Sunday, April 29, 2012

April Showers Challenge #8 - Matte Magic


I love matte manicures!  It was a matte manicure that started my delve into the polish world.  :)

For this challenge I wanted to try to do a splatter manicure under the matte top coat.  But I also wanted to incorporate the Finger Paints flakies in this manicure - because Matte does something beautiful to flakies!

I started the manicure with Orly Le Chateau, a deep rich green.
With Flash - looks slightly Blue

Under Incandescent Light - Looks Black

Another view under Incandescent Light

Natural Light - shows the deep green.

To do the splatter I chose three bright metallics from KleanColor - Jazz Olive, Fuchsia and Metallic Purple
Then used my dotting tool to gather a drop of polish and then drag it out to the sides of each drop to create a splatter.

Then I topped it off with a coat of Finger Paints Asylum flakies - it is hard to see from the picture below.  So I took two others trying to get the flakies to shine in the pictures.



I then topped off the entire manicure with a coat of NYC You Matte me Crazy.   This dulls the colors of the splatters but makes the flakies shine.


Check out these other talented ladies who are doing the April Showers challenge with me!


-          http://diypolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-challenge-day-8-matte-magic.html
-          http://nearlynaturalnails.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-challenge-day-8-matte-magic.html
-          http://charlottes-nails.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/april-showers-challenge-matte-magic.html
-          http://karinea0a.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-8-matte-magic.html
-          http://onenailtoanother.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-untried-and-asbmf-matte-maic.html


Thanks for reading and keep Painting!

April Showers Challenge #7 - Glitter Tips






In a previous post I talked about picking up the new Elle brand polish from Kohl's.  This is the second color I picked up while shopping it is a deep blue that reminds me of a beach blue.  This color is called Seaside Chic.  The formula is the same as the About Thyme, opaque in one coat and an unbelievable shine with no brush marks.  This picture was taken before any top coat was applied.


For the glitter I chose KleanColor Firework, it has orange and blue circular glitter and fine gold glitter in a pale yellow jelly polish.



I loved the combination of these colors, it looks so elegant!

Check out the other talented ladies who are doing the April Showers challenge with me!



-          http://diypolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-challenge-day-7-glitter-tips-and.html
-          http://nearlynaturalnails.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-day-7-glitter-tips.html
-          http://charlottes-nails.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/april-showers-challenge-glitter-tips.html
-          http://onenailtoanother.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-glitter-tips.html
-          http://karinea0a.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-7-glitter-tips-for-autism.html

Thanks for reading and keep on painting!!

April Showers Challenge #6 - Ombre






Unfortunately I do not have a good selection of shades of one color, so I did a modified version with shades of purple.  I am not too happy with this manicure - but I had to do this one and didn't want to skip one of the challenges.



The colors used in this manicure are:
Thumb - Sinful Colors (unknown name)
Index - Wet and Wild - On a Trip
Middle - Wet and Wild -  Bite the Bullet
Ring - Sinful Colors - Bali Mist
Pinkie - SH Xtreme Wear - Lacy Lilac

Take a look at these other talented ladies who are participating in this challenge with me!



-          http://diypolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-challenge-day-6-ombre-and-autism.html
-          http://nearlynaturalnails.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-day-6-ombre-caviar.html
-          http://charlottes-nails.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/april-showers-challenge-ombre.html
-          http://mandyspolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-6-ombre.html
-          http://creativenaildesignbysue.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-6-ombre.html
-          http://onenailtoanother.blogspot.ca/2012/04/asbmf-ombre-nails.html
-          http://footballandfingernails.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-showers-challenge-autism.html
-          http://karinea0a.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-6-ombre.html

 Thanks for reading and keep on Painting!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

April Showers Challenge #5 - Rainbow After the Rain



For this challenge I didn't want to do the standard rainbow,  I wanted something a little abstract.  While shopping last week I went into Marshalls for the first time in ages....I read a previous blog that you can sometimes find marked down polish.  Well I was in luck!  I found a 7 bottle set of LA Colors Neon.   So this manicure design was just calling for me to use them!
The only color of the manicure that wasn't LA Colors was the yellow,  that color is Sally Hansen InstaDry Lightning.   Unfortunatley the LA Colors don't have names.  =(
Then to add some definition between the colors, I used a nail art white to add the stripe.


Check out these other talented ladies doing the April showers challenge with me!


-          http://diypolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-challenge-day-5-rainbow-after.html
-          http://charlottes-nails.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/april-showers-challenge-rainbow-after.html
-          http://mandyspolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-5-rainbow-after-rain.html
-          http://onenailtoanother.blogspot.ca/2012/04/asbmf-rainbow-after-rain.html
-          http://creativenaildesignbysue.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-challenge-5-rainbowfuzzy-that-is.html
-          http://polished-prisms.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-5-rainbow-after-rain.html
-          http://footballandfingernails.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-showers-challenge-rainbow-after.html
-          http://karinea0a.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-5-rainbow-after-rain.html
-          http://www.manicurator.com/2012/04/april-showers-bring-may-flowers-rainbow.html

 Thanks for reading and keep painting!







April Showers Challenge #4 - April Showers



For this challenge manicure,  the only thing I could think of was rain clouds.   For the base coat I used Sally Hansen's Blizzard Blue,  I picked up this color during one of my Target runs.  It is a light pearlescent blue that is quite sheer.  This picture shows two coats,  to get a color closer to the bottle you would need 3 or more coats.  But I was going for a light background for a nice contrast for my rain drops.


For the clouds I used LA Colors white and made a scalloped french tip.  Then topped it off with fine silver glitter from LA Colors.


For the rain drops I used Klean Color Beach Blue and one of my dotting tools.  Made a dot and dragged it upwards towards the clouds.
I then topped it all off with a coat of Seche Vite.


Check out these other talented ladies doing the April Showers challenge with me!

-          http://diypolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-challenge-day-4-april-showers.html
-          http://charlottes-nails.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/april-showers-challenge-april-showers.html
-          http://onenailtoanother.blogspot.ca/2012/04/asbmf-april-showers.html
-          http://footballandfingernails.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-showers-bring-may-flowers_13.html
-          http://www.manicurator.com/2012/04/april-showers-bring-may-flowers-april.html
-          http://nearlynaturalnails.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-showers-bring-may-flowers_11.html
-          http://polished-prisms.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-4-april-showers.html
-          http://karinea0a.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-4-april-showers.html
-          http://countingdowntobliss.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-day-4-april-showers.html
-          http://allthispolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-asbmf-challenge-4-april-showers.html

Thanks for reading and keep on painting!


April Showers #2 - Ladybugs - Elle - About Thyme



Last weekend I was at Kohls shortly after they set up the Elle display of nail polishes,  so I had to take a look.  Two colors caught my eye,  this green was one of them.  Its called About Thyme.   It is a great formula that covers in one coat.   The picture of the color below is without a top coat, it is so smooth and shiny...its hard to cover up its natural shine.


With todays theme,  I am using my tattoo as inspiration.  my tattoo is located on my right ankle and represents my two daughters.  One lady bug has 6 spots and one has 2;  they represent 2006 and 2002 the years they were born.


To create the lady bug I made a dot of red konad special polish on my nail and then used shany plate SH12 and Konad special black to stamp the lady bugs on the nails.
And of course topped it all with Seche Vite.



Check out these other talented ladies doing this April Showers Challenge with me!


-          http://diypolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-challenge-day-2-lady-bugs.html
-          http://www.agirlandherpolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-challenge-day-2-ladybugs.html
-          http://mandyspolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-challenge-lady-bugs.html
-          http://charlottes-nails.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/april-showers-challenge-ladybirds.html
-          http://creativenaildesignbysue.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-showers-bring-may-flowers.html
-          http://www.manicurator.com/2012/04/april-showers-bring-may-flowers.html
-          http://rusticcomfort.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-challenge-day-2-ladybugs.html
-          http://polished-prisms.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-2-ladybugs.html
-          http://footballandfingernails.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-showers-challenge-ladybugs.html
-          http://kayonolan.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-challenge-2-ladybugs.html
-          http://countingdowntobliss.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-challenge-2-ladybugs.html
-          http://allthispolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-challenge-2-ladybugs.html
-          http://karinea0a.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-2-ladybugs.html
-          http://countingdowntobliss.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-challenge-2-ladybugs.html

Thanks for reading and keep painting!


April showers #3 - Glitter Sammie



Here is my mani for the second entry in the April Showers challenge.

Base coat - Claire's Neon Glow in the Dark Pink
First layer - WnW Coloricon - dense blue and plurple fine glitter
Second layer - Claire's Candy Shop
Third Layer - Claire's Neon Glow in the Dark Pink
Top coat - Seche Vite
My first glitter sandwich.....and you cannot go wrong with Candy Shop!!

Check out these other talented ladies who are doing the April Challenge with me!


-          http://diypolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-challenge-day-3-glitter-sammy.html
-          http://charlottes-nails.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/april-showerschallenge-glitter-sammy.html
-          http://mandyspolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-challenge-glitter-sammy.html
-          http://creativenaildesignbysue.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-showers-bring-may-flowers_11.html
-          http://polished-prisms.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-3-glitter-sammy.html
-          http://kayonolan.blogspot.de/2012/04/spring-challenge-3-glitter-sammy.html
-          http://rusticcomfort.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-challenge-day-3-glitter-sammy.html
-          http://www.manicurator.com/2012/04/april-showers-bring-may-flowers-glitter.html
-          http://footballandfingernails.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-showers-bring-may-flowers.html
-          http://onenailtoanother.blogspot.ca/2012/04/asbmf-glitter-sammy.html
-          http://allthispolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-challenge-3-glitter-sammy.html
-          http://countingdowntobliss.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-day-3-glitter-sammy.html
-          http://agirlandherpolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-challenge-day-3-glitter-sammy.html
-          http://karinea0a.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-3-glitter-sammy.html
-          http://countingdowntobliss.blogspot.com/2012/04/asbmf-day-3-glitter-sammy.html

Thanks for reading and keep on Painting!




Sunday, April 22, 2012

April Showers Bring May Flowers Challenge - Post #1 - Spring Pastels


This is my first entry!

I started with a different pastel color on each finger.
Thumb - SH - Lacy Lilac
Index - Sinful Colors - Cinderella
Middle - Spoiled - Toadaly Amazing
Ring - SH InstaDry Lightning
Pinkie - Saavy - Pink Ice

Then i used a Bundle Monster Plate (BM 224) and Konad Special White to stamp a flower design on each nail.  Then used my dotting tool to color the center of the flowers with the Lightning to make small daisys.


Check out these other blog posts of the others participating in this challenge!

-          Tess at Football and Fingernails
-          Hannah - the creator - at Polished-Prisms
-          Victoria at Manicurator
-          April at MuniasNails
-          Katee at AgirlandherPolish
-          Heidi at DIYPolish
-          Ashley at OneNailToAnother
-          Mandy at Mandy'sPolish
-          Dani at Rustic Comfort
-          Sue at CreativeNailDesignbySue
-          Amanda at CountingdowntoBliss
-          Sarah at AllThisPolish
-          Kayone
-          Cari at Carislittlecorner
-          Karine at Karinea0a

Bundle Monster Contest

If you are familiar with the world of nail stamping, you know Bundle Monster.  They manufacture a very popular sets of nail plates.

Well they are doing a contest for nail art made with their products.  The prize is a a set of their up and coming set #3.

Check out the contest and all the entries, some are really stunning!


https://www.facebook.com/bundlemonster/app_330762423652699

Quite a few of my stamping buddies from Adventures in Stamping have entries, I want to wish everyone good luck with the contest.  The public begins voting on the 7th of May.

This is the design I entered in the contest


It's a layered design that turned out SO much better than I ever thought it would!

Base:  KleanColor Jazz Olive
First Stamp:  BM- 215 in KleanColor Espresso (Brown)
Chinese Characters : BM - 203, 206, 221 and 225 in Konad Special Black
Red Accent:  BM-208 in Konad Special Red


I wore this manicure for 3 days I loved it so much!  I got so many compliments, it did take a bit of time to do the entire design but it was totally worth it.  Most people thought it was a nail sticker and not something I threw together.  I got one compliment that said "You missed your calling".  :)

Wish me luck in the contest!!

Thanks for reading and Keep on Painting!

Sally Hansen - Lacy Lilac and Dark Purple

While in Minnesota, I fell in love with a color both my sisters owned - Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear Lacy Lilac.  It's a beautiful opaque pale purple!  One of my sisters requested my Kleancolor Metallic purple to stamp over the Lacy Lilac.  It turned out beautiful!  I wish I would have taken a picture of what it looked like, so I recreated the tone on tone manicure with a different stamp.

Here is the base coat of SH Lacy Lilac.
I then used KleanColor Metallic Purple and a Cheeky circles plate.  I attempted to do some contrasting with white Nail Art paint (ring finger and pinkie), but wasn't too thrilled with the turn out so I didn't do any other nails.

It turned out beautiful!

Thanks for reading and Keep on Painting!


Major Lemming Found! - Claire's Candy Shop

One of my major polish lemmings has been Deborah Lippmann's Candy shop.  I love the glitter filled pink jelly.  Unfortunately my budget doesn't allow me to splurge on a Lippmann, but I finally got to buy the next best thing.  Claire's Candy Shop!  I haven't been able to find it here in Virginia - well I haven't looked to hard to be honest - I never get to the malls here.  I am just too busy!

So while on vacation I took my girls to the mall I grew up with, Rosedale.  It has changed since the last time I was there, but the interior of the place has remained nearly unchanged.  I knew they had Claire's there, I was unaware there were 2 Clarie's and one Icings!  So we found the map and located the first Claire's and there it was....last one on the shelf.  And they were having a sale - buy one get one 50% off.  So I had to choose another one.....so much to choose from.  But with girls, I let them pick it out - not to be too selfish.  They picked out a glow in the dark pink color, they installed a little LED light in the brush of the polish to light up the bottle.  It is pretty cool if I do say so myself.  I haven't had a chance to use the polish on myself, my 5 year old wore it but only for a day and never stays still long enough for a photo!

But here is the pic of the Clarie's Candy Shop!!

Thanks for reading and Keep Painting!!!


Interesting use of a Cheeky Plate

My daugther's name is Jaycie, and she saw that one of my Cheeky plates was "J" and the J was indented and asked me to stamp it on her nail. 


The base coat is SH Silver sweep with NYC Starry Skies on top.  The "J" is stamped with Konad Special Black.

Here other nails were stamped with the skull from the Bundle Monster series 2 plates.


Thanks for reading and Keep Painting!

Dark Eggs - Ulta Goth Blue

I wish I knew the name of this color - it was from my nieces collection - it is the goth based blue.  It is very hard to see the color in the picture.  I then used the Cheeky plate to stamp wiggly lines over the color - made it look like evil Easter eggs.  :)

I am so impressed with my Cheeky plates they stamp so well and evenly everytime.  I cannot wait to complete my collection of plates and buy the rest of the XL plates.  I only have A, B, D and J right now.


Itsy Bitsy Bikini!

One of the things my sisters and I try to do each time I come into town is a sister sleep over.  This gives all the kids a chance to be with their cousins and my sisters and I get a chance to catch up!

So I brought some of my nail supplies so we can play and experiment with my toys.  Unfortunately I cannot travel with 140 different polishes, so I just brought 14 - the ones I knew they didn't have in their stashes.

I didn't take many pictures unfortunately but I did snap one of my daughers nails - she wanted tiny bikinis on her nails.


The base coat is Silver Sweep and the Bikinis are stamped with Konad Special Red, SH Chrome Red, KleanColor Purple Metallic and KleanColor Green Metallic.  The plate used was Shany SH09.

It was a big hit with her cousins and her aunts!

Thanks for reading!  Keep Painting!

My Vacation

For my two girls spring break we headed back home to see my parents in Minnesota.  I got the unfortunate news the day before I went home that my Dad had been in the hospital and would not be coming home right away.  He needed some more attention and physical therapy to strengthen his body to recover from knee surgery in February.  Well this was a surprise to me, but if my mom felt it was necessary - I support her 100%.

He was placed in a transitional care facility where the girls and I saw him the day we arrived, he was looking rough.  Stiff neck, weak knees and terribly swollen.  It was hard to see him in this fashion, he is my strong and vibrant father - not this man I saw.  Placing him in this care was the best decision my mom made, he made amazing progress in the 10 days he was in their care.  By Easter Sunday he was walking on his own, came to the family celebration and color had returned to his normal color.  They were miracle workers!  He was released to return home the following Friday!  Which was great timing since I was scheduled to return home on Monday and my Mom was just recovering from Gall Bladder surgery!

She was so focused on my father and ensuring he was in the right place and taking care of him, she had neglected herself.  She was in constant pain and couldn't eat anything and barely slept at night.  She lost nearly 10 pounds in a week!  She had an ultrasound the end of March and finally called the doctors for the results - just to find out her Gall Bladder was packed full of stones!  Who knows why they took 2 weeks to tell her this news!  When we got the news, we rushed her to the doctors office- hoping to get her some immediate relief.  The doctor was unable to perform the surgery immediately, but I was there with her and asked if there was something he could do for her pain.  It was agonizing to watch her in so much pain, I know if my father was home he would have had her at the drs earlier than now, but she always put everyone else before herself.  Luckily we were able to get her some pain pills and the surgery scheduled for the day after next.

So I took my mom to the day surgery center and my wonderful brother in law (my oldest sisters husband) took my kids for me so I could be there with my mom.

So needless to say it wasn't a vacation in the standard terms, but I was in the place I needed to be for my parents.  If I would not have been there, I don't know how they would have gotten along.  As my sisters and their husbands all work full time and have families of their own.  I could give them my 100% attention and focus.  And luckily I was able to leave them in such a better place than when I got there. 

I am so happy to say they are both on the mend and doing so much better! 

Thanks for reading, this explains my lack of posts and nails while I was gone! 

Keep Painting!

First experience with shrinkage!

I have heard of polish shrinkage but never experienced myself until the week before my vacation!

I was wearing my Rimmel English Rose manicure with the gold stamp.  The following afternoon after I did the manicure, I was waiting at the bus stop and admiring the design....then I noticed it!  It wasn't tip wear, it was true shrinkage!  It was even across all nails,  here is a picture showing the shrinkage.


I am anxious to try this color again, with only Seche top coat and without to see if this repeats!

Rimmel and Gold Stamp

I picked up this beautiful Rimmel color at Target during one of their sales a few weeks ago.  This is the first Rimmel nail color that i own.  I would describe the color as a dusty dark coral color.

It is English Rose

This photo shows two coats of polish over Orly Bonder with a top coat of Seche Vite.  It is a great coverage with a smooth finish even without the top coat.

I then used one of my new Bundle Monster plates - BM - 206 to do a lace like design down the center of the nail.  I used KleanColor Americano for the stamp.

Once this design was done I didn't think I was finished, so I added a coat of Finger Paints Asylum (polish loaded with flakies) and NYC matte top coat to show off the flakes.  Unfortunately the flakies don't photograph well but here are some attempts.

Top photo is in the sunlight and the bottom photo is indoor light.

Thanks for reading!!!  Keep painting!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Busy Week Coming Up

Just wanted to let you all know it is going to be a busy week coming up!  So I may or may not have time to post, but I will catch you all up when I get back to normal!

Thanks for Reading!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Sunday Stamping Challenge - April Fools!

Todays stamping challenge was actually a un-stamping challenge.  We were to design nails without using our stamp sets.  :)

So I decided I wanted to try water marbling.  It would be my first time.  So I didn't have high expectations for the result but I am happy.

I followed the instructions provided on Chloe's Nail blog. - Chloe's Nail Water Marble Tutorial

I used
Sally Hansen - InstaDry - Petal Pusher - Pale pink
Sally Hansen - Xtreme Wear Blizzard Blue
Sally Hansen - Xtreme Wear Crushed
Milani - Lemongello
Top Coat - Seche Vite

I taped off the edges and here is the result!


KleanColor Chunky Black Holo

I have been searching for this polish for a month.  My local beauty supply stores carry the KleanColor lines but they don't usually have the most recent colors.  So when I went to the last one in town without any luck I finally bit the bullet and ordered it online.  I recieved it on Thursday and could not wait to try it! 

I started with a base coat of Prisma Red Glitter polish (no name for this polish that I know of) - this has a very fine red glitter in a red base.



I then added a coat of Chunky Black Holo - you cannot see the effect in artificial light with a camera very well.  But this picture shows the color within the bottle.


Then I gave it a bit of a highlight with a star designed tip from my new Bundle Monster Plates - BM 220 and Wet and Wild French White.

Here are a few pictures taken outside to show off the holo effects!  (Pictures enlarged for detail)


Thanks for Reading!!