WINNERS!!!!

Hey everyone!
It's time to announce the winners of the giveaway!!!!
Third place, the guest post, goes to.............................................................
ASHLEY!! I can't wait to read it! Please make it something I would post on my blog, for example a fun summery recipe! 


Second place (Nail Wraps) goes to............................
AMY C.!!


And finally to first place (The Necklace)  goes to.................................
EMILY!!


Thank you to everyone who entered!! 
Note to the winners: Please contact me via the sidebox....on the side of my blog. Please contact me within 5-7 days!

Have a sparkly day, and be sure to check out the Born Pretty store, for more cute items!
~Katie

Sparkly Ambitions 1st Scavenger Hunt

Hey everyone! 
So now it's time for the scavenger hunt!! 
I only have 3 questions for it....and they are definitely not the best, but I was originally planning to sneak in answers over the past few months, but I hadn't been blogging so....these are the questions you have to answer! 
I won't be posting any of your comments until the giveaway ends which will be....Monday! You have until then to answer these questions! Now remember, IMPORTANT, you have to have notified 5 people of the giveaway...if you didn't then go back on my previous post and do that! ;) 

Here are the questions...I'll have hints at the end if you can't find it....
1. It's kind of a tradition for us to go to Taco Bell on "insert day here". (Everybody knows I love Taco Bell!!
2. What's one thing I did on my sweet 16? 
3. Name one fact about me from my August 2015 10 facts about me? (To be honest, my 10 facts about me probably needs to be updated, but....I'm not going to do that yet!)

Bonus Question!!
What's one of my favourite book series? It can be something I've read...or I'm reading right now, and if you don't know feel free to take a guess!

Everybody gets one bonus entry for each question correctly answered...

A real quick note! Does anybody have Instagram? I just got it yesterday! ;P 





And now for the hints if you must have them!!
For the first question, look in the post titled "Sleepovers and Taco Bell"
And the other two questions are really self explanatory, go to one of my Sweet 16 posts and go to my ten facts about me in August post. ;) 
Go ahead and start getting extra entries and the drawing will be on Monday! Good luck!
Have a sparkly day!
~Katie
P.S Just a quick note, if you enter the giveaway, you are entered for all the prizes!
P.P.S Even if you haven't emailed 5 people there is still time! Just comment and let me know you've done that I can still enter you in the drawing! ;) 

Little Extension!

Hey everyone! 
Just popping in real quick to let you know I've had a couple of requests to extend the giveaway, so I'm going to post the next part of the giveaway on Wednesday or Thursday instead of tomorrow! I'll go ahead and let you know what the last part of the giveaway will be! 
It's a scavenger hunt! I'll have a few questions, and you have to go around my blog and find the answer to them! Like what's my favourite food? Even though I don't think I've said that before, but that's an example! ;P Don't worry, there will be hints if need be! Each question counts for one entry! 
So check back soon, and be sure to enter HERE! Thanks!!
Have a sparkly day!
~Katie

My First Blogiversary + Giveaway!!

Hey everyone!

Guess what today is?! If you guessed my first blogiversary, you guessed correctly!!

*8491 total pageviews*

*579 comments*

*Views from all over the world, from Latvia, to Myanmar, to Japan, to Russia!* 

I've been planning this for awhile, but I wasn't sure if it was gonna happen since I left for awhile, but now here I am! Exactly one year ago, I decided to start Sparkly Ambitions!

Now I told you I had a surprise for you, and I do!! I'm having.............................................

A GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I haven't had that many giveaways on my blog because I don't really have the money to purchase and ship a ton of stuff, but this time I decided I could make an exception and buy a couple things! This giveaway is going to be a little different than most, but trust me, it'll be fun!!

Now for some reason, the pictures on the website are absolutely AWFUL, so I'm just going to have to include a link for you to look at the prize! 

There will be three winners, the third place winner will have the opportunity to do a guest post. To be honest, I'd be happy for almost anyone to do a guest post on my blog, but......

The second place winner will receive these super cute nail wraps! I actually ordered some for myself too! Here they are...

Nail Wraps (They are the bottom ones, the aurora borealis ones.) 

And first place winner will receive this beautiful necklace!

Necklace (The style is #8. That should be easy to find! It's the second one in the slideshow.) 

Sorry I couldn't include pics, but when I tried to insert them, they were incredibly blurry! ;P 

Ok, so here's how to enter....I'm going to do a couple of other posts on entries, but to actually QUALIFY, you have to share my blog (through email or whatever) with at least five friends that have NOT read my blog (that you don't know of at least!) or share it on your blog. 

Sounds easy enough! 

Comment below and let me know that you've shared it! Now, you HAVE to do this to be able to get the other entries. Those will be coming up in a few days, and I have a fun way I'm going to do it! ;P'

You have until , hmmm..., let's say Monday, until I post the next post, so start sharing, and don't forget to comment or you won't be entered! 

Have a sparkly day!

~Katie

P.S You need to include a name with your entry, you can't just be anonymous, I mean, you can use anonymous if you don't have an account, but make sure to sign your name at the end or I can't enter you. 

P.P.S Sharing with five friends or sharing on your blog will count for 1 entry!

Stop by Sparkly Ambitions Thursday!! ;P

Hey everyone! 
Stopping in to let you know my blogiversary is on Thursday, this Thursday!! So make sure to stop by that day! I can't wait to announce the surprise!!!!! Thanks!
Have a sparkly day!
~Katie

Music Obsessions #1- AURORA

Hey everyone!
Here's my new series, Music Obsession! As you can see, I chose AURORA. She's not that well known of a singer, but she's definitely amazing. She has such a unique voice. She has many different songs, but these four are my favourites. Below it, I put the inspiration behind the song, quoted from her in interviews. 
Please check out some of them! :) 

The song is about having the animal instinct inside you come to life. Running with them, joining them – the instinct taking over, giving you freedom and making you forget about your human self and all things we humans keep around us in the modern society.
I think humans need to let go a bit more, shake their bodies more often, like the animals do.. It’s a beautiful thing really.
Sometimes when you look at the world, and you see what we’ve done to it, the way many of us hurt the world we live in, innocent animals, even our own kind! And that kind of makes you want to follow the wolves instead. At least for one night.

‘Conqueror’ is about a world that is kind of falling apart around you, and you’re looking for a conqueror to save you. But you’re looking for the conqueror in someone else, which I think is something you should not do. You should find the conqueror in yourself first, and be your own hero. If you stand strong, then you will stand for a bit longer.

“I call myself a warrior even though I’ve never held a sword or anything else that can hurt people physically, but people have fights in their lives, small and and big. And it’s a nice thought, that people can walk around and call themselves warriors, which they should do, whether they’re a fan of me or not. It’s strong. It’s important to remember that, how strong we are.”

“Black Water Lilies was a dream I had. The melody was playing in the background. And I was dreaming that there was a hand, and I grabbed it, and it took me underwater. And there was a river, under the water, running down. And I floated on the river, under the water, and I came to this magic place with lots of black water lilies – floating on the water – which was underneath the water. It was a very strange dream. When I woke up I ran straight to the piano and wrote the song.”

Which one was your favourite? :) 

Have a sparkly day!

~Katie

P.S Some of you have noted that the side bar is a bit hard to read, and I tried to fix that but it wanted to change all the text colour, even for the posts. And I couldn't really find a colour that was bright enough for the side bar, and wasn't blinding on the posts. :/

Blogiversary Survey

Hey everyone!
Now that I'm finally back to blogging regularly and my first blogiversary is coming up, I would like to give you guys a survey to take! (This is not the surprise I have for you guys for my blogiversary...that's next week!! ;)) 
It should only take a couple of minutes, and I would REALLY appreciate it if you could take it real fast and give me some advice on what you would like to see on my blog in the next year. Please keep in mind that this is a girly blog, so if you would like to see more outfit posts in the future, please specify, or nail art, or whatever! :) 
Thank you so much! 

SURVEY

Have a sparkly day!
~Katie

Hard Candy Velvet Mousse Matte Lip Colour Review

Hey everyone! 

I'm back with a new blog post! This time I'm doing a review on a recent lip product I bought. It's called Hard Candy Velvet Mousse matte lip colour. I had actually watched a YouTube video on it, and decided I wanted to test it out! I really like the Hard Candy brand, not only because it has many unique products (including colourful mascara!), but it's also cruelty-free, which is always a plus! ;) 

Let's get right into the review! I got it in Cherry Blossom (That was just my favourite of the selection, but they have a few more to choose from ;)) 

I REALLY like this product! The colour is very pigmented, and it is incredibly long lasting. Like I can put it on in the morning, and it'll still be there in the evening when I remove my make up, even through eating and drinking. It also has a very sweet scent! Now it is a LITTLE bit stickier than I would like though. It can transfer a little bit, like if you wipe your mouth on a napkin, it's going to come off. It really surprised me that it stayed as long as it did! It does hold to it's promise of being matte, minus a tad bit of stickiness! The only other thing I think they could have changed about this product is the brush. To me, it's just awful! It's just not firm enough to really apply it evenly, and it doesn't have that much of a point at the end, so it's not the easiest to apply it to the cupid's bow. Other than these minor points, it's a really good product! I haven't found a lot of lip products I'm that big of a fan of as I am this. It even came in a cute little box! 

This is the cute little box it came in! 

This is a swatch of the colour on my hand, it's not the best picture, but at least you can tell the colour!

Here's the brush it came with. As you can see, it wouldn't be the easiest to apply a colour as pigmented as this just because one little mess up, and you gotta take out that makeup remover! ;P 

Overall, I rate this product 4 stars! I really like how it almost stains your lips with the colour hours after you remove it. Like, you don't have to actual be wearing lip stick to have pretty pink lips! ;P My hand is actually stained a little from where I did the swatch, haha!

So anyway, have you ever tried this product?

What are some of your favourite matte lip products?

Would you like to see more reviews like this in the future?

Have a sparkly day!

~Katie

Hair Dye Fun/Surprises!

Hey everyone! 

Today I have some unique hair dye ideas I got from Pinterest (Yes, of course, Pinterest!)! Now, chances are I won't ever dye my hair, but it's still fun to see some of the interesting styles that people have come up with. Normally I just like to use coloured mascara or hair extensions to get my coloured hair. ;P It's seriously hard to choose a favourite out of these! I love them all, like a lot! ;) 

Which one's your favourite? I really like the pastel rainbow, blue, and purple ones! If you got your hair dyed one of these, which one would you choose?

Now onto my surprise.....................................

I have a big surprise for my blogiversary coming up in a couple of weeks!! You don't get to know it yet, but I have it all planned and I'm really looking forward to it!! I was debating whether or not to go ahead and start the "blogiversary celebration" now, or to wait until it comes up.... ;P I hope you guys are excited about it, and stay tuned for my surprise coming up soon! ;)

Have a sparkly day!

~Katie

Nail Art Tutorial #1- Beach

Hey everyone!
Today I'm here to share with you an awesome nail art idea (A beach nail art!) I discovered on Pinterest the other day! Ok, well more like a few months ago, and I just now got to doing it...
Anyway, it's very simple, and doesn't require a ton of fancy tools to get the design right. Like with any nail art, it does take a little while to do, mainly because of all the drying time. It IS suppose to look a little rough, because they are waves, and I wanted to give them a bit of texture! Let's get started! 

It's not that important which colours you use, as long as they are similar to the beach-y kinda colours. In case if you're wondering though...

From left to right the colours are.....

OPI Nail Lacquer in No Room for the Blues

NYC Long wearing nail enamel in Tudor City Teal 

Pure Ice in Bare it All (This is a sparkly gold)

and Julep in Shelly

The nail art pen above it is Kiss in black. 

I thought I'd also share this good dupe for the Julep colour. They're both practically the same colour, but the Julep one is $14, when I got the Color Craze at the Dollar Tree. The only difference is a SLIGHT difference in colour, and the pigmentation. The Julep one is more pigmented and only takes two coats, compared to Color Craze's 3 coats. 

Now on to the tutorial! Sadly, I don't have any pictures to share with you because I wasn't even planning on doing a tutorial until today. 

1. Paint your whole nails with your choice of light blue (like Julep or Color Craze).

2. Next, after it's completely dry, apply a one layer of a darker blue shade, a little ways up from the bottom of your nail. 

3. Just above the dark blue, apply a layer of sea green. It's fine if the colours blend a little. In fact, it may even look better!

4. On the tips of your nail, apply a glittery gold colour. This is the sand!

5. Finally, this last step is optional, draw a couple of birds with a black nail art pen, to the bottom of the nail, aka, the sky. 

TA-DA! 

Here's the finished product! I hadn't cleaned it up yet, in case if you notice it's a little messy on the edges! ;P 

There you have it! I'd love for you to try this design out, and maybe even send me some pictures of it, and I'll even put it on my blog! 

Would you like to see more tutorials in the future?

Do you like nail art?

Have a sparkly day!

~Katie

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

Hey everyone!
Guess what?? I'm back!
I've made the decision, now that it's been a few months, to continue blogging on my original blog! I've been blogging on another blog, which I'm not announcing the other's blog's name or anything. I'm hopefully going to be back to posting regularly about the stuff I use to most about, nail art, Pinterest, and what not, and I may include a few new stuff such as book reviews, and maybe even a few product reviews!
Anyway, I'm glad to be back, and should have a new fun post up soon!
Any requests for post ideas??
Have a sparkly day!
~Katie