GARDEN PARTY

Yet another manicure for my boyfriends mom! She loves flowers and hummingbirds so she got a full blown garden mani! this is one of the craziest and most intense manicures i have ever attempted and  it took about 6 hours... she is the most patient person i have ever met! lol

The base color is O.P.I.- bubble bath

The design was made using a mixture of acrylic paint, gouache paint and nail polish and loose glitter

Sinful colors - pearl harbor was used over the design to add even more sparkle

seche vite as always to top off and seal the many many layers

24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 24

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Merry Christmas Eve and Happy Holidays! For my final day of the 24 day nail challenge, the theme was to recreate your favorite nail design. Now, I decided that Jack Skellington was very appropriate for the theme, it being the night before christmas and all, and I wasn't ready to part with dear old Jack, so instead of doing a new set of nails I added on and did ZERO his dog! His colors work with both Jack and the holiday color palette, only more white is involved... he's a ghost. For those of you who aren't familiar with this movie... go watch it NOW!...but basically this is how it goes:


Jack is tired of being the Pumpkin King and stumbles across Christmas Town. He decides that he will relieve SANDY CLAWS and remake Christmas, only the monsters of halloween town don't understand what Christmas is all about, and so he gives them what they want... a terrifying holiday. His friend Sally thinks he is making a mistake, and in her attempt to stop him she creates fog so that he can not see, and will hopefully give up. (sound familiar... Rudolph?) However Jack's ghost dog Zero has a glowing red nose and stands in as the lead reindeer lighting the way to what becomes a twisted christmas and Jack's, almost, ruin. Jack's "presents" create a frenzy causing him to be shot out of the sky, leading him to his realization of what he has done. Trying to redeem himself and save the holiday, Jack rescues Santa from the Boogeyman just in time to save christmas. THE END
This is one of my all time FAVORITE movies... obviously :)
Now that you have the background, here are my nails! enjoy!

To see more of the Jack Skellington nails click HERE

Just like the JACK SKELLINGTON nails i did for day 23 of the challenge, I used Sally Hansen - shell we dance? (#160) 3 coats, Sinful colors - out of this world (#842), 1 coat, for the base.
I then used Nail Star - red for the collar, O.P.I. - designer de better for shading and black and white acrylic paint. I then added a red rhinestone cabochon for Zero's nose and topped it off with seche VITE - quick dry top coat.




be sure to check out these ladies to see their holiday best!

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅

Thanx for tuning in, and i hope everyone had a great holiday!

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 23

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Here is the final theme, before recreating my favorite manicure (tomorrow), It's SANTA!

well... not exactly santa.... more like my favorite impostor, JACK SKELLINGTON dressing up as SANTA.

I drew my inspiration from an illustration by Tim Burton (my favorite!)

I liked the patterning in the outfit and the gangly body posture that is very much Jack and wanted to capture those aspects per nail. I call them my night before christmas EVE nails. :)

For the base color I used 3 coats of Sally Hansen - shell we dance? (#160)  and 1 coat of Sinful Colors - out of this world (#842).

Jack Skellington was done using Nail Star - white (#108), O.P.I. - designer... de better for shading on the face, Nail Star - red and black acrylic paint.

Finished it off with 1 coat of Seche VITE - quick dry top coat.  For some reason this read is not as vibrant in this picture when uploaded, disappointing.
From thumb to pinky the images go as such. thumb - bottom part of beard, index - hat, middle - head/top part of beard, ring - neck/body/shoulder, pinky - arm.

To see more SANTA themed nails check out these ladies blogs:

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 20

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FOUR DAYS LEFT! CRAZZZYYYY! 


SLEIGH/SLED was the theme for today! I chose to do santa's sleigh, reindeer flying over the moon. :)
I used a mix of nail polish and acrylic paint which allowed for a much smoother (less sticky) application of my design.

The color fade background was done using a base of Sally Hansen - marine scene (#23), 3 coats, and acrylic paint.  On top of that I used NYC - starry silver glitter (#105) which has a nice mix of silver and iridescent micro glitter mixed with medium sized hexagonal blue and pink glitter in a clear polish... It's really pretty! For the design I used all acrylic paint, and then sealed it with the amazing Seche VITE - quick dry top coat.


Tomorrows theme is REINDEER

To see more SLEIGH/SLED themed nails check out these ladies blogs:

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 11

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Christmas movies are one of the best parts of waiting for the big holiday day. Now one of my favorite holiday movies is Nightmare Before Christmas. Its so silly and imaginative, and one of the best parts, i can watch from halloween to christmas and its still so fitting. 
So how does this relate to my theme today? Well, if you've seen this movie before you'll probably recognize the scene i am depicting. When Jack Skelington takes on christmas he makes several stops on his route, one of them is at an old women's house. He opens the door an places what seems at first to be a harmless wreath... until like all of the haunted holiday toys it comes alive and starts to attack!. This scene is so ridiculous and playful and well depicts how twisted this holiday can be when not even an old women nor a wreath are safe from the handy work and fantastical minds of Henry Selick and Tim Burton.

I didn't want to white for the background because i thought it would make it more graphic looking and as your know its stop motion which means its built scenes using puppets and props. SO...

I used two coats of Sally Hansen - shell we dance (#160) which allows my natural nail to be scene so the design really stands off my nail. 

To make the wreath i started with my middle finger so i could determine where the arms of the wreath were going to move. So first i used L.A. Girl FLARE - hunter green, I sort of stippled a leafy wreath pattern i a circle then moving towards opposite edges of my nails... and then continued this in a line across the rest of my nails. 

Next to get a little tonality i used Sinful Colors -HD nails (#926),  spaced out to  add to the leafy feeling.

Now to do the actual leaves I used Nail Star - medium metallic green in differently sized dots all on top of the green already down, but spaced enough where the individual leaves aren't touching, so that it looks like individual leaves. Then to add even further to the leaves I used Kiss - green striper. To accentuate the leaves EVEN MORE I used Kiss - black striper and made little squiggles on the wreath to separate the leaves, then did a little choppy outline under the top section to give the wreath looking like it has a mouth. 

The eyes were done with Nail Star - white and Nail Star - black.

 For the last touch of the wreath i used Kiss - bronze striper to create the little berries on the wreath. I used bronze so that they would recede into the wreath more when I added the bow.

The Bow was done using Kiss  - red striper, for the base color. Then for highlights I used Nail Star- red on the outside edge of each flap of the bow, a line or two down the center and on the hanging ribbon. Again, not completely covering up the back ground color and not touching other red sections so that it looks more 3D. 

Then Seche VITE - quick dry top coat.. DUH! :)

PHEW! Stay tunes because tomorrows theme is HOLLY

More holiday WREATH inspired nails can be seen HERE:

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❉ Polish, Oh My! ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ❄ My Wet Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅ The only way is Nails! ❃

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 6

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I cannot believe it is already day 6 of the 24 day challenge!  Christmas is almost here!
I thought i would get a jump start on this days challenge, so i bring to you my PENGUIN themed nails! For my inspiration I took a look at a book from my childhood, Mr. Poppers Penguins!

I'm pretty exhausted now so i'll just get right to it.

I used Sally Hansen - shell we dance (#160) for the base color. I then made half moons at the tops of my nails using Love & beauty - royal 2 coats. It was a little to bright and I was looking for a softer ore ice like effect so i put 1 coat of O.P.I. - kyoto pearl! it was the most beautiful thing, i almost stopped right there! 

For the penguins and Mr. Popper I used Kiss - white striper, Kiss - black striper, and Nail Star - orange. It was important that Mr. P and the penguins shared the same 3 colors like the book,  although I used orange in place of the red.  I then mad a line at the top of the blue semi circle using Nail Star - metallic blue, which is the same blue i used to illustrate the feathers, as seen on the cover of the book. 

For the Final touches I used the thing i love most and have greatly missed over the last several designs.. NAIL ART BEADS! I placed 20+ on each nail to create a sort of polka dot effect. The beads I used were clear which enhanced the design by reflecting the light as well as the paint beneath. Then finally 2 thick coats of Seche Vite - quick dry top coat to secure the beads. It really just glows! I really had a lot of fun doing this design and i look forward to Day 7 : Gingerbread Men!

To see more penguin inspired nail art check out the following blogs!

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❉ Polish, Oh My! ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ❄ My Wet Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅ The only way is Nails! ❃

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS nails!

hello hello hello!


today i want to share with you this up and coming challenge that is spreading through the blogosphere!
Created by paint that nail to coincide with the days leading up to the christmas holiday! (need not to celebrate to join in!)  nail themes include fun and festive imagery such as gingerbread man, ornaments reindeer and more! topping off with a visit from santa  and your favorite manicure for the eve! so take a look at the list,  and if you would like to participate and include a link to your blog to share your holiday cheer than tell me!

it's almost here! :)

Garden Party

I've been thinking about what would make for an interesting nail pattern, answer; WALLPAPER.  I checked the internet for a while until i found a few that i liked then interpreted the pattern into my own designs. the first three are examples of the wall paper designs. The index finger is a impressionist garden scene and the pinky well...it was almost 2 in the morning at the point and... accidents happen?!

This is the impressionist garden

1-3 has a base of "all hail to the queen"- butter
followed by mixed colors and glitters. #3 also has a purple flower shaped rhinestone cabochon, just for fun. #4 uses a clear base coat, but a soft creme or pink color would work just as well. Generally for all of the flower vines i used a range of greens blacks and grays to create a little depth. The flowers can be whatever color you want, i stuck to no more than 3 base colors for the flowers so that it maintained that bouquet // wallpaper feeling.  The flower petal accents range from the color of the base flower, to blacks, complimentary colors and whites. These nails are not intended to be worn together, because it tends to look to chaotic with so many different patterns, but are done so just to show some of the flower variations.

cast away

August 2011, these nails were done in a loose style using only three colors and a black striper lacquer.
first choose your water color for the base. for my nails i chose "mint"- by love & beauty. since this was going to be a playful and summery design i wanted a playful palette that could be both summery and in the cooler tonal range. For the fish i used "Lavender"-by love and beauty, and the bubbles and waves  i used "teal"- by L.A. girl Flare.
//don't try and be too neat, this design is supposed to be loose and semi-childish in nature. //
Finally using a black striper loosely outline all of the fish. the pinky nail that is barely visible here is done using a black striper in a "J" shape for the hook and a purple squiggle for the worm. Using the black striper again go back into the worm and draw lines for the segments. creating a light hearted fishing scene!

images include fish, bubbles, and a worm on a hook (which is hard to see in this picture)...  i was on a boat while my boyfriend and dad were fishing, i didn't feel left out afterward.