gold gradient

 This was a bit of a throw-together paint job.  I wasn't sure where I was going but I like where I ended up.  The base color is not red but a fuchsia glitter (OPI - You Only Live Twice).  The gold glitter is not loose glitter but polish.  This was an easy job.  Glitter polish is pretty forgiving.

I did give a little change up on a couple of nails.  My middle finger on my right hand (above) is just solid gold glitter.  From previous experience with the gold glitter polish, I slapped a quick base solid metallic gold paint job down first.

my first crackle

A friend sent me some great polishes for the holidays.  One of which was my very first crackle/shatter polish.

 I need some more practice with this type of top coat.  I layered it over a polish (ring finger) that is is too sparkly and dark.  I also didn't wait until the base was 100% dry.  It was dry to the touch but if I had pushed with my other nails, it would have left a dent.

teal & metal dots

As much fun as holiday paint jobs are, it is nice to have a break from red & green.  I am so happy I survived my first multi-day challenge.  It was great not having the pressure to do a different paint job every day but once a week (twice in the last week).

Since it is still winter and I am feeling the darker nails I wanted to try out a polish I got a while back but have not used yet (MAC).  It is a great deep teal.  As much fun as this color is, it is hard finding colors that work with it.  I knew I didn't want a bunch of glitter, so I went with different metal paint dots.  Metal vs metallic?  Metallic vs pearl?  Those different looks for polishes get very blurry.  Metal polishes for me are the paints that look like metal (gold, silver, bronze, etc).  I thought those would work well with the deep teal and would still have a bit of festive feel.

holiday challenge - we wish you a merry christmas

Last day of the holiday challenge is going out with a bang, 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'.  Another theme that makes me start singing in my mind:

We wish you a Merry Christmas;

We wish you a Merry Christmas;

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;

Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer

We won't go until we get some;

We won't go until we get some;

We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here

We wish you a Merry Christmas;

We wish you a Merry Christmas;

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I bet you are singing it in your head now.  Sorry.  Well, I really don't know how to do figgy pudding nails, or even a cup of good cheer.  I just went with the general Christmas theme for this paint job.  Not even the whole Christmas theme, my favorite parts of Christmas.

Candy canes:

Twinkle lights:

holiday challenge - santa clause is coming to town

Day four of the holiday challenge is 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'.  The first place my mind went is to the song of the same title.  Particularly a few lines:

He's making a list,
Checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice.

Santa Claus is coming to town

These lines inspired my left hand:

And then some other lines:

With little tin horns and little toy drums

Rooty toot toots and rummy tum tums

Santa Claus is coming to town

These lines inspired my right hand:

holiday challenge: deck the halls

The third holiday challenge day is 'Deck the Halls'.  It is pretty hard for me to say 'deck the halls' without also saying 'with bells of holly'.  I don't even know what the means.  What is a bell of holly?  Is it the holly term for a cluster of the holly berries?  So bells of holly were going to be my main theme of this paint job.

 When this time of year rolls around and the holiday parties start, there is always mistletoe.  I might avoid it at all costs.  It is sort of like an awkward adult version of spin the bottle in which spiked egg nog comes into play. 

simple

Sometimes a simple paint job is all the is required.  Well, adding a little flower sticker is still keeping it simple for me.  The 'skittlette' paint job lasted till yesterday when I had to shovel snow off and away from the wood pile.  Then, brush and de-ice my car.  I don't think there is a single nail polish out there that can survive super cold weather, snow, wood stacking, etc.  I went with a simple paint job because it is suposted to snow for the next five days so it will be more shoveling, wood stacking, car prepping, etc.

MAC - Girl Trouble

What is the hardiest nail polish you use?  What is your opinion of nail stickers?

'skittlette' contest

chitchatnails.com posted a new contest a couple of days ago.  This contest was simple yet so much fun and it fit perfectly between holiday challenge days.  This contest is a 'skittlette' paint job.  What is 'skittlette' you ask?  It is a paint job consisting of two or three accent nails on each hand.

 This is something I usually do when I do non theme paint jobs so I thought it would be fun to come up with a 'skittlette' paint job that was a little more elegant.

holiday challenge: let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Second day of the holiday challenge is one of my favorite - Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow.  I immediately knew the general direction I wanted to go with the paint job as soon as the challenge was released.

For me, snow is white, pearl, and light blue.  I did have a moment or two were the idea of yellow snow crossed my mind.  But then Ron Bergandy reminded me to 'You stay classy".

Each and every nail is different.  It took a lot of planning.  Maybe it did just because I am a bit of a dork.

comments

I cannot comment on other blogs. ERRRR.  Blogger.com won't let me stay logged in to comment on other blogger.com blogs.  Other blogs that accept a google+ log-in won't let me log-in.  I have tried it all but my comments never show up or go through.  I can't even comment on my own blog posts or reply to comments on my blog.

Can anyone help me?  There are so many great paint jobs out there (especially with BLING day) that I would love to give comment props too but can't. 

december challenge: bling

So, I signed up for a monthly challenge and this is my first month with this challenge.  I was super excited when I found out the theme - BLING!!

When I think of bling I think of stones.  Not stone like you find in a field, but gem stones (diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc).  And when I think of that sort of bling I think of Tiffany's.  I am lucky enough to live close to a city with a Tiffany's store.  It is rare that I walk past without going in and looking.  I do own some Tiffany's jewlery but it is all from the upstairs department (aka where there are few stones and the ones that are there are about the size of a grain of salt). 

I wanted to do a ring paint job.  To many rhinestones on all the nails I think would loose the look for me.  So I came up with two different 'rings'.

holiday challenge: rocking around the christmas tree

My first nail art challenge!!  It is a Holiday challenge, being December and all.  The first day is 'Rocking Around the Christmas Tree'.  Well, I sort of went all out and took this title very literally.  One hand is a tree -

The other hand has all the wonderful presents -