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

Turkey-Lurkey

Here is the last manicure for the Fall-ing For Nail Art Challenge by the Challenge Your Nail Art Facebook Group.  Yes, I finished a challenge!  Wahoo!  (Now about their Christmas challenge. . .)

I really like how this turned out.  I am not sure I picked the right glitter polish for the accent nail, but it still works.

So the polishes are all China Glaze, well except for the Konad Special Gold I used for stamping.  Okay, the CG polishes are Call of The Wild, Electrify, and  Midnight Kiss.

I stamped with Bundle Monster BM-H13 and Winstonia W119.

Well, I hope you all like it.  Now to make pie and eat turkey.  Christmas challenge is next. . .

Tootles!

Fitz

An InLinkz Link-up

Movember

I am sure you all know I love mustaches.  So how could I pass up a chance to do mustaches the way the trend started, as a way to bring awareness to Prostate Cancer and Men's Health.

Orly Decades of Dysfunction is one of my absolute favorite polishes.  I have used it before with gold stamping and I am still a fan.

I used Nicole by O.P.I. On a Gilt Trip for the stamping.  I got the polish in a Ipsy bag.  The polish nice, but nothing overly astounding.  The designs are MASH M60 and Winstonia W109.

I hope you all like it.

Tootles!
Fitz

52 Week Challege: Two Color Gradient.

My first Halloween nail art of the year!!!  Oh How I love this time of the year!  I do have some manicures from last year that I didn't post, so I will be filtering those in.  For now this is all new and for Crumpet's Nail Tarts!

I tried and tried to clean this up and I still don't think it is completely free from residue.  On my hands it looks awesome, however in the pictures the imperfections are seen.  That doesn't mean I am not in love with this design, I really am!  I am sad I won't be keeping it for very long. . .  The cost of doing nail art challenges.

This was done with Julep Cleopatra which is a matte black, but I used top coat on it and so it shines brilliantly!  The other main polish is Pacifica Red Red Wine.  I got this in my September Ipsy box.  I really like the color.  It is dark and rich.  However, like many a dark reds, it does stain a bit.  Consequently I had clean-up issues, as previously mentioned.  I did use the Elmer's Glue method, so it could have been a lot worse.  After I sponged the two colors on, I used Konad Special Black and Winstonia W116 to stamp the bats on my ring finger and thumb.

A nice, simple Halloween look.  Who could ask for anything more?  Make sure to check out the other participants!

Tootles!
Fitz

An InLinkz Link-up

52 Week Challenge: Teal

Okay so I am a day late.  I didn't pay attention to the week break offs.  I just knew that the first week was teal and 2 color gradients.  I have plans for tomorrow to do my two color gradients, so I will still be doing that, and it will also be late. . .

This challenge is very loose.  You have two prompts each week and they can either be combined or done separately and you don't have to do both.  One challenge is a pattern and the other is a color or range of colors that should be old or untried.  I haven't done a challenge in quite a while and I thought I would give this one a go.  It is being hosted on Crumpet's Nail Tarts.

I know I did a lot of teal manicures last month, but would you believe I didn't use all of my teal polishes?  Nope, so here is Nabi Teal with Konad Special White stamped over it using Winstonia W102.

This is a simple design.  I could have just taken a picture of the polish, but I wanted a little nail art on it. . .

I hope you liked this design.  Be sure to check out the other participants!

Tootles!
Fitz

An InLinkz Link-up

C'est La Vie

Another Sunday another stamping challenge from the Adventures In Stamping Facebook group.  Today's challenge is to combine another nail art technique with stamping.  I decided to do the water marble technique I used earlier this month.

I am not as happy with the marbling this time around and I blame China Glaze Pink-ie Promise.  It spread out really well, too well actually, and left some thin spots which tended to break.  Oh well, you win some, you loose some.

The other colors I used were China Glaze Life Is Rosy, Nina Ultra Pro French White, Julpep Andrea, and Gianna.  The stamps are Winstonia W114 and Bundle Monster BM-419.

From a distance and conceptually I like the design.  It is a twist on the Paris manicures people have been doing for a while, I just wish the marbling had turned out better, oh and that my thumb nail had royally been broken.  Ouch!

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

Oh Say Can You See!

I live in the United States if America and with my residence comes a Holiday known as Independence Day or The 4th of July.  On this day we are supposed to remember and celebrate the day the Constitution was signed in 1776.  So in honor of this day and as a prompt from Sunday Stamping (I know I am late, I just didn't get pictures taken) I give my 4th of July Manicure.

I really love how this came out!  The design came from ellandish.  I recently found her on Youtube and am loving her designs.  Plus the quality of her videos is excellent!  I did change a few things due to lack of a particular plate, plus I wanted to stamp the red polish in order to use a sparkly white.

I used plates Winstonia W107 and Cheeky CH51.  Now comes the polishes, there are a few. . . OPI Mad As A Hatter, Essie Butler Please, Konad Special White, Special Red, China Glaze Dandy Lyin' Around, Hey Sailor, and Millennium.

I love that this design is stamping and freehand.  I need to do more freehand.  My roots are there and I am getting rusty.

I forget how much I love MAAH!  It is so colorful and sparkly!  I have no idea if you can still find it, but if you do jump on it!

Well my lovelies, I must be going!

Tootles!
Fitz

Cool glitter and butterflies

I have to tell you that although I am unsure of how I feel about this manicure I love the glitter I used for the gradient.  I am just not sure I used it the best way I could have. . .

So, today's Sunday Stamping is all about butterflies. . . and dragonflies.  But I don't have a dragonfly stamp, so we will stick with butterflies.

So the butterfly is from Winstonia W112 plate.  I started with China Glaze Kinetic Candy (one of my favorite light blues) and then tried to do a glitter gradient with Sally Hansen Fuzz-Sea.  I think I glopped the glitter too much on the tips, but I love this glitter.  It is so unique and stands out in my collection.  I want to find another manicure for it and I will.

I almost forgot, the polish I stamped the butterflies in is  Nabi Flamingo.  It does a decent stamp, I just with you could see how it sparkles in the photos, but alas they are just photos.  If only we lived in Harry Potter world and the pictures would move a bit. . .

I think I might have to get the other glitters in this collection.  Now where to get the money. . .

Tootles!
Fitz

Sunday Stamping: Once Upon A Time . . .

Today's Sunday Stamping challenge was to do a manicure that represented our favorite Fairy Tale.  I tried to think of ways to represent different Fairy Tales; Rapunzel, Cinderella, Beauty and The Beast, or The Little Mermaid.  Nothing was coming to mind until I really followed the challenge and thought about my favorite one. . .

So this isn't a very common Fairy Tale.  So you might not know it, however it is the Grimm Fairy Tale The Shoes That Were Danced To Pieces, or The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  I could tell you what it is about, but I think you should read it for yourself.  I really love how the trees turned out, well except for the diamond tree. . . I couldn't figure out how to do it without it looking like another silver tree. . .

I used Bundle Monster BM-213 to represent the shoes and Winstonia W102 to create the trees.  The colors are China Glaze Want My Bawdy, Millennium, Medallion, Angle Wings, Glistening Snow, and Brownstone.  I also used loose glitter for the leaves.

My right hand I just used Medallion over WMB.

The Shade.

My thumb.  I am not sure what  could have done for the diamond tree. . . if you have any ideas, let me know.

Tootles!
Fitz

A day to celebrate the Earth

Today's prompts from Adventures in Stamping is Earth Day.  I like how this evolved.  I started with knowing what I wanted my ring finger to be and then when looking through my stamping plates and polish all the other fingers came together.

I used all China Glaze  polishes except for Konad's Special Black to stamp with.  The other colors were Kinetic Candy, Gaga For Green, Sunday Funday, and Water You Waiting For.  The plates were Cheeky CH33 and Wistonia W104.

I hope you liked it!  I am sure it is not that original, but I still had fun.

Tootles!
Fitz

Adventures in Stamping. . . Belated

Well hello!  Long time no see!  How are you?  I am doing rather well, just busy.  I made my final move and am enjoying my new room.  Today was my first day back to work from spring break and I am exhausted!  Stupid migraines!  But, I promised myself I would get this posted and by Jove I will!

So, today's Adventures in Stamping is supposed to have an orange base.  I had no idea what to do so I flipped through my plates until inspiration hit me.  I landed on Winstonia W111.  I really liked the circle pattern, but I didn't want to use just orange.  I had read about a technique from Messy Mansion where you basically turn your stamps into custom nail stickers.  I decided to give it a try and fill in a few of the lines with a turquoise.

I love this technique and this manicure!  Consequently there are a few pictures, okay, five, but this is so much fun!

I used two China Glaze colors from the Avant Garden collection Mimosa's Before Mani's and Sunday Funday.  The white stamp is Konad Special White.

MBM looks a bit more orange in the pictures and in real life is more peach.

Clean up was a bit tricky as evidenced by my thumb and the design needed to be a smidgen wider. . .

I definitely will be using this technique again. . .and again. . . and again!  I think I may need to invest in a couple more stampers so I can do more than one nail at a time.  I didn't take as long for the polish to dry as Messy Mansion suggested, but it was a much simpler design than what she did.  Did I say I love this?

Tootles!
Fitz

P.S.  Even though I have been absent for a while, I still did designs and took pictures, so I will be trying to blog those soon.