Pop! Six! Squish! Uh uh, Cicero, Lipschitz!

I have a co-worker and friend who loves is obsessed with Elvis Presley.  She gave me a CD of her favorite Elvis song.  I was looking at the list and when seeing Heartbreak Hotel and Jail Hose Rock, this design of a heart behind bars came to mind.  But I was missing how that fit into a theme and when talking to my Mom, she brought up Cell Block Tango from Chicago.  So I thought of blood splatter on my other nails.

The colors I used were Nina Ultra Pro French White, China Glaze Red Satin,  Merry Berry, Concrete Catwalk, and Elephant Walk.  I tried to highlight and shadow a bit and mixed colors to get the light and dark.

So the blood splatter nails. . . The first time I did them was with a Bundle Monster stamping plate and Konad Special Red.  It didn't turn out.  So I tried again trying to splatter it with a straw.  Well, the straw didn't work at all.  I think I needed to use a stir-stick straw, rather than the regular one I used. . . So I ended up dry brushing it on.  I am still not happy with it, but I had no other ideas.  Eh.

I am really rather proud of this.  I know the highlights on the bars could be a bit more subtle, but I still love it.

I am not sure if this constitutes a Valentine's Day design, but will just it does.  You know the extreme negative Valentine manicure.

Tootles!
Fitz

Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!

I know it has been a long time since my last blog, but I have still been doing my nails and taking pictures. . . I just haven't been blogging about it. . .  Sorry.  I want to be better and her to hoping I will be.

When I saw this design by Janelle of Ellendish I knew I had to try it.  Charlie Brown and his infamous Christmas special are a huge part of my childhood and the holiday season.  Then when I finished and I was so proud of myself I knew I needed to share it with all of you.  It looks hard, but if you follow Janelle's instructions, you can do it.  I think once the holidays are over I might have to try a Peanuts inspired manicure.

Amazingly enough, it only took six polishes.  Snoopy being on a white background adds to the successfulness of the this manicure.  I used Nina French White, Julep Catrina, Sinful Colors Cinderella, China Glaze Gaga For Green, Liquid Leather, and Red Satin.

I really like the simpleness of the rest of my nails.  Cinderella has such a beautiful and subtle shine.  I wish you could see it in the pictures.  However do note that if you use Cinderella it will take several coats as it it is very sheer.

Well, I hope this was a good manicure to start off being active again.  Life has been busy, so I can't make any promises, but I want to get back in the swing of things.


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

12 Days of Christmas: Elves

I LOVE this design!  Thank you TotallyCoolNails for such a fabulous design!

Okay, so my elves were done in Nina Ultra Pro French White, China Glaze Red Satin, Liquid Leather, Sunshine Pop, and Def Defying.

This may be a bit pic heavy. . .

The last one is my alternative version for mt right hand.  I wish the red didn't run, but I still love it!  Curse you close up pictures!

Check the other designers out too!  Their hard work and creativity deserve it!

Tootles!
Fitz

12 Days of Christmas: Ornaments

I am exhausted!  There have been so many things I have needed to get ready for my cruise and I am trying to get all my manicures done.  I have one left. . . I really hope I can get it done, but I am not sure.  I am so excited for this vacation!  Okay one to the ornaments!

 This was inspired by the tutorial by TheCoolioNails.  I love this and even left it on for a few days!  I got a lot of compliments on it.

I used a few Bundle Monster stamps for the patterns, BM-317, BM-314, and BM-310.  The colors were China Glaze Millennium, Holly-Day, and Red Satin.

This isn't too hard, but it has a great statement!  It even works well on the right side.  The hanging part on the right isn't the best, but I still love it!

Sorry for the picture spam, but I loved how this turned out!  Check out the other designers too, they are amazing!

Tootles!
Fitz

31 Nail Art Challenge Take Two Day 12: Half Moons

I had a brilliant idea!  Yes sometimes I am smart, though rarely.  The Daily Nail does Moonicure Monday and she has designed bombs out of her half moon manicure.  I really liked the design and when I saw this prompt I thought about Christmas ornaments.  Heehee!  Brilliant, right?

So I used China Glaze Red Satin, Peace on Earth, and OPI Don't Talk Bach To Me.

I had a little trouble figuring out what color to use for the tops.  I wanted to use gold, but it didn't show up on the green background.  I think DTBTM was a good alternative.

We can't forget my thumb, now can we?

Indoors, just for referance.

Don't forget to check out everyone else too!  You'll be over the moon for their creations!

Tootles!
Fitz

12 Days of Christmas: Snowmen

Today is about snow men.  I wish I gotten this done earlier, at least I am not late.  I was inspired by Wacky Laki's design.  I hope you like my interpretation.

There isn't a whole lot to say.  I used a Bundle Monster stamp for the background snowflakes BM-323.  I do love the background color Sinful Colors Cinderella.  It took several coats to get this opacity, but it was worth it.  It dried quickly and is really lovely.

The other colors were Nina Ultra Pro French White, Orly Crush On You, China Glaze Red Satin, Lorelei's Tiara, and Liquid Leather.

I also managed the right hand.  Not as good as the left, but still pretty good if I do say so myself.

Take a peek at the other designers, the are fabulous!

Tootles!
Fitz

31 Nail Art Challenge Take Two Day 8: Polka Dots

I am not going to give a long intro, because this is a pretty straight forward design.  I give you. . . POLKA DOTS!

I feel it is a very festive look.  I am really liking China Glaze Def Defying.  I can't decide if I have Kermit or Elphaba on my nails.  I doesn't help that I want to call the polish Defying Gravity.  It isn't easy being green.  The dots were done in China Glaze Red Satin, Holly-Day, and Glitter All The Way.

These are of my right hand.  I am always happy when that hand turns out, but dots are relatively easy to do.  I like simple manicures that still look like they took tons of time.

Don't forget dot over to the other participants blogs.  (Dot over?  Is that a thing?  Sometimes it is hard to come up with puns. . .)

Tootles!
Fitz

12 Days of Christmas: Christmas Tree

So I joined another challenge.  I know what you are thinking, that I am crazy with the 31 one day challenge going on as well.  I couldn't help it, seeing as it is a Christmas challenge plus I have over 2/3rds of the 31 day challenge written and 4 more manicures done and waiting to be blogged and scheduled.  I think I can make it work.  I will still have to double up on weekends, but I really want to try.  So, the Christmas challenge posts will be more real time.

Something horrible happened yesterday and I ripped my thumb nail.  It wasn't a just a break.  It was painful and bled.  It still throbs today.  So last night, before I did this manicure, I filed down all my other nails, not as short as thumb, so goodbye long pretty nails.  They are still long, just definitely not as long.  I also have a band-aid on my thumb, so you will see that in the background.  I didn't even bother painting my left thumb, so the pic later on is my right.

So the theme today was Christmas trees.  I Have A Cupcake did an awesome design and tutorial a couple of days ago.  In fact this design was the reason I decided to do this challenge, because it gave me an excuse to do it.

I did my own take on it and used loose glitter stars from Artclub to top the trees.  I also just used green glitter for the actual trees, because I wanted them to sparkle.  Sad thing is I couldn't capture the gorgeous sparkle due to the icky weather we are having.

The polishes were China Glaze Red Satin, Winter Holly, and City Siren which was the background dots.

Don't forget to take a look at all the other participants.  There are a lot of gorgeous manicures!

Tootles!
Fitz