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

Black Hearts

When one is tired, one should not try and blog.  But, when one wants to make sure one's Valentine Nail Art is published before/on Valentine's Day, one must blog when one is tired.  I blame the two cups of black tea I drank to help the massive headache I woke up with.  You know, really high energy leads to really low energy.

So, this design is for the Nail Art Idea Linkup, which the prompt is Hearts.  I realized, after the fact, that I have done something similar to this. . . twice.  I guess that is why red and black is such a classic combination. . .

The colors used were China Glaze Hey Sailor, Liquid Leather, Julep Beatrix, and Konad Special Black.  I used the Winstonia W102 plate for the hearts.

I really love ombré nails with a pattern stamped over it.  It is easy and always impressive.

I don't know if you can tell it the pictures, but I can tell while I am typing how long my nails have gotten.  I am using multi-vitamins and it is doing wonders for my nails!  I wonder how long the length will last. . .

Well, I hope you like the design!

Tootles!
Fitz

An InLinkz Link-up

Tickled Pink

I don't know what is wrong with me.  I don't have much to say.  I will try my best.  I blame it on the rain, it has made me lazy today.

There is a prompt by Brijits Digits for each week of  February, so I thought I would try.  Plus one week is skulls and I will use any excuse to do skull nail art.  So this week is hot pink.  Not my favorite color, but with Valentine's Day and all.  Well, when in Rome.

I tried to do something a bit more off kilter.  I didn't want to be too typical,hence the green hearts.  The polka dots aren't perfect, but I love how it breaks up the pink and makes it not quite so shocking.

The polishes are Finger Paints Lucky in Love Lime, Nina Ultra Pro French White, China Glaze Sugar High, Liquid Leather, and Konad Special White.  The stamping was done with Bundle Monster plate BM-412.

I think the hearts come out okay.  I really like the lime green, however it took several coats over the black. . . Eh, it works.

Well I hope you all like it.  Have a great weekend!

Tootles!
Fitz

An InLinkz Link-up

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

Shape of My Heart

I am going to try and do some Sunday Stamping again.  Lets cross our fingers that this isn't a fluke and I will keep doing these.

The prompt for today is Pink and Black.  I saw a design on Pintrest (Curse you Pintrest for sucking up my time!) by @tweetiisweetii.  I did my own spin on it.  I didn't feel like doing chevron, so I pulled out Bundle Monster BM-604 instead.

The polishes I used were Julep Phyllis, China Glaze Stone Cold, Life Is Rosy, Scattered & Tattered, Pink-ie Promise, and Konad Special White.

I love the matte look of SC and the glossy heart.  I love that contrast.  You will see that again, because I love it!

I really love how this came out.  It is cute and a bit edgy.  Yep, definitely proud of this one!

Tootles!
Fitz

Conversations Matter

I have wanted to do a manicure like this for a very long time, I think since I started doing nail art.  When I got Bundle Monster's most recent stamping plates I knew this would be the year.

I used a lot of polishes, so are you ready?  In no particular order, China Glaze Def Defying, Kinetic Candy, Finger Paints Cicus Peanuts, Spun Sugar, Julep Bea, Konad Special Red, and Special White.  That is a . . . finger full!  You see what I did there?  For the stamping I used Bundle Monster BM-421 and BM-425.  It makes me laugh that DD changed SW yellow, but it's okay.  I still like it.

My thumb up close.  Circus Peanuts is one of my favorite polishes and I was happy to find an excuse to use it.

This manicure isn't perfect, but I am still really happy with it.  It reminds me how small my nails really are.  The stamps barely fit on my nail and forget about my pinkie nail!  It also shows me I need some more practice when it come to being exact about stamp placement.  I did get a lot of complements on it and amazement at the writing.  This was definitely a good mani to end the Holiday on.

Tootles!
Fitz

Valetine Stripes

I bought a couple new colors at Sally's Beauty Supply the other day and this design immediately popped into my head.  And I love it!!

First of all I must apologize for the shape of my hands.  A dry winter will do that to them.  I am using a new product that seems to be helping, although I started it after these photos were taken.  The new colors I bought are Finger Paints Minimalistic Mauve and Sculpted Carnation.  Then I accented designs with Nina Ultra Pro French White and the accent finger is Julep Love over FW.

I feel like I got back to my roots doing this all free hand. I am really proud of those stripes.  They are a bit shaky, especially when you look at them super up close, but they look really cute.  My right hand was pretty good too, although I didn't snap a picture of them.

Soft and feminine with a touch of quirk.  I really love this design!

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

From the Vault: Valetine's Day Nail Art

This is from the vault.  Last year I did this for Sunday Stamping and didn't have time to post it. . . So I thought I would bring it out now.

I am relatively positive about the nail colors I used which were China Glaze Kinetic Candy, Millennium, and Traffic Jam.  The only one I am not one hundred percent positve one is TJ.  For the stamping I used Bundle Monster BM-323 and GALS GA12.

I like the that you can see the barbed wire behind the heart.  Sometimes you need something a bit more anti Valentines to counter balance all the sugary sweet goodness.

Looking at these picture reminds me how much I really should invest in a light tent.  Time to do some shopping on E-bay!

Tootles!
Fitz

Once upon a time three purples. . .

Today's Sunday Stamping challenge was to stamp with three purples.  When I saw the challenge I knew I wanted to do a gradient.  I love gradients and they never fail to impress and they are easy!

I knew I wanted to start with China Glaze Sweet Hook so I took out my box or purple polishes and went started playing with color options.  I decided to join SH I would use Finger Paints Spun Sugar and China Glaze Gothic Lolita (one of my absolute favorites!) and top it all off with China Glaze Fairy Dust.  I knew I wanted to stamp in white so that it blended a bit with SH so Konad Special White was puled out too.

Finally I had to pick a plate.  I decide with valentines coming up soon I wanted something in the vein.  I also knew I wanted a full nail image design.  When I saw Bundle Monster BM-H18 I knew it was exactly what I had in mind.

One of the things I like to do is vary the stamp a bit so it looks slightly different on each nail, especially when I am not doing an accent nail.  I am lucky I can do this because I have such small nails.

Well that is the finished look.  I hope you like it.  It is great for Valentine's Day and would really cool in the more traditional pinks and reds if that is your thing.

Tootles!
Fitz

Half Moons and Hearts

Today I went over to my friend Kathleen's house and did her nails.  It was so nice to visit with her.  I don't see her often enough and it was great to catch up a bit.  She didn't know what she wanted on her nails, so I decided to use her for the challenge.  The only problem is that after I did it I looked at the rules and it says I had to use my nails and I forgot to take a picture with a sign.  Oh, well.  I will continue to do the challenges, I just won't be eligible for the prize.  It isn't a big deal, I just wanted an opportunity to have a little direction in my designs.

So this is what I came up with for Kathleen's nails.  She wanted something soft and feminine.  She really didn't care for my last manicure with the black and red.  So I decided to do the top of a heart in her half moon and the full heart on an accent nail.  I am not sure about the "lace" dots, but I am still happy with it.

I used China Glaze Kinetic Candy, Wet N' Wild French White Cremè, and Essie Need A Vacation.  I don't know why NAV has been unused for so long.  It is such a lovely, creamy pink.

I know the pictures aren't my best, but it was hard to get the right lighting and they were about to start dinner.

Well. don't forget to look at the other artists!

Tootles!
Fitz