You Nail'd it as My Valentine!

My last "Valentine" manicure of the year.  Yep, it is Valentines and my excuse to let out the girly nail art designs is almost over.  Who am I kidding, I'll do heart, rose, candy designs when ever I want. . . if  I want to. . .

This is a common design and I thought I would try my hand at it.  I used China Glaze Pelican Gray, Konad Special Red, and Black.  The stamp designs are Bundle Monster BM-H16 and BM-405.  I also used a loose glitter heart that I bought at my once existent local nail art supply store.

I hope you all have a nice Valentine's Day.  I hope it is whatever you want it to be.

Tootles!
Fitz

O Tannenbaum!

Here comes the second challenge day of the Challenge Your Nail Art 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge, Christmas trees!!  I saw this design by Love Life Lacquer, which was actually done in the last Christmas challenge I participated in, and really wanted to re-create it.

Using the Julep Plié Wand I painted the trees with Julep Emerald City, Sephora by OPI Read My Palm, and China Glaze Holly-Day.  I then decorated the trees with Julep Karmen and star loose glitter.

I really liked the texture that the three layers of paint created and so forgoed the top coat.

I am really proud of this design!  It totally makes my heart happy.

I hope you don't forget to check out the other participants.

Tootles!
Fitz

An InLinkz Link-up

Don't Let Awareness Fade

Okay, this is what I did last night and I am really rather proud of it!  The design is based on one by Nail Polish Anon.  I saw it on a Pintrest board and had to try it myself.  Luckily I had teal loose glitter in my stash. . .

So I used Julep Lissa, Essie Where's My Chauffer?, and Nina Ultra Pro French White.

To help with cleanup I used a technique that has been going around on the web for a little while.  You use Elmer's Glue around the nail and a little farther up your finger (I tried to find the original person, but there are so many.  Google it if you need clarification).  After I sponged my design and everything dried I just peeled off the glue for clean-up!  This made it so much easier to do this technique and I am much more likely to do gradients in the future!  (In fact I have an idea for later. . .)

This is what it looks like in the shade.

I really love this design!  Remember to spread awareness for Ovarian Cancer!  Be aware of the symptoms as there is no screening test for it.  You have to be proactive and aware of your body.

Tootles!
Fitz

Painting The Roses Red

Hi.  Ummm. . . I haven't seen you for a while.  How is it going?  Anything new?  Me?  I'm doing okay.  I have been a bit busy, and have been enjoying my summer break.  One of the joys of working in education is summer break.  I have been doing nail art still and taking pictures, the blogging about it seems to be where I get stuck.  I am not going to claim a renewed vigor on my part, but I do want to try and blog again.  Plus I am just so proud of how this turned out that I had to share it.

So the design idea came from @lovessweetas.  It is almost an exact copy, but it is so cute I couldn't pass it up!  The main difference is I used black crystals and she used clear.  I don't have clear, but I do like the edge the black ones give the design.

The colors used were China Glaze Liquid Leather, Nina Ultra Pro French White, Julep Emerald City, and Tamara.

I am in love with Julep right now.  I really like their colors and being a Maven makes things very conveniant.  I also am rather impressed with their customer service.  I added a box to my monthly box and they sent the wrong one.  I called them up and they refunded me what I had payed for the extra box (due to it being out of stock now) and said I could keep what was sent by mistake!  So awesome!

The reason I bring up Julep is I used the Plie Wand to apply my polishes and to do the roses.  Can I say that thing is awesome!  It is a must for anyone who loves doing nail art!  *Shamless plug almost over* If you are thinking about becoming a Maven, click my link on the left and it will take you straight there and give me a little credit for recommending you.  Okay, I am done.  And for your patience, one last picture.

I hope you like the design as much as I do.  I love this hobby!

Tootles!
Fitz

Inspiration From a Sweater

One of my co-workers showed up in a really cute sweater a couple of weeks ago and I loved the color combination.  So I decided I needed to do a manicure inspired by it.

In person the sweater was more turquoise than the picture leads you to believe, so I picked Essie Where's My Chauffer and then stamped with Konad Special Red.  I also used some small loose red heart glitter to give some sparkle and a a different texture on one nail.

For my stamps I used Betina B-10 and Winstonia W102.

A view of my thumb.

I really like how the color look together.  I think it is a bit quirky an a step out of your traditional valentine look.  I am really happy with how this came out.  It is not exactly like the sweater, but you can definitely see the inspiration.

My right hand turned out really good too.  I kind of like how the stamp placed on ring finger better.  You can see the heart design more clearly and not as abstract.

Tootles!
Fitz

A modern Christmas Tree

My sister posted a picture of a nail design that she liked on my Facebook page, so I decided to do it for her today.  It was inspired by this design by Romina - Cajon de los esmaltes.

I took a few liberties in making it my own by changing the color scheme.  I don't often get to use China Glaze Party Hearty and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to.  I love the this glitter, it is just so festive!  I also used Near Dark.  I thought the extremely dark green would be fun.  And don't forget the lose gold star on top.

ND did take two coats to get it this dark, but I actually wanted it darker I was just tired of waiting for coats to try.  Alright, I got a bit impatient, so sue me.

I have decided when doing someone else's nails the thumbs are the hardest.  Have I complained about that before?  If not, now you know.  The thumb on the other hand didn't turn out as good at all.

Such a simple and elegant design.  I really love how this turned out.

Tootles!
Fitz

Stars

Just thought I would give this manicure a posting.  It is a rather simple loose glitter star manicure that I did a while ago.  I used Ulta Moody Blues and Nabi Metalic Coral.  I hope you all like it!

Tootles!
Fitz

Stars. . . Lots of stars

So I wanted to change up my manicure.  I also wanted a design.  I didn't want to take up a lot of time, nor did I want to mess with stamping and picking a plate.  So I saw China Glaze Passion for Petals in my stash and realized something this pretty should not be on my untried list.  I also recently bought some loose glitter and this manicure was born.

I like simplicity and I am going to keep that going and not talk much more in this post.  I'll just let you enjoy the pictures uninterrupted.

Tootles!
Fitz

12 Days of Christmas: Candy Cane

Part of the joy of Christmas, for me, is the memories from previous Christmases.  There are so many sights, sounds, and smells that trigger wonderful memories with my family.  I am very blessed to have an amazing, loving family that I can share my joys and sorrows with.  The candy cane is linked to one of those memories.  Every year on Christmas Eve we read a story called Please Teach The Children.  It talks about the different symbols of Christmas and what they mean.  When I was in high school, as a family, we went to San Francisco and handed out candy canes with this message from the story on it. 

Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherd’s crook, which He uses to reach down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray. The candy cane represents the helping hand we should show at Christmas time. The candy cane is the symbol that we are our brother’s keepers.

Each member of my family has fond memories from those days of the people we met and talked to and every time I see a candy cane I am taken back to that day to be reminded of the lessons I learned.  That is what I love about Christmas.

Enough sappy stuff!  On to the manicure!

I am really loving playing with loose glitter right now.  I think I have told you that before and I am sure I will say it again. . .

I used China Glaze Def Defying and then individual placed red and silver glitter for peppermint, blingy french tip.

It is simple, but sometimes simple is the most effective.  I am really happy with how this turned out.  I saw it in my head and it worked just as I planned.  It is always nice when that is the case.   

Be sure to check out the other artists, their work is amazing!

Tootles!

Fitz 

P.S. If you would like a copy of the story, then let me know. 

12 Days of Christmas: Holiday Song

Today's theme was Holiday Song.  Originally I thought of Silver Bells, but then Little Town of Bethlehem came to mind and I did some image searches and found this.

There are a lot of city scape nail designs out there and I decided to try my hand at them and use it as a way to suggest Bethlehem.

I know this looks messy, but the problem is I should not have used China Glaze Hanging In The Balance.  I love the color, but it stains something fierce.  Well, if you've done a gradient before, you know it gets rather messy.  I used nails polish remover, I scrubbed, I slept with lotion and gloves, I scrubbed some more, and used more nail polish remover.  Yeah, I cleaned it up as best as I could without taking it off completely.  So then lesson for you is, only use this color in controlled, small amounts.

I also used China Glaze Spontaneous, White-On-White, Fairy Dust, Happy Go Lucky, and Liquid Leather.  Then the star is some loose glitter I bought on ebay.

I hope you can see the starlight shinning down.  I think the star and its light are my favorite part.

Check out the other participants if you have a chance they are some amazing artists.

Tootles!
Fitz

31 Nail Art Challenge Take Two Day 3: My Country

I live in the United States of America.  So I am supposed to do something that represents my country.  Well, I coped out and did something reminiscent of my flag.

I am not sure how I feel about this.  I used Essie Mezmerised and China Glaze White-On-White.  I also used some red glitter for the stripes.  I am thinking maybe I should have used a red polish and a silver glitter for stripes.

It was still fun to use loose glitter.  I was only my second time and I like the effect.  I got this and 17 other colors on ebay for like 3 dollars in case you are interested.

Other participants will be patriotic and you shouldn't miss it.

Tootles!
Fitz