NEW 31 Day Challenge: Recreate Someone Else's Mani!

The final day, day 31! I'm a bit sad to see the end of this challenge, but also a bit relieved! I'm so behind on my review work, and my creativity began to suffer a bit toward the end there! I do still have two posts to do to catch up- I was sick last weekend, so I'll post my Childhood and Country manis this upcoming weekend.

Before I get down to the LAST mani of the challenge, I want to express my thanks. First of all: Crumpet! This challenge was SO much fun, and really pushed my boundaries several times. Thank you for coming up with the whole thing! Second: to every single participant: every single one of your manicures was wonderful. Thank you so much for your creativity, your time, and the peek into your lives. And finally: to my readers! This challenge was much longer than any I've done previously, and was daily, so my regular posting style did change dramatically. Thanks for sticking with me! So, without further ado: here is my copy cat mani for today!

The mani I chose to recreate can be seen here. It is from the Merge or Melt day, by Dressed Up Digits. I loved this mani so much that I considered buying the polishes that she originally used! But I'm not a huge fan of magnetics, so I went with what I had on hand. I started with a base of Sinful Colors Midnight Blue, then sponged on a gradient with the same and Sinful Colors San Francisco. My peacock stamp didn't want to cooperate, so I ended up with this swoopy design. I think it's from RA-107. I stamped first with Sinful Colors Black on Black, then again off center with Essie Penny Talk.

Thoughts? What was your favorite mani from this challenge? It was so hard to pick just one- I considered doing one massive post with about 10 that I wanted to recreate . . . be sure to check out the rest of the recreations in the links below!

NEW 31 Day Challenge: Your Favorite Technique

What is my favorite nail art technique? I'm not quite sure I have one. I most commonly just paint my nails a single color, but that isn't very artistic, now is it? Beyond that, the two techniques that I use most often are dotting and stamping, and I decided to go with stamping for this one.

I started with a base of Rimmel 60 Seconds in Stop Traffic, then stamped on top of it using Sinful Black on Black and a random plate from my Salon Express stamping kit. I'm not too thrilled about this mani, but I was still feeling rather ill when I did it, so . . . overall not too bad. I love the interlocking heart stamp, and I'll have to play with it some more- anyone else doodle these in the corner of their notebooks in grade school?

Check out all the manis in the links below- I'm excited to see what everyone else's favorite is!

NEW 31 Day Challenge: Inspired by a Blogger

Today's theme was a tough one! I follow so many amazing bloggers, not to mention all of the amazing manis put forth by all of the ladies participating in this challenge! I had so many set aside for the recreate day, that I thought I would use one of them for today :)

I was inspired by this mani by Nails by Ms. Lizard, but I was in NO mood to do a watermarble at the moment. So, as this one is only inspired, I added my own take on it. I started with a coat of Revlon Top Speed Spirit (creme white) and stamped using Sinful Colors Black on Black and the watermarble-y design from RA plate 107. I then took a few striping polishes- Kiss Nail Art Bikini Pink and Beach Green, and Sinful Colors Me First, and painted over most of the white areas left beneath the stamping. It took me a few nails to get the hang of it, but I ended up loving it! I especially love my ring finger, and how the neon yellow at the tip looks like a heart :)

There you have it, dears! Inspired by the lovely Ms. Lizard- be sure to check out her mani, as well as the rest of the challengers in the links below!

NEW 31DC: Inspired by YOU

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I struggled a bit with today's prompt. As I'm the one doing the nail art, and coming up with the ideas and color combinations, isn't EVERY nail art design I do inspired by me? So I thought. And thought. And thought some more. Ultimately, I decided to do something that was inspired by me, physically. Just like the Inspired by Fabric, and Inspired by Nature, I did this one based on looks alone. 

To explain slightly: I am very pro body modification. I have many tattoos, and even more piercings, and I've seen some gorgeous stamps out there with old school tattoo designs on them. Unfortunately, I don't have any of those stamps, so I made do with what I did have. 

I started with a base of Orly Night Owl (granted a little dark for my skin tone, but I just LOVE this color! Can't you tell? This is probably the 4th time I've shown it!) Then I stamped using Sinful Colors Black on Black. The stars are from an unnumbered Salon Express plate, and the wings and bird are from Red Angel plates whose numbers I can't quite recall (but will look up for you if you're absolutely interested). I dotted around the "tattoo" designs with my smallest dotting tool and some more black. I added a few dots here and there using Sinful Colors Heavy Metal to represent the piercings. 

This post, and this nail art, feel very personal, and while I try to be open and honest with my readers, I'm aware that many people still view body modification as an abnormality. I am proud of each and every one of my tattoos, and they all have a meaning that is deep and special to me. The piercings don't really have a meaning, but I just don't feel like I look like me without them! 

I know I promised you I would never show you my feet, but this doesn't really count, as I'm wearing shoes. I also had to show you at least one tattoo, right? I have matching lizards on the tops of my feet. With a name like Liz, you just can't go though life without being called Lizard at least a million times!

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NEW 31DC: Stamping

If you're at all familiar with this blog, then by now you're quite aware that I am a HUGE fan of stamping! Even for those with questionable nail art skills (such as myself!), stamping can be a huge success! There are, of course, a few tricks that make things easier, but for the most part, there aren't any secrets. Drop your polish on the plate, pick it up with the stamper, plop it on your nail and you're good to go! I splurged for Christmas and bought myself some new stamping plates. I've already shown a few of the Red Angel plates in this challenge, but the other one I've been saving for today!

I started off by following the Splodgerama Tutorial by our lovely host, the Crumpet :) I wanted something rather more muted than the colors that she showed off, so that the stamping popped. I began with a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golden-I, then used a cut up cosmetic sponge to randomly splodge on patches of Essie Penny Talk and Pure Ice Iced Copper. I LOVE the look of just the base, and wish I could have gotten some wear out of it! I see a repeat in the future.

I was soo excited to use my brand new, first ever Cheeky plate! I got the jumbo C plate, which is chock full of gorgeous, amazingly intricate paisley patterns! I stamped using two different sets of mirror images using Sinful Colors Inkwell. I had to repaint my index, and apparently it wasn't quite dry when I stamped. I didn't notice until I was editing photos :( Still- I am AMAZED at how well this plate stamped! I tend to have some transfer issues, especially with very detailed designs, but each of these nails was one attempt at picking up the image!

How do you feel about stamping? Are you a die hard, or would you rather do it freehand (in which case I'm so jealous of you!)?

Check out the rest of the gorgeous stamping in the links below!

NEW 31DC: Purple

Ahh, purple. Another nice, girly color that I love to play with :)

Today I started with a base of Sinful Colors Amethyst, then went over it with two coats of Lacey Lou's Stockpile (now called Penguin Polish) Delightful Mermaid. I stamped using Sinful Colors Inkwell and RA plate SE-12. I'm loving these new Red Angel plates of mine, can you tell? This was also my first go at stamping over glitter, and I'm a bit on the fence about it. Perhaps the glitter was too large and the argyle pattern too small, but it feels a bit busy overall.

Check out the rest of the purple manis in the links below!

NEW 31DC: Gold

Hello, dahlings! Today's prompt is Gold, which gave me a chance to do another very formal and regal looking manicure!

To be perfectly fair, I didn't actually use any gold polish. But rose gold still counts in my mind (damn- I just got an idea for a Black Hills Gold mani- where was that when I was struggling to come up with something for today?). 

I started with a base of Essie Penny Talk (with which I had MAJOR issues, and will post about soon) and topped it with Orly Ingenue (which I LOVED, and will also post about soon). I used Penny Talk and RA plate SE-12 to stamp on the paisley design. For all it's faults, Penny Talk made for excellent stamping!

This particular mani is highlighting for me the need for a lightbox! I'm absolutely loving my Ott Lite, and I think my photos have improved a hundredfold already, but the metallic sheen in Penny Talk combined with the insane shimmer in Ingenue made for incredibly difficult photography! The light was just bouncing off of everything! We'll see what happens once that light is diffused by some tissue paper, shall we?

Be sure to check out the rest of the Gold manis in the links below!

NEW 31DC: Silver

Hello, dears! Hopefully the first day of your new year went swimmingly! Today was my first day back at work after a mini vacation, but it was a fairly easy day, so I won't complain :) 

Onto the polish, yes?

I knew I wanted to do something regal, and I've been dying after this crown image since it came in the mail (a whole four days ago!). I started with a base of China Glaze Immortal, then topped it with Sinful Colors Heavy Metal. I stamped using Sinful Colors Black on Black. The crown is from Red Angel plate RA-119, the filigree is RA-120. 

Quick side note: I got these Red Angel plates on Amazon. Something like $13 for 21 plates. There is only ONE plate in the whole bunch that I don't see myself ever using, and they stamp like a dream! Cleanup is a bitch on the super finely engraved plates, but what can you do? 

Check out the rest of the silver manis in the links below!

Top 12 Nail Art of 2012

I was only planning to do MY favorites and YOUR favorites Top 12 of 2012 lists, but as I was going through my posts, picking out your favorites based on view count, I noticed that some of my nail art posts have gotten a considerable amount of views! So I decided to throw together a post of your favorite nail art looks, based on post views, and here are the top 12! Click on the title of the picture to be taken to the original post. 

12. This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge: Watermarble. Tied for 12th place with 35 views. My first attempt at a watermarble, and I was pretty pleased with it!

12.5. 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge: Holiday Movie. Tied for last place with my watermarble- 35 views. This was a rather lazy attempt at showing the Griswold Family Christmas lights, and my first attempt at a glequin manicure. 

11. 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge: Christmas Trees. 36 Views. I really like this one, as it has more of a cohesive feel than many of my arty manis do.

10. 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge: Holiday Song. 38 views. Was TOTALLY at a loss for this one, so generic music symbols it is.

9. 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge: Candy Canes. 51 Views. My second ever watermarble. I've only ever done two of them, and they're both on this list- I must be doing something right, right?

8. This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge: Zombies. 58 Views. This was a bit of an abstract mani, but I loved it, and wore it for days, even though I hate the feeling of matte polish. 

7. The Zombicure! 64 views. The only true nail art I've shown that wasn't part of a challenge, and I still love it :)

6. This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge: Bats. 67 views. I love the shimmery white base on this one, and repeated it for one of my holiday manis. 

5. Back to School Waterslide Decals by Designer Piggies.  79 views. Also not part of a nail art challenge, but I didn't actually do the art on this one :) I loved these decals, but need more work on placing full coverage waterslides.

4. This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge: Gradient. 81 views. The only true gradient I've done. Not Halloween specific either!

3. This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge: Horror Movie. 84 views. I was, and still am, SO proud of the burnt flesh look I created on my Freddy Kreuger mani!

2. This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge: Ghosts. 94 views. It's odd- I participated in 2 Halloween nail art challenges, but every one of the top nail art posts was from this challenge. Must have been more fellow challengers in this one :)

1. Easiest Nail Art Ever by Long Changed.  Your number one favorite, with 97 views. So easy vinyl nail art decals. Stick on and go!

Were any of these YOUR personal favorites? Is there a favorite of yours that didn't make the list? 

I've gotten behind this week, so you'll get a post-a-palooza over the next two days! Stay tuned for New Year's Eve mani ideas, your top 12 favorite polish and MY top 12 favorite polishes of the year!

12 Days Of Christmas: Snowflakes

It's that time again, dearies- challenge time! Today's prompt is snowflakes, and I knew this would be a tough one. There's no way that freehand snowflakes would be recognizable, but I really don't have any Christmas themed stamping plates (a malady that I'm trying to remedy, but unfortunately it won't help in time for this challenge!). I dug through the stamping plates I did have, and luckily some of the "generic" designs would work for snowflakes. So here is my design:

My base color is KelBel Cosmetics' Like a G6 topped with Maybelline Color Show Sapphire Siren, and my accent finger is Sinful Colors Cinderella topped with Rainbow Polish Mermaid Grotto. My stamp is a little trio of square shaped radiant lines from my Salon Express stamping kit, stamped on with Sinful Colors Heavy Metal. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how snowflake-y they came out! Mermaid Grotto is also a wonderfully snowy polish, with blue shine and tiny iridescent bar glitters! Too bad the silver stamping didn't show up very well on it. 

So that's my take- thoughts? Be sure to check out the other challengers in the links below!

12 Days of Christmas: Gifts!

Sorry this post is going up so late, especially as I had it done way early today, but I had the day off and spent nearly the whole thing on nails! Swatching, and nail art, and planning, and even working on some new colors :) Without further ado . . . here are my Gift nails!

I chose the wrapping paper that I'm using this year as my inspiration. As you can see, it is mostly red and white. There is a red with white snowflakes paper as well, but it's on a different shelf :)

Here is my interpretation. I started with bases of Maybelline Color Show Porcelain Party and Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby. Then, using the opposite color I stamped on designs from my Salon Express Stamper kit (peppermint and dots), QA 15 (the sweater design) and QA 5 (bows). The bows were stamped on with A England King Arthur, and unfortunately, I think they kind of ruined the whole thing. It wasn't quite top notch to begin with, but King Arthur is waay too sheer for stamping. So it kind of looks a mess. 

Be sure to check out all the other challengers in the links below! And come back Sunday for some snowflakes!

I'm Back! With a Nail Art Challenge!

Oh, my darlings, you have no idea how glad I am to be back! And it only took me a week longer than I hoped . . . I had planned to take off for about a week and a half to prepare my Lab area for Black Friday sales, and then to get all of those sales packed up and shipped out. And then I got lazy. And then I got sick! But I am finally back, my untried box is overflowing, I have TONS of gorgeous indies to show off, and I'm participating in the 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge hosted by Pink & Polished and Over Polished! 

I am a day late in posing the first prompt (I hate hate HATE being late, but come on- the "being sick" comes into play), but I promise I will be on time for the rest! As with both Halloween challenges I did, I will also challenge myself to use at least one indie polish in each of my nail art designs. So without further ado . . . here are my Christmas trees!

Sorry for the blurry quality of this photo, but it was the best picture that my thumb made it into. Since I actually took the time to add a design to the thumb, I wanted it to get a little time to shine :)

I started off with Chirality Katydid on all nails. On my middle and ring finger, I taped off a deep V and painted it with Chirality Kale, then topped it with 365 Days of Color Trimming the Tree (reviews on all 3 to come soon!). Trees having been made, I used dotting tools to do all the decorations. The "stars" are Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lightening, the red dots are Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby and the garland is Sinful Colors Last Chance. On my index, I stamped the star on with Lightening and a random plate that came with my Salon Express stamper. I used a striping brush and last chance to do the tree needles, plus a few more dots of Ruby Ruby. Pinkie is a base coat of Katydid, topped with Trimming the Tree, and my thumb is Katydid with dots in Last Chance. 

I was super happy with these trees overall, even more so because they actually SMELLED like Christmas trees! (Thanks, 365 Days of Color!) What do you think- Christmas-y goodness? 

Be sure to keep coming back, because I have tons of good stuff lined up for you!

Check out the rest of the amazing Christmas Tree nail art below!