Deadly Zins and Danke Shiny Red

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

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

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

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

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

Skull and Roses Inspired by Robin Moses

Hey, that rhymes! Robin Moses recently did a tutorial with this gorgeous design. I modified it a bit when I did it this past weekend.

I used Cult Nails Mazo as a base and painted the skull and roses by hand using acrylic paints. Robin's design was a modified french manicure. I put the roses at the top of the nail bed.

Here's Cult Nails Mazo on its own. It is a really interesting nude shade with a gorgeous green/yellow/orange shimmer. I just love it. This is two coats.

ACTION SHOT! I actually did this mani (the nail art part of it) while I was at a broadcast for my radio station. We had to get there really early due to road closures, so I sat at our booth and did this nail art waiting for the broadcast to start. :) And I really need to wash that grey right outta my hair, LOL.

See, there's my palette and my tiny little nail brush. This was a fun design to do (although I realized as I painted this on Cinco de Mayo that I had my Mexican holidays mixed up). 

Another shot of the skull and roses mani. This is a fairly simple manicure to do with really only three colors of acrylic paint to work with. 

Here's Cult Nails Mazo. I love Maria's polishes and this one was really easy to apply and covered in two coats. Now for a little begging: I have entered a nail stamping contest with Bundle Monster. If you would take a second to click this link and vote for me, I would really appreciate it! And be sure to check out the other entries, there are some really talented ladies out there! https://apps.facebook.com/winnailplates/contests/216667/voteable_entries/48985009

Poinsettias Inspired by Robin Moses

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/

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.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by a Tutorial

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 Artwork

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

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. :)

The Great Handcar Regatta 2011

This past weekend was really busy! I went to the Halloween and Vine art show on Saturday, and on Sunday it was the Great Handcar Regatta. This is an insanely awesome event. It's a steampunk/utopian extravaganza featuring all sorts of cool handcars that are raced along tracks in downtown Santa Rosa. People dress up in great costumes and there are fun performers all over the place. This is the Regatta's 4th year in Santa Rosa, and hopefully not the last. We are supposed to be getting high speed rail soon, and that may mean no fun on the old railroad tracks in downtown next year. My outfit was fun (I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of me wearing it!) and of course, I did steampunk nails to match.

Here are the finished nails. I did these based on a design by Robin Moses, but changed up the colors to match my outfit (which I didn't take pictures of, grrr!). Watch Robin's great video to see how to do these nails.

I used Revlon Creme Brulee for the base and then sponged on Orly Glam Rock (which has a matte finish) on the tips to give the nails a slight gradient. This design on its own would look great, if you didn't want to steampunk it up.

I added the first set of gears and cogs using a small nail art brush and a copper colored acrylic paint by Folk Art.

Here's the second layer of gears in a gold acrylic paint. I like how the Orly Glam Rock is peaking through the design.

And finally I added some white paint to the gold acrylic paint to create a lighter gold and did a final set of gears and cogs to finish the design. I topcoated with Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat.

I found these lacy cuffs at Hot Topic. Gotta love goth kids for their cool accoutrements! It cracks me up to shop at Hot Topic, where kids are trying to find their own style at a corporate clothing and accessories store. "I'm so different, just like everyone else!"

Here are the polishes I used in this mani: Revlon Creme Brulee, Orly Glam Rock (matte finish), Essie All In One Basecoat, and Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat.

WARNING! The next picture may offend some people! Part of the fun at the Great Handcar Regatta was demos by cheesemakers, sauerkraut makers, Ask a Vegan (LOL), and this next one: Butchers. Sonoma County is foodie central, and our local food blogger actually raised and slaughtered this pig, to understand the whole food chain. Many of us like to know where our food comes from, and some of us raise our own food in gardens and such. But few will actually raise livestock and harvest it. So this was really fascinating to see.

I watched this butcher take this young pig apart using just one knife. And it wasn't a big knife. He was quite expert at removing each of the cuts. What was so interesting was the amount of waste that is left over after getting the meat from the animal (about 40%). I guess that is a good argument for eating less meat. Choose high quality sources, and eat it sparingly. Meat is much more wasteful than vegetables. But tasty!

Here are a few of my friends at the Great Handcar Regatta. They had a booth where kids could make small cars from zucchinis and such and race them on a track. I love that little Jackson made his own little car from wine corks. Who needs a freakin zucchini?? Hilarious.

And here is my antique beaver skin top hat that I gussied up with ribbon and feathers. The pink matched my blouse. I am really bummed that I didn't get a picture of my whole outfit. Ah well...

If you want to see some of the fun of the Handcar Regatta, check out this video montage. I will have to try to take more pictures next year, besides tons of pig butchering photos. LOL