Blog Name and URL Change!

Hello friends!

I have decided to change my blog name. So I decided to make a brand new blog because it was just easier than to modify the url on this one. I will now be blogging at Totally Elsa.

I never really liked Crafty Hands and Pretty Nails as a name. It was too long and complicated but I simply didn't know what else to name it. I felt it described the content well. The thing is that I blog about a lot of different subjects so it's impossible to list them all in the name. So I decided to make the name more general. Totally Elsa is also shorter and simpler, and it feels a lot more like me. Also, I worked a lot on the design of my new blog and I hope you like it. I am very grateful to have you as a reader here, and I would be very happy to have you following me to Totally Elsa. Have a wonderful day.

Love, Elsa

If you follow this blog on Bloglovin and wish to follow the new one there as well, click here.

Life Update and Pins

I am still alive!
It's been more than a month since I've posted anything which is CRAZY. But I've just had so much work and I haven't done anything creative in a while. Plus, I've been dying to paint my nails but we have rugby at school so my nails keep on breaking. But, I will have a 2 weeks break very soon so I'll try to make as many posts as possible and even save some for later. For now, here's a small compilation of pins I like. Up there is this lovely cacti print by Buddy Editions.

This gorgeous hairstyle on Hemingway and Hepburn. Doesn't come with a tutorial but pretty self-explanatory.

 This adorable sweater from LightInTheBox. Meow.

This unbelievably beautiful artwork by Karina Eibatova. (see a whole post on this site).
I hope you enjoy looking at these and have an awesome day!
Love, Elsa

The Liebster Award

So I've been nominated for the Liebster Award. Thank you so much Fran for making me a part of this! Fran has this cool art/lifestyle blog called Elevator Brain.

The Rules of the Liebster Award:

• Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog
• Answer the questions given by the nominator
• Nominate 11 other bloggers who have less than 200 followers and link them
• Notify all the bloggers you nominate
• Create 11 new questions for your nominees to answer

So here are the questions and answers:

• What's your favourite film? Why?

  I have several favorite films depending on the genre. I love any Harry Potter movie (or book) but I probably prefer the 1st or 3rd ones. In the 'chick-flick' category, I love The Devil Wears Prada because it mixes the world of fashion, relationships but also the concept of being true to oneself. And as a comedy I love the french comedy Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra. I just love this type of humor and it always makes me laugh even if I've seen it so many times. What's funny also is that almost everybody in France has seen it so you can say quotes and people will understand.

• Why did you start blogging?

 I'm not sure. I guess I wanted to meet knew people as well as showing what I can do to the world. It's also helpful to remember what I made and when I made it.

• Who is your favourite singer/songwriter?

 Christina Perri.

• If you could meet anyone in the world, who would it be?

I've always been  a huge fan of Emma Watson and she is kind of a role model for me.

• Favourite hair/beauty product?

I love the skincare line called "It's my beautiful skin day" by HEMA.

• Who's your favourite youtuber?

Lauren from LaurDIY.

• 5 words to describe yourself?

Optimistic, creative, nice, perceptive and stubborn.

• Favourite author and why?

Sophie Kinsella. Her novels are very light-hearted and funny.

• Advice for a new blogger?

Blog what you want to blog. Don't feel pressured to blog. Don't care about the numbers.

• What's your most embarrassing moment?

In my German class, we like to bring cake once or twice a week. The other class does this as well. One time, I had made cookies and I was talking to a girl from the other class who was eating another type of cookie. I said mine were better as a joke. And then she said she didn't mind since she wasn't the one who had made them. Except I heard wrong and thought she said she had made them. So I became embarrassed and apologized. But she didn't understand why I was apologizing and it made me even more embarrassed.

• What's your favourite book?

Any of the Harry Potter books (except the 5th, I didn't like it that much).


I nominate:
The Happy Candle
Little Panda Crafts
Bramble and Lace
Uhm Chelsea
Milky Way
Minty Fox Blog
Clouds and Dots
Utterly Ella
Painting the ocean
Hello Bubblegum
Emily Eclat

So, now here are my 11 questions:
- Where would you like to travel to the most?
- What's your favorite food?
- What's your favorite color?
- Do you like your first name or would you change it if you could?
- What's your dream pet? (it can be anything)
- Do you have siblings and how well do you get along with them?
- What are your favorite blogs?
- What's your favorite tv series?
- Talking or texting?
-What's your worst fear?
- What's your favorite activity?

2015

Happy New Year.

I hope you had a nice time. Are you ready for a whole new year?!

I personally feel weird about it. I usually love starting fresh and planning my goals, thinking of everything that could happen in a year... But this year, I'm less excited. Maybe it's because I was sick around New Year's Eve or that I have a lot of work to finish for the beginning of this year, but I'm not feeling that usual energy. Anyway, I am a very positive person by nature so I know the feeling will come. But, I still have thought about what I want to achieve this year. Here are my resolutions and goals:

- Get better at drawing. I have been drawing a lot since November and making progress and it's super motivating. I also got a bunch of pencils for Christmas (F, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B and graphite) so I'm excited.

- Get a vague idea of what I want to do. I still have one year and a half until I graduate from high-school so I do want to find out what I want and learn not to be afraid of admitting it. I am currently doing the scientific option (the other options are literature+languages and economics) because I like maths but I can only imagine myself doing an artistic job so it can be a bit scary.

- Style-wise, I'm pretty happy with myself. I might try to experiment with more of an edgy side. (I'm more of a pastel floral kind of gal). BTW, I was thinking of maybe trying some style posts?? Tell me what you think.

- Keep blogging. I think my blog is around 1 year old now which is exciting! I want to try and be more regular with my posting but I will have a lot of work and exams so I won't make any promises. So, like I said, I might try and do some style posts and maybe a regular feature of links to posts from other bloggers that I liked or DIYs I want to try.

- It's always been a dream of mine to get the splits. I used to be quite flexible because I did gymnastics from ages 6 to 12 but I stopped so I lost it all. I have started yoga with youtube videos during the summer but I want to try and stretch every day until I'm Elastigirl!

The Christmas Tag

Hello everyone!
Today I am doing the Christmas Tag. I was tagged by the awesome Fran from Elevator Brain. I feel very cool doing a tag because I've never done any. So, let's go right into it:

1. What are your favourite Christmas films?
I really like "Love actually" and the Barbie version of "Nutcracker".

2. Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
Christmas morning.

3. Do you have a favourite Christmas memory?
Not really. But I enjoy Christmas every year.

4. Favourite festive food?
Hot chocolate! Although I drink it all year round so I'm not sure if that counts as "festive". I like salmon too.

5. Favourite Christmas gift?
A Totoro plush hand-sewn by my brother.

6. Favourite Christmas scent?
I'm not a fan of spices like cinnamon or other typically Christmas-y scents. But I like chocolate so smelling it is almost as good as eating it.

7. Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?
I watch Barbie Nutcracker with my sister because we used to watch it every year as kids with my parents and my brother. We carried on the tradition.

8. What tops your tree?
A golden bow and a star.

9. As a kid what was the one (crazy) gift you always asked for but never received?
I don't remember asking for really crazy things but I probably asked at least once to have lots of bunnies.

10. What's the best part about Christmas for you?
I love seeing people's reactions to the gifts I chose for them (if it's a surprise). And of course, I enjoey spending time with my family.

So here it is! Thank you Fran for tagging me.
I tag Bela from A Bit Amusing and Marie from Rainbows and Unicorns. It's your turn ladies!
Love, Elsa

Taking a break

Hi friends!

As some of you may have noticed, I haven't posted in a while. I've been really busy with schoolwork and just wasn't feeling like posting. Anyways, I want to improve on my drawing skills and I've gone through tones of magazines to rip out pages that interested me. I like to draw from pictures so magazines are a great source for pretty faces with interesting features. This is a little something I made to practice. I hope you're having an awesome day and bye!

Love, Elsa

Happy birthday me!

Hello everyone!

Yesterday I turned 16. The plan was to go eat sushi with my family but the restaurant was closed just for the three days around my birth date (rude!). But we did have chocolate cake (my favorite thing ever!). It wasn't a glamorous birthday with a big party and hundreds of gifts, but it was nice, calm and I did get very nice gifts! It wasn't very different of an ordinary day, but it's was nice spending the day thinking about myself and what I want.

Anyway, I did my nails yesterday and decided to make the very classic cupcake mani. I also did a cute little rabbit on another finger to make it more me (bunnies are my favorite animals since forever, as a child I had about nine different rabbit plushes!) but the poor rabbit got completely scrunched and disfigured during the day :(

Love, Elsa

Growing

Hi friends!

I am back from New York. I really loved it and took tons of pictures. When I came back, I ran up to my room to check if my plants were still alive. They seem to be be all alive and happy and some of my sempervivems ( also called hens and chicks) are even growing some baby rosettes! And I was surprised when I saw my cacti because I hadn't realized how much it had grown since I have it. It's also much greener, but that might be because it's summer. To compare, you can look at my first post, there's a picture of it in December and it's so cute and tiny! I repotted it since then and I plan to paint the pot sometime soon. But I find it simply amazing how plants grow, so slowly that you don't even realize it, but when you look back you see how much they've changed. Kinda like humans I guess...

I know this post is different and maybe not so interesting but I just wanted to share my thoughts with you.

Love, Elsa

PS: It's also crazy to think how fast internet moves. I only left for ten days and I have 500 posts (with no exaggeration) on bloglovin to catch up on! If you don't know what Bloglovin is, I suggest you check it out, it's so helpful and allows you to read all the new posts from the blogs you like on the same page.

New York, New York!

image via

Hi friends!

In only a few days, I am flying to New York. I have never been so I am super exited! I have scheduled a few posts during my trip but I just wanted to tell you so if you comment on something or email me, I might take a while to answer. But I'll be back soon with a lot of pictures!

Love, Elsa

Easter!

bunny ring: six

Hi everybody!
I hope you had a wonderful Easter, with lots of chocolate!

bunny origami box post here

Love,
Elsa

Thoughts and ideas

Hello everyone.

I know it has been a while since I posted everything. Since I'm new to blogging and don't have that many readers, I feel I don't have to post a lot since I am not disappointing a lot of people. But if you are reading this, I am thankful for you and I am sorry for not having posted anything. 1 reader is as important 10000. And I felt like I couldn't come back with a simple post and had to do something special. And then I decided to just write something. To stop worrying and just write. The best advice I ever had about blogging is from Whitney at Dressed Up Nails was to only blog when you want to. If it feels like and obligation, don't or you won't have fun and your post will not be as good as it could be. So I followed her advice and just waited to feel the urge come back. And today I really wanted to write this. But I still have an explanation ! I have been crazy busy! First, I have a lot of work and stuff and second, I have been spending all my free time sewing my costumes for my school's carnival. The theme is "cinema" and I am going as the white queen in Alice in Wonderland and a friend of mine is doing the evil red queen. I am so excited, it is going to be so much fun! I will show you my dress and my make up later.

So since I haven't done anything interesting lately, I decided to show you stuff I want to make. Spring has just begun and I am obsessed with flowers. I really want to sew things with cute flower fabric! And other flowery nail art :)

And a few things I found around the internet:
-This amazing Spring Wallflowers Sign by Laura on ABM. It's so beautiful and spring-y!
-This Gold Geometric Lamp by Sarah M. Dorsey Design. This looks a bit to complicated for me but it looks so cool!
-Kelly Smith's fashion illustrations are simply perfect. I can only hope to become as good as she is. Maybe one day!
-And finally, this post by Scathingly Brilliant is very true and inspiring. Why should blogger try to become successful before being happy?

Love, Elsa