Friday, 8 November 2013

Oh well time to paint....

Anyone who know's me know's i'm petrified of Spiders!  I'm about to paint the room i'm going to transform into my salon at home but unfortunately i forgot to ask my husband to get the paint rollers out of the shed! THE SHED is full of man eating spiders out to get me and the rollers are in a box that is probably full of them lurking and waiting! The fake widow spider is breeding for fun in Manchester apparently and i bet you i have a nest of them in our shed the biggest haul of breeding fake widows there is i can tell you! This brush was the only one at a arms length i could grab and run, doh i think painting is going to be very slow! 




Oh dear.....

I came inside shaking (ok i exaggerate a little) and mad a coffee and put it on the side ready for me to write this post and then went into the kitchen to make another!! I'm going mad!

Anyone for coffee?


There will be no sleeping on the job for me! ha ha

Thursday, 7 November 2013

Acrylic Nails

One of my new skills will be mastering the art of Acrylic Nails and Nail Art.  Any of you that have their nails done by a professional will i'm sure at one  time or another thought to themselves..'ah i can do this'.  Well i was one of them!  Fours years ago i paid for a two day course to learn acrylic nails..well i say two days but it was about four hours each day that was really rushed as the girl i'm sure had to pick her baby up from the child minders!! Why the hell i didn't complain afterwards is beyond me but i didn't and then she had the cheek to email me to ask if i wanted to go back and learn more! 'NO I DID NOT'!!  I have practiced and learnt lots since then and have spent hundreds of pounds on courses to perfect my skills but nothing beats the real thing and working on real people but it's definitely scary and nerve wracking (well it was for me) and a confidence thing but i'm getting there. Now that i've been made redundant i'm doing one more course to learn how to sculpt which in my opinion is the best way to do nail extensions but this is only my opinion and it's also good to give people the option as some people love tips and some love sculpted nails.

Nail Art - now there is a thing...i love how creative you can be with lots of different medium embedded into clear acrylic, coloured acrylic, making shapes, painting, the list is endless and art is endless when it comes to nail art.  This said i have lots of learning and training to do and you still never ever know enough!

The hardest thing in the world for a beginner like me is doing my own nails!! OMG, shaky left hand trying to do my right and the worst acrylic technique in the world and to top it off when i had taken two hours to do them i remembered i hadn't taken the shine off and used primer!! They'll last all of two blumming days if i'm lucky now!  

Here's the result anyway! 



Monday, 4 November 2013

Well time flies....

Blimey it's November already and the last time i wrote anything on my blog it was May!!  It's been a roller coaster of a Summer for me and my family and yes i did get made redundant as i said in my previous post and left my job for the final time last Tuesday. As i said in May i'm retraining and have retrained in other area's to start self employment so i thought from now and the future i would do a kind of journey of my new life!!

After working in Social Housing for 9 years it's going to be quite different but i'm so looking forward to being my own boss!  I have made a pact with myself though that as i'm working from home i will always get up as i did before at 6.30am as though i'm going to work and never ever sit in my PJ's!!  Well that would be a little bit crazy in front of clients wouldn't it?

My new skills include:

Manicure 
Pedicure
Hair
Acrylic Nails
UV Gel
Makeup Artist (qualifying in December) 
Teeth Whitening 

So can't wait to get started, excited and nervous!

What advice can you give me for starting out? 

Wednesday, 8 May 2013

Busy Busy Busy....

Well it has been a busy few weeks and a some ups and downs.  My full time job may be coming to an end at the end of the month or at least some major changes monetary wise by quite a lot a year so i've had to make some changes personally.  As most of us know it's a struggle in this current economic climate so i have to have a second job and some kind of provision so if I do get made redundant i have something i can fall back on and build so i decided to retrain.  I am a qualified Hairdresser but haven't actively worked in this field since the 90s but since my children came along i've always wanted to refresh those skills but the opportunity just never came along..well until now!  I'm retraining and refreshing those skills and looking to go self employed later this year as i am with my beauty qualifications. Watch this space!

Saturday, 16 March 2013

Manicure it is!

After about 12 months of either having acrylics or UV gel my nails are weak and shot!  They're paper thin and yellow to a point that i look like i smoke a 100 fags a day! Of course i don't but it's prompted me to look at my nails in a different way.

I need a Manicure

Are you ready?  Here goes...

First of all I washed my hands..
My nails are dry and brittle

yep, i know man hands

1. After i'd washed my hands i buffed the tops of my nails very very gently to take some of the yellowing away, i didn't want to damage my nails anymore that they are already so just a very gentle once over was all they needed.

2.  I then shaped them as best as i could and because they're dry and brittle they've peeled and broken to odd shapes so until the get strong and grow my nails won't be a great shape.

3.  I then took a bowl of warm soapy water and put some cuticle cream onto my nails and cuticle, massaged it in and placed my hands into the water



4.  After a few minutes i took them out and gently pushed back the cuticle and cleared any off my nail plate.


5.  I try not to cut my cuticles very often as they're there for a reason but i did trim them slightly as after months and months of neglect they were in need of it.

6.  After this i removed any left over residue by dipping my hands into some more clean soapy water and dried them gently.

7.  I then took some exfoliator, I used a face one as this is gentle (Fern Cotton) to your skin but does the job perfectly.  I massaged it around my hands and then took it off with water and dried my hands with a towel, BINGO, my hands felt soft and fresh.

Yep still Man Hands
8.  Now for the colour.  I took the OPI base and top coat and applied one coat of this to each nail as this stops yellowing from your polish and provides a base for your colour to sit on


9.  Now it's time for your chosen colour.  I chose three  a teal colour from Miss Sporty, Mint Green by Barry M and Sunshine Arabian Glow by Avon and alternated them.

10.  Apply two coats of the colour thinly to your nails and allow each coat to dry fully.  Yes this will take longer but i find your colour will last longer if the colour is fully dry before applying the next coat.  If you have a nail dryer then lucky you it will help you paint your nails quicker.



11.  Next, apply your top coat and allow to dry then add some cuticle oil to your cuticles and  massage some moisturiser into your hands if you want to.

12.  Voila! Less of the man hands!



well kind of...

My nails are having a well earned rest!


Tuesday, 12 March 2013

Guilty or What!?

On Sunday as most Mum's will know it was Mothers Day here in England.  On Sunday in our house it was just another Sunday.  I woke as i usually do before everyone else, got my usual cup of  tea/coffee depending what mood i'm in and if i need to wake up or not.  Read emails and the Daily Mail online and then take a shower and prepare Sunday breakfast which usually comprises of a Bacon Butty or a full English (healthy version of course).  

Down the stairs came my daughter her grumpy morning self, then my Husband chirpy and annoying and then my son, hungry as usual.  NOT one word of 'Happy Mothers Day', i'm not really bothered if i'm really really honest....well a card would of been nice...even handmade...no not really bothered still, i can live with the fact that my children and husband don't care about Mothers Day just like i don't 'cough'..NO i DON'T, really i don't..

I began to make a joke about it to my son...'what day is it today'?  'I'm sure it's special'? My son 'erm, Sunday'...All day i joked about it being a special day until we got my Mum's for dinner later that day who incidently received a beautiful handmade cushion..ok it had a cheeky personalisation on it but it's a gift...


It's the thought that counts

Still no 'Happy Mothers Day', they're waiting until i think they've really really not bothered and when we get home from Nans they'll get their card out with a beautiful sentimental verse in about how much they love me...NO I'M really really NOT bothered, the day is overated...

My son's girlfriend came around when we got home later in the evening and said....you guessed it 'Happy Mothers Day'!! Ah thank you Sophie..i said, that's lovely. 'Have you enjoyed your day with your Mum?' 'yes' she said.  Myself and my brothers took my Mum and Nan out for a meal.  I bought her perfume, my brothers bought her clothes and jewellery and my Grandad bought her the biggest box of chocolates you have ever seen! 'oh how lovely Sophie' that sounds lovely.  

Grandad!? Grandad!? Even her lovely Grandad got her Mum something!...NO, i've told you i'm NOT bothered, really i'm not...

Not a peep out of my lot until my daughter was being tucked in and given a kiss goodnight at 10.00pm by her mum...'night Mum, Happy Mothers Day'...ah ha! Someone remembered!!

Tonight (Tuesday two days later) guess what was waiting for me? 


A bottle of wine
A vintage style cup
Lindt Chocolate
and a bunch of flowers!

SEE!!! THEY DO LOVE ME!!!

P.S. The cup isn't for the wine before you ask!


Tuesday, 5 March 2013

My Chavtastic earrings!!

I love these earrings!  I love them especially as Isobel my daughter found them for £1.00 and bought them me, bless her...  I wouldn't normally go for something so large but when i put them in with my hair tied back i thought...mmmm, they don't look that bad.

I'm wearing these today and although they're driving my ears mad as they're cheap metal I'm still wearing them..for now anyway.

This is what i'm wearing today with them

But don't worry i have a Primark cami top underneath in black! Also from Asos
Bought these from Asos for £28.00





I bought these fabulous shoes for £10.00 from New Look at the weekend


 
Last but not least my chavtastic earrings

It would be far easier to take a photo of me but i have no one around to do so unless i go outside and stop some unsuspecting pedestrian and ask them to photograph me whilst i do a very bad imitation of a model pose! MMMM? Perhaps not!