Thursday, January 31, 2013

Groundhog Day!

It's the 20 year anniversary of the best movie about a rodent EVAR. Groundhog Day is such a fun movie, and I am shocked that Bill Murray did not win an Oscar for his performance as Phil Connors, the snarky weatherman who hates covering Groundhog Day every year. I did this quick nail art as an homage to little Phil The Groundhog. Will he see his shadow on Saturday, or won't he?

Super kawaii! It better be an early spring, or the groundhog gets it!

I started with a base of Essie Bikini So Teeny. I get lots of compliments on this color, it is so striking! And it really levels well, so easy to apply.

I added the artwork using acrylic craft paints.

After all of the artwork was done, I applied a topcoat of Seche Vite to seal it in and protect it. "This is pitiful. A thousand people freezing their butts off waiting to worship a rat. What a hype. Groundhog Day used to mean something in this town. They used to pull the hog out, and they used to eat it. You're hypocrites, all of you!"

Happy Groundhog Day!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Broke A Nail

I am sure this had happened to you. One nail breaks and you have to file it down to a little nubbin. And then you have to worry about the other nails: do they have to go, too? What did THEY do to deserve THIS?! After my index nail broke this week I decided, no! No, I will not file them all down. Instead, I will put a band-aid on it until it gets better.

There there, you'll be back to your old self soon, little guy.

I started with a base of Zoya Wednesday, a dusty turquoise. This is a hard color to photograph as it likes to turn my hands into lobster colored claws. This is the best true-to-color shot I could get.

I painted a little band-aid on my index finger using acrylic paints, then topcoated with Seche Vite. Now it is time to take my vitamins and get that nail to grow out! 

Monday, January 14, 2013

Chalkboard Nails by Sonoma Nail Art

My friend Sarah of Chalkboard Nails is also my official swatcher and photographer for my nail polish line, Sonoma Nail Art. I have created a nail polish inspired by her blog name and it will be for sale this Friday in my etsy store. I played with it this weekend and tried it with a matte topcoat, so fun!

Here are three layers of Chalkboard Nails by Sonoma Nail Art on my index, middle, and pinkie fingers. On my ring finger I painted two coats of OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine! and then sponged on some of the same polish that I lightened with white polish. Then I topped it with a decal I made of Sarah's blog logo. And THEN I put on a coat of Hard Candy Matte-ly In Love. Whew!

As you can see, OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! Ok Fine! is a really close match color wise to Chalkboard Nails by Sonoma Nail Art. If you wanted to use that as a base color with one coat of my polish on top, it would work well. 

Here is the ring finger after I sponged on the lightened polish. All I did was drop a few drips of polish on a piece of card stock, then mixed it with a toothpick, and used a cosmetic sponge to dab it on. It is supposed to mimic the way a chalkboard looks.

And here is the mani before I added a matte topcoat. I think it looks nice either way! Chalkboard Nails will be available in my etsy store this Friday, January 18th, and will sell for $10.50 per bottle. Keep an eye on my facebook page for further updates. You can also WIN a bottle, by entering Sarah's contest here

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

National Static Electricity Day

January 9th is National Static Electricity Day. Who knew?! So to celebrate and to spread awareness (or whatever you are supposed to do about this 'holiday') I created static electricity nail art!

Zzzzap!

I started with a base of OPI The One That Got Away, from the Katy Perry collection. It is actually a bit more wine/raspberry colored than this photo shows. It is really gorgeous! This is two coats.

Then using acrylic paints, I drew this little dude with his (her?) hair standing on end. 

I used layers of purple and white acrylic paint to create zaps of static electricity radiating out from the little dude. I started with the darker colors and worked my way towards white. Added a topcoat (Seche Vite) and done! Now I really wanna put on some wool socks, scoot around on the carpet, and find my next victim... moo hoo ha ha ha!

Monday, January 7, 2013

Turtle Submarine

I admit that historical military weapons are not normally the "go to" topic for nail art, but I was fascinated by this bit of American history, so I wanted to share it with you!

My hubby and I recently watched an episode of Weaponology from the Discovery Channel about submarines. And apparently the first military submarine was built to attach British Naval ships off the New York Harbor during the American Revolutionary War. The 'Turtle' was designed to be operated by one man who would use pedal power to propel the craft, and hand pump water in and out of a tank on the bottom of the craft to lower and raise the submarine. They intended to go underneath a British ship, bore a hole in the hull and place explosives there. Unfortunately, the hull was reinforced with copper plates and they couldn't drill through it. The submarine was designed by David Bushnell with help from Benjamin Franklin. Isn't this crazy fascinating?! So I present... The Turtle!

It's so cute, and also terrifying to think of actually being in it. LOL I added a bit of my Sonoma Nail Art polish, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" to give it some bling and to indicate the dangerous current and cold waters off of New York Harbor. 

I started with a base of Cult Nails Manipulative for the base color. This is two coats. It is a really pretty polish, but tends to give me lobster hands in photographs. 

And here is the artwork of Turtle before top coat. I used acrylic paints to make the artwork of the little submarine. If you want to see what the sub looked like and read more about it, click this link

And if you would love to own your own bottle of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, you can purchase it now from my etsy shop. Click here to see the polishes currently available!