A Thrifty Fashion Note to all Canadians

Hello fellow Canucks! Just a quick note - being a new mom makes me all sort of frugal. I mean, I was frugal before but its been basically dialed to 130% since then which means I'm all over getting the best prices for pretty much everything I buy.

That being said, I've forever searched for an online comparison shopping site for Canada which was decent and stumbled upon Canada Post's very own! I was looking at some deals on dresses for a couple of events I have coming up and was pretty impressed with the comparison site's shopping selection.

Check it out at http://www.canadapost.ca/shopper/ and let me know what you think. Do you have a favorite website for comparison shopping that you go to?

Wild About Weddings Nails Did

Tomorrow one of my best friend's Stephanie is getting married...again...but this time to a keeper! So of course to match my fabulous dress that my sweet hubby bought me I thought I'd do my nails (since I haven't done them in so long because Kai sprouted teeth and likes to chew/rip off my polish :S).

This is what my dress looks like! It's a green and black halter made from silk and chiffon. It's really rather nice and holds my GIGANTIC boobs quite well. I wasn't quite sold on it at first but the more I see it the more I really like it.

So I decided to go with something a bit more exotic since the dress for some reason reminds me of the jungle.

I've been wanting to do a zebra print forever but for some reason despite its simplicity just never got around to it. So here it is with a twist:

I used Nubar Green Tea for the base and striped on China Glaze 2030 for the gold accents and then used a black nail striper on top for the stripes. And of COURSE they bled. I have to get a new Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat since this one is thickening and making my polish bleed :( But its not that noticeable in person.

Excuse the horrible cuticles. They're recovering from lack of calcium and being butchered at the nail salon - AGAIN. What is with these people and killing my cuticles??? Poor poor fingers. Also no matter what I do I can't keep my skin hydrated. Any one have any favorite hand creams to recommend?

Fotolia Review + Free Subscription!

I'm a big fan of design and messing around with photoshop. I design most of my stuff myself including this blog's banner and Kai's birth announcement:

So I know how hard it can be to find good quality photo stock that is royalty free!! Fotolia boasts an impressive library of just that including vectors and video!

Fotolia also works on a credit based system (credits start as low as $0.75 per) which means that you can get amazing quality stuff for really cheap. No more photoshopping the watermarks out of photos people - you know who you are.

If you would like a FREE TWO WEEK SUBSCRIPTION then all you have to do is email me at polishondigitalpaper(at)gmail.com and I'll send you a coupon code. I only have 5 - so be sure to email me soon! Or else you'll miss out on all the free "dogs licking an ice cream cone" photos!

Glee Nails Did

So for my birthday my friend Jenn treated me to the Glee Live concert that came to Toronto. I'm a BIG Glee fan so lets just say I was a bit more than excited. Its also a good time to go out with the girls and get away from the kid! We also had great seats which made spending all that money totally worth it :D

So of course for the occasion I did my nails. I'm showing you my right hand because just as I was leaving - Kai is teething so I was putting some gel on his gums and he decided to chomp down on my left hand and smudge 2 of my nails :( So you'll get to see my ambidexterity at work I guess! I wrote the Glee logo on each nail and then did the loser symbol on my thumb, but please forgive it I did do it with my left hand!!!

I used Joe Fresh Pineapple with Sally Hansen Disco Ball on top. I then used a red nail art pen to do the logo and lettering.

Here are also some pics from the show! SUCH A GOOD TIME!

Shoulda Done Royal Wedding Nails Did

But I didnt. Instead I decided to try out my new colours from Joe Fresh's Spring 2 collection! Here I am rocking the new orange called Pineapple and the blue Cobalt. The blue is kinda royal right?

I also used some cute decals that I picked up from Shoppers Drug Mart for my ring finger in gold - but they kinda match the orange so it all comes together!

I know I've been lazy with posting. And if you've glossed over my posts in the past while I really don't blame you LOL. But I have some events coming up and what does that mean? WEDDING NAILS! So I'll have some new stuff up soon I promise.

Oh and you'll probably also notice that I have a few (obviously) paid posts with the exception of the charity post I put up last. Please glaze over them if you will - they're simply to keep Kai in some fancy clothes :)

To make it up to you I will share a photo of my little man. PENGUIN HAT!

www.become.com

If you're looking for a new place to e-shop why not swing by Become.com for some great deals on really cool stuff?

Having a kid I'm now carrying a full arsenal of diapers, wipes, change of clothes, toys, pacifiers (seriously the list goes on) so it's also sparked a new obsession of mine: BAGS! Become has some very cool messenger bags for girls. Here are the two that I like the best:

They also carry teva flip flops which are perfect for the upcoming summer weather and keeping those pedicures nice and smudge free! Aren't these cute?

They also carry Oasis shoes which have great styles from runners (for all those long walks to get this baby weight off!) to sexy strappy's for those date nights that I'll NEVER HAVE AGAIN! *cries* These are on my list:

So check them out for this stuff and more - you may find something just right!


*this post was brought to you by your friends at Become. Please see my full disclaimer at the bottom.

Fresh Air Fund

Hi everyone! Please take a moment to check out this very charitable cause called the Fresh Air Fund. The independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877 - allowing them the free rein of fresh air away from their inner-city lives. Please check out their website if you are interested in becoming a host family, would like to donate, or would just like to check it out to see what good work they are doing! No better way to spend a few minutes on Earth Day :)

Spring Cleaning Giveaway Winners!

Hrmm. I guess everyone is out enjoying the nice weather already because this giveaway was small! But that means all the better chances for the winners! :) And here they are with numbers chosen by random.org:

Prize #1: Camelia!

Prize #2: Akuma Kanji!

Prize #3: LuvMyLacquer

And here are the entrant's lovely spring manis:

Alexa1202

 LuvMyLacquer

Both are super pretty! Thanks to everyone for entering! I'll be contacting the winners via email.

Niki*

Grey Day Nails Did

WHY did the snow come back? Seriously it was like 10+ degrees C outside and then on Wednesday we had a snow storm. It was like early February again! Awful. So because of the craptacular weather I decided to do something a little gloomy. Okay not too gloomy though because I know spring is coming back soon. I used China Glaze Recycle, topped it over with Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure (remember that one guys?) and covered it in China Glaze Matte Top Coat. I like the effect, its all very dull but has just a little bit of sparkle from the flakies in the Hidden Treasure.

And if you havent already make sure to enter my Spring Cleaning Giveaway contest! Send me your spring mani for a chance to win an Eyeko prize pack!!!

Spring Cleaning Giveaway!!

Contest is now closed. A winner will be announced shortly.
I'm not cleaning my house but I am cleaning out my stash ;) So out with the old and in with the new! The new being all of Kai's stuff - seriously that baby has *almost* as many clothes as I do. I can seriously clothe that boy now till he's 2!!! So I decided to go through some of my inventory and do a giveaway!

There are 3 prizes! Doesn't that make you excited??

But because there are 3 there are very specific ways to enter, so PLEASE make sure you read the rules thoroughly and carefully!! The prizing will work on a tier system meaning that the more things you do the better prize you can win.

Prize 1

Three Revlon Glimmer Gloss Polishes in Cherry Fizz, Pina Colada and Banana Blaze

Prize 2

Two Sula Paint and Peel Polishes in Azure and Slate

Prize 3

And Eyeko Gift Pack with Eyeko Cream, Cherry Fat Balm and London Lips in Knightsbridge

Spring Cleaning Giveaway

Rules of Entry
To Qualify: You must be a follower of this blog and leave your email address in the comments :) Mandatory 

To Win a Prize complete 1, 2, 3 or all of the following:

1. Entry to win Prize 1: Tweet about this giveaway and post a link to your tweet. 
2. Entry to win Prize 2: Post about this giveaway on your blog with a link back to your post. 
3. Entry to win Prize 3: Send a picture of your best Spring Mani to polishondigitalpaper@gmail.com. Entries will be featured in a later post. Make sure to include the name that you follow with in your email. 

To be entered into all of the prize giveaways you must complete all 4 tasks! Spring mani's will be used in another post but will have no bearing on the winner - all winners will be chosen at random using a computer program.

That's it! If you have any questions at all regarding entry please feel free to email :)

The giveaway will end on Friday April 1st at 7pm ET.

Good luck and enjoy the beautiful spring weather coming your way!!!

Smell My Flowers Nails Did

So since I was too late on the St. Patty's train this year, and since my last mani chipped already :( (However on the upside I found some water decals that look JUST like the flowers I did so I may use those in another mani to kind of recreate the look with less effort :D ) I did another spring inspired mani!!

I used nail art pens in yellow, light green and dark green for the grass and a white and orange pen for the flowers. Then I used a water decal from Viva La Nails for the butterfly! I think they're perfectly spring-y!.

Bluefly.com

Have I ever mentioned my obsession with handbags? Usually I'm a Coach girl, I have *ahem* a lot of them, but I buy them at the outlet so its okay right? I mean a girl needs nice things! LOL. Thing is that my diaper bag is even Coach which is kinda crazy since I store used diapers in there! 

Anyway, I was on Bluefly.com the other day checking out more handbags and they have some awesome handbags on their site. I was particularily looking at the ones for Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Here are the ones that stand out to me: 

Green makes me think of spring all over - and St. Patty's day coming up!

There's just something about totes that I love

Check out more Marc Jacobs handbags and tell me which you like! They may be pricey, but a girl can dream right?

Spring has Sprung Nails Did

Did you miss me? Cause I missed all of you!! Its been hard to find time to polish nails since Kai arrived, but we pretty much have nap times down so between about 2 of them I can try to get something done :).

Its finally starting to feel like spring and its absolutely beautiful out so I couldn't help but do something a bit light and fun! For the green background I used China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint and the pink is Color Club Pardon my French. Then I used nail art pens in white, pink and dark green for the designs. The darker pink I used for shading in the flowers is Finger Paints Up & Coming Artist. Hope everyone is getting a taste of good weather!!!

G-g-g-Giveaway Winner!

How has everyone been? And how are the nails? I've been calling my local Sally almost every other day to see if the new crackle polishes are in yet with no luck. I swear they store clerks are just hoarding them from me.

Anyway onto the big news!!! I randomly selected a winner from the 26 entrants (usually I use The Hat, but now since I'm on my new lovely MAC, the program doesnt work :( )

But I digress - The winner of the G-g-g-giveaway contest for a $50 gift certificate to use at any CSN store is:

DEE!

Congrats Dee! I'll be sending you an email shortly :)

Niki*

G-g-g-Giveaway!!

Contest is now closed. A winner will be announced shortly.


You know what one of the best things about being on maternity leave is (besides this face that is)?:

Its having lots of time during baby naps to stare at things around the house that you want to replace. Right now I'm looking at my kitchen island and I really want to replace the bar stools. I was looking at perhaps getting some adjustable bar stools so that when Kai gets bigger we can raise them higher to adjust to where he needs to be on the table.  I really like the look of these ones even though they don't look a bit comfortable I must say. But beauty is PAIN!! lol.

So if you are looking for something new to spruce up your place I'm gonna give you the chance!

By simply following the rules below you will have the chance to win a $55 online gift certificate to any CSN store including AllBarStools and even CSNBaby (my favorite store).

$55 Gift Certificate Giveaway

(not including shipping costs)

Rules of Entry

1. You must be a follower of this blog and leave your email address in the comments :) Mandatory
2. Announce this giveaway with a link back anywhere else (Twitter, FB, your personal blog) and post the link so I can see it 1 extra entry

That's it!

The giveaway will end on Friday February 11 at 7pm ET. I'll contact the winner through email.

Good luck and start checking out CSN stores to see what you can win!

Niki*

Crack-a-lackin Nails Did

Quick post!!

I saw that OPI had a new shatter polish out and I had to pick it up - while I was shopping for a few baby items for Kai I figured I needed a bit of a treat!

It's pretty cool but you know what I REALLY wish? That it was just a clear coat that would crack any top layer polish so its not only black. But its neat either way. This is Black Shatter on top of China Glaze Neon Purple Panic.

Did you get Black Shatter yet? If so what's your favorite pairing so far?

Be Back Soon!

Well, its finally happened - my little baby arrived on Dec. 31st at 4:27pm!!! His name is Kai and was 8lbs 4oz and a whole lot of cute. Having a boy was such a total surprise since we didn't know what we were having. I've already started to discuss with Ben what type of masculine nail polish he can wear for his first time. I'm thinking a mattified version of Russian Navy? lol.

He's inherited my "I'm not impressed" look

So, that being said Polish On Digital Paper is going on a bit of a hiatus until my schedule can start to normalize a bit again since right now my life is finding moments between feeding and napping! Plus Kai loves to suck on my fingers so polishing them isn't quite the best thing right now! So don't quit on me since I'll be back soon and with a vengeance. But can you blame me? Look at that face! Who could resist spending every second with that little guy? In the meantime I'll be around with a post every now and again but in the most part I'll be off enjoying a bit of time with my new baby boy :) I hope everyone has an amazing winter and I'll see you all soon!!!

Niki*

Tim Burton Nails Did

Wooh. So I took a bit of a break there but more on that later. For one of my Christmas presents Ben got me tickets to the new Tim Burton exhibit that is at the Bell Lightbox here in Toronto. It's actually here until April but with the baby on the way we thought it would be best to try to go see it before having to haul around a newborn. I was only able to get a picture of the front of the exhibit since cameras were prohibited on the inside but let me tell you it was awesome! The same exhibit is in NYC right now so if you can't make it to Toronto you have another option. It's the perfect exhibit for the Burton lover - there is so much going on in that guy's mind its incredible! Did you know he used to work for Disney as a concept artist and nearly all of his concept art was rejected? But then if you've seen the Adventures of Stainboy you can pretty much figure out why.

So I decided to do some Tim Burton themed nails to go along with my experience! I used a combination of all of the following: Orly Matte Vinyl, China Glaze White on White, OPI Thrill in Brazil and nail art pens in white, black and red.