dip-n-dots

Dots!  The hardest part about this paint job was finding three polishes that work well together.

No explanation really needed, just three colors, flip flop on one of the accent nails.  Add some dots, done.  This would be a great paint job in black, white, and silver.  Very New Year's Eve-ish.

Sally Hansen - Mint Sorbet
Wet & Wild - I Need A Refresh-Mint
OPI - Do You Lilac It?

happy thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope everyone has a great day with family and/or friends.

Hope that all your turkeys turn out perfectly and there are no accidents with a deep fryer.

And that no marshmallows catch fire when trying to heat up the sweet potatoes.

China Glaze - Sugar Plums
Sinful Colors - Lets Meet, Exotic Green

claws

Still long nails so I decided to go with a paint job that accents the length.  These remind me of something you would see on a female villain in a movie.

Just the normal paint job, but I added the square studs near the tips.  This really makes my nails look super long.  And oddly enough, with the studs at the tips, I am not fiddling with them.  When I have studs and/or rhinestones on my nails, I catch myself running my other fingers over them.

OPI - On Her Majesty's Secret Service

confetti

Confetti!!  A super easy quick paint job.  Just a pearl white base color, and then lots of dots of different colors.  It works because all the dot color's are in the same family, not too bright, not too dark and the same thickness.  Very quick and fun.  Something about all the different colors and the randomness of the dots makes it work without being too much.

Wet & Wild - I Need A Refresh-Mint, On A Trip
Sinful Colors - Tokyo Pearl, Innocent
Sally Hansen - Mellow Yellow, Fuchsia Power, Sun Kissed

cupcakes

I have wanted to do a cupcake paint job for a long time.  I finally decided to sit down and try.  I like it.  I need to practice a bit more with the paper cups part.  I got a little too aggressive with the scrapping on the pointer finger.

Overall, it is a rather simple paint job.  The only tool I used was a dotting stick. They sort of do look like ice cream (light bulb - might have to do an ice cream cone paint job soon now).

mint chocolate cupcake

purple frosting with rainbow sprinkles

Why did I add rhinestones to the top?  I only put cherries on black forest cupcakes bit this paint job needed a bit of sparkle.  It does make it look a bit more like ice cream though.  So, for the ice cream paint job, I will have to add a dab of whip cream (white paint) before adding the cherry (red rhinestone).

Wet & Wild - French White, I Need a Refresh-Mint, On A Trip
Sally Hansen - Mint Sorbet, Mellow Yellow, Fuchsia Power, Sun Kissed
OPI - Do You Lilac It?
Sinful Colors - Nirvana, Easy Going, Cool Grey, Unicorn

random

Sometimes a random paint job is nice.  I wanted something fresh and fun but had no direction.  I used two more of the great vinyl decals from www.makeitstickdesign.com.  They are so easy to apply.  They are even pretty easy to get off the sheets, at least with tweezers.

I went with a simple contrast for the vinyl decal nails.  Then (it's hard to see) a glitter gradient on the blue nails.  Nothing fancy at all and very quick.  Yes, I had a little issue with the sea horse above, but I just trimmed off the edge and it still works.  I am loving the palm trees.  So much detail in the palm fronds.

Sally Hansen - White On
Wet & Wild - Hallucinate
OPI - Kola Beary
Sinful Colors - Why Not

poppies

Another great decal from RLR Creations (www.etsy.com/shop/RLRCreationsNailArt)It is a little big for my short nails but it is still fun.  Again I still need practice with water decals.  It sat in the water a little too long and the red from the poppies started to bleed.

It looks like water color though, so I am okay with it.  I added a polka dot nail and an abstract one.  To finish off the whole look I went with a matte finish.  I like it.  Something very feminine and 1950s about it.  Like I need to be wearing a white dress with a bright red wide belt and some great red wedges. And going to a garden party.

Sally Hansen - White On
Essie - A List
Sinful Colors - Exotic Green

Seattle Sounders FC

After spending two weeks with my Sounders loving nephews, I was inspired to do a Sounders FC paint job.  I really wish they made a soccer ball print plate.  Sort of like a giraffe print but with straighter edges would have worked.

Instead I went with the classic ref shirt (except I think that might be more American football).  Then the Space Needle on the ring finger (done with Sharpie).  The Sounders' scarf inspired the pinky.  The jersey the pointer finger.  And then the checkered thumb.  I don't know where that came from but it helps balance so there isn't too much of the green color.

This was a fun paint job.  It is a fun theme to work with, especially since there is an almost unlimited supply of teams and sports to play with.

Sinful Colors - Why Not, Innocent, Black on Black
Sally Hansen - White On
plate - Cheeky CH10

hooo hooo (owls)

I ordered these decals last week and the came rather quickly.  I am so happy.  I got them from RLR Creations (www.etsy.com/shop/RLRCreationsNailArt).  They are great and have so many fresh and fun decals.  They are water decals not just stickers.

My first time using a water decal.  Not quite as easy as a straight sticker but still super easy.  I soaked it a little too long so some of the ink wondered away.  Still love them.  Coming paint jobs will be using these the other decals.

military coat

I was just pulling colors and found these five that all are in the same hue/family.  They are a little dark but with the addition of the gold studs, the overall paint job has some life to it.

Then top it all off with a matte top coat, and it makes it look like different wool military coat with gold buttons.  I wish I had done the arrow stripes on the index finger instead of the studs.  But that might have been too coat/military.

Sinful Colors - Smokin, Mesmerize, Jungle Trail, Rain Storm, In The Mist

june polish day - to boldly go

This month's polish day challenge is 'To Boldly Go'.  Space, Star Wars, Star Trek, galaxy nails, NASA, etc.  I have been wanting to do a galaxy paint job for a long time.  I was all set to do one until I got a super cute voice mail from my nephews.  They are Star Wars nuts.

I quickly changed my mind on the paint job and planned out a Star Wars themed one instead.
*more photos after the jump*

easter eggs

I wasn't sure what paint job I wanted to do for Easter.  That is until I drove past the local park and saw a bunch of kids getting ready to do an Easter egg hunt.  Light bulb.  Easter egg nails.  Super easy and won't be sad when I have to take them off Monday.  Just picked through all my colors and got out all the pastels that didn't have a glitter or shine to them.  And then I went a little crazy.  I like some of them but really dislike the pinky.  I also went with a matte top coat since most decorated eggs do not have a nice shiny finish (something about being super toxic).

Sinful Colors - Innocent, Why Not, Unicorn, Rise and Shine, Feeling Great, Easy Going, Amethyst
OPI - Do You Lilac It?
Wet & Wild - Sunny Side Up
Sally Hansen - Mint Sorbet, Sun Kissed

st patrick's day gradient

I own very little items of green clothing, so in order to avoid getting pinched (St. Patty's Day) I went with green nails.  But just solid green wouldn't do.  So I went with a gradient on four of the fingers and a pot of gold on the thumb (really just solid gold glitter).

I figured out an amazing trick for gradient paint jobs.  It worked perfectly.  I'm always heasanta about gradient because it gets all over your fingers.  Then, I was gluing something and got some white glue on me.  It dried and peeled off so easily.  Light bulb!!  What if I used the white glue around my nails.
*more after the jump*

march polish days - vintage

March's Polish Day challenge theme is 'Vintage'.  This is a great theme but super open to interpretation.  Vintage can be an old classic polish, from a past era (think 70's inspired nails), maybe a lace polish, etc etc.  I came up with a bunch of ideas which I am guessing I will use this month.

*more after the jump*

polka dots

SPRING!!  I was stuck in Reno for the night and needed something fresh and bright.  What better way to do that then with a light, bright, nail paint job.  Reno was great but the lack of fresh air combined with cigarette smoke drove me crazy.  When I stepped outside, I overheard a lady say "It's cold out here, I'm going back inside to smoke."  I also lost $1 at the penny slots and did not win a mini cooper. Boo.

I brought some polishes and goodies with me while I am up in the mountains so I am limited as to my paint jobs.  Then, yesterday when cutting and stacking wood, I broke two of my nails so I had to trim them all down to almost nothing.  So I went with something easy and fun.  I don't know if I like the mint green and yellow but I definitely love the yellow with white dots.

Sally Hansen - White On, Mellow Yellow, Mint Sorbet

spring

I know it isn't technically spring yet but the cherry trees are in full blossom at the park across the street from my house.  I can see them from my living room and they just look like spring.  All the rest of the trees are still in winter mode so these blossoms are a refreshing site.  But the more I look at this paint job the more it reminds me of Valentine's candy hearts.

I went with pastels with a matte top coat.  Why a matte finish?  Because the fog has been coming in and even though the day was glorious and sunny, the fog calms everything down.  It is still bright out but there is a muted quality to everything.  Plus, when the paint job gets a little stale in a day or two, I can spruce it up with a normal top coat.

Sinful Colors - Unicorn (yellow), Easy Going (pink)
Sally Hansen - Air (blue), Mint Sorbet (green/teal)
OPI - Do You Lilac It? (purple)

Is it too soon to do a spring themed paint job?  What inspires you to use matte top coat?

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. 

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 -

glitter glitter glitter

So after such a subtle paint job on Friday, I went for something totally in the other direction.  The feather job is still on the burner, I just felt like doing a simple paint job this afternoon.  Simple meaning no tools (stamps, plates, dotting tools, etc) needed, just polish.  I am going to go in reverse here and show you the final product first.

 left

right

Witch's Kitchen

This polish job is a little crazy.  I heard about a nail art contest through a couple other blogs.  I decided to come up with an idea and enter.  Here is the contest - http://www.bundlemonster.com/frightnight.  I don't think I will win at all, I just want to get some feedback for the paint job.

Why is it called 'Witch's Kitchen'?  I'm a chef and wanted to incorporate a bubbling witch's cauldron.  I also wanted to try sponging.  Over the past couple of days I flushed out my idea and sketched and planed each individual nail.  Sounds a bit odd, but it really helped in the painting.