31 Day Challenge: Yellow

Today I decided to try a gradient with some simple hand painted nail art. This creepy claw reminds of the time my husband thought it would be funny to scare me right after we watched a scary movie one night. I went into the bathroom, and then he crept up to the bathroom door and ran his fingernails down the side of the closed door. I freaked OUT! My hubs was *this close* to becoming a divorcee that night, LOL.

I used Revlon Buttercup as the base, then did a gradient with that color and Sinful Colors Let's Meet. Then I used acrylic paints to make the scratches and the claw. 

Here is my yellow challenge from 2011.

Carrots on Crack

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.

Attitude Adjust-Mint Vintage Swimming Pool

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

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

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.

Maleficent and Facets of Fuchsia *Giveaway Closed

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!

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 Fashion

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: Glitter Nails

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!