Mani Monday: Abstract Christmas Tree

Today's mani is a Christmas tree originally seen here. When I first saw this, I thought it would be complicated and time consuming (not that that would stop me!) but I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was.

My weekend Christmas mani

I started with two coats of Zoya Blaze as my base, followed by Seche Vite. Then I taped off the sides of my middle nail with Scotch tape, making sure to stick it to my hand a few times first, of course. Most tutorials for this show it with cut up strips of tape to make the "garlands" on the tree, but I can't cut my strips that thin or that even, so I used striping tape for it. I taped it off with the striping tape, then applied a coat of Zoya Logan. After that, I used tweezers to stick a piece of star glitter from one of my Bundle Monster wheels to the top of my tree and applied two more coats of SV. I really love how it turned out!

Now, because this blog is called "Aubrey's Obsessions" and not "Aubrey's Nails" I have to share another obsession of mine. They're three of the cutest things on this earth and, even though they can drive me to the point of insanity on a daily basis, I love them to pieces. 

Meet Alana, Avery, and Alexis:

Look at them! How could I NOT be obsessed? :)

The girls are 7 and Avery is 4. I call them my "A-team." I took this pic on Friday night when they had the "sleepover" that Avery had asked for every night of the week. He was so excited when Friday finally came around and it wasn't a school night.

Anyway, I don't know how much I'll be able to post this week. I have another vicious kidney infection causing another RA flare. So if I don't "see" y'all, I hope you have a great week! :)

Winter Snowflake Mani

Just a quick post with my latest mani - my first one in over a week. I know, right?! I've felt practically naked! But it's been one of those oh-so-fun periods of time that those of us with autoimmune issues deal with - kidney infection thanks to the immunosuppressants, antibiotics, side effects, insomia - all of which cause major flares. But, I came out on the other side and I'm back.

Like I said, this is going to be a short post because I'm in something of a chemo hangover haze today so here's the pic:

I love the combo of blue & silver in the winter!

I started with two coats of Blue Bells Ring from China Glaze's Holiday Joy collection. It's such a perfect silvery winter blue color! I used Zoya Purity on my accent nail. Then I stamped the snowflakes on using Bundle Monster plates 319 and 323. After that, I dotted on Zoya Trixie (I simply adore this silver foil...I've yet to find anything it's not perfect for) in the middle of each snowflake and around them.

There's just something about the combination of blue and silver in the winter time. I know it's not the traditional red and green of Christmas, but it reminds me of lights shining on snowy winter nights. I guess that's why we went with that theme for our Christmas tree this year, too:

My awesome BF helped the kids and me with the tree last weekend

So, what are your favorite Christmas color combinations? Are you a clear light or multi-colored light person? Traditional or non-traditional? Let me know in the comments.

Mani Monday - Christmas Stripes and Dots

I've been away for a while. I've had a crazy busy schedule, then yesterday got knocked down by a flare...probably thanks to said busy schedule.

I'm hoping and praying that two days of laying around and resting will have me back on my feet enough to attend the Christmas party tomorrow morning at my women's Bible study. And, of course, I can't go to any kind of party without the appropriate nailwear. Which brings me to tonight's mani -

Elisa, Logan, and Ziv

I started with a base of Zoya's Elisa from their Fall 2012 NYFW Diva collection. I love this color! It is a bright red, perfect for Christmas, with a great shimmer to it. And, as is the case with every Zoya polish I've tried, the formula is smooth and flawless.

Elisa, Logan, and Ziv

To dress up my mani for a real Christmas-y feel, I pulled out two great colors from Zoya's Ornate (Winter 2012) collection. This entire collection is unreal! But for now, I just used a little bit of Logan for the stripes and Ziv for the dots, then of course topping it all with a coat of Seche Vite. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Elisa, Logan, and Ziv

I know it seems like all I use is Zoya, and I'll admit I've been on a bit of a kick with their polishes lately. They're just so gorgeous! I've yet to find one that is not beautifully pigmented and perfectly formulated. But I do have quite a few other brands. I've started cataloguing them all and coming across bottles in my stash that I forgot I had. It's really exciting!

And this manicure has me SO excited for Christmas! This is my favorite time of year and my brain is just buzzing with all the mani possibilities. How about you? Any ideas? Have you seen anything interesting?