Delta Dawn

When I received Soleil in my Julep Maven Box, I have been trying to think of how to use it.  And then I thought of a rose design with vintage colors.  That is how this manicure came to be.

I've done this design before, but in reds.  It was originally done by @lovessweetas and I am grateful for the inspiration.

The colors are China Glaze Chocodisiac, Julep Emerald City, Soleil, Florence, and Nell.  Then I used the Julep Plié Wand for the design work.

I really like  how these colors came together.  The look is subtle and vintage.  It also makes me want to try a yellow rose design.  Hmmm. . . Maybe in the Spring. . .

I hope you all like the design.

Tootles!
Fitz

Can't get enough of your. . . Stamping

Today's theme in Sunday Stamping is the 70's and I used the above fabric swatch as inspiration.  I am so proud of how this turned out, however this is an instance where up close, as in a picture, isn't as good.  Still I love this manicure and I hope you do too.

To do this I made decals with my stamp pattern from Cheeky CH44 just as I did in previous posts (there are two links there).  I am getting better with the technique and it is nice to let things sit and really prepare for a manicure.  It also makes doing the non-dominant hand so much easier.

I used China Glaze Life Preserver as my base color.  I then filled in the decal in random ways using Kalahari Kiss, Chocodisiac, and Budding Romance.

Time really is your friend doing this technique.  You need to make things are dry before going to the next phase of the design, just like any manicure.  The nice thing is it isn't on your nails, so you can do other things while you wait.

Well I hope you like this.  I really do and I hope it lasts a little while. . . although I did get some new matte glitters to play with. . . Oh the temptations of being a polish-a-holic!

Tootles!
Fitz

Sunday Stamping: Dots and more dots

Today the theme set forth by Adventures In Stamping had me combining stamping with dotting tools.  This weekend has been a brief glimpse into spring and so I decided to wish a little harder for it with my manicure.

This is supposed to be indicative of cherry blossoms.  While I don't know if it looks a lot like them it still is feminine and sweet.  I used China Glaze White-On-White, Chocodisiac, Keep Calm, Paint On, and Life Is Rosy.  The stamp was Wintsonia W112.

I achieved the flowers by putting a drop of WOW and LIR on a piece of paper an swirling them together in the middle.  I used that swirled middle section to dot with.  I love the look of KCPO, but it bubbled on me.  I think that was my fault though.  I don't think I waited long enough between coats.  I got a little impatient to get my vision on my nails.

I love my thumb too!

Just so you know I do my right hand too.  The dry winter weather and moving has done a number on my hands.  I need to be more vigilant with the moisturizing!

Tootles!
Fitz

31 Nail Art Challenge Take Two Day 27: Movie

What is your favorite movie?

I hate that question.  I love movies and it is really hard to narrow it down to one.  I have a cluster of favorites and depending on the day determines what that cluster is.  Lately I have been thinking about The Princess Bride.

Do you know this movie?  If you don't, drop what you are doing and go watch it.  It makes me so happy.  It has love, sword fighting, and don't forget comedy.  Plus it is a feast for the eyes!  This movie has it all!  Seriously, why have you not seen it?

So my inspiration was the two main characters.  Princess Buttercup and Westley a.k.a. The Dread Pirate Roberts.  Buttercup is a flower and I decide to see what they look like and I even found someone who did nail art using them.  It looked challenging and I wanted to see if I could do it.  So I used a red background for all my nails it honor of her iconic red dress.  Then on my right hand I used a stamp of swords to represent Westley.

I did a lot of blending on my left hand with the buttercups and grass.  That meant mixing colors, which I haven't done much of.  But I am so thrilled with how it came out!  I used China Glaze Happy Go Lucky as the base color for the buttercups and then used various mixing quantities of Chocodisiac for the shading.  For the highlights I used Lemon Fizz mixed with White-on-White.  The Grass base was Gaga for Green and mixed it with either Holly-Day or White-on-White for the shadows and highlights.  The swords were stamped with Cheeky (which I just got!  Eep!) CH49 using Midnight Kiss.  Not to forget, the base color which is Red Satin.

The two different thumbs.  Now you can see the partial giant buttercup.  The reason the coloring is so different is the swords photographed better in the shade.  That does give you a chance to see RS in different lighting and how gorgeous it truly is.  I am not a big red nails gal, but I really like this one.

 One last look.  I am really proud of those buttercups!

Have fun storming the castle!

Tootles!
Fitz

31 Nail Art Challenge Take Two Day 11: Tribal Print

I have never done a tribal print, nor did I have any desire to.  I am not really a fan of the look on me.  I like other people's, but it really isn't me.  Plus, it looked so intricate and difficult that trying to do it when I don't really care for it seemed pointless.  Now I have another reason to love this challenge.  It was a bit hard, more in that I had to take my time and be very patient.

I went looking for other people's designs to mimic, thinking that would be easiest, but then I decided to just go ahead and let myself just do it as I went.

It looks like an Easter egg due to the colors I chose, but I am really proud of this!  I used OPI Don't Talk Bach To Me, Sparrow Me The Drama, China Glaze Electric Beat, and Chocodisiac.

My standard thumb picture.

You'll beat drums in the excitement for everyone else's designs!

Tootles!
Fitz

31 Nail Art Challenge Take Two Day 9: Your Location

I had a really hard time with this prompt.  I took this to mean inspired by the city I live it.  Well, my city isn't very remarkable, plus I really didn't want to say exactly where I live.  My real name in extremely un-common and then to say where I live would make finding me a cinch for any crazies that might be out there.  I am talking about you, yes you!  Anyways. . . like I was saying unremarkable city.  It is a city and is a bit large.  Eventually I turned to its history.  There are a lot of little towns surrounding it and with the history you will understand why.  My city was a hub for farming communities.  People would bring their crops here so they could send them out on train to other places to be sold.  This still is the case to some extent and so our city is littered with trains and their tracks.

The idea of doing trains seemed rather hard and I didn't want to, so I just did the tracks.

I sponged and layered colors to get the green ground and then used a thin brush for the tracks.  I decided to paint them all in different directions to make a little visually interesting.  This really isn't my favorite manicure I've done, but I did it and with every new challenge comes a new set of skills.  I am having a lot of fun with this!

Okay, so the colors were. . . China Glaze Desert Sun, Gaga For Green, Westside Warrior, Holly-Day, Hook and Line, and Chocodisiac.

The other participants are sure to take you away with their designs!

Tootles!
Fitz

31 Nail Art Challenge Take Two Day 4: Flowers

For today we have flowers.  What can I say?  I did sunflowers.  They are pretty, until I added some flourish.  I should have said no to flourish.  However, I still I am really proud of them.  I even did them on my right hand.  Would you like to see them. . .?  Okay!

So the colors.  I used a few, okay, a lot.  The base color is Orly Decades of Dysfunction, which I love!  It is this grey, pink, neutral cream.  So lovely.  The "flourishes" are China Glaze Winter Holly.  The flowers are made with  Orly Crush On You, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, Chocodisiac, Unplugged, and  Liquid Leather.

This design was a bit difficult to photograph due to the angle of the flowers versus my angel with the camera.  Yeah, you get it right?

If you haven't noticed I tend to try and take a thumb solo.  Usually my thumb looks best.  This time I think they all look equally good.  I am sorry, I will strive to be more humble.  Heehee.

I told you I did the right hand too.  That takes so much practice, and I am slowly but surly getting there.

Some shots indoors.  I actually just finished the design when I took this.  I wanted to make sure I could photograph it.

Well, until tomorrow.  Don't forget to check out the other talented ladies their designs seem to bloom before your eyes!

Tootles!
Fitz