Sonoma Nail Art

Writer's Block Nails and 500 Followers Winner!

2012-02-27T16:45:00.001-08:00

I laughingly call this mani my Writer's Block Nails because I painted my digits with Essie Blanc, meaning to do something for my friend Sarah's Dotting Tool Contest, and this is what I ended up wearing for 3 days. o.O

Yeah, not very inspired. I am happy to report that I did eventually come up with a design for Sarah's contest and I will post those soon. Meanwhile, I am thrilled to announce that Courtney Young is the winner of my 500 Follower contest! I asked you to paint your nails using your favorite color (you didn't have to do any artwork, but it certainly was welcome) and submit it for voting on Facebook. Courtney's nails received the most likes and she has won a selection of 6 nail polishes in my favorite hue: blue!

Here is what Courtney said about her sushi nails: "I used Zoya Apple and did some sushi nail art over it. Thanks so much for the contest. I can't wait to see everyone else's favorites!"

There really were some great entries and I thank everyone for sending in your photos and for voting on your favorites. I loved every single entry.

Carrots on Crack

2012-02-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I am not a big fan of crackle finish polishes. They look like your nail is falling apart. That's great if you want zombie nails, but that is not usually what you are trying for. But I decided to try out the new crackle polish duos recently released by Revlon. I saw these at Walgreens, so I picked up two different shades. One has orange crackle (pictured here), and the other has gold crackle.

And I added a carrot. Why?! I think because it kind of matches the orange crackle, and because I really loved the evil carrots I did back in October. They were so fun to paint.

Here is the base color. It is called Steamy. The companion orange crackle is called Affair. Steamy Affair. So clever.

Then I painted my cute little not-so-evil carrot using acrylic paints and my small nail art brush. The small brush and thinned down acrylic paint really allow me to get fine details. After this pic, I added the crackle and then I had to wait a bit for it to dry before I sealed with topcoat.

Here's the polish duo. I have to say, it is rather awkward to use, and the brush ends up being really top heavy, and prone to spills. I bought this one and the duo called Killer Instincts. And I will be honest, crackle is probably not a good choice for anyone whose skin is starting to wrinkle. It just accentuates the wrinkles. I may be too old for crack. Which is fine, because crack is whack.

Mardi Gras Nails

2012-02-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

Laissez les bon temps rouler! Happy Fat Tuesday everyone! I have never celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but I have celebrated Fasnacht in Basel, Switzerland twice. It is one of the top 5 experiences of my life so far. Imagine giant paper lantern floats, led by teams of pipers and drummers decked out in crazy masks, all with paper lanterns on their heads, too! The lights of Basel go out at 4am and then it's a parade and a party until the sun comes up (and even after that). The pipers and drummers start to wander off onto side streets and you might end up following just a few of them down a little alleyway. Then you stop and get some coffee or beer, and Zwiebelkuchen, an onion-y quiche. Then you head back out for more! It's magical.

I chose Mardi Grad colors and did a skittles mani (skittles=different colors on each nail, like a bag of Skittles candy). Then I added a bit of nail art to make it festive.

Here are the nails before I added nail art.

I did the fleur de lis freehand using gold acrylic paint. To find out more about my technique for nail art and the tools and paints I use, please check out my FAQ section.

On my right hand I added a string of beads using more gold acrylic paint.

Colors used in this manicure: Zoya Mimi, Ulta Envy, and L'Oreal Amazon's Flash. All of these shades are gorgeous!

If you are interested in Basel's Fasnacht celebration, check out this short video. Those lanterns following the big floats are attached to the tops of people's heads!

Finally, don't forget to cast your vote in my 500 Follower contest! I have all of the photos posted on my Facebook page. Simply 'like' the picture to cast your vote. Voting ends on Friday, February 24th at 5pm Pacific Time. Thanks!

My Two Cents Worth

2012-02-20T16:09:00.000-08:00

Today is Presidents Day in the U.S. and in honor of this holiday, I have created nails featuring a president: Abraham Lincoln. His likeness is on the one cent coin, but a recent news story revealed that our penny costs more to produce than what it represents! The one cent coin actually costs 2 cents to make.

I am an amateur numismatist (aka coin collector). Did you know the little letter underneath the date stamped on every U.S. coin indicates where the coin was minted? D is for Denver. P is for Philadelphia, and S is for San Francisco. The San Francisco mint is pretty much closed now. They only mint proof coins. There is also a mint at West Point, but they only do proof coins and American Eagle coins.

I started with a base of Pure Ice Fast Lane. It has that shiny new penny color. It is a frost finish however, so I painted one coat, and then used a technique suggested by Leslie of Polish Art Addiction.

You use an eye shadow brush (a disposable one is best, because you won't be able to use it again) to dab on the final coat. It gets rid of those annoying brush lines! The top nail on this wheel was done with Leslie's technique, the bottom was just brushed on. See? Big difference!

I used bronze, white, and black acrylic paints to do the artwork for this manicure. This was not the easiest design to do.

So here is Abe all done before I sealed him with top coat. I also added a date and mint marking. I guess I did my nails in Denver. :)

On my right hand I painted some cent symbols on my ring finger. Big Money! I am a high roller, what can I say?

I have uploaded all of the entries for my 500 Followers contest. You can check out the entries on Facebook by clicking here. Please vote for your favorite by 'liking' the picture. Votes will be accepted through Friday, February 24th, 2012 at 5pm Pacific Time. Good luck and thank you to everyone who entered!

Diamond and Tiara Party Nails

2012-02-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

My friend Johnna just had her birthday party this past weekend. She did it up right by having a Diamond and Tiara Ice Skating Party at the local ice rink: Snoopy's Home Ice. This ice rink is part of the Charles M. Schulz Museum, and Snoopy's Gallery and Gift Shop. It is all done up on the outside and the inside to look like a big Swiss chalet. Very 1970s ski lodge-y. I picked out my favorite plastic tiara and of course had to make a manicure to match.

I painted my nails with a bubblegum pink shade from Cosmetic Arts, then topped the index finger with Amy's franken polish called A Dash of Princess, and added white polka dots to my ring finger using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Whirlwind White. Very girly.

Here is the adorable polish from Amy. Amy's blog is I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous, and she has been putting together some great hand made polishes. She really knows what she is doing with glitter. This polish has pink, white, and silver glitter in various sizes. It is so fun!

The birthday girl Johnna is the one in the middle of this pic with the Pabst Blue Ribbon badges (homemade), and the modified wedding gown. I think she drastically shortened it, and added some padding to the butt and elbows in case of hard landings.

This is me and Johnna after we were done skating. We both got injured. I got stabbed in the leg by some guy's skate when he wiped out next to me (owie!), and Johnna took a spill on her hip. But don't we look Fabulous?! (Well, at least Johnna does.) LOL

There is still time for you to enter my 500 Follower contest! You have until 5pm Pacific Time today to enter. Find out more about the contest by clicking here. Good luck!

Bamboo Nails

2012-02-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

This is a guest post that I did for Kayla Shevonne! You can check out more pictures and an explanation of how I did this nail art on her blog by clicking here. It was really fun to have my work featured on her great blog.

Don't forget, you still have time to enter my 500 Follower contest! You don't have to do any nail art, I just want to see your lovely nails in your favorite shade. Of course, nail art and stamping are totally fine, but if that's not your thing, don't worry. Click here for the details on the contest. Deadline for entry is tomorrow at 5pm Pacific Time.

I've also hit another milestone on my blog! This is the 81st post, and every 20 posts I make a donation to Women's Recovery Services. They help women transitioning out of substance abuse. One of the things they provide are toiletries and make up. We all know that putting on a bit of make up or applying a nice manicure is a big boost to self esteem, and these women really need it. I encourage you to find a way to make your own blog do some good in your community.

Sully from Monsters Inc. and a GIVEAWAY!

2012-02-13T13:38:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to do this manicure for a while now, and I finally had the perfect polish to do it. China Glaze Aquadelic from their new Electropop collection is the exact shade of Sully's fur. :)

This photo that I took outside shows the best representation of the true color of this polish. I love blue polishes so much, but sadly they do not photograph well. This is James "Sully" Sullivan from the Pixar movie Monsters Inc. This manicure has a Sonoma County connection, because the Chief Creative Officer of Pixar lives in Sonoma County! John Lasseter, director of such great movies as "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life," and "Cars," lives in beautiful Sonoma County.

Here is a shot of the base color (again, this is not color correct, see the above photo for a more accurate pic).

I used acrylic paints to make the artwork on top of the base polish color. Sully is a fun character to paint, and I have his little pal Mike Wazowski on my list to do as well.

Here is Sully pretty much done. His eyes were pretty hard to do since they are so tiny, but luckily I was able to manage it on the first try and not start over again.

Then I added splotches of purple paint across the other nails to mimic Sully's fur. Or as Boo likes to call him, "Kitty!"

Ok, now for the fun part. I recently hit 500 followers on my blog and I am super thrilled! Your comments really mean a lot to me and encourage me to keep challenging myself with new nail art ideas. I would like to show my appreciation by giving you a chance to win some polishes in my favorite color: BLUE! Here are the beauties you could win:

Sinful Colors Cinderella, China Glaze Aquadelic, Finger Paints Twisted (ok, this one isn't' blue, but it's AWESOME!), OPI Simmer and Shimmer, Love & Beauty Blue Multi, and Milani Jewel FX Teal. These are all brand new polishes, never used. I purchased all of these polishes for this giveaway.

OPI Simmer and Shimmer is from the Burlesque collection. It's a really pretty glitter with lots of blue. Finger Paints Twisted is an awesome flakie topcoat with multicolored flakes.

Sinful Colors Cinderella is a gorgeous light blue polish with glass flecks and a pink to yellow shimmer. The Milani Jewel FX Teal glitter is incredible! There're holo glitters, multiple sizes of blue glitter, green glitter, ...just WOW!

China Glaze Aquadelic is from the Electropop collection and is much brighter and more teal than this picture shows. The Love & Beauty polish from Forever 21 has a golden sheen to it that is really pretty.

So how do you win these 6 polishes? I want to do something interactive, but I know not everyone likes to do nail art. So here's the contest: I want to see photos of your favorite color on your nails! You can submit one photo of your nails painted in your favorite shade. You can do nail art if you like, even do multiple polishes in your favorite color! Please watermark your photo with your GFC follower name. I will post all of the submitted photos on my Sonoma Nail Art Facebook page next week, and the photo with the most likes will win the polish!

You must be a follower of this blog. Send only ONE (1) photo of your nails to me at marquesmaverick@gmail.com. Be sure to watermark your photo with your GFC follower name. Deadline to enter your photo is Friday, February 17th, 2012 at 5pm Pacific Time. All entries will be posted on the Sonoma Nail Art Facebook page on Monday, February 20th, 2012. Vote for your favorites by 'liking' the photo. The photo with the most likes on Friday, February 24th, 2012 at 5pm Pacific Time will win the contest! This contest is open to everyone (including international entries).

Thanks for following me and have fun with this contest!

I Wuv That Wascally Wabbit

2012-02-08T13:12:00.000-08:00

Nothing says love like a rabbit in drag. I thought this would be a fun Valentine's Day mani that was a bit outside the norm. Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in LOVE! I present to you, the original Drag Queen: Bugs Bunny!

It's Bugs Bunny all gussied up and batting his cute little eyelashes at a love-struck Elmer Fudd. With little hearts, if it weren't already obvious that Elmer's got the hots for Bugs.

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Urgent Orchid. I really like this shade, but it gets a bit goopy towards the end of the bottle. Need to add thinner...

Then I topped them with Pure Ice Busted. I bought this color while I was in Reno over the New Year holiday. It is really luscious, but it needs some kind of strongly pigmented base coat for it to really look nice. This mani on its own was really pretty!

I started with Bugs on my middle finger. I used acrylic paints and a small nail art brush from Sally's Beauty Supply to do the artwork. Find out more about my nail art tools on my FAQ page.

Next came Elmer. He's a little smaller in proportion to Bugs than he should be, but still really darling.

I think the hardest part about Elmer were the little stars in his eye. They are REEEEEALLY little. And I added some shading to his cheeks to give him that flush of love at first sight (*snicker).

On my right hand I painted a little heart. I could have done more, but I finished this mani at 12:30 last night and was already up way past my bedtime.

Here is the image that inspired this manicure. Bugs always looked so beautiful in drag. Right on little bunny! Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello Kitty Valentine Nails

2012-02-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

My polish friend Rebecca of Rebecca Likes Nails is a HUGE Hello Kitty fan. She was rather peeved at me when I made my Hello Kitty Zombie Nails. So to make up for it, and to celebrate the season of LOVE, here are my Hello Kitty Valentine Nails.

See, Rebecca? No fractured skull, no oozing blood. Just a pretty Hello Kitty with wings, floating around in heaven while picking the Valentine hearts that are growing out of clouds.

My inspiration for this mani came from this adorable wallpaper I found at this site.

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Cinderella. It's a beautiful shimmery blue with a bit of pink flash to the glass flecks in the polish. It's exactly what a Cinderella polish should look like. Sadly the Walt Disney Company tried to come out with a line of polishes inspired by Disney Princesses last year and they were a big disappointment.

I painted Hello Kitty by using acrylic paints thinned with water. I made some minor adjustments to her after I took this pic, but this is how she pretty much ended up before top coat.

Then I added clouds and the basis for the Valentine flowers using more acrylic paint. Acrylic paint is easier to work with and gives you much more control than polish. Always start with a base of nail polish on your nails, then apply acrylic paint on top of that for the art work. Seal it with clear top coat.

I finished by adding color to the Valentine hearts and a few random hearts on my other nails. I also painted a few random heart on my right hand, just to give the design a bit of continuity through the two hands. I am not as skilled at painting with my non-dominant hand.

Here are the finished nails before topcoat.

By the way, Rebecca is having a cool giveaway now (there may even be Hello Kitty items in it) so be sure to check it out before Valentine's Day.

I am really close to 500 followers, which is super exciting. I have a fun giveaway planned when I reach that milestone. Thanks to everyone for your kind support and great comments. I am having a blast doing this blog.

Superbowl Nails

2012-02-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

GO TEAM! Personally I am hoping the Patriots win, but I don't really care either way. In honor of today's Superbowl Game, I have painted Superbowl nails. They are fairly simple, since I don't really have a team affiliation either way. I am pretty sure my husband will cheer for the Giants because he hates Tom Brady. :)

I polished my nails a base green color to match the AstroTurf, and then painted a bunch of little footballs flying by on my middle and ring fingers.

The base polish is Orly Fresh, and I really like this color. I actually painted the base polish on the night before I did the artwork. I went to a friend's house to watch movies, and one of the girls there said my nails looked like little green apples. :) This is two coats.

To paint the footballs, I started with black acrylic paint. I could have started with brown, and then outlined in black, but I thought this route would be easier.

Then I topped the black shapes with brown acrylic paint. If you go a little too far with the brown paint, you can always touch up with a bit of black acrylic paint.

Finally, I added white acrylic paint for the stitches on the tops of the footballs. Then I sealed everything in with Seche Vite top coat. My friend Sarah said these looked like the wraps you can buy at drugstores. If you do any design in a repeating pattern, you could achieve the same effect.

Have fun watching the game (or watching the commercials)!

Sumbody Nail Polish

2012-02-01T16:41:00.000-08:00

About a month or so ago, I found out there is a Sonoma County Nail Polish!!! I live here in Sonoma County (thus the name of my blog), and I was super excited to try out a Sonoma County Nail Polish! The company that distributes this polish is called Sumbody. They are based in Sebastopol, California. Sebastopol is a great little town in Sonoma County. It has lots of funky little shops, great places to eat, a wonderful seasonal farmers market, it's on the way to the ocean, surrounded by vineyards, and hosts some of my favorite festivals every year (Gravenstein Apple Fair, and Apple Blossom Festival)! I decided to check out Sumbody and try out a few of their polishes. The owner of the company is Deborah Burnes and she has written a book called "Look Great, Live Green" and she is super passionate about beauty products that are good for our bodies and for the planet. This manicure is inspired by the cover of her book.

On the thumb I have the portrait from the cover of her book, and on my other nails I free-handed abstract swoopy designs with a stamped Konad butterfly on my ring finger.

I started with Sinful Colors Snow Me White on my thumb and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lickety Split Lime. I hadn't yet been to her shop, so these are the colors I used instead of Sumbody nail polishes.

Next I painted swoops of gold acrylic paint and accented it with white dots of acrylic paint. I also stamped the butterfly from my new Konad stamping kit that my sister gave me for xmas. I used the green Konad special polish for the butterfly. (Thanks Sista!) You can see how I started painting the portrait on my thumb.

Here is the portrait nearly finished before topcoat. I made some minor adjustments to it before I did topcoat.

Here's my right hand with a similar design, but no portrait. It's pretty difficult to do intricate artwork with my non dominant hand. :)

I was not allowed to take pictures inside of the store, but boy is it cool inside! It smells divine. Think of a more hippie-ish version of a LUSH Cosmetics store. Now they do sell nail polish, however, it is not made here. It is distributed by Sumbody in Sebastopol, CA, so I can call it Sonoma County nail polish, but it is not made here. Deborah chooses the colors and the names for the polishes. Sumbody says that these are 3- and camphor-free polishes. They say these are "as natural as nail polish can be." :)

Here's the three polishes I purchased: Mack the Knife, It's My Party, and Specktacular. Mack the Knife is a gorgeous bronze color, It's My Party is bright pinkish-red with holographic sparkles, and Specktacular looks like a dead on dupe of OPI My Private Jet (the non-holo version). These retail for $9.95 each, and if you buy three you get a bottle of their cuticle oil.

This cuticle oil is AWESOME! It has apricot, safflower, and avocado oils, as well as coconut and shea butters. It has a very slight coconut smell, but that dissipates after about 5 minutes. It applies like an oil, but soaks into the skin very quickly, without leaving hands greasy. The cuticle oil retails for $16.95.

Sumbody is having a warehouse sale at the end of March, which I can't wait to attend! Here is a link for those who will be in the area and want to shop like crazy for some amazing body products.

Sumbody

118 North Main Street

Sebastopol, CA 95472

(707) 823-2053

Birthday Suit

2012-01-27T13:24:00.000-08:00

Today's mani was inspired by a few things: 1) tomorrow is my birthday; 2) I'm flying out for a quick trip to Seattle this weekend and I needed something that was quick and easy; and 3) my sister suggested this design and made me laugh! So I present to you in honor of my birthday: BIRTHDAY SUIT NAILS!

This pic has been censored for those who are sensitive to nudity. If you have a strong constitution, go ahead and scroll down to the next photo, but beware! There is nudity involved!

Eeek! Nudies!

Ha ha, so yes, I just painted my nails with a nude polish (Private Screening by Wet 'n Wild), and there's no nail art on these at all. But I do think it's hilarious, and I loved the idea when my sister suggested it. Have a great weekend everyone! I will see you next week when I am older and wiser (and hopefully fully clothed)!

Hello Kitty Sans Kitty

2012-01-25T16:47:00.000-08:00

I needed to change my manicure last night and I was a little short on inspiration. It is hard to come up with fun, original designs, and especially ones that are not going to take me a few hours to do. I started this mani way too late to do something more elaborate, but I really like how this turned out. This design is similar to the one here made by The Nail Bank, but I just took the kitty out of the picture.

Hello Kitty's bow shape is so iconic, that you can pretty much recognize it even without the Kitty herself. I used a (relatively) easy polka dot pattern (made with a dotting tool) for an accent on the ring finger.

I started with a base of Monsooner or Later from OPI. As you can see, I ended up taking this base color off of my ring finger to do an accent nail. When I painted this color and took this picture, I still didn't actually know what I was going to do for nail art yet. :)

My right hand has white polka dots on a red background for a contrasting accent finger. It was also done with a dotting tool.

The polishes I used in this manicure: OPI Monsooner Or Later, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, OPI Nail Envy basecoat, and Seche Vite topcoat.

My birthday is coming up this weekend and I am super stuck for ideas! What should I paint on my nails?!?!

Show Me Your Mug

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

I did this manicure for a contest on Constantly Redone's blog. It is such a fun idea, I may have to do it again! She loves coffee mugs so she asked for manicures inspired by coffee mugs/tea cups. I absolutely adore my Starbucks coffee mug (I paid waaaaayyyy too much for it) so this is the mug I chose to depict in my manicure.

It's the Starbucks mermaid with some fun swirly designs (maybe they are coffee plant flowers and pods?) with some great coffee bean accents in bronze.

I started with a base of Essie Very Structured nail polish. This is a beautiful milk chocolate brown color, but one that my hubby prefers to call 'poo nails'. Hardy har har.

Here is the coffee mug that I used for my design. My hubs steals it all of the time, even though it is MY mug. I walked past it at Sbucks so many times when I first saw it, because it was just too expensive. Like $15 or something ridiculous. But then I finally broke down when they only had one left, and I bought it. It's such a good mug!

Here's my right hand, and I am pretty happy with how it turned out, even though some fingers were a little wonky. The middle finger is supposed to be a coffee cup in bronze, and the thumb is supposed to be a seashell in bronze. It's really hard to paint any good detail with my non-dominant hand.

All of the artwork was made with acrylic paints, and here is the nail polish base I used: Essie Very Structured. I liked this mani so much, I really want to do another set using one of the teacups from my grandma. They are so beautiful!

Troy Polamalu

2012-01-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

Today's manicure is for the daughter of a friend. Dyan suffered a tragic accident last year and is slowly recovering from it. To help her feel better, many of my nail polish buddies are putting together manicures that we think would cheer her up and help her stay positive on her road to recovery. I know that she really likes the Steelers, and in particular, LOVES Troy Polamalu. So here he is in all his glory for you Dyan!

No portrait of Troy would be complete without his flowing locks, and they cannot be contained on just one nail, oh no! This was so much fun to paint. I really like how it turned out, even if I am not personally a Steelers fan.

I started with a base of China Glaze Happy-Go-Lucky for a nice Steelers yellow. This is a good shade and this was just two coats of polish, which is nearly unheard of for yellow nail polish.

Here is the first pic I took of the mani underway. I got so into it that I forgot to take any pics before this point. All of the art work on top of the yellow polish was done with acrylic paint. You can find out more about my technique by reading my FAQ page.

Here is the manicure nearly finished, before topcoat.

It is always tough to look at pictures of a manicure after I have finished and have a few days perspective on the design, because I always find flaws. Like the highlights I tried to add to his hair ended up looking like his hair is grey. And I made his eyes too far apart, but these are nitpick things that really only matter to me. I still love this mani, and I really hope that it brings a smile to Dyan. :-)

She-Ra Princess of Power

2012-01-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, I laughed hard when I showed these nails off at work, because my coworkers Danny and Dano totally recognized this character right away, and Danny knew that She-Ra was He-Man's twin separated at birth. LOL. These cartoons do stick in your head and heart, don't they??

I decided that I have been neglecting my sparkly glitter polishes, and needed to do a fun sparkle manicure. She-Ra is both powerful and girly, so she fit well into this mani.

I painted She-Ra using acrylic paints over the base of OPI Elephantastic Pink. I had to change the shape of her face a bit, but that is the nice thing about acrylic paint. You can mess up and fix things fairly easily.

Next I outlined her crown, face, and flowing hair.

Here is She-Ra, with an adjusted jaw line and her facial features. I thought about adding some sparkle to her crown, but I started this mani rather late and night and I needed to go to bed.

Polishes used in this manicure: OPI Extrava-va-ganza! and OPI Elephantastic Pink. I also used Nail Envy and Seche Vite.

If you really need a She-Ra fix (and who doesn't??) check out this video of the opening credits to the show on YouTube.

Every Cloud Has a Holo Lining

2012-01-18T17:44:00.000-08:00

I think this mani was better in my head than it turned out to be... but I still like it! I tried to do a sky near dusk with pink tinged clouds floating along, and each little cloud has a silver (holographic) lining.

I started by layering a LOT of polishes, I mean TONS! In the following picture, there are 8 layers of polish. You can see that I didn't allow the polish to completely dry after each layer and when I applied Seche Vite topcoat, it freaked out! It's all squiggly. I had to wait and come back to this mani the next day and reapply a layer of Seche Vite to smooth it out.

See, squiggly.

After I got it to smooth out a bit, I used acrylic paints to make the fluffy pink clouds. To the bottom of each cloud I applied a bit of holographic sparkle. I was a little too light handed, you can barely see the holo-y goodness.

Here are the two hands together, and if you look closely, you can see that the underside of the clouds do shine a bit. And actually, now that I look at it from further away, it's kinda pretty like this!

Up close shot where you can see some of the holo.

The bazillion polishes I used in this mani (not counting Nail Envy and Seche Vite!): OPI What's With the Cattitude?, OPI Skull and Glossbones, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Delphinium, Essie Walk Down The Aisle, OPI I Juggle... Men, China Glaze OMG. Whew!

And here is a link to the song I was humming when I wrote this post. :)

Bridal Party Nails and Cult Nails Contest

2012-01-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are some pictures of the nails I did for members of the bridal party at my Wedding Part Deux! When in Reno, I offered to do nails for anyone in our group who wanted them. Here are the ones I managed to snap pictures of (I didn't get my sister's nails on camera, darn it!)

Here are my mom's nails. I made a few designs before we left for Reno so that she could pick out a design she liked (and also so I wouldn't have to bring a massive amount of polishes and supplies with me). This kind of mod retro pattern appealed to her. I painted most of her nails with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Coco A-go-go (a really pretty bronze color), then painted an accent nail on each hand with Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris, a one coat black polish. On the black nail I used bronze and gold acrylic paints to make this pattern. I like it! Very dramatic.

Here is mom showing off her mani while holding a glass filled with champagne. And this was BEFORE we went to the chapel to renew our vows. (LUSH!) Just kidding! :)

My sister-in-law said I could do whatever I wanted, so I did a quick swipe of OPI Diva of Geneva on her nails and used the silver Orly Nail Art brush that I got from my Secret Santa to give it a fun fireworks-style burst on the ring fingers.

Even my little brother got in on the fun. I painted Diva of Geneva on his thumb, then used my gold acrylic paint to do the University of Washington 'W' detail. Go Dawgs!

Yes, this is what my brother wore to the chapel. It was a really laid back service, as evidenced on my Wedding Part Deux post. :)

And finally, no I did not paint this for anyone in the wedding party. This is my Unicorn Puke nail art that I did a while back, inspired by the amazing nail polish from Cult Nails called Unicorn Puke. Maria of Cult Nails is hosting a contest right now for nail art that showcases Cult Nails polish! I entered this picture in the contest. I hope to win and get some awesome nail art supplies as well as Cult Nail polishes. You can vote by heading to their Facebook page and 'liking' your favorite design. The cool thing is, Maria will ALSO be giving a prize of nail polish to one of the people who likes the nail art. You don't have to submit your own picture to win, just vote for your favorite!

Please take a second to like my Unicorn Puke nails on Cult Nails' Facebook page. I really appreciate it!

Kermit the Frog

2012-01-09T12:14:00.000-08:00

When OPI was hosting their Muppets Mani Madness contest, I was prepared to take on every week of the challenge until I won the dang thing! Luckily, I won during the second week of the contest with my Fozzie the Bear manicure. But I had this design up my sleeve in case I needed it. And I really wanted to do it, so I finally did the design this past weekend. I think it ROCKS!

It's Kermit the Frog with Jim Henson below him, operating the puppet. You can see Jim's arm extends up on my nail, so it looks like he is operating Kermit. Waaaaaaahhhh! (That's my Kermit impression, waving my arms in the air and yelling!)

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Lickety-Split Lime. This color nearly matches Kermit perfectly. Then I added the little neck collar in acrylic paint to a few of the nails. It's kind of a half moon manicure, and this design would be super fun on its own. Then I started in on Kermit himself. I thought about starting with black acrylic paint for the shape of Kermit, but I decided to outline him afterwards.

Here is Kermit finished, but not topcoated. As you can see, I changed the size of his mouth a bit and added shading around his collar. The eyeballs were pretty hard to do as they were TINY!!

Then I started in on Jim Henson. I used a picture of him I found on the internet with him operating Kermit. He has a great smile in this picture and I really liked it. The puppeteers all wore headbands to hold their microphones near their mouths. Operating a puppet is very physical work, which I found out after doing a puppet version of Hansel and Gretel in high school. Your arms get REALLY TIRED. I think this ended up being one of my better portraits!

Here's Jim and Jim. You can see I did not spend a lot of time on his shirt detail, but his arm is extended up with the sleeve of Kermit's puppet on his upper arm. The little greenish blob next to his chin is the microphone.

On my right hand I repeated the Kermit collar theme. This was fairly easy to do with my non dominant hand, so I figured it was a good design to go with.

Here are my hands together, so you can see how fun the hands look together. I really love this design and have gotten lots of comments on it so far.

RIP Jim, we miss you!!!

Wedding Part Deux

2012-01-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. I went to Reno to renew my wedding vows over the New Years holiday, and then I had some vacation time at home. I also got sick, (I hate the canned air on airplanes!!!) so I have been resting up. Here are the nails I did for my renewal in Reno.

There's the Chapel of the Bells sign on my thumb, gold hearts on my index finger, a purple heart with 'Me + You' inside, Elvis on my ring finger, and a blinged out heart on my pinkie.

I started with this lovely OPI shade called... Chapel of Love! Ha! See, the Chapel of the Bells is where we originally got hitched and where we went back to renew, so I had to do it. I like this color!

I made a purple heart using a stamping plate I got from Rebecca of Rebecca Likes Nails. It is soooo cute and I really adore it. You should see what Leslie did with this stamp, so awesome. I also used acrylic paints to make the Chapel of the Bells sign.

I tried to paint Elvis Presley on my ring finger, since we all wore Elvis glasses at my first wedding. This did not turn out as well as I had hoped, but some people did recognize it as Elvis, so that's cool.

Here's Elvis nearly finished. I think he ended up looking more like Tom Sizemore than Elvis Presely. What do you think?

On my right hand I painted Elvis glasses on my thumb and a feather boa (yes, that is supposed to be a feather boa) twisting along my other nails. It would have looked better with a different background. We all wore feather boas at my first wedding.

Here's my Chapel of the Bells Nail with the sign in the background! The ladies who work there really liked it and didn't believe that I had hand painted it.

Here's some of us crazy peeps on New Years Eve after my first wedding. (My friend Bogie, my hubby, me, my brother, and his wife.)

This is me and my sweetie after our wedding this past New Years Eve. I think my hubs is either doing a gang sign or indicating Wedding Part Deux! Whatevs, we had fun!

I will soon post the nails that I did for the wedding party (including my bother's nails!). Have a great weekend!

Pink Star Burst

2011-12-27T11:06:00.000-08:00

Another quick nail design before I head out on vacation. My hubby and I are headed to Reno to renew our vows on New Years Eve. We got married there 5 years ago on New Years Eve and now we are headed back! It should be fun. I have a mani in mind for the ceremony, but here is a quick celebratory nail design with simple nail art.

This is a base of OPI's Didgeridoo Your Nails? with some Orly Silver Glitter nail art on the ring finger. I got the Orly Nail Art from my Secret Santa at work, way to go Secret Santa!

I may not be posting again for a few days, so Happy New Year my nail buddies! Have fun and be safe. Choose a designated driver or take a cab!

Christmas Tree

2011-12-23T16:13:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick post with a Christmas Tree design that I copied from Rins of Simply Rins. She has such great designs. I get too caught up with shading and detail sometimes, so it is fun to see a gorgeous design executed with simplicity that is just as powerful as something that can take hours for me to do.

I did a base of OPI Fiercely Fiona and then made the Christmas Tree with two sizes of dotting tool and three shades of green nail polish, one red, and some sparkle polish for the star.

We are doing xmas tonight and tomorrow with my hubby and stepdaughter. I'm still slightly stressing out, but by 11pm tonight I hope to be all done and able to calm down. Have a great holiday weekend! Talk to you next week!!

The Grinch

2011-12-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry it took so long to post another holiday mani! Seriously, the holiday season is way too stressful and demanding. It doesn't help that I am a procrastinator. I got all of the handmade presents for my family done yesterday and they are in the mail. I hope they arrive on time! Today's manicure is one of my favorite Christmas characters. I am feeling slightly Grinchy now, and who doesn't feel a bit that way during the hectic holiday season??

I used OPI Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It as my base color. It is fairly orange leaning, but actually looks really great on my hands. Makes them look more warm than cold, the way they do with true reds or reds that lean towards the blue side. The Grinch on my thumb came out way better than Cindy Lou Who, so I covered her up for this photo. I am a cheater!!

Here is the base of Cindy Lou Who painted with black acrylic paint. I need to break out my new nail art brush. This one is getting scraggly.

After Cindy Lou, I started the Grinch on my thumbnail. Again, the nail art in this manicure is done with acrylic paint. Please see my FAQ section to learn about which paints I use and which brushes I use.

Here's the mani with both the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who featured. I am just not that happy with how she turned out. I will blame it on the brush, ha ha!

There are a few of us who are doing this 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge. Some girls have finished already, and the rest of us are still working on it here and there. That's the nice part of this challenge, do it at your own pace, and skip what you want. :) Check out these blogs to see more xmas nail art:

Amber - http://amberdunson.blogspot.com/

Chilli - http://polishandpoise.blogspot.com/

Jamie - http://www.nailsadored.com

Jen - http://sweettipsnails.blogspot.com/

Pauline - http://omgnoodles.blogspot.com/

This past Sunday I was featured on Jamie's blog, Nails Adored! She is highlighting different nail bloggers each week. Check out her blog to find out a bit more about me. Thanks Jamie!!

Candy Cane Art

2011-12-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

I was bumming yesterday since I had to clip and shorten all of my nails. I had too many corners broken and too many nails were starting to peel at the tips. I am definitely asking Santa for some nail vitamins. :) To cheer myself up, I asked my friends which color to paint my little nubbin nails. Anissa suggested this amazing shade of red, and since I have never tried it, I thought it would be a great way to brighten my mood.

This is two coats of OPI Vodka and Caviar over Cult Nails Get It On Basecoat, and topped with Seche Vite topcoat. I added some white acrylic paint to my ring finger with a striping brush to give it some holiday nail art. And it fits one of the challenges I skipped in the 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge!

This is OPI Vodka and Caviar. It is a jelly finish polish, so it is a bit sheer. This didn't really matter with my tiny nubbin nails. I really like this vavavoom red color.

Today's mani is part of the 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge. Here are the other bloggers who are participating, check them out for cool nail art!

Amber - http://amberdunson.blogspot.com/

Chilli - http://polishandpoise.blogspot.com/

Jamie - http://www.nailsadored.com

Jen - http://sweettipsnails.blogspot.com/

Pauline - http://omgnoodles.blogspot.com/

Nightmare Before Christmas

2011-12-12T12:53:00.000-08:00

I was really looking forward to doing this challenge in the 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge. I love this movie so much, and it is awesome that I get to do this theme twice a year (for Halloween AND Christmas)!

It's Jack Skellington in his Santa Claus (Claws) suit, with Oogie Boogie on my middle finger. Oogie has his own little holiday hat on.

This is the image I used as the model for my manicure. I found this image online here.

I started with a base of OPI Brand New Skates. This is three coats, and there is still visible nail line, but when I look at my nails in less harsh light (not directly under a lamp like these photos) the nail line is much less prominent. Brand New Skates was part of OPI's Holiday In Toyland line. It came out in 2008, but oddly enough, my local drugstore has it now.

Here's Jack before I topcoated. I used acrylic paints to do the artwork on these nails. See my FAQ section to learn more about the tools I use for my nail art.

Oogie Boogie was super fun to paint. I mixed yellow acrylic paint into my green paint to give him a little bit of a sickly glow. I thought about giving him a top coat of Ghoulish Glow glow in the dark polish, but that kind of mutes the nail art.

On my right hand I painted some holly leaves and berries. It was a simple bit of nail art that ties the two hands together, and wasn't too difficult to do with my non-dominant hand.

This is part of the 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge. Feel free to join in if you'd like! The rules are very loose, you can do as little or as much as you'd like, and in any order you want.

Here are some other nail bloggers who are doing this challenge. Check them out for great holiday nail art!

Amber - http://amberdunson.blogspot.com/

Chilli - http://polishandpoise.blogspot.com/

Jamie - http://www.nailsadored.com

Jen - http://sweettipsnails.blogspot.com/

Pauline - http://omgnoodles.blogspot.com/

Poinsettias Inspired by Robin Moses

2011-12-09T16:43:00.000-08:00

I tried to do this design modeled after a video tutorial by Robin Moses, but I think that I kind of failed at it. Ah well. Every design can't be a winner. :) These are SUPPOSED to be poinsettias, but in fact they look more Rastafarian Perhaps this nail art can be used to reflect your "420 Lifestyle." Ha ha ha! We have a commercial for a smoke shop on my station that refers to your "420 Lifestyle" - so funny!

I painted these flowers on a black background. I like how dramatic it looks, even if it is not very Christmas-y.

I started with a darker green acrylic paint for the leaves. I placed these somewhat randomly across the nail so the flowers would be arranged in different spots.

Then came the first red, a blend of black and red acrylic paint.

I added a lighter red to the red petals to give it more dimension.

Finally I added yellow to the base of each petal and gold dots to the interior of each flower. Perhaps I should have used white instead of yellow for the interior accent. Ah well... I used Wet n Wild Black Creme polish for the base on this mani, and acrylic paints for the artwork.

This is what my palette looks like for this manicure. I used black, white, red, yellow, gold, and green acrylic paints for the art work in this manicure. You can see blotches of other colors on the palette, which are from other manicures I have done. I usually reuse these plastic lid palettes about five times before I throw them out. I've started a small FAQ post which you can view by clicking here, if you are curious about what kind of paints I use and the brush that I use. Also, Robin Moses has some really great FAQ videos, which have taught me so much. Click here to view her FAQ videos.

This manicure is part of the 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge, which I am already behind on, LOL. Please check out these other blogs for more great xmas manicures:

Amber - http://amberdunson.blogspot.com/

Chilli - http://polishandpoise.blogspot.com/

Jamie - http://www.nailsadored.com

Jen - http://sweettipsnails.blogspot.com/

Pauline - http://omgnoodles.blogspot.com/

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

2011-12-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

For today's edition of the 12 Days of Christmas Manis, I did characters from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the claymation special from 1964. Did you know, that this is the longest running Christmas television special? How cool is that?!

On my thumb is Santa Claus, on my middle finger is Hermy the Misfit Elf, and on my ring finger is good ol Rudolph.

I started with a base of Zoya's Marina. It is a blue grey slate color, and it has the right kind of wintry feel for this manicure.

Here is a closer look at Santa.

My hubby used to work at a dental lab, and his boss always decorated with pictures of Hermy the Misfit Elf during the holidays. You will remember that Hermy did not want to make toys like the other elves, his real passion was dentistry. LOL

Polishes used in this manicure: Zoya Marina, Essie All In One Base Coat and Seche Vite topcoat.

This is my 60th post on Sonoma Nail Art, and it means I am making another $10 donation to Women's Recovery Services. Women's Recovery Services helps women who are transitioning out of chemical dependence get back on their feet. Part of the items they supply to women are beauty products and personal care items. We all know how much a nice manicure or some pretty make up can boost self esteem. Every 20 posts, I like to donate to this cause to help women feel better about themselves. I encourage you to find ways to make your blog do good in your community, too! Find out more about Women's Recovery Services online by clicking here.

This is part of the 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge. Join in if you would like! And be sure to take a look at other girls who are participating as well:

Amber - http://amberdunson.blogspot.com/

Chilli - http://polishandpoise.blogspot.com/

Jamie - http://www.nailsadored.com

Jen - http://sweettipsnails.blogspot.com/

Pauline - http://omgnoodles.blogspot.com/

Snowmen of Calvin and Hobbes

2011-12-05T09:41:00.000-08:00

Today's manicure features a few of the beleaguered snowmen from the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. Bill Watterson's amazing cartoon strip had some really twisted snowmen created by Calvin. Often the snowmen made his dad's life more difficult, by blocking the driveway, or embarrassing the family. Click here to see a few of the great snowmen comic strips, as well as some real life recreations.

This nail art is a combination of two different comic strips. On my thumb, I have Calvin walking along in his snow gear, quite satisfied with himself. On my middle and ring fingers you see two melting snowmen holding signs and warning of the coming Spring.

One of the strips I based my manicure on.

I started with a white polish base using Sinful Colors Snow Me White. And lookee at my hand pose, inspired by my polish buddy Sarah from Chalkboard Nails. :-)

Here are the snowmen up close before I top coated. I was hard to write those small letters on their signs, so I had to truncate the messages. Artistic license.

Here's the manicure before topcoat. I think it turned out well!

On my right hand I painted a little bit of Lynnderella glitter polish on the tips to give it a cold frosty appearance. This could be a very pretty winter themed manicure on its own.

Polishes used in this manicure: Lynnderella Thank Blue! and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I also used Essie All In One Basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat.

I made a quick video of these nails to include it in Robin Moses' Let It Snow collaboration. Any snow inspired art work is welcome. I think this is pretty fun. :-)

A Christmas Story

2011-12-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

I am so in love with this mani! I may have to wait for a day to do the next challenge because I want to wear this for a few days. :-) YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT! Ha ha!

Here's Ralphie (as played by Peter Billingsley) on my thumb, and the leg lamp stretched across my other fingers. This just cracked me up.

I used a Konad stamp from plate m57 for the fishnet stocking pattern. I turned it on its side so that the lamp would stretch across my nails like this. Nice gam(s)!

Look at his little face! So cute!

I used acrylic paint to create the shape of the leg lamp, the lamp shade, and Ralphie himself. I think the likeness came out really well. Especially because people at work actually recognized it as Ralphie!

"No! No! I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!"

On my right hand I painted the word "FRAGILE" (it must be Italian!) and a few Christmas ornaments.

Here's the right hand topcoated. Polishes used in this manicure: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Petal Pusher and Wet n Wild Black Creme. I also used Essie All In One Basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat.

Join us for more fun Christmas themed manicures! It's the 12 Days of Christmas Manis. Let me know if you would like your blog linked as well. And this is a low pressure challenge. Do as much or as little as you'd like, and if you have to take a break for a few days, no worries. Have fun with it!

Amber - http://amberdunson.blogspot.com/

Chilli - http://polishandpoise.blogspot.com/

Dilay - http://vanillanailart.blogspot.com/

Jamie - http://www.nailsadored.com

Jen - http://sweettipsnails.blogspot.com/

Pauline - http://omgnoodles.blogspot.com/

Gift Wrapping

2011-12-02T12:08:00.000-08:00

For today's xmas mani, I am featuring gift wrap and a fun Gonzo popping out of a Christmas present. I really wanted to continue doing the Muppets characters, so you will see a few of them popping up here and there. :)

I used both stamping and freehand to make this manicure. I really like how Gonzo turned out, with his little bow tie and three fingers on each hand. LOL

The base color for this manicure is OPI Rumple's Wiggin' from the Shrek collection. My local CVS has the Shrek polishes for some reason. Totally bizarre!

My stamping is not the greatest, and this pattern is kind of temperamental. Let's just pretend that my husband wrapped these presents, and that's why they look all wrinkly. I used a striping brush to do the ribbons on the packages. Then I used acrylic paint to map out the peeled back wrapping paper where Gonzo will pop out.

Here is Gonzo during the painting process. I did not spend as much time on him as I did on my Fozzie manicure, mostly because I was not looking for the perfect level of detail that I wanted in the competition.

I painted the bows on the packages by looking at image of a bow online. I started with a grey base, then added dark grey lowlights, and topped it with silver highlights. The bows were painted with acrylic paint. From here I added topcoat and then it was done!

Polishes used in this manicure: OPI Rumple's Wiggin', Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Urgent Orchid (stamping), and Bon Bons mini silver polish. I used the mini silver for the ribbons on the packages. The stamp I used was from Konad plate m60.

The idea of Gonzo bursting through the gift wrapping came from this set of Muppet stamps issued by the US Postal Service in 2005. These are such awesome stamps! On the back side of the set, there are words from each of the Muppets featured. They are in character and very funny.

See what I mean??

This manicure is part of the 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge that I am doing with some polish friends. Feel free to join us, and be sure to check out the other manicures from my fellow bloggers.

Amber - http://amberdunson.blogspot.com/

Chilli - http://polishandpoise.blogspot.com/

Jamie - http://www.nailsadored.com

Jen - http://sweettipsnails.blogspot.com/

Pauline - http://omgnoodles.blogspot.com/

Snowflakes

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

I am starting a new nail art challenge today with a few of my polish buddies. Feel free to join us if you would like! The thought of creating 24 different xmas manis on top of everything else I am trying to get done this holiday season was a bit too daunting, so we are doing the 12 Days of Christmas Manis! And I may not do them in order or even get them done in 12 days, but that is totally allowed with this challenge. :-)

I do not use stamps a lot, because I really enjoy doing freehand art. But this is on my right hand (meaning I did it with my non-dominant left hand) so I thought it might be prettier to use stamps.

This is a combination of two different in expensive polishes, and it kind of reminds me of OPI's Swimsuit... Nailed It! This combo has large and small blue glitter, which is really fun. :)

I started by stamping with a light blue polish. This is a snowflake image from the Bundle Monster BM14 plate. I tried to place it in different spots on each nail.

Next I used a silver polish with the same stamp. Finally I topped it with white snowflakes. I went through a LOT of Q-Tips with this mani, LOL.

Here are the two polishes I used for the base color: Love and Beauty Blue Glitter and Sinful Colors Ciao Bella. I really like the combination of these two polishes!

I topped the blue glittery base with snowflakes stamped using OPI No Room For The Blues, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri White Out, and a tiny silver polish from Bon Bons.

Here are the different themes we will be trying during the 12 Days of Christmas Manis! Check out the other awesome nail bloggers who are joining in the fun:

Amber - http://amberdunson.blogspot.com/

Chilli - http://polishandpoise.blogspot.com/

Jamie - http://www.nailsadored.com

Jen - http://sweettipsnails.blogspot.com/

If you want to join in this challenge, please link your manicure in the comments and I will add your blog to the list of participating bloggers! Merry Christmas!

Fozzie the Bear

2011-11-29T13:14:00.000-08:00

I entered the second week of the OPI Mani Madness contest with this manicure. The challenge was to make a manicure using Fozzie the Bear as the inspiration. I thought perhaps that I would skip this week, seeing as I got food poisoning on Monday evening last week, and did not actually get to painting this mani until Wednesday. I knew I would have some ground to cover to get the votes I needed to be on top. Instead of simply featuring the different aspects of Fozzie, like his face, necktie, and hat, I wanted to place Fozzie in a situation that would reflect his humor and his struggle with getting heckled all of the time.

I give you: Fozzie Gets Heckled! I painted Fozzie doing his thing on stage in the spotlight, and above him are Statler and Waldorf booing him from the balcony seats. I painted details of the curtains and wall decorations from the theater walls on my index and pinky fingers.

I started with OPI Big Apple Red on my nails. This is a lovely bright red and worked really well as a base for this dramatic manicure.

I started with my thumb by painting the theater curtains behind Fozzie. The folds are darker towards the top of the image, and lighter where the spotlight is shining on him. I used acrylic paint for all of the artwork in this manicure.

Here's Fozzie in the early stages of the manicure. I made his head a little too short to start with, but the great thing about acrylic paint is that it lets you rework an image fairly easily.

More shading and I added his mouth. The highlights on his fur were pure yellow paint. I find it is really important to look at the colors in the image I am trying to create and think about what colors they really are without thinking about the rest of the image. Shape and color are really exciting to isolate.

"Patriotism swells in the heart of the American Bear!" - I love that line from Fozzie in the original Muppet Movie. So funny!

The bane of Fozzie's existence: Statler and Waldorf! Did you know that these two Muppet hecklers were named after hotels in New York? The Statler Hilton and the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

Waldorf was voiced by Jim Henson from 1970 to 1990, which makes it even funnier that Jim would take so much glee in heckling Frank Oz who played Fozzie. Waldorf has also been voiced by Dave Goelz and Victor Yerrid.

I really like how Statler turned out. He's got super skinny arms and his nose shadow cracks me up for some reason. It's hilarious! Statler was originally performed by Richard Hunt until 1991, then by Jerry Nelson, Steve Whitmire, and Drew Massey.

Look! Fozzie is pointing at Fozzie! Wocka, Wocka!

I am so proud to tell you that I won this past challenge! I worked really hard on these nails, and I so appreciate all of the people who voted for me, and also who voted for the other girls too. There is a lot of talent out there! You can see my nails posted on OPI's facebook page by clicking here. The new challenge this week is to paint a manicure inspired by Gonzo. I just adore Gonzo! I am looking forward to the manicures this week and really hope that some girls take it over the top. There is so much to be inspired by with the Muppet canon. Which includes shooting Gonzo out of a cannon. ;-)

The Bird Is The Word

2011-11-25T09:48:00.000-08:00

Please take a moment to view and vote for my Fozzie the Bear manicure in OPI's Mani Madness Contest. My entry is called "Fozzie Gets Heckled" and you can vote for me once every 24 hours. I only have until Sunday to get votes, so please ask your friends to vote for me as well! Thanks so much!

More poultry?! Ha! Well, seeing as I got food poisoning on Monday night and have only finally felt better today, I think I can stand a little more bird. This is a manicure I did for my radio station's annual recipe contest. Our theme was chicken and we got some outstanding recipes submitted.

This is the chicken's head, and it is a very stylized head. We wanted some chicken artwork that would be stylish but not too silly. This piece fit nicely.

And on my right thumb a simple 25 to represent the number of years we have done the recipe contest. Woo hoo!

If you would like to see the finalists and winning recipe, please head to my stations' website and check them out. The recipes are all varied and they really tasted delicious. And no, I did not get food poisoning from any of these dishes. :)

Again, please take a moment to vote for my Fozzie the Bear manicure on OPI's facebook page. It's titled "Fozzie Gets Heckled" and features Fozzie, Statler, and Waldorf. You can vote once every 24 hours! Spread the word! Thanks. :)

PIG POWER

2011-11-21T15:52:00.000-08:00

I entered this manicure in the OPI Mani Madness Contest for the Miss Piggy theme. I used a cool poster that I had on my bedroom wall when I was younger as the inspiriation. Sadly, I was not successful in winning the contest. But I will be entering the contest again this week with the Fozzie the Bear theme. I cannot post images of my Fozzie manicure until after the voting is over as per the rules of the contest, but I would love it if you would check out the contest and vote for me.

I used a lovely purple polish (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Urgent Orchid) for the background and did all of the rest of the artwork with acrylic paints.

Here is the poster that hung on my bedroom door when I was an early teen. I kept it there for years because I loved it so! I found this image online here: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Muppet_posters

Here is the beginning of Piggy. I had the most difficulty with shading.

Here's Piggy pretty much done. She's so fierce looking! Hiyyyyyaah!

I added her purple silk gloved hand in a karate chop move. The white accent around the glove gives it fun motion and drama.

Thanks for checking this out, and be sure to vote on my Fozzie the Bear manicure this week.

Attitude Adjust-Mint Vintage Swimming Pool

2011-11-21T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! This manicure reminded me of vintage swimming pools, and those fun mint green patterns and colors of the 1950s and 1960s. I used a new polish I got from Lynnderella called Attitude Adjust-Mint from her Funny Money collection. I believe that Llarowe will begin selling Lynnderella polishes in December, so check there if you are interested in purchasing Lynnderella's gorgeous glitter polishes.

I added some little dots to a few accent nails to give this design a retro feel and reinforce the pool/bubble idea.

This photo is what I thought of when I finished this manicure. Image from: http://www.bombago.com/101805/~max0073.jpg

Here's the mani before I added the dots. It is really cute with just two coats of the base polish and one coat of the glitter polish.

Close up of the glittery goodness! There are different colors and shapes of hexagon glitter, and also a really lovely micro greenish glitter. So interesting!

Here is my right hand. Again, I just did the dot design on two accent nails. I used two different sizes of dotting tools to get the different sized dots.

Both hands together.

Polishes used in this manicure: Revlon Minted (base polish with two coats), Lynnderella Attitude Adjust-Mint (one coat), and for the dots: Borghese Menta and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I also used Essie All In One Basecoat, Relvon Quick Dry Top Coat, and Seche Vite topcoat.

This would be a fun holiday manicure with reds or darker greens. A creme color base, topped with a coat of matching glitter, and then a few contrasting dots on accent nails. If you try it, please post a link here, I would love to see it!

Jacob Black

2011-11-18T11:08:00.000-08:00

I am definitely Team Jacob. He's hotter, he's not dead, he is not as controlling as Edward (even though he still is a bit), and he is way better for Bella than freaky obsessive Edward. Ok, now that I have alienated half of you... ha ha! Anywho, here is the Jacob Black mani on my other hand to complete the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 manicure.

Ok, so he looks a little.... puffy. It was really hard to do this nail art. I was using my non-dominant hand to paint it. So considering that, I will give myself some slack for painting Jacob as if he needed to hit the gym after a few too many Twinkies.

I really like the base for these nails! I started with a golden shimmery polish, then sponged on a deep red polish and a shimmery brown polish around the edges to get this grungy look. I think it is really beautiful!

Yeah, his face started out too round and didn't get better from there. Oh well. I used acrylic paints to make the Jacob portrait. Sadly, my nails are not long enough to fit his abs in the painting.

Here is Jake before top coat. I was concentrating so hard on painting this that I totally missed everything my husband said to me last night. I hope it wasn't anything important.

Here is a side shot of the finished Jacob. I was hoping it would hide his chubbiness. I blame his extra weight on the curvature of my nail. It's like the Doppler Effect!

Polished used in this manicure: Wet n Wild un-labled mini polish (I think it is The Gold and The Beautiful), Revlon Bewitching Bordeaux, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Coco a-go-go. Also Essie All In One Basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat.

My hubby bought tickets for me and my step daughter to go see Breaking Dawn tonight. Should be a squealing good time! LOL

Edward Cullen

2011-11-17T15:23:00.000-08:00

In honor of the new Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn Part 1, here are my Edward Cullen nails! I am taking my step daughter to see the movie on Friday. She is beside herself with excitement. I am a Team Jacob girl myself, and I will share those nails here tomorrow. This manicure takes some inspiration from Robin Moses who did a spot on Edward Cullen mani a while ago. Check her version out by clicking here.

As my husband would say (in a falsetto voice), "Oh Edwin!" He also likes to refer to sparkle vampire #1 as Edgar. It drives his daughter crazy. :)

I started with a fun base of a pearly blue polish, then sponged some steel colored polish around the edges and finally sponged some black on it as well. I was going for a grungy/moody feeling like the dark pics of Edward Cullen on the movie posters.

I mixed white and silver acrylic paints to give Edward's skin a subtle sparkly sheen. You can kind of see it in person, but it doesn't translate on these pics.

After I took this pic, I realized that Edward needed more highlights in his hair. It looked way too much like an afro in this pic. Which could be a good look for him...

There's the mussy bed head we all know and love!

I took this pic in the sunlight, hoping it would show off the sparkle in his skin a bit more. No, not really. I also added his little pea coat. Edward is so stylin'! Looking at these pics closeup, I realize I should have tried to add pupils to his eyes, but honestly, you can't tell in real life. His eyes are TINY.

Polishes used in this mani: Revlon Steel-her Heart, Wet n Wild Black Creme, and a mini un-labled Wet n Wild, though I am pretty sure it is Rain Check. I also used Essie All In One Basecoat, and topped it all with Seche Vite topcoat.

And finally, I have a REALLY BIG FAVOR to ask you, my lovely followers! I have entered the OPI Muppets Madness contest with a manicure of Miss Piggy. I cannot post a picture of it here, since the rules specify that it cannot be published anywhere else, other than the contest page. If you have facebook, I would really appreciate you taking a look and please vote for my mani: PIG POWER by Michelle Marques. Thank you soooo much! Here is the link to my entry. Voting ends on Sunday.

Mom's Pumpkin Nails and Giveaway Winner

2011-11-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

Today's post is actually a manicure I did for my mom when she was here for a visit at the beginning of October. I followed a design by Robin Moses for this simple fall themed manicure. My mom really liked it and she said it lasted for almost two weeks! Wow!

I started with a base of butter LONDON All Hail The Queen. Mom picked out this color, and it is soooo pretty! It has a holographic sheen to it, really nice!

I painted the pumpkin and pumpkin vines using acrylic paint. Robin Moses's video on this technique is really helpful, I encourage you to click on the link above to see how she does it.

Here are mom's finished nails in the sunlight. Dang, I should send mom some Lemony Flutter cuticle cream! Moisturize those cuticles, mom!

Here's her left hand. I didn't get too crazy with the design because we were headed to a gourd festival and needed to get her manicure done quickly.

HI MOM!!

Polishes I used in this manicure: Essie All In One Basecoat, butter LONDON All Hail The Queen, and Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat.

Ok, on to the part you quickly scrolled down to, skipping the manicure to find out if you had won my giveaway, LOL! I had a great response to the giveaway, thank you all for entering and showing such interest in my nail art. It is fun to do, and even more fun to share. I had 326 entries! And the winner is....

Congrats to rachlovespenguins! I have sent you an email Rachel.

These Go To Eleven

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

In honor of 11-11-11, also known as Nigel Tufnel Day, I have painted these awesome nails. On a scale of one to ten, these go to eleven. Bwahahahaha! If you have no idea what I am talking about, you need to go see a great movie called "This Is Spinal Tap" an amazing spoof on rockumentary films. A friend on mine on facebook shared an awesome image of Nigel Tufnel on a guitar pick in honor of today, and I used that image to create this manicure.

This is Nigel Tufnel, lead guitarist for the band Spinal Tap, as played by the actor Christopher Guest. (Christopher Guest is incredible, and he also played the 6 Fingered Man in The Princess Bride!!)

The base polish for this mani is Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris. I love this polish! It applies so well, and is perfectly opaque in one coat. Yay!

I used acrylic paints in white and black to paint Nigel. Here you can see the base white paint to start the image.

This is Nigel before I topcoated. The eye on the right was actually really perfect and then I started messing with it trying to adjust it, and it took me about 10 minutes to fix it back to somewhat ok. Why oh why do I mess with things when they are just fine??! Arrg!

On my right hand, I painted the number 11. During a scene in This Is Spinal Tap, Nigel shows off an amplifier that has knobs going up to eleven. So funny! I will link the clip at the end of this post.

Here is the piece that got me laughing and inspired me to create this manicure. This is artwork by Metaluna 5 Media. You can find them on facebook by clicking here.

Here are the two hands together. This manicure killed me, it was too funny. And really, if you haven't seen This Is Spinal Tap, go watch it. You'll love it!

Sarah Waite vs Nessie

2011-11-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, just to warn you, this is a VERY SILLY manicure. It may not make much sense to you. I was playing with my nail polish last night and tried a combo of a pretty shimmer green with a glittery topcoat, and I showed the base color to some of my polish friends. I asked them what I should paint on my nails as artwork. My friend Sarah Waite of Chalkboard Nails said, "my face" which of course is a very silly thing to paint on ones nails. I got a few other fun suggestions including one from Laurie Nievin to paint the Loch Ness Monster. So I decided to do both: I give you Sarah Waite vs. The Loch Ness Monster!

Bwahahahaah! So in case you couldn't tell, that is Sarah on my thumb and Nessie is swimming along the rest of my fingers.

Here is the beautiful base polish. I will tell you which colors I used to make this base mani at the end of this post. Hint hint, one of the colors I used is up for grabs in my 100 follower giveaway! You still have time to enter. Just click here and scroll to the bottom to get your name in the drawing.

I started by painting Nessie on my nails. I made her look kind of cartoony and fun. This was a fairly easy design to do. You could do it with acrylic paint like I did, or try it with nail polish. I think this design would be easy to do either way.

Here is Nessie pretty much finished, and before topcoat. Also, no Sarah Waite yet.

By the way, this is a pic of Laurie Nievin who suggested the Loch Ness Monster design. Thanks for the great idea, Laurie! :-)

This is my nail polish BFF, Sarah Waite. When I decided to paint her face after she pretty much begged me to do it, I chose this picture of her. It is black and white, and fairly stark, so I thought it would be easier to duplicate rather than a color photo.

Here is how I started with acrylic paints. I used only black and white acrylic paint for Sarah's portrait.

Here she is without her glasses on. I also made more adjustments to her hair before finishing the portrait.

Before topcoat. I think I got pretty close!

Here are the nails together. I added some little bubbles to Nessie. Of course, when discussing this nail art with Sarah and Laurie, we knew that the two designs would have to duke it out, and thus the nail art on my right hand...

It's Sarah Waite vs. The Loch Ness Monster! (I was tired after that portrait of Sarah, so this was a lot easier design to paint using my non-dominant hand.)

Polishes used in this manicure: Wet n Wild mini color icon in a shimmery aqua green, Sinful Colors Nail Junkie, Essie All In One Basecoat, and Seche Vite topcoat.

This manicure demanded an epic video to showcase all of its awesomeness. I give you the Battle of the Ages!!! Sarah Waite vs. The Loch Ness Monster:

I am SUCH a nerd! And no, I am not going to paint your face on my nails. LOL

Cinderelly Cinderelly

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

I wanted to try out a few of the mini polishes from my Wet n Wild Color Icon set that I am giving away here, so you could see some of the things you can do with them if you are the winner (deadline for entry is November 14th!). The polish I used was from my OWN set, not from the one you could win. That is brand new and safe in its little box waiting to be shipped to YOU! Here I used one of the clear sparkle top coats to make a Cinderella manicure!

"Cinderelly Cinderelly Night and Day it's Cinderelly! Make the fire! Fix the breakfast! Wash the dishes! Do the moppin'!"

I started with a gorgeous pink sheer shade from butter LONDON, then added two coats of this unnamed sparkle top coat from Wet n Wild. It is very sparkly and could work as a pretty main just like this.

Then I painted Cinderella using acrylic paints. Her eyes and mouth were particularly hard to do.

Here is Cinderella before I topcoated. And you can see the mega sparkle of the nails in the background. So pretty!!

Polishes used in this manicure: butter LONDON Pink Ribbon, Wet n Wild Mini Color Icon unnamed sparkle topcoat, Essie All In One basecoat and Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat.

Here is the song I was singing while I painted these nails. :-)

Redwood Empire Food Bank

2011-11-07T12:11:00.000-08:00

Today's nails are in honor of one of my very favorite charitable organizations. Redwood Empire Food Bank serves 78-thousand Sonoma County residents every MONTH. Every MONTH! And they don't just help the hungry in Sonoma County, they also serve Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, and Lake Counties. On my bento blog, I donate $1 per post to the Redwood Empire Food Bank. I am excited to be talking with the lovely people from the Redwood Empire Food Bank during my show this afternoon to spread the word about their Winter Food and Funds Drive and ways that our community can help feed those in need. Listen at about 5:35pm online at ksro.com. Here are my Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) nails!

It's the REFB logo on my thumb and a Campbell's Tomato Soup can (a la Warhol) on my ring finger! These were really fun to paint.

I started with a base of white polish. I used a new white polish that was recommended by Leslie of Nail Polish Art Addiction, thanks Leslie! This is just one coat of Snow Me White by Sinful Colors. I'll never go back to Sally Hansen Whirlwind White!

The soup can was the hardest thing to draw. I used acrylic paints for all of the art on the nails. There are so many tiny details on the soup can, I did the best I could.

Here is the beginning of the REFB logo. So cute, a heart inside of an apple inside of a box of food. It is very evocative and has a clear message.

On my right hand I painted an apple (it turned out really photo-realistic! I am so proud!) and also the letters 'refb' for Redwood Empire Food Bank. I painted this with my non-dominant hand.

Here are the two hands together. I really like how both of the items of food are red, which brings the design together. I also like that one item is non-perishable and the other is fresh fruit. Redwood Empire Food Bank is able to distribute both shelf stable and perishable food to our community. It is really an amazing effort.

Here are my thumbs with the REFB logo and the letters 'refb'. I had to ask my friend Lauren to take this pic at work for me, LOL.

Polishes used in this manicure: Seche Vite topcoat, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, and Essie All In One Basecoat. The nail art was all done by hand with acrylic paints.

You still have time to enter my 100 follower giveaway! Click here to get your name in the drawing. Deadline for entry is November 14th, 2011. Good luck!

Unicorn Puke

2011-11-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

Bwahahaha! I crack myself up. I wanted to do this manicure as soon as I got my hot little hands on Cult Nails limited edition nail polish called Unicorn Puke. Maria, the owner of Cult Nails, released a small amount of this flakie multi-hued polish in October. I was able to get two bottles. It will be released this weekend as Clairvoyant. Same exact polish, just under a different name. Click here if you want to get the Cult Nails set of four gorgeous shades, which Maria is calling the Super Powers Collection. The presale is this weekend only.

I modeled the unicorn after a drawing I found online made by Jennifer Wood. Click here to see her silly unicorn drawings. I wanted the unicorn to look really ridiculously over the top. Mission accomplished! It looks so much funnier next to that blob of sparkly vomit.

I started with this base of blue polish. I would have used another Cult Nails polish as a base, but I only have Unicorn Puke, Hypnotize Me (a sparkle topcoat), and Awakening (a dark blue-green). I needed this to look really cartoony.

I started the design with black acrylic paint. Yeah, it looks like a bunch of nothing right now. When I paint, I try to really pay attention to form and shape. My dad could look at any cartoon character and recreate it without tracing it. I think he used the same technique. What is the shape of the different parts, and where do those parts exist in relation to each other? It helps so much to think of an image in this way instead of thinking "What does a unicorn look like?" That kind of thinking will just will run me right off the tracks.

Next I filled in the white areas.

I got too into working on the unicorn, and this was the next photo I took. As you can see I have filled in almost all of the details of the unicorn. There is also a bit of shading with grey acrylic paint. I changed things a bit before topcoating, but this is pretty close to being done.

Here I added the "puke" on the black areas, the gold acrylic paint on the horn, and fixed the forelock and the eyes a bit.

Topcoated! Here is a side view so you can see the Unicorn Puke actually coming out of the mouth. Ewwwww! I got puke on my fingers!!! LOL

On my right hand I painted the letters "P U K E" in an Olde English style, to make it kind of fairy tale-ish. I think this turned out pretty well for my non-dominant hand!

Polishes used in this manicure: Cult Nails Get It On basecoat, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue (I used ONE COAT for this mani!!), Cult Nails Unicorn Puke, and Seche Vite topcoat.

Now Unicorn Puke is such an amazing polish, that I really had to do a video to show off its amazing sparkle. I give you: "Unicorn Puke: The Movie!"

Don't forget to enter my giveaway! Click here and scroll to the bottom of the post to enter to win some pretty polishes in honor of 100 followers of Sonoma Nail Art!

Maleficent and Facets of Fuchsia *Giveaway Closed

2011-11-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

When I first laid eyes on this gorgeous nail polish I thought of Maleficent, the deliciously wicked baddie from Sleeping Beauty. This polish was meant for her! So here is my Maleficent mani!

Gaaah! I just love how this mani turned out. And I am psyched that I get to wear it longer than 24 hours, LOL! The 31 Day Nail Art Challenge was fun, but it was heartbreaking to remove some of those designs so quickly.

I started with two coats (two MESSY coats) of Wet n Wild Ready to Pounce, from the On the Prowl collection. This is a really gorgeous shimmery dark plum color. I could easily have just used this for the Maleficent manicure.

But it does look amazing with Revlon's Facets of Fuchsia layered on top! This is one coat of Facets of Fuchsia, yum. At this point in the process, I did two coats of Seche Vite to give me a smooth surface to draw the evil Maleficent.

I painted Maleficent with acrylic paints. I started with a black outline of her head, which was actually really hard to see on the polish, then filled in a light green for her face.

I added her purple collar, the light grey lines of her headdress, her eye makeup and nose next. If you look closely between this and the next shot, you will see how I adjusted the shape of her eyebrows. This is the magic of using acrylic paints. You can really rework areas with the paints.

Here is Maleficent before topcoat. I thought about adding her pet crow, but I got tired. Plus he is almost all black and would barely show up.

Both hands together! Sorry this pic is a little blurry. I have to use my self timer for these shots. It is no use asking my husband to help me take pictures of both of my hands together, he invariably aims the camera at my boobs. Sigh....

Polishes used in this manicure: Wet 'n Wild Fastdry Ready to Pounce, Revlon Facets of Fuchsia, Cult Nails Get It On Basecoat, and Seche Vite Topcoat.

Soooooo.... who wants to win some free polishes from me?!?! I just passed the 100 follower mark on Sonoma Nail Art, and I want to celebrate by giving you some free nail polish! THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING ME! Here are the lovely prizes you could win:

All of the polishes are brand new, never used: Revlon Facets of Fuchsia (yes, I am the person in Sonoma County who keeps buying all of the bottles up), OPI DS Sapphire (sheer linear holographic polish!), and Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl (this is a dark purple jelly polish with teeny glass flakies. I lurve it!). You will also win:

...this set of Wet 'n Wild mini color icon nail polishes! There are nine mini bottles in the set. They are really cute! I bought another set for me, so I will try to play with them in the next few days to show you what they look like.

Here are the rules: You MUST be a follower of Sonoma Nail Art to enter the giveaway. That's pretty much it. You can get additional entries for following my tumblr account, or following my facebook account, but really you can just enter as a follower of my blog. Deadline for entries is Monday, November 14th, 2011 at noon PST. One person will be selected randomly from all entries and notified via email on November 15th. You will have 48 hours to respond, otherwise another winner will be selected. The giveaway is open to all, international entries are WELCOME!

Thanks so much for your interest in my blog. Good luck! NO MORE ENTRIES PLEASE! I will announce the winner on Tuesday, November 15th, 2011. Thanks so much!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T14:14:00.000-07:00

I made it! Besides being a little late with the last few posts, I did a different nail design for 31 days. This was really fun. If other nail artists are thinking about doing a challenge, I say go for it! 31 days is a long time, but you will really improve at nail art with all of the practice! And after doing this challenge I have SO much more respect for Melissa of The Daily Nail who did an entire YEAR of nail art. Melissa rules!!

My final manicure for this challenge is zombie nails! I think this is actually my third set of zombie nails for this challenge. Zombies RULE!

Oookie! I have a bunch more ideas for Halloween nails, so I guess I will just save them for next year. These matched the costume I am wearing today.

I started with a lovely pink shade, though it looks more orange in this shot.

I added red polish in random patches to the tips of each nail.

Then I used a dark brown acrylic paint to make jagged cracks, and then highlighted the bottoms of each crack with black acrylic paint.

I did both hands! Hello right hand, long time no see!

So my costume is Miss Zombie Sonoma County! I had fun putting this together. As soon as I had the make up on, the character just came together. So funny!

Grrrr! Arg! Brains! (I photoshopped my eyes in this pic. No money for cool contacts.) Polished used in this manicure: Sally Hansen First Kiss, Revlon Raven Red, Cult Nails Get It On basecoat, and Seche Vite topcoat.

And I was even inspired enough to make a short video. Meet Miss Zombie Sonoma County!

Hahahahaha! Happy Halloween!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by a Tutorial

2011-10-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

The reason I started this blog is because of one woman: Robin Moses! She is the most incredible nail artist I have seen. Her designs are innovative, fun, and she is brilliant at sharing those designs with the rest of us. Robin's videos are really great to get ideas from, and to learn new techniques. I rarely copy one of her designs directly, instead use techniques or a part of a design to springboard and try a hybrid or something new. The one thing Robin asks is that she is credited if you copy one of her designs. I feel like almost everything I do is connected to Robin, so I guess all of my posts are Inspired by Robin Moses! She is a doll, so please go check out her work. I guarantee you will learn something new. This manicure is Inspired by Robin Moses' Pink and White Zombie French Manicure. (I love how Robin loses it at 5:15 in the video. So hilarious!) I changed it up a bit, and swapped out the sinister zombie face for an equally sinister Hello Kitty zombie face.

Bwahaahahhahaha! Oh this kills me, it is sooo funny! Hello Kitty had her little skull ripped off by zombies, and now she needs to feast on kitty brains. And maybe a Keroppi or two.

I started with this very pretty base color, which is sort of a mauve-ish brown. Great for BRAINS!

Then I added in a dirty pink color for the twists and turns of the brain. Random shapes are best, with each nail a little different.

As Robin does in her video, I added a lighter pink to make the brain lobes more 3D, and topped with little bits of white paint to make it look juicy. You see why I love Robin?! She's so macabre!

Next came a black jagged line, and I topped that with white paint to get the bone fragments up close to the brains. Once that line was in place, I painted white nail polish down the rest of the nail to make the french manicure. Robin's video illustrates this so well.

Here is why my design veers from Robin's. I decided to go with a Hello Kitty zombie. I added her eyes, nose, and bow.

Finally, I topped the white in her nose with yellow paint (this helps the yellow color really pop), whiskers, blood in a few areas, and the red of her bow, as well as a little bit of glitter on her bow to make it blingy. Cause even Zombie Hello Kitty needs bling.

Polished used in this manicure: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Expresso, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White (this color is SOOO gloppy, does anyone have a better white that they like to use? I even tried thinning this with NO luck. Blech!) and China Glaze Ruby Pumps. I also used Cult Nails Get It One basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat.

Tomorrow is Halloween and the final day of this challenge. The original list says that on Day 31 I am supposed to recreate my favorite challenge. Um, I think I would rather just do another rad Halloween manicure. So that is what I am going to do. I haven't decided what to do yet, and will probably get on it tomorrow morning. Any suggestions?

Thanks to all of my followers and those who are commenting. I love your encouragement and enthusiasm. This has really been a FUN challenge!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by the Supernatural

2011-10-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

I absolutely LOVE how this challenge turned out. I chose ghosts as my subject for the Supernatural. And who is the awesomest ghost evar?? SLIMER, of course! Slimer is the gross-out ghost from Ghostbusters who slimes Bill Murray in a great scene in the hotel. So funny!

I was sad to take this one off. Man, it turned out good, if I do say so myself! :)

I started with black nails (yes, I pretty much recycled my Skull and Crossbones manicure!) then added bright yellow and green neon polishes to put a glowy aura around where I wanted to place Slimer.

Here's his basic outline in light green acrylic paint. I could have started him in white and then topped with green for a brighter ghost, but I think this turned out just fine. Besides, he is not super glowy, more see-through actually.

I added darker shading with a dark green acrylic paint. (I mix my colors for each manicure, I don't have a bunch of green acrylic paints, just one shade.)

Then I started adding highlights and accenting low light areas. I also added his gaping mouth.

Next it was his eye balls, nostrils, gums, and finger nails. I painted a ghost on MY nails, and then painted HIS nails on MY nails. My head hurts.

Finally I added his tongue and his teeth. I also tried adding a bit of China Glaze Ghoulish Glow glow in the dark polish in his aura, but it did not do much. I could kind of see it in the dark, but I didn't layer it on thick enough.

Here he is all topcoated. Oh Slimer, you are so cute!

Both hands together. I added some slime on my other hand on the middle and ring fingers. I like how the look together. This was a SUPER fun manicure.

Polishes used in this manicure: Sinful Colors Neon Melon, Love and Beauty Scented Polish in Lime, China Glaze Ghoulish Glow, and Wet 'n Wild Fast Dry Ebony Hates Chris. I also used Cult Nails Get It On basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat.

Next up: Nails inspired by a tutorial. You can probably guess which nail artist I will choose. :-)

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by a Flag

2011-10-30T16:21:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of doing a "Freak Flag," which probably would have been fun, but instead chose this as my Halloween flag. It's the good ol' Skull and Crossbones.

I just painted the skull and crossbones on my ring finger. It was a fairly quick manicure, although looking closely at these picks, I should have spent more time cleaning up my cuticles. Ah well...

I painted the skull and crossbones with white acrylic paint, and used black acrylic paint to add the eye sockets and nose. Also used black polish to clean up some of the lines. Acrylic paint makes mistakes go away!

Here are both hands together. Yes, it was a really quick mani. I could have done more with it, but I realized that I was behind in posting, so this is what it is. The polish I used in this manicure is Wet 'n Wild Fast Dry Ebony Hates Chris.

This is my 40th post which means I will be making another donation to Women's Recovery Services. Every 20 posts I will donate $10 to this organization. They help women get back on their feet after dealing with substance abuse. Part of their program offers women toiletries and personal grooming items. Every woman deserves a chance to feel good about herself, and a bit of make up can really boost self-confidence. Find out more about Women's Recovery Service online by clicking here.

Next up: Nails inspired by the supernatural.... ooooOOOoooOoo!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Artwork

2011-10-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today's post is inspired by the artwork of Charles Batte, also known as Chas Batte. Chas worked for the San Francisco Opera for many years. Now he focuses on his art dolls and figures. These things are AMAZING! I have been lucky enough to meet Chas and I also bought one of his gorgeous little figures at an event called Halloween and Vine, a juried Halloween art show in Sonoma County. Here are the nails I painted inspired by Chas Batte:

It's a little devil dude! And my friend Nev pointed out that the swirls on the other nails are inspired by Robin Moses, another great artist. They sure are! Robin is the guru of nail art. Check her out on YouTube.

Here is the piece that inspired this manicure. It is a magic potion bottle with a removable head!

I started with a base coat of butter LONDON Knees Up. I lurve this color! This is one coat, and I could have done two coats, but I was too tired to do two.

I did the outline of the devil first with black acrylic paint. I was worried that this would be harder to do since my model for the art was a sculpture, not a print. I really had to think about shape and shading more than usual.

Then I added the red and white with more acrylic paint. Letting the paint kind of dry out on my brush made it easier to do the textured finish on his cloak/jacket.

Here is a closeup of the face. Those eyeballs were a bitch to do. I had to do the left eye about 4 times to get it right. The acrylic paint lets you do that kind of thing. Polish is way less forgiving of mistakes.

Here is the full mani topcoated. It is pretty cute! I mean EVIL.

Here is me holding my magic potion bottle. I love this little guy. It is so cool to own a piece of Chas Batte's artwork! Support artists! Buy their work!

Here is the little devil without his head. You put the magic potion inside his little body and his neck fits nicely back into his collar. (Of course, this is too precious to me to fill with ACTUAL magic potion, so I just pretend.)

Polishes used in this manicure: Cult Nails Get It On basecoat, butter LONDON Knees Up, and Seche Vite topcoat.

Check out Chas Batte! He's incredible! Check out Robin Moses, she is incredible too!

Tomorrow: Nails inspired by a Flag. :-)

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by a Pattern

2011-10-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

Today's nails are inspired by the pattern on Sally's dress from Nightmare Before Christmas! I thought this was a perfect way to do a Halloween pattern mani. I first saw the patchwork-style on the whole nail manicure done by Kayla Shevonne. You can see her amazing patchwork manicure by clicking here. I did not do my patchwork in the same way she did hers, by starting with the black, but I like both styles and they are really fun! Also, check out Robin Moses for more patchwork ideas. Her videos are incredibly helpful for learning new techniques.

I studied Sally's dress closely to match the fabric styles of her dress. I did all of this freehand, but you could totally stamp on the swirls on the purple instead.

I started with this lavender polish from Sally Hansen, and then added random patches of green polish. The green polish is from Claire's and it is actually a color changing polish from bright green to light green depending on your mood. I wonder what mood I was in when I took this pic?

Then I randomly added the other colors, with a dusky blue, an orange, and a burnt umber kind of color. Saying burnt umber always reminds me of Bob Ross, and thinking of Bob Ross makes me smile. You will see that I did not include every color on every nail. I think that makes the manicure more interesting.

Then I added details to some of the fabric using acrylic paints. Again, you could totally stamp the swirly pattern on the purple at the beginning, to save yourself some time. I tried to make the patterns match Sally's dress as well as I could.

Here's the mani with all of the black lines and stitches added. This part is really easy. Just outline the areas and add a few stitches here and there. It doesn't have to be perfect, in fact it looks better if it isn't. Add topcoat and you are done!

Polishes used in this manicure: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Delphinium, butter LONDON Minger, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, Essie Very Structured, Cult Nails Awakening, Claire's Mood Nail Polish in Happy/Earthy. (Apparently I was feeling Earthy!)

Thursday's mani: Nails inspired by Artwork. Ooo, this will be fun. :)

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Fashion

2011-10-25T18:20:00.000-07:00

When it comes to Halloween, who is more fashionable than Elvira, Mistress of The Dark?!?! She's the freakin' Supermodel of the Underworld! Plus she always sports a fabulous mani. I present to you: Halloween Nails Inspired by Fashion:

Pictured are Elvira's logo (here's her website where you can see her awesome logo), Elvira and as much of her bouffant hairdo that will fit on my nail, and of course Elvira's.... assets. I think these could also count as my Breast Cancer Awareness nails for October. SAVE THE TA-TAS!

I painted my nails black except for my middle finger. Most of the red is covered up with the Elvira portrait.

I started with flesh tones, but tried to make them rather light. Elvira keeps her lovely complexion by staying out of the sun. She'd rather stay UP all night (you see how I did that? ha ha).

She looks so nekkid without her hair.

I showed my mani to my hubs at this point and he said, "Where's her t*ts?" Simmer down honey, they're coming.

There they are! She's so bodacious, her boobs need their own nail. I just love Elvira and think her campy take on Halloween and all things creepy is fantastic. You go girl!

Polishes used in this manicure: Wet 'n Wild Fast Dry Ebony Hates Chris, and Revlon Raven Red. Raven Red, what a great name for a Halloween nail polish!

Tomorrow: nails inspired by a pattern.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by a Movie

2011-10-24T16:51:00.000-07:00

The pressure was on to really do a good job on this manicure. I live in Sonoma County, California, the home of Charles M. Schulz. Yeah, that Charles M. Schulz. Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, and good ol' Charlie Brown. I have had the honor of broadcasting from the Charles M. Schulz Museum, as well as conducting interviews with Sparky's son, Craig, on occasion. The Schulz family is really involved in our community, and we have lots of Peanuts statues all over town. So I knew I had to really hit this one out of the park.

It's Linus and Sally in the pumpkin patch from "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" This was such a fun manicure to do, and really came out as I hoped it would.

I wanted to capture the amazing backgrounds that are in the film (which was made as a TV special back in 1966), which you should really check out the next time you watch this Halloween classic. The backgrounds during Snoopy's imaginary trip to France are especially evocative. This scene has an almost galactic expanse of sky behind Linus and Sally, perhaps reflecting Linus' unlimited imagination and unwavering faith in The Great Pumpkin. Or, maybe it is just pretty. :) I sponged two different blue polishes over black polish to get this effect, then added a few minuscule stars here and there with acrylic paint.

Here you see Sally, Charlie Brown's little sister, completely chewing out poor Linus for duping her into spending Halloween night in the pumpkin patch instead of having fun at "Tricks-or-Treats!" I thought this might be easier to do than some of the more realistic portraits I have been trying, but the economy of line in Schulz' drawings is so amazing. Every little nuance and emotion in so few simple, but perfect, lines. It's really hard to do it right. I hope I came somewhat close.

I added the lovely pumpkins and the rest of the details on Linus and Sally next. I am so happy with how these turned out!

Polishes used in this manicure: Wet 'n Wild Fast Dry in Ebony Hates Chris, OPI No Room For The Blues, and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Blue It. I also used Cult Nails Get It On basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat.

One special Peanuts-related memory for me was a broadcast outside of the Charles M. Schulz museum right before Halloween 2005 (it might have been 2006). I was producing for Marcy Smothers and her special guest was Linus Maurer. Linus was long time friends with Schulz, and a fellow cartoonist. Schulz based his character Linus Van Pelt on his friend Linus Maurer. Linus (the real one) always keeps a blanket/jacket in his trunk, a habit from old days in Minneapolis where he met Schulz. Linus also told us during this broadcast that he hands out packages of peanuts at Halloween. How awesome is that!? This is Marcy, Linus, and myself (I'm the goofball in the jack o'lantern t-shirt) waiting in the pumpkin patch for The Great Pumpkin.

Tomorrow I will be back on schedule with nails inspired by fashion. Happy Halloween!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by a Book

2011-10-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, sorry to post this a little out of order, but when I say I am busy, I mean it. Tomorrow and Tuesday I will be working from 4:30am to about 6:30pm. Ouchie. So I will not have time to do a proper manicure. I tried to do three manicures today to get ahead, and I could only manage two, that is why this is a little bit out of order. Instead of nails inspired by a movie, I am showing you nails inspired by a book: Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery.

I love Bunnicula! For those not in the know, Bunnicula is a vampire bunny, the title character of a series of children's books written by James Howe. I read them when I was little and just loved them. Bunnicula drains vegetables of their color, so that is where the white-ish carrots come in. They are drained of their juices. And I also made the evil carrot, which was something I mentioned back on the first day of this challenge and it stuck in my head. So here is an evil carrot!

On my right hand I painted my nails white and sponged purple on the ends, as if Bunnicula had somehow drained the color from my nails. Evil bunny!

I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Delphinium, as well as Cult Nails Get It On basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat polishes.

Tomorrow's nails will probably be inspired by a fashion. Sorry this is such a short post, I will add more pics later when I have time.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by a Song

2011-10-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

Another quick post today, so busy! I chose the song "I Put A Spell On You" for my inspiration. Specifically, the version performed by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Screamin' Jay was crazy! He used to come out on stage in a coffin, and emerge from the coffin to perform for the audience. He also had a lot of voodoo props including a smoking skull on a stick called Henry. Crazy! And he was prolific, er, productive, um, maybe procreative? After his death a website was set up called Jay's Kids to find out how many children might have claims on his estate, or be the offspring of the performer. He had at least 55 kids, perhaps as many as 75 or more. Therefore, I give you my tribute to "I Put A Spell On You" a la Screamin' Jay Hawkins...

Little voodoo babies with voodoo pins! I started with one coat of the butter LONDON polish, sponged on some Sally Hansen in a brownish coat, then topped with more butter LONDON. The butter LONDON is more opaque than I had anticipated, but there is a bit of interesting depth to the polish.

My right had with a voodoo baby. He's got a pin right through his little heart. Someone definitely is putting a spell on him.

Both hands together. I just love how this mani turned out. The voodoo baby dolls remind me a bit of the freaky character from the movie Trick-or-Treat.

Polishes used in this mani: butter LONDON All Hail the Queen, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Expresso, Cult Nails Get It On basecoat, and Seche Vite topcoat.

Here's Screamin' Jay's version of the song. Totally awesome!

Tomorrow: nails inspired by a movie. I can't wait!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by a Color

2011-10-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

I am so busy, so I am going to have to let the pictures do the talking for me today. My polish collection is a little bit heavy on the blue side, and every time I shop for more polish, I have to remind myself not to buy yet ANOTHER bottle of blue nail polish. But I love it so! In particular, I love this turquoise shade from Sinful Colors. It's called Savage, and it totally reminds me of a certain crime fighting team's vehicle...

Ah yeah! I did the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo, as well as the Miner 49er, and Scooby Doo himself! This mani RULES!

The hardest part of this mani was mixing blue and green acrylic paint to match this awesome shade of blue polish and make the right hue for the Mystery Machine.

If you want to practice using acrylic paints to make nail art, might I suggest trying to paint the Miner 49er? This dude has only 4 colors, no shading, and no facial features. Easy peasy.

Scooby just cracks me up. I wanted to draw Shaggy on my other hand, but ran out of time. Scoobs still is so funny, I just love how he turned out.

Polishes used in this manicure: Essie All In One Basecoat, Sinful Colors Savage, and Seche Vite topcoat.

Tomorrow's challenge: a manicure inspired by a song. This should be fun!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Water Marbled Nails

2011-10-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

Does just doing one nail with water marble still count? Well, it is late and I have to just go ahead and post this and get it over with, so I say, it counts! For water marble nails, I decided to do a MacBeth Three Witches manicure. Rejoice, drama nerds!! ;-)

A quote from Shakespeare's MacBeth on my thumbnail, two of the three witches on my index, on my middle finger doth the cauldron boil and bubble, the third witch on my ring finger, and some of the ingredients for their potion (toe of frog, eye of newt, and finger of a birth-strangled babe - I know, ewwww!) on my pinkie.

I did the marble nail on my middle finger. I haven't done water marbling in a while, so this kind of sucks. Oh well.

It cleans up nice though. And to further hide my failure at water marbling, I turned it into a cauldron. :-)

Then I added the witches. Honestly, they are too cute. They needed to be a bit more creepy. The only one I really liked was the round faced one on my index finger. And she is still too cute.

I added some facial features next and their little witchy robes.

And here are the finished nails before topcoat. I like the pinkie with the disgusting ingredients on it, but overall, I was not as happy with these nails. I imagined something different than how they actually turned out.

And I must've been distracted, because I totally forgot to put the polishes I used for marbling in this photo. Doh! Or as Shakespeare would say, "Forsooth!" Polished used in this manicure: Essie All In One basecoat, Sinful Colors Seaweed, Seche Vite topcoat, and not pictured: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Expres-so Yellow, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lickety Split-Lime, and NYC New York Color Flat Iron Green.

So there you have my geek-tastic MacBeth nails. I actually wrote a script for a pep rally my senior year in high school that was a riff on the Three Witches scene from MacBeth. Yes, that is how big of a nerd I am.

Tomorrow: nails inspired by a Color. What color will it be??!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Galaxy Nails

2011-10-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

In space no one can hear you scream. Ok, I am pretty dang proud of these nails. I totally followed Sarah's advice from Chalkboard Nails on how to do galaxy nails. If you want to do galaxy nails, read her blog post about them. It was so helpful. I guess I can say she boldly went where I had yet to go. Seriously, she paved the way and has posted really useful tips on how to do great galaxy nails. Then I added my creepy Halloween twist...

It's the alien from Alien! Does this thing have a name? I showed this to my husband and he said, "Shut up. You did not paint that." But in fact I did, and I told him to shut up himself.

Here are my galaxy nails before I added the alien. Sorry I did not take any pics before this shot. But really, Sarah's post on this says it all, so go there to learn how to do these.

Here is the other hand. Besides adding the galaxy nail design to these, I did not add any more aliens. One is enough to do serious damage on a spaceship stranded in the middle of a galaxy.

I started the alien by painting a dark silver shape, and then began to add highlights and shading to give it definition. And you gotta have the second mouth shooting out.

I continued the design by mixing silver acrylic paint with white and black as needed to get the right shading and highlight the ribs on the chest, and the various parts of his ginormous noggin. I even added teeny tiny teeth with white acrylic paint.

Here's a side view of the nails before I added the alien. This pic shows you how the glitter polish really lights up and makes these galaxy nails fun.

Ok, that is just awesome. Sorry, I have to say it. I made a freaking awesome set of galaxy nails.

Polished used in this manicure: Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, Sinful Colors Pink (it's a hot pink), Borghese Paradiso Pink, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, and China Glaze Fairy Dust. Also Essie All In One basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat.

Tomorrow: water marble nails! After tomorrow, I am really looking forward to the rest of the challenges. There should be some fun ones. :)

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Half Moon Nails

2011-10-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

Today's theme made perfect sense as a Halloween manicure. Half moon manicure designs were apparently popular in the 1920s and 1930s. I think they are a big pain in the butt. LOL. Seriously, this was the hardest manicure that I have done so far.

A fairly simple design, with a wolf howling at the (half) moon on my ring finger. Aaahwooooooo!

I started with a white polish base. Then I totally messed up by trying to free hand the half moon design in a dark, glass flecked blue. It was way too dark, and also my lines for the half moons were TERRIBLE. So I started over, and took everything off of my left hand, and slapped some more white polish on.

I dug around in my office supplies until I found reinforcement stickers, and used those to mask the moon on the nail and painted this lighter blue on instead. Sheesh. Even then, some of my lines were not clear, and some were too small or two big. Arg!

I painted this little wolfie on my ring finger and then added a bit of grey to the white half moon to mimic the markings on the face of the moon. It's not exact, but gives a feeling of the colors of the moon.

Here's my right hand. It was a pretty mani, very simple, but sometimes simple can be the most difficult.

Close up of my little wolf. He even has chest hair! (I guess he can't be Jacob, since Jacob has no chest hair. Hubba hubba.)

Polishes used in this manicure: Essie All In One basecoat, Wet 'n Wild French White Creme, OPI No Room For The Blues, and Seche Vite topcoat.

Tomorrow it is galaxy nails! Yay!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Glitter Nails

2011-10-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

This was my husband's idea for glitter nails a la Halloween motif. I love it so much! Great idea, honey! I guess you could call this a continuation of the "Tinkerbell on a Murder Spree" nails from a few days ago... She left her victim in the alleyway surrounded by pixie dust!

It's a chalk outline (a glitter chalk outline) of a dead body next to a pool of (glittery) blood. Wow, my hubs is crazy brilliant.

I started this mani with a base polish of this grey shade from Sally Hansen. I did not do clean up yet, because I was adding layers and doing a lot of other messy things to the mani before I was finished, so why waste time with lots of clean up after each stage. OH! And this is ONE coat. I love it!

Next step was sponged on black polish. I wanted this to look like concrete, or a dirty alleyway. It kind of works.

I brushed on a matte topcoat to help with the concrete idea, then taped up my middle and ring fingers to get ready for some blood splatters.

I followed a method I saw Jen of The PolishAholic do on her site. I used a small drinking straw and dipped it in polish, then blew a short blast of air through the straw to get the splatter effect. See Jen's site for more information on this technique.

I cleaned up the nails (and sadly messed up one of the splatters in the process, note to self: don't tape nails quite as closely next time) then added the "chalk" outline in white acrylic paint.

I added a bit of red glitter polish to the blood splatter to make it a bit more blingy, and then started adding a holographic glitter polish over the chalk outline. My husband will attest to the fact that I was giggling like crazy while I did this. So funny!

Here is an outside picture of the nails so you can see how holographic and sparkly these nails really were. I love it!

I used quite a few polishes for this mani, and only one acrylic paint (usually the opposite for my manis). Polishes used in this manicure: Essie All In One basecoat, Revlon Top Speed in Hazy, Wet 'n Wild Black Creme (sponged on), Warpaint Beauty Matte topcoat (from Hot Topic), Revlon Raven Red for the blood splatters, Fright Night Claw Polish Voodoo for the red glitter on the blood, and Love & Beauty Silver holo glitter polish for the chalk outline. No topcoat (besides the matte topcoat). I really like this matte topcoat.

Tomorrow's nails: Half Moons! What a perfect challenge for Halloween nails. See you tomorrow!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Tribal Nails

2011-10-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

Let me start this post by saying I am not a fan of tribal nails. I think that they are too busy, and really, what tribe are you referring to? The Sioux? The Quileute? The Pomo? It is kind of insulting to call a random set of lines, dots and triangles a "tribal" design, without trying to make the design specific to a particular tribe, or honoring the beautiful art history of a particular tribe. Sorry, but I had to put that out there. That's just my opinion, and I do love nail art, but I would prefer to see tribal nails that celebrate a particular tribe.

Moving on... in order to do this challenge, I created my own tribe: The Trick-or-Treaters Tribe! We value candy above all else. And therefore, our tribal art features lots of sweets.

Yummy! Give us candy or we will egg your house! And we hate people who give us toothbrushes. We will egg your house if you give us toothbrushes!

I started with a base of my favorite orange polish: Minger from butter LONDON. Oh it is so pretty! This is two coats, another reason I love this polish.

I began the design on my thumb. Paint your candy corn with white acrylic paint first, so that the orange and yellow layers will really stand out. Also, paint the middle candy corn first, so it will be balanced on your nail.

I added lollipops to my index finger, and little wrapped hard candies to my middle finger. Feel free to make whatever kind of candies appeal to you on your Trick-or-Treaters Tribal nails.

You can see how the candy corn looks better with a white base to support the other colors. I really like how this nail turned out.

My right hand does not have a full tribal mani, just two nails with out tribal war-cry: YUM! YUM!

Here is my right hand with topcoat. I like the ring finger a lot, it's so cute.

Here are the nails together. On accident (a happy accident) the triangles I painted around the wrapped candies on my middle finger look like teeth! Nom, nom! The ring finger is two caramel apples crossed together, and the pinkie finger is smarties (love smarties!) with a line of Junior Mints between the two rolls of smarties. I thought for a minute about turning those brown dots into M&Ms but then I was like, "What are you smoking? Are you going to paint with a needle?!!" So I abandoned that idea. Junior Mints it is.

The polishes I used in this manicure: Cult Nails Get It On basecoat, butter LONDON Minger, and Seche Vite topcoat.

Tomorrow is Day 17: Glitter! Halfway through the challenge and I am still loving it! I have to start covering for vacationing coworkers on Monday, so I may be a bit cranky in my posts for the next two weeks. It's me, it's not you. :)

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Delicate Print Nails

2011-10-15T08:57:00.000-07:00

I pretty much knew exactly what I was going to do for this challenge. I have Konad (and fauxnad) stamps from when I first got into nail art. I don't do stamping that much now, mostly because I have more fun doing freehand art. But occasionally it is just what the doctor ordered. Like today!

I did a sort of wallpaper pattern with blood spatters and a tiny bloody handprint. That is a really small handprint. It's like Tinkerbell went on a bender and then murdered someone while she was under the influence. Bad faerie!

I started with a grey base polish (forgot to take a pic, sorry), then topped it with this viney stamp from Bundle Monster. Ooops, I forgot to write down which BM plate I used. I will come back and edit with that info.

Then I added a bloody handprint with red acrylic paint. I also added a splatter of blood to the side of my thumbnail, but in retrospect, I decided that it made it harder to discern the bloody handprint. I was able to fix this... (keep reading!)

See! I painted over the splatter with the grey polish, then used black acrylic paint to mimic the wallpaper pattern in black. It's like it never existed. But maybe Dexter could find it under a black light.

Here are the polishes I used in this mani: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Wet Cement, Cult Nails Get It On basecoat, and Seche Vite topcoat. (oops, I also used Wet 'n Wild Black Creme for the stamping!)

Tomorrow: tribal nails! How in the world will I turn tribal nails into a Halloween theme? Find out tomorrow!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Flower Nails

2011-10-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

"Feed me, Seymour!" Yup, the scariest flower I could think of was Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. A man-eating (and woman-eating) plant is kind of perfect for Halloween. And it's funny, everyone I showed this to at work would quote me a different line or song clip from the movie. It was a sort of glimpse into each persons psyche to see what most appealed to them about the film. (Sickos!)

Audrey II looks really hungry in this photo... I wouldn't get too close to the screen if I were you.

I started with a purple base of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Urgent Orchid. Ha! I guess you could call an exotic man-eating plant an Urgent Orchid!

I used acrylic paints to bring Audrey II to life. I like how the shading worked on the lower jaw.

Then some tendrils and leaves on the neighboring nails. I should have added this to the other hand as well, because Audrey II takes over the entire florist shop in the movie, but I was tired.

See, pretty tired and uninspired. This did help though, for those who thought I had painted a dinosaur on my nails. Everyone (well, almost everyone) remembers Audrey II's special lament, "Feed me, Seymour!"

Topcoated! And yes, I am switching after this manicure back to Seche Vite for my topcoat. Sadly, Cult Nails topcoat has slightly blurred every manicure by dragging colors together. But I do love Maria's topcoat! Just not for nail art.

Here they are together. I like the purple background for these nails, so fun!

Polishes I used in this manicure: Cult Nails Get It On basecoat, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Urgent Orchid, and Cult Nails Wicked Fast topcoat.

Tomorrow's challenge is a delicate pattern. How will I turn a delicate pattern into a Halloween design? Come back and find out!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Animal Print Nails

2011-10-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

For Day 13 of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge, I decided to do a snakeskin print (of sorts). This lovely little orange and black snake (my creative license version of a coral snake) is inching across all of my nails on my left hand. Ssssso pretty!

I used a holographic polish just on his little eyes, and it is so small you may not notice, but it really added some fun bling to his eyeballs.

I started with a chartreuse color from China Glaze. This was three coats, which is ok, but I am so impatient I would have preferred 2 coats.

The snake first took shape in black acrylic paint. The middle finger sort of looks like the ribbon that so many people wear for breast cancer awareness and other awareness ribbons. Some of my coworkers who cannot see as well thought this was a breast cancer awareness manicure at first. Ah well...

And here I have added most of the details. I started with a lighter orange, then topped it with a bright orange to make it really pop. Also, I like the little white dots for highlights. It almost makes it look aboriginal.

I didn't want to make another snake on my right hand, since it was already taking me a long time to do this manicure. So I asked my hubby what I should paint on my right hand. He said, "A rat!" That was a great idea, so I made this stylized rat on my right hand.

Here is the finished product. I topcoated this with Cult Nails Wicked Fast and I am noticing that it is slightly pulling at my art work leaving little streaks. I may have to switch back to Seche Vite topcoat for nail art. Too bad, because the top coat from Cult Nails really lasts well.

Here's the right hand with the little rat. It had better watch its back, 'cause I think that snake is hungry!

Polishes I used in this manicure: Cult Nails Get It On basecoat, Cult Nails Wicked Fast topcoat, China Glaze Electric Pineapple, China Glaze 2NITE (for the eyeballs), and L.A. Colors Art Deco Red Glitter (to highlight the snake tongue).

Tomorrow it is flowers! Halloween flowers.... moohoohahaha!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Striped Nails

2011-10-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Again during this challenge, I was a big stumped as to what to do for a particular style. Stripes could be the stripes on a witches stockings, totally fun. But I wanted to do something I hadn't seen before. I remembered that one member of the Addams Family always wore stripes, so that is my manicure today: Pugsley Addams!

I based my Pugsley on a drawing made by Charles "Chas" Addams, the cartoonist who originated the character in New Yorker cartoons in the 1930s. Originally, Pugsley did not have a name, he was just a member of this odd family that Addams came up with. The family was a satire of the American Ideal Family, and they loved the macabre and bizarre, and didn't understand why other people would think they were weird. Pugsley only got a name when a television studio bought the rights to the characters and named them The Addams Family.

Here is a drawing and description of Pugsley created by Chas Addams in 1963 for the creators of the television series. This is what Addams says about Pugsley:

The Boy - Pugsley

"An energetic monster of a boy about nine years old - blondish red hair, popped blue eyes and a dedicated troublemaker - in other words, the kid next door. Genius in his own way, he makes toy guillotines, full-size racks, threatens to poison his sister, can turn himself into a Mr. Hyde with an ordinary chemical set. He is, nevertheless, easily controlled by Morticia, though Lurch and Gomez keep their backs to the wall at all times when he's around. His voice is hoarse." Charles Addams, 1963

I started with a brown manicure (which my annoying hubby insists are "poop" nails) and added an off white french tip to all of the nails except the ring fingers.

I started Pugsley with a black background, since he is depicted as a cartoon, and it is easier to start with black and paint up, than to try to painstakingly outline in black afterwards.

I mixed off white colors in acrylic paint for the flesh and shading of Pugsley. I am very happy with how the colors and feeling really matched Addams' drawing.

Here's the scamper before I topped him with top coat. Oh! And I can't believe I haven't mentioned my stubby nails! I had two nails break when I was getting my Halloween decorations out of storage. Boo! So I cut all of my nails down and now I just have to wait for them to grow back out.

On my right hand, I copied Chas Addams' signature. It didn't quite fit on my stubby nail, but it is really close.

Polishes I used in this manicure: Love & Beauty in Cocoa, Essie Body Language, Cult Nails Get It On basecoat, and Cult Nails Wicked Fast topcoat. (I actually wore this manicure for two and a half days because I loved it so much! And I noticed no chips, just slight wear on my nail tips. Yay for Cult Nails base and top coats!)

I realized that I did not have a lot of stripes in this "Stripe" manicure, so on the second day I wore this manicure, I added a darker brown stripe (Revlon Chocolate Truffle) with a striper brush along the edge of the french manicure. I really like how it looks!

Tomorrow is Animal Print! I can't wait!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Polka Dot Nails

2011-10-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

I totally copied a nail design from Sarah at Chalkboard Nails for today's manicure. I knew I wanted to do something similar, but when I saw her tutorial for this a few days ago, I knew that I couldn't do this idea any better. So here you go, EYEBALLS!

Sarah has posted a very cool tutorial on her site for these nails. I only had the patience to do one nail with eyeballs, so props to her for doing an entire manicure like this.

I was able to use my brand new polish from Cult Nails for this mani. I had ordered their base and topcoats, plus the awesome sheer glitter polish Hypnotize Me, and Maria was nice enough to throw another bottle in my package as well! This is Cult Nails Awakening. It's really beautiful.

Then I added white dots, and on my ring finger, added red polish in wavy (some were wavier than others) lines, and topped with more dots, first blue, then white. I need better dotting tools! I have one dotter that is pretty small, and I had to improvise with a needle from my sewing kit for the larger dots.

Here is a close up of my ring finger after topcoat. It is a fun design, and not difficult, it just takes time if you are doing all of your nails this way.

Polishes I used in this manicure: Cult Nails Awakening, Essie Lollipop (which is more red than this picture indicates), Cult Nails Get It On basecoat, and Cult Nails Wicked Fast topcoat.

Tomorrow is Day 12 of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Stripes!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Gradient Nails

2011-10-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

There are two different gradients at play in this set of nails. I think it really turned out fun! And, at the end of this post, you will see a slight addition I made to the manicure with a new polish that arrived in the mail.

I did a candle glowing in the darkness with a pair of spooky eyes lurking in the blackness. There is a gradient effect on the candle itself, and there is the gradient from the pool of light radiating out from the candle.

I started with a base of black nails. Black nails really show off the reflection from my lamp and everything else in my living room where I do my nails!

Then I added the pool of light using acrylic paints. I used yellow, black and white paints for this part of the manicure. You can see I added the gradient to the side of my thumb, as well.

Then I added the candle, which starts out yellow, then turns to a an orangish-red towards the base of the candle. There are also different colors inside of the flame, running from yellow to orange, to red, to blue. And I added the little creepy eyes.

Here are both hands together. I added another pair of eyes on my right hand.

Here's a close-up of the candle, and you will notice that it is kind of blinged out! I opened my mail and found my shipment from Cult Nails! I got their top and base coats, plus Hypnotize Me, a wonderful sheer sparkle polish. I added some Hypnotize Me to the outer areas of the pool of light to give it some fun dimension. I really like it! Oh and there was one more bonus polish in my package, which I will share with tomorrow's manicure. :-) Cult Nails rules!

Here's a side view of the sparkle. I just love it and can't wait to do a full manicure with it.

Here are the polished I used in this manicure: Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, Cult Nails Hypnotize Me, Essie All In One Basecoat, and Seche Vite Topcoat.

Tomorrow's challenge is polka dots. It will be fun and frightening! :-)