Hearts-Valentine's Week Challenge

I had an epic fail with the first manicure I tried to do with this theme. I think it'll make my blooper reel at the end of the year!

Day 4- Hearts

What says Valentine's Day more than Hearts? There are so many beautiful things you can do around this theme and I must admit I was overwhelmed with choices. I finally settled on doing a lace effect with hearts in the center.

I started with one coat of deborah lippmann Run Run Rudolph which is officially my new favourite red. It goes on so beautifully and it's only one coat! J'adore!!

I then went in with a black nail pen and did the lace detail. I did a similar design in white and blue which you can view in my Blasts from the Past post.

with matte top coat

It's not as clean as I would like it to be but I felt a little rushed with this one.

Tomorrow is freestyle or recreate someone else's look. Again, I haven't even started this one! ARGHH, I should have planned a little better.

Happy painting friends!

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy 2014!

Happy New Years everyone! I wanted to do something blingy on my nails for the occasion and I'm super happy with the results.

I started with a base of Rimmel Hot Black to Go. Not my favourite black but it was the first one I found ( I can't wait to get my new Ikea Helmer and get organized!)

I then added a half-moon of a england King Arthur and then added a no-name silver glitter from Walmart. I added some silver rhinestones around the edge of the half-moon and then coated the whole thing (twice!) with Seche Vite.

I think it looks elegant and super fab :)

What do you think? Does it say New Years to you?

Happy painting friends and a very very happy New Year to you and yours!

In a Galaxy Far Far Away...Called Vernon!

I'm going to take a break from the Christmas designs I've been doing to show you the last nail art I did for my friend Carrie when I was visiting her in Vernon. I love the galaxy design and since she is a scientist (biology not astronomy though) I thought I would do it for her.

She guessed what is was right away which made me very happy :)

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Black Out and then sponged on a load of colours mostly from Orly and Essie.

I then went in with one of my nail pens and drew in little stars. The best thing is that as I am typing this I have Songza on and the Imperial March from Star Wars has come on. So perfect!

The galaxy mani is really quite easy to do. You just need to layer colours with a sponge. I usually start with dark and go lighter to build up the colour.

Thanks Carrie for the use of your nails :)

Happy painting friends!

I'm in Love!

Well it's official, I'm in love with Zoya nail polish. I've wanted to get some Zoyas for awhile now but they aren't sold in stores and even thought the reviews had been really good I usually like to try out a polish before buying it. There was a huge sale online however and so I picked up 6 polishes. It only took the first polish to know I was hooked! Over the next several days I'm going to feature a different polish each day with some nail art.

Today's polish is the first one I grabbed, Zoya Delilah. It is an absolutely beautiful red with a gorgeous glitter.

This is two coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat. I couldn't stop looking at it! It reminds me of Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz.

I wish I had taken a pic of this in the sunshine so you could see it in all its sparkly glory!

With every Zoya polish I'm going to feature, I also want to add some nail art. I thought some black roses would look very classy with this polish.

I used one of my black nail pens to draw in the rosettes.

I did not want to take this polish off! It's just so pretty; definitely something I will be using a lot in the future.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the next Zoya polish!

Happy painting friends!

Foxy Fingers!

I saw something similar to this on Nail It Magazine's website. They have a lot of good ideas so check it out if you're ever stuck for a painting idea.

I started with a basic black from Rimmel and then painted on the purple using Essie The Lace is On making sure to follow the line of my cuticle.

I think this is so simple but super sexy! I might try this again but add some bling to it.

This was actually harder to do than a lot of my designs simply because you need to make sure your curve it exact. 

Love it!

Happy painting friends!

Coordinating Accessories!

I was looking at my iPhone case the other day and thought that it would make some great nail art. It's a black case with white polka dots and has a border of pink. I think the nails have a very cool '80s vibe about them.

I started off with a base of just a basic Revlon black and then added the polka dots using a medium dotting tool and Orly White Out.

I then used one of my bright pink nail pens to draw in the pink area. Here is a pic with my phone:

I love this look but I don't know that I would want my nails to match my phone all the time! I don't want to be "that" girl. I'd be curious to try it in other colours though.

Happy painting friends!

Black Cherries

I have a polish from Vernis classique by Cherimoya called Angel's Rave (awesome name, right?) that I've been dying to use. It's a black base with silver and red glitters. It's so pretty! I applied it and it immediately made me think of cherries. I have absolutely no idea why it did but I was compelled to make it happen:

I think this is so cute! I wish you could see the glitter in the base a bit more because it's so gorgeous.

I also love this base for a galaxy mani and think that I will have to do one soon with this. The only thing I'd say is that I wore this over night and I had tip damage by the next day so be sure to wrap your tips!!

Happy painting friends!

The Poppies Grow

Today being Remembrance Day I felt compelled to do some poppy nail art. I know this day is an emotional one for some people so I'll keep my musings brief.

I started with a base of Vernis classique by Cherimoya White and then sponged on Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots Clearly Spotted. I painted on the poppies using OPI Magazine Cover Mouse which is a textured red polish.

I then added some black rhinestones to the centre of the poppies.

I think this turned out well.

Til next time friends.

Goldfinger

The title makes this sound like it's James Bond nail art but it's just literally gold fingers! Lol. My sister in law bought me Ciate ladylike luxe a beautiful gold colour and some gold caviar beads. She's so sweet! I played around with some ideas and thought it would be cool to do some super glam nails.

I did a base of the gold on all fingers and then drew on the rosettes using black and gold nail pens. The ring finger sports a gold glitter by Color Club (I wish it had a name attached as it's absolutely beautiful!). On the thumb I poured on the gold caviar beads.

I can't say that the caviar beads were the easiest to work with. There were a few bare areas and the edges weren't even. I think I need to do some investigation to find an effective way of applying them.

I also find that it makes my thumbnail look HUGE! In comparison tot he other nails it's monstrous with so many beads on it. I really like the idea of the beads but I think I need to figure out how to make them work for me a bit better.

These would be good nails to wear for New Year's or to Vegas, lol.

I hope you enjoyed them.

Happy painting friends!

It's a Mickey Birthday Party!

Today is my dear mother-in-law's 60th birthday! I wanted to celebrate by doing some nail art for her since I can't be physically with her (for those of you who don't know she lives in England). When I think of my mother-in-law I think of bright happy colours and Disney, lol. My husband's family, like me, are Disney fanatics so I really wanted to incorporate the Mouse into the design.

Here's my Mickey Mouse birthday party nail art. On each nail there is a different base colour (listed later in the post), some polka dots, Mickey heads (some with birthday hats), and then random other dots and streamers.

I think this design is really fun and pretty much what I was going for. My mother-in-law is an extremely vibrant person and that is reflected in the design.

I hope she enjoys the design and has a fantastic birthday!

I used one coat of Sally Hansen White On for all my fingers (to make the next colour pop) and then painted on the colours as follows to form the base:

Thumb=Joe Fresh Lime Juice (green)
Index=Orly Mayhem Mentality (orange)
Middle=Orly Harmonious Mess (purple)
Ring=Orly Choreographed Chaos (pink)
Pinkie=Orly Pretty Ugly (blue)

(Mickey heads, birthday hats, dots and streamers were done with nail pens)

Happy painting friends!