TOUCHDOWN!

I actually did these nails on a whim, but I am so happy with how they turned out. Even if you are not a sports fan, you are probably aware of the whole mess with the National Football League and the referee strike. On Monday Night Football, the fill-in refs apparently made terrible calls, and everyone and their brother complained about it on Facebook. On Wednesday I painted my nails this lovely shade of green from Cult Nails (called "Deal With It" ha ha), and on Thursday my hubby wanted to head downtown to watch the game. I couldn't leave the house without SOME kind of nail art (my friends pretty much expect to see something on my nails, and I hate to disappoint, ha ha), so I got out my paints and did this:

HOME RUN FOR THE SEAHAWKS! (oh wait...)

I started with a little white body and hat for the ref. I used acrylic paint to do this part and the other art in this manicure.

Then I added ref stripes and the black wrist cuffs and collar. Look ma! No head!! (Ironic, much?!)

Finally I used some peach toned paint mixed with white and black to make the hands and the head and facial features. I also added a little whistle for him to blow. That's right dude, you blow. Heh, heh. 

And I would like to point out that the placement of the little ref on my middle finger was no accident. ;-)

Halloween Collection Winner and Swatch

Congrats to Ina of mynailpolishonline.com. Ina won a set of my Halloween Collection in celebration of my one year blogiversary. :) And here is a quick swatch of one of the Halloween colors: Halloween In The Vines.

I painted my nails with China Glaze No Plain Jane and then added three coats of Halloween In The Vines to my ring finger with a black french tip. It is a fun way to wear this polish!

Don't forget: my next restock of the Halloween colors is tomorrow, September 20th, 2012 at 4pm Pacific Time (7pm Eastern). There will be full sets of the Halloween Collection available for $38 and there will also be individual bottles of the Halloween colors as well. The sets are one per person only. Here is the link to my etsy store. 

Rubber Duckie Nails and Giveaway!

Here are some Rubber Duckie nails I have entered into Chalkboard Nails nail art contest. Sarah said we couldn't use acrylic paints, so I didn't, but DANG it is a lot harder to do nail art with nail polish. Sarah's contest is for either warm colors or cool colors, so I went with warm. :)

My technique for this art was similar to working with acrylic paints (but more of a pain in the butt), and I used the same small nail art brush I normally use. I painted white silhouettes of duckies on my nails first to make sure the colors would pop.

Here are the polishes I used in this manicure. The base color is Essie "Orange, It's Obvious!" Love that color! And I don't remember the names of all the others, but there you go.

I just hit my ONE YEAR BLOGIVERSARY for Sonoma Nail Art. Yay! So to celebrate, I am giving away one set of my Halloween Nail Art polishes. :) I will do a simple Rafflecopter giveaway. This is open INTERNATIONALLY, so everyone can enter. I do ask you to be a follower of my blog, and you can get an additional entry for following my facebook fan page. Deadline for entry is 9/19/12 and winner will be announced on 9/20/12. Please make sure you leave an email address so I can contact you if you are the winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And finally! This is also the 120th post on my blog. Every 20 posts, I make a donation to Women's Recovery Services in Sonoma County. They help women transitioning out of addiction, and I think this is a great way to have my blog do a little bit of good. We all know that a pretty manicure can really boost your self esteem, and I want to help empower woman in my community to feel good about themselves and improve their lives. If you would like to make a donation, click here to find out more about Women's Recovery Services. 

Cloud Gradient

Here is a manicure that I recently entered in the Birchbox contest. I have done a cloud design before, but I think this one turned out great! If you would like to vote for my entry, click here. Thanks!

There is a little seagull silhouette against a sunset sky with fluffy little clouds floating by. I used the gradient sponge technique by The Nailasaurus to do this mani. Then I applied acrylic paints for the clouds and bird. 

My base color for this manicure is butter LONDON Sprog. I am such a sucker for periwinkle colored polish. I have many bottles, and each time I buy one I think, "Wait, don't I already have enough of this color?" And then I just laugh at myself. Of course I don't have enough periwinkle polish. Silly me!

P.S. I just passed the one year anniversary for Sonoma Nail Art! I will have a fun giveaway planned this week, so stay tuned and thanks for reading!!

Deadly Zins and Danke Shiny Red

Today's nail art is a quick manicure I did before my recent trip to Seattle to visit family.

I painted my nails with this awesome OPI color called Danke Shiny Red, and then added a bit of nail swirly stuff (a la Robin Moses), and then dabbed my new Halloween color Deadly Zins on the tips. Hotsy totsy!

Here is a shot of my new Halloween polish Deadly Zins. This pic was taken by Sarah Waite of Chalkboard Nails. Deadly Zins is one of four polishes I am releasing for Halloween. The labels for these polishes are super fun, like they are oozing down the side of the bottle, LOL.

Here are the polishes I will be selling on etsy tomorrow! Sale time is 5pm Pacific (that's 8pm Eastern). My polishes are $10 each, U.S. shipping only. I am really excited about these and I hope you are looking forward to them too!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SonomaBento