May the treats be ever in your favor!

I've been swamped with studying, class, internship work and work-work lately, so prepare yourself for a little avalanche of posts here!
This is my most recent one, a Halloween mani that chipped so it had to go.  To be honest, I wanted to do a few, so I wasn't TOO sad to take it off...

*1 coat Yello=Out
*3 coats China Glaze Harvest Moon
*3 coats China Glaze Riveting
*3 coats Sonoma Nail Art Sincerest Pumpkin Patch
*Zoya Yara
*1 coat Out the Door

The China Glaze Capitol Colors were/are phenomenal.  Plain and simple.  Tons of them lend themselves to fall art, and I used two of them for this main.  Harvest Moon is a gorgeous, warm coppery-brown with a sparkling foil finish.  I used this on my thumb, index, and pinkie fingers.

I used Riveting for my pumpkin accent with Harvest Moon for the lines and a little bit of Yara for the grass and stem.  I adore Riveting.  I won't waste your time here, but you can click on the tag to see me sing its praises again and again.  This orange just glows!
Finally, I used Sincerest Pumpkin Patch for a second accent.  I love Sonoma Nail Art polish!  Not only do the polishes come from very near to my hometown, but they are amazing!  They combos are so rad and the polish is wonderful quality.  I haven't used this one in a year and didn't need any thinner like I usually do with indies.  I like it a little better with a base, like Yara, but I didn't think that through before I started painting, so I just layered the beauty on!  I love this polish and the Peanuts--it just makes me smile every time I look at it!

Capitol Autumn

It's getting closer to Christmas time, so I need to get all of my fall colors in to satisfy my deep love of autumn (that seems to be hiding from me this year).  I am really in love with the colors I got from the China Glaze Capitol Colors collection from this spring for the release of The Hunger Games.  I figured that this is a perfect time to pull some out!

Look at all that shimmery goodness!  I used 2 coats of Fast Track, an amazing nude/beige with tons of golden shimmer.  It actually covers quite well.  I knew I was going to add to the tips, so I didn't opt for a third coat (plus, they're short now because I broke some nails today between ripping into a package from Llarowe, refusing to make more than one trip into the apartment with my groceries, and lugging 7 loads of laundry to the laundry room...).  I never get tired of this beauty!

I tried the polka dot nails again that I used for my tutorial and final Go Pink manis.  I went a lot faster this time, trying to beat the fan that I just couldn't turn off (really--it's 77 in my apartment right now.  Where is fall?!).  They're not as artistic and neat as I would have liked, but the amazing colors TOTALLY make up for it!  Riveting is an amazing orange with a fiery shimmer.  This builds easily, too, if you were curious, but I just dotted it on in single coats.

Lastly, I added on Harvest Moon.  This copper is so warm and beautiful!  Again, it is packed with shimmer.  I love that these colors are gorgeous, and really do represent the Districts they were named for, and they're cohesive.  I didn't get all of the colors in this collection, but China Glaze did an amazing job making a true collection that worked together.  All of the ones I did get really belong together.

The dots almost remind me of falling leaves.  You know, when you don't live around palm trees.  Don't you just love those colors together?  Have you found some really good combos for them?  Let me know because I really don't get tired of using them!

31DC: Inspired by a book

I mentioned that I loved movies yesterday.  Well, I'm also a bookworm!  Luckily, books are a bit harder to translate into nails, so today was a bit less overwhelming, but I still feel a little like I'm betraying books by choosing just one!  I figured that I really couldn't help but do a Harry mani.  I know there are a ton of ways to take those books into art, but I went simple (because most of my art skills are spent this week!) and represented the houses with their colors.  I have one untried today.

"By Gryffindor, the bravest were prized far beyond the rest."  For Gryffindor's colors, I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Wined Up.  I love this deep, shimmery scarlet.  This is a gorgeous fall color!  I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golden-I for the tip.

 

 

"For Hufflepuff, hard workers were most worthy of admission."  First off, let me rant that little ol' Hufflepuff gets a bad rap.  They are also loyal and hard workers, determined like their little badger mascot.  They are not the duds of Hogwarts.  Really!  I used 2 coats of Color Club Almost Famous for the yellow base and Sally Hansen Black Out for the tip. 

 

 

"For Ravenclaw, the cleverest would always be the best."  For the base of this nail, I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Co-Bolt Blue.  This is such a pretty, shimmery blue!  I used China Glaze Harvest Moon for the coppery tip.  I loved this color combo!  These two are so pretty on their own, but really amazing together.

 

"And power-hungry Slytherin loved those of great ambition."  For my base, I used 3 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Emerald City.  I used Spoiled Daddy's Credit Card for the silver tip--kind of apprpriate for an entitled house.  This would make for such a pretty Christmas combo--I'll have to remember it!

 

"And we must unite inside her or we'll crumble from within."  The Hogwarts' seal is a combination of the 4 houses, bound with an "H."  I added a little Fairy Dust, for magical measure, and used my Black Hologram striper to draw on the H.

Well, that's my book inspiration!  It feels so anti-climactic because I have so much love for so many books!  I feel like it should be something monumental, something spectacular.  I liked this design, but it's not one I'm dying to recreate.  Have you had that happen before?  Been excited for a mani and then realized that it just didn't live up to your expectations, even if it wasn't bad, per se?