Let Halloween begin!

My favorite holiday is not Christmas or Easter, but Halloween.  I love all the costumes and the dark and creepy things.  I need a little fun in my life, who doesn't.  Now I know I am jumping the gun, so to speak.  But October starts on Monday and there are so many amazing Halloween-esque manicures out there.  What can I say, I couldn't help myself.  I saw this design on Chalkboard Nails a few weeks ago and have been biding time till I could do it.  I gave in.  The colors I had that were the same I used and substituted those I didn't with ones I already had in my stash.  I started off with this gorgeous color, China Glaze Sugar Plums.  I know it was not hers, but it looks similar and it is amazing!  This picture doesn't do it justice.

Pretty, right?  Chalkboard nails said to use a red jelly for the bloodshot lines, but I don't have one so I mixed Sally Hansen Cardinal with Cover Girl Continuous Color Clear to try and make it more sheer.  I don't think I mixed enough in, but that is okay.

So the other colors I used were China Glaze White on White, Liquid Leather, Sephora by OPI Read My Palm, Essie Mezmerised, and China Glaze Street Chic.

There are a bit off snafus, but I am still really pleased with it.  My biggest issue was that I put the top coat on a little too early on my ring finger and it smeared a bit.  I need to be more patient.

 It does look rather fun though, doesn't it?  Yeah for all things creepy!

Tootles!
Fitz

Autumn is in the air

I really hate it when my manicure starts to chip.  However, I haven't had it this bad in a long time.  I could just peel of the polish.  I think it was because I forgot to use nail polish remover on my nails before I started polishing.  Oh well, it means I need to do a new manicure.  I wanted fast again and with the bit of crispness in the air I wanted fall colors.  Excuse the short nails, I broke one and so shortened all of them to match.

I used a stamping plate by Bundle Monster, it was BM-201.  The polishes were both from China Glaze.  They are in their newer Safari line Desert Sun and Kalahari Kiss.

 You will have to excuse the pre-clean up pictures.  The sun was going down and I wanted to get these before I lost all the light.  I like the subtle pattern.  It has a kick, but won't hit you over the head like some of the designs I have done.

Tootles,
Fitz

Subtle shine

With Sarah visiting I had to play with her nails.  Both of us were being rather lazy and so didn't want to sit at a table where I could actually do a nice design on her nails, so we sat on the bed and watched a movie while I painted her nails.  I used China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise and Finger Paints Flecked over the top.  I wish I could figure how to get glitter, especially subtle glitter, to pick up on my camera.  You are definatly missing out on the wow factor here.  Oh well, she liked it.

Tootles,
Fitz

Black and White

This manicure is rather simple.  I have been experimenting with stamping for a while and when I want something simple, but still fun I use them.  My dear friend Sarah has been visiting this week.  My previous manicure was chipping and when that happens I can't bare to have it on my nails, so I took it off.  Then it looked weird to have naked nails, so I was just going to do black polish with a glitter over it and then I thought a white accent nail would be fun and then I knew stamping that white nail wouldn't take long and then I found this plate in my stash and I just knew!  (Holy run on sentence Batman!)

I love the simplicity of this manicure.  Black and white, I think it looks very elegant.

I used China Glaze Liquid Leather and Paper Maché by Finger Paints.  If you like the stamp it is Bundle Monster BM-222.

My thumb close up.  I have a problem getting full plate designs to both edges of my thumb.

An indoor lighting shoot just for reference.

Tootles
Fitz

And how do we feel about that sign off?

Why are there so many songs about rainbows?

If you can tell me what song the tittle of the post is from you get a gold star in heaven.  (You can't guess if you are a family member because if you don't know I will disown you.)

I co-worker said I was bringing her back to the 70s

So I am really happy with how this turned out.  I had the idea when I bought the glitter polish I used over it, Wet n' Wild Tonight's Going To Be A Good Night.  I am not a fan of Wn'W, but it was too cool not to buy and at an AWESOME price.  I mean Black Glitter!  Who does that?  Anyways, when I bought it I kept thinking what I would put it over and there a lot of colors it would look cool with and then it hit me.  A rainbow!  YES!  I thought I would sponge it on like you do with gradients (a technique I am just recently fiddling with), but with all the colors I wanted to use I wasn't sure I could get it quite right, so I decided to paint each individual line.  Yep hand paint every line, even with my non-dominant hand.  I didn't realize the task I undertook, till I was done, but it is definitely worth it.  I am so pleased!  After I finished I did remember seeing something similar on Chalkboard Nails, but mine does look different.

Thumb is the loneliest number

 I used China Glaze Hey Sailor, Happy Go Lucky, Gaga For Green, Finger Paints Orange You In Love?, and Essie Mezmerised.  Good times!  I think the blue might be a bit too dark, but it still makes my heart happy.  How can you not smile during the day when you look at a rainbow on your hands?

Indoor lighting

The close-up

I hope you all like it!

Fitz Out!

I still have yet to come up with anything better.  Any suggestions?

Everyone has to start somewhere

So. . . I have been doing nail art since December of last year.  I did little Santa hats.  I had seen videos and other pictures online and never thought I could do it.  Well, I had the colors and it looked pretty simple and from there the addiction grew.  I have been teaching myself through watching videos and reading tutorials.  I have been inspired by other designers.  I have been posting my pictures on my facebook page and have had friends request me to do their nails.  I am still a beginner and still learning, but I love it and thought maybe it was time to take the next step.  So here I am and posting one of my latest creations.  I just did my nails today, but have yet to take a picture.  After I do that tomorrow I will post those.

My left hand.  The stars came in two sizes and so I played with the large size on my pinkie nail.  I don't like it there.

For now I will show you a night sky with a tree line.  My sister actually came up with the idea and did a design herself.  She then asked me to show her my take on it.  I didn't want to hand draw the stars or stamp them, so I scoured my hometown for small star shaped glitter.  I bought a few of them, but settled on a gold holographic by Artclub.  This was my first experience with placing individual glitter not in a polish.  I used China Glaze Midtown Magic for the night sky.  I didn't want to use a typical black and I didn't have a blue I liked.  I saw this gorgeous purple with gold flecks and thought it was different and cool.  Unfortunatly it photographed more brown, but trust me it is purple.  I then tore a make-up sponge and applied China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint.   I knew I needed a lighter color to make the medium green stand out against the dark purple.  The pale green seemed like a better option than white as it would blend better.  I then sponged China Glaze Gaga For Green over that with a light sponging of China Glaze Holly-Day to give it some texture and depth.  I am really quite proud of this because although the idea was my sister's the execution came from my own brain and looked completely different than hers.

A closer shot of my right hand.  It is not easy photographing your own dominant hand. . . Just sayin'.

My sister's original version.  My addiction hobby is contagious.

Now, how should I close this. . . perhaps. . .

Fitz out!

I don't know if I like that. . . We shall see.