Fruity Nails

I saw these kawaii fruit nails by Nancy Mc, check out her picture. I thought why not try to re-create them. Mine didn't come out anywhere near as cute as hers, but hey I was happy! I think I like the apple and banana the best.

These were very difficult to paint as I didn't really have the best tools for the job. My nails aren't all that long and they are thin, so there's not a lot of room for painting the fruit.

Which fruity finger do you like best? 

Take me down the Jelicoe road anytime

On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Rating: 4 out of 5 hearts

300 pages

Released: August 2006

Buy it @ Angus & Robertson

Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham 17, finally confronts her past. Hannah, the closest adult she has to family, disappears. Jonah Griggs, moody stares and all, is back in town. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future.

Review

Melina Marchetta has this way of drawing a reader in and making them fall head over heels in love with her characters. I don't know how she does it! Her books always seem to start off confusing, this one wasn't any different, and before you know it you're sucked right into the story like nothing else in the real world matters. I was almost halfway through and was going to give up on this because it was just too confusing, but I went on because I have read so many good review, and oh my I'm am SO glad I kept going!

Marchetta's characters feel so real, by the end of the book I feel like I know them and could text them to catch up and hang out. It's hard to tell you exactly what was going on in this book, so all I will say is read this NOW! Or you could wait until the movie is released, there's no knowing when it will come out so you should just read it. My only problem with books being adapted into a movie is that I hope they can capture the chemistry between all the characters.

My only issue with this book (other than the confusing beginning, which made sense by the end) was the mystery behind Taylor's background and who her father was. I slowly guessed what was going on, which if you've read my reviews before you will know I hate when I guess things before they are revealed. But Marchetta was good at keeping little things secret and didn't reveal until later, so she kept me guessing a bit. Because of those small faults I give this 4 stars. I am now a huge fan of Melina Marcetta and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next!

On the cover

I love this cover, it's so vibrant and suits the story perfectly. I'm assuming that's the Jellicoe road and the faded person could be Taylor because she is stuck here but also in the past.

What I'm listening to next: The lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

More Jelly Sandwich Nail Art

I absolutely love to do Jelly Sandwich nails, they are so cool looking and so simple! If you'r unsure about how to do it then check out my previous post on it to get an idea. Now that you've done that here are my newest Jelly Sandwich creations.

Base colour: Essence Colour & Go - Sweet as Candy
Glitter:Models Prefer - All That Glitters

Base colour: Essence Colour & Go - Sweet as Candy
Glitter: Nicole by OPI - Spring Romance

Base colour: Essence Nude Glam - Cotton Candy
Glitter: Australis - Fairy Bread

Base colour: Essence Nude Glam - Cotton Candy
Glitter: Australis - Glitter Strikes Back

Which one do you like best?

Some girls are witches with a capital 'B'

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Rating: 3 out of 5 hearts

246 pages

Released: January 2010

Buy it @ book depository

Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard—falling from it is even harder.  Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumors about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around.  Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge.  If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day.  She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully.  Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend... if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.

Tensions grow and the abuse worsens as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion in this dark new tale

Review

Wow! What a bunch of cruel girls. A friend recommended this book to me a while ago, so I thought I should give it a go. Well after listening for only a short amount of time I realised what kind of book this is. Most people during their time at school have faced bullying or been a bully, I know I have! Years 8 & 9 at high school were some of the worst years of my life. So this book brought back some bad memories. I don't know why I kept reading, I think it's because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. It was a little like a train wreck where you can't look away. I also think it's because I wanted to see if the girls would realise what they've done and feel some sort of remorse for it. Unfortunately that never happened.

Listening to this it felt very much like the movie "Mean Girls" but 10 times worse mean pranks and no humor at all! The story is about a popular group of girls and one girl from the group is ostracized by the rest because of a rumor that was spread, even though we know the truth and it is horrible. Through the whole book the popular group are making the main character, Regina's life a living hell. Regina does get a bit back though, but after all of this I don't know if the girls really learnt a lesson in realising to take responsibility for there actions.

It's very hard to rate a book that you didn't particularly like the characters or like the story but I guess that's the whole point to this story to make you dislike the characters etc, so actually the author has done her job well. Because of this reason and also it was written so well, I decided to give it 3 stars because it deserves it but not 4 in my eyes. Even saying that I will definitely pick up and read any other books I find by Courtney Summers because I think she has a fantastic way of writing about something that feels so real and everyone can relate to.

On the cover

I wouldn't pick up this book based on this cover, I like the bright red locker but it's not that exciting in my opinion. But after reading this though if I see any book written by Courtney Summers I will definitely pick it up.

What I'm listening to next: On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Happy Cucpcake Nails

A while back I saw these adorable nails by The Crafty Ninja and thought they would be awesome to re-create. Check out her post to see how she did hers and see how I did mine below.

They weren't as difficult as I thought they would be, but I found that my black nail polish was getting a bit stringy so that ruined my middle finger's eyes.

Other than that, I loved trying to re-create them and putting my own spin on them.
I even posed with one of my cute cupcake lolly jars - very kawaii!

Have you been inspired by someone else's nailart and tried to re-create it? 

I'd love to see yours

This book is not defective

Girl Defective by Simmone Howell

Rating: 4 out of 5 hearts

312 pages

Released: March 2013

Buy it @ Angus & Robertson

We, the Martin family, were like inverse superheroes, marked by our defects. Dad was addicted to beer and bootlegs. Gully had "social difficulties" that manifested in his wearing a pig snout mask 24-7. I was surface clean but underneath a weird hormonal stew was simmering...

It's summer in St Kilda. Fifteen-year-old Sky is looking forward to great records and nefarious activities with Nancy, her older, wilder friend. Her brother – Super Agent Gully – is on a mission to unmask the degenerate who bricked the shop window. Bill the Patriarch seems content to drink while the shop slides into bankruptcy. A poster of a mysterious girl and her connection to Luke, the tragi-hot new employee sends Sky on an exploration into the dark heart of the suburb. Love is strange. Family Rules. In between there are teenage messes, rock star spawn, violent fangirls, creepy old guys and accidents waiting to happen. If the world truly is going to hell in a hand-basket then at least the soundtrack is kicking. Sky Martin is Girl Defective: funny, real and dark at the edges.

Review

I could not put this down, I read it in two sittings! The way Simmone Howell sucks you into her story and characters is magic. This book is about a girl discovering who she is and finding "her people". It's a story of finding love, uncovering secrets and lots of music.

I felt like such a loser when I was reading this! There were so many music references that I didn't get because I didn't know the artists that the characters were talking about. It's another book I've read that is set in Australia, specifically St Kilda (a suburb in Melbourne). I live close to St Kilda and have visited many times so it was cool to read about places I have been.

A huge part of enjoying any book is enjoying the characters and Simmone knows how to write a good character. Sky is a rebel teenager, more than I ever was, but I guess living in St Kilda can do that to a girl. Gully is Sky's younger brother and when reading this you know that Gully has Asperger's or is on the autism spectrum but it's never spelled out. I really liked that about this book, everyone accepts him for who he is but doesn't label him. He could be difficult at times but I really liked Gully and thought he was a cool little dude.

Other than the characters, the intrigue was a big reason for my want to keep reading. I NEEDED to know why the girl in the graffiti was so sad. There were also moments of romance that were really nice, they gave me all the normal butterfly feelings in my stomach.

I have listened to Simmone Howell talk about writing and she also read the first chapter from this book. It made me want to read it oh so more. Now that I've read it all for myself I want to get my hands on Simmone's other books!

On the cover

This cover is so cool! The girl on the front looks so sad and I want to know why. It reminds me of Graffiti Moon and I almost feel like Shadow could have painted it. 

What I'm reading next: Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Galaxy Nails

Galaxy Nails are all over the Internet at the moment. There are lots of different ways of doing it and plenty of youtube videos to show you how to do it, My friend even did a post over on her blog.

So I'm going to show you a few pictures of what I did. The base colour was ChiChi - It's Raining men. After this was completely dry I used make up sponges to sponge on all the different colours. I used 6 different colours to try to re-create a outer space look.
The colours were: OPI - Not like the movies, Revlon - Minted, Revlon - Pink Ice, BYS - Thank god it's Friday, Maybelline Colorama - Urban Orange & BYS - Sunshine. To finish it off and give it that little something extra I added a light sparkle polish which was ChiChi - Paparazzi Princess.

As you can see I got a bit carried away and didn't take any photos of putting Orange & Yellow nail polish on but you get the idea. I used a dotting tool to make the white dots or planets/stars.

 This is the final product. I'm not as happy with this, but it was very easy so I can always try it again with different colour combinations.

Have you tried this mani before? Let me know, I'd love to see it!