPI's Road House Blues. One of the new polishes in my collection. It looks like a super navy dark blue but almost like an indigo violet. I did 2 coats of this and the application was as smooth as butter! I haven't used an OPI for a while and it really reminded me why I love OPI. It's like I have fallen in love all over again! I also added the rhinestones because I felt as thought it were a tiny bit boring. So just a bit of femininity and something to catch the eye. Well, I hope you enjoy this post! Have a great rest of the weekend!


Do you think matte is in or out?
Anna

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Comparison Dupe: Zoya and Sinful Colors

If you don’t know, I recently just purchased my first few bottles of Sinful Colors because Walgreens is having an awesome deal where they're only $.99, so check it out!! And so, I have heard (haven’t googled it or looked up) the rumor that Sinful Colors Kissy is very close to Zoya’s Charla. At first without looking at Charla, I thought: “no way could they look closely a like.” Then I went to the store, purchased it and sure enough when I compared the two, they were pretty close. I could definitely say dupe for this one.

 Zoya Charla

 Sinful Colors Kissy

 The results
Index & ring: SC Kissy

Middle & pinky: Zoya Charla

I could not believe it. Dupe for sure, in my opinion. From a far, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference but if you look closely at it, Kissy is a tiny bit darker than Charla, hence the fact that Kissy looks like it has a slightly darker base. I felt like the application for this one was a little goopy. I don't think you can see, but at the tips of my nails, they're a little clumped. Since this is my first time trying out Sinful Colors, I am not sure if it it was the specific polish or whatever it may be. Zoya is definitely more shiny on the nails and applied beautifully and easily. No complaints. With that said, the fact that Kissy was only for $.99 and Charla for about $8, I would recommend Kissy besides the fact it applied a little goopy. However, I still very fond of Charla.

Which one would you rather purchase?

Anna

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Awards!

Thanks to ColorSplash Nails who gave me these two LOVELY blog awards! Can I just say, I am SUPER honored (serisouly)! So here we go! PS - Check her out! She has an awesome blog as well!

First up:
One Lovely Blog Award

Rules:
1. Link back to the person you got it from/awarded you.
2. Tell 7 things about yourself.
3. Give the award to 10 bloggers.

7 Things about me:
1. I can fluently speak in 2 languages (Obviously English being one of them).
2. I really want braces, but people say I don't need them.
3. I've always wanted to join the Navy, but it didn't work out.
4. I enjoy watching Glee.
5. I prefer to use forks over spoons.
6. I don't enjoy mainstream music.
7. I really enjoy going to church.

Secondly:
The Butterfly Award

Rules:
1. Link back to the person you got it from/awarded you.
2. Answer the following questions.
3. Award other bloggers and let them know.


The questions:
What's your favorite song? Avalanche - Hillsong
What's your favorite desert? ICE CREAM!
Who's your favorite pet? I no longer have one since she disappeared.
Black or white? Mostly black.
What's your biggest fear? My son growing up too fast.
What's your best feature? My eyes.
What's your everyday attitude? What does the Lord have for me today?
What's perfection? Imperfection.
What's your guilty pleasure? Ice cream, again.

10 people I have awarded:

http://glamonthecheap.blogspot.com/
http://swatchmenow.blogspot.com/
http://unnakednails.blogspot.com/
http://glitzglambudget.blogspot.com/
http://avidlian.blogspot.com/
http://enamelgirl.blogspot.com/
http://funkyfrenchienails.blogspot.com/
http://seesarahswatch.blogspot.com/
http://shenailedme.blogspot.com/
http://prettydigits.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much again ColorSplash Nails for awarding me! I am so honored and grateful!You can't even imagine!

I hope you enjoyed this!
Anna

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Sinful Colors Haul

I was shopping the other day and saw that my local Walgreens had a sale where Sinful Colors had their nail polishes for only $.99 a bottle. As if $1.99 weren’t cheap enough?! I decided to pick up a few bottles for myself since I didn’t own any. And for the price, why not? Who could go wrong with a polish bottle for only $.99? The sale for Sinful Colors will be ending the end of this week 02/18/12. So pick up a few bottles if you haven’t already! This is one heck of a deal!

Do you plan to purchase is Sinful Colors this week? If you already own them, do you like them?

Anna 

Thanks to Nouveau Cheap for always keeping us updated on weekly drugstore sales!

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Old Polish: Angry Birds

This design was done a while ago. I actually was inspired to do it because a friend of mine had Angry Birds on her nails. I was a little hesitant because I honestly didn’t care much for Angry Birds, but I was like, what the hey. Why not?! So it took roughly an hour to get all my nails done. And strangely for the first time ever, the nails on my right hand looked much neater than my left hand. After that, I really enjoyed this mani and received a lot of compliments. So, here it is: 

I wasn’t going to do this mani just because I don’t care for Angry Birds, as I stated above but it was fun and a real challenge. I am glad I did.

Do you play Angry Birds? Would you do you your nails like this?

Anna 

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10 Tips For Aspiring Beauty Bloggers

This has been so helpful to me as you know that I am very new to blogging. I keep these 10 tips in the back of mind every day. Whenever I feel like “Gosh, my blog isn’t cool and no one reads it.” These tips help remind me that a million, trillion followers and readers don’t just happen overnight! So with that said, I hope these tips help you out as well!

10 Tips For Aspiring Beauty Bloggers

What keeps you blogging everyday?

Anna 

Thanks to Clumps of Mascara, Brittany for sharing her blogging secrets.

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Seche Vite Bad?

I have always known this, but want to hear your thoughts. Do you use this? If not, what top coat would you use? If so, do you think this an extreme health hazard?

(Pictured from purse blog)

(Keep out of reach of children. Do not use near heat or flame. Warning! The product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.)

Would you continue or like to use this?
Anna

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Horrible Cuticles

It’s winter here and my cuticles are driving me nuts. What’s your secret? My cuticles are so nasty and dried out it makes me very sad. I always lotion them before I go to sleep but when I wake and start my day, they look like poo. As you can evidently see in the picture below they look… It just makes me not want to look at them. So if you would so kindly share your secrets and techniques, I would really appreciate them!

 

On the other hand, I tried out a mani that looked so cool! It was on her blog just a few days ago. So I thought I would try it myself. Thanks ColorSplash Nails for sharing this awesome technique!

Mind sharing your beautiful cuticle secrets?

Anna

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Birthday Gift

Thanks to my dear sister, she purchased me these lovely OPI polishes. I received a few other gifts as well. But I am super excited to try these out! I swatched all of these on a nail wheel but the pictures just would not capture the true beauty of the polishes. So, if you wanna see swatches on my nails please feel free to let me know!

Do you have any "gotta have" OPI polishes at the moment?
Anna

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11 Questions Tag!

I have been tagged by the awesome ColorSplash Nails! I feel so honored to have been tagged and I am super excited to do this tag! So thanks a ton for tagging me! So here it is:

11 Things about me:

1. I only eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches folded in half. 

2. My handsome boy is 6 months and a week old.

3. I am change oil and rotate tires by myself. 

4. HOPEFULLY 3 ½ more semesters and I will have my B.S. in biology! 

5. I have lived in 5 different states out of my 21 years of life.

6. I LOVE scrapbooking but never have enough time for it. 

7. I passionately dislike cooking, but do it anyways. 

8. I can drive a manual and automatic car. 

9. I used to be in choir in high school and I hated it. 

10. I’m a baby crier when I watch emotional movies. 

11. I dislike eating fish. 

ColorSplash Nails' questions:
1. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
Wendy's or Taco Bell
2. What is your favorite quote from a movie?“The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” -Moulin Rouge
3. How many nail polishes do you own?
Roughly 180.
4. What is your favorite holiday?
Thanksgiving!
5. What’s your biggest pet peeve?
People who are impolite.
6. What is your all-time FAVORITE nail polish (You can only pick one!)
Sephora by OPI Metro Chic
7. Do you have a pet? (Children do NOT count!)
Unfortunately.
8. What’s your astrological sign?
Aquarius.
9. Snow: hate it or love it?
Too much snow, hate it. Less than 4 inches, love it.
10. What is your favorite color?
I sadly don't have one. 
11. What is your favorite candy?
Hershey's Symphony.

My questions:
1. Do you have a middle name?

2.Do you play any sports?

3. What’s your favorite all time movie?

4. Do you prefer high heels or flats?

5. What kind of food could you not live without?

6. Do you play any instruments?

7. What got you into blogging?

8. Are you afraid of any type of animal(s)?

9. How long have you ever shopped without stopping for anything? (Excluding bathroom breaks.)

10. What color is your room?

11. Whose blog did you last visit?

Rules
Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.
Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
You have to choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post.
Go to their page and tell them you have linked her/him.
No tag backs.
No stuff in the tagging section about "you are tagged if you are reading this." You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

11 people I have tagged:
http://www.nailedblog.com/
http://apolishedtouch.blogspot.com/
http://allthatisgorgeous.blogspot.com/
http://gnomesandnailpolish.blogspot.com/
http://goosesglossandglitter.blogspot.com/
http://www.justaddpolish.com/
http://agirlandherpolish.blogspot.com/
http://amandalandish.blogspot.com/
http://awesomenessnails.blogspot.com
http://polishandcharms.blogspot.com/
http://unnakednails.blogspot.com/

Thanks again ColorSplash Nails for tagging me! I had fun!
Anna

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SPOTTED! Target Salon Express

A while ago, I saw on Nouveau Cheap's blog at Rite Aid they were selling the Salon Express Nail Art Stamping Kit. I was a little bummed out because I live in the midcoast and there are certainly no Rite Aids around here. But guess what?! Earlier today as I was browsing and shopping at Target I spotted the very same Salon Express Nail Art Stamping Kit for only $9.99 (obviously with tax). I remember when I purchased my Konad Stamping Kit I bought it for roughly about $25 which ONLY contained the two way stamper + scraper (which the two way stamper was an extra $1 because it’s a two way stamper versus a regular one) along with only 3 image plates. I sort of got ripped off but I honestly love it, so I guess it’s not too bad. It was Black Friday so I kind of went crazy. However, if you live in an area where there are no Rite Aids, check out your local Target! (By the way, I purchased one for myself!) It’s only $9.99! 

The kit includes:

Nail design stamper

5 pre-designed image plates

Image plate holder

Nail polish scraper

Do you plan to pick one up yourself if you spot one?
Anna

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Old Polish: Keroppi

Here is another older polish design that I did. Back then, I used to collect stickers and I really enjoyed Keroppi. He such a cute character and are one of my favorites! But if you don’t know who Keroppi is he is a cute green frog-like character from Sanrio. He lives in a donut pond, and he is very popular because of his bubbly personality. He is simply adorable alongside with the famous Hello Kitty. Gotta love these cute characters!

Lastly, I wanted to share how much I really love nails! Gotta keep the little guys nails just as well maintained as mine (or at least I try to keep them in tip top shape). So tiny and perfect.

Did you have a favorite Sanrio charater? If so, who?
Anna

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Orchid Much?

I saw this beautiful awesome orchid mani on someone’s blog, but for the life of me I can’t remember whose it was. When I saw it, I thought it was so beautiful and simple that I had to have it only nails! Man. I wish I can remember who it was. I originally wanted to do a birthday mani on my nails but had no creative juice. POO.

 

Today is my happy happy birthday. I celebrated it yesterday with my family during lunch. I actually planned it myself. They all lied to me that they couldn’t make and I actually believed them! When I arrived there SURPRISE! Everyone was there! I am truly blessed and loved by such an awesome and crazy family. 

Sushi tray #1

Beef fried udon

Sushi tray #2

Excuse my silly brother's hands, he wanted the other food in the picture as well.

The only one that couldn't enjoy the rest of the food with us.

My cake!

The beautiful flowers from my family!

I hope to be sharing my birthday gifts with you all soon! I am truly blessed and very fortunate with such an awesome family. So, tonight we might be going to Buffalo Wild Wings and celebrating it there with the rest of our friends. I am excited and looking forward. I am so very glad that class is cancelled today! 

Hope you have a great day!

Anna

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Old Polish: Snakeskin & Mummies

Here are other older nail polish manis that I have done. I am sure you have seen many mummy manis. But this one is mine. I had this done for my nails this past Halloween 2011 since I didn't dress up or anything. So this was my festive Halloween way to celebrate:

Also, one day I was bored so I did this quick snakeskin look a like mani:

 Tell me, does it really look like snakeskin? 

-Anna

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GIANTS For The Win!

I hope everyone had a great Superbowl weekend! I KNEW the Giants were going to take it! Gotta give it to the underdogs! Here are couple pictures of our snack:

 

Coconut fruit salad

I’m not sure whether this is healthy or not, but it was definitely very yummy as well as the Tres Leche cake. I totally forgot to snap a few photos because I was busy snacking. Sorry. However, I hope your team won! 

YAY Giants!

Anna

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Old Polish: Newspaper & Transformers

Here are some old polish designs. These designs were not that long ago so I wanted to share them with you just because. I hope you enjoy!

This design was inspired from, hm. I am not sure. I can't remember. There have been so many images that I have seen where this design was done. So I wanted to give it a go myself. Have you ever done this design?

This one was just a quick design that I did because I was bored. It's a bit sloppy but who doesn't like Transformers?

Have a great weekend!
Anna

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