31 Day Challenge: Floral

Today's challenge is floral nails and besides Audrey II, that lovable man-eating flower, the other deadly bloom is Belladonna, or deadly nightshade.

I did a gradient of China Glaze Glittering Garland, Zoya Midori, and Sally Hansen Lickety-Split Lime. Then I added the stems, leaves, and flowers using acrylic paints. I am pretty happy with how this turned out.

Click here to see my floral nails from 2011.

31 Day Challenge: Animal Print

Today I tried to accurately depict the jewel-encrusted hide of the very rare Hairy-Bottomed Kersnarficus. As everyone knows, this creature loves to hide with the dust bunnies under your bed, and only comes out when you are having particularly bad nightmares, at which time it sits directly in the middle of your forehead and licks your Third-Eye Chakra. It's super rare to see one in the daylight, so this is more of an artistic rendition. This is what the scientific community THINKS it looks like. I didn't have room for its gigantic teeth.

I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Licketly-Split Lime as the base, then added little nail jewels and crystals, and then dumped on green flocking powder. Flocking powder is a total pain to put on and to clean up. Yuck.

Click here to see my animal print manicure from 2011.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

I am a HUGE fan of Wes Anderson. His films are wonderfully weird, and characters so earnest and flawed. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou came out in 2004. It features Bill Murray as a bumbling Jacques Cousteau-type character, intent on seeking revenge on a shark. The sea creatures in this film are fantastical and mostly not-real. There are fluorescent pink schools of fish who appear on screen right before Steve Zissou's best friend Esteban is eaten by the above-mentioned Jaguar Shark. And Steve gets a Crayon Ponyfish from a fan during the screening of one of his films. I've combined these creatures in a tribute manicure to Wes Anderson's fourth feature length film.

I started by painting a base of  Sally Hanson Complete Salon Manicure in Fairy Teal. Then I sponged on a gradient of Color Club Age of Aquarius, Ulta The Jungle Book, and Ulta Dance Teal Dawn. After that I stamped on a mixture of Konad White and Ulta The Jungle Book using Konad plate M16 for the bubbles. Finally, I hand painted the school of fluorescent pink fish and the Crayon Ponyfish using acrylic paints. I topped everything with Seche Vite topcoat.

Here's Esteban about to be eaten by the Jaguar Shark:

And here is Steve Zissou getting a Crayon Ponyfish from a fan:

Besides my love for Wes Anderson movies, this manicure was also inspired by a stamping group challenge. Our choices for the week were to either 1) stamp on a green background, 2) stamp wildlife images, or 3) stamp an homage to a favorite movie. I did 'em all. 

Baby Magic Manicure

Today's manicure is one I did for The Lacquer Legion monthly challenge. The theme this month is "Lucky" and I thought about things that I consider myself lucky to have for possible subjects. I am so lucky to be Auntie to two darling, smart kids. So today's manicure is of my little nephew, Baby Magic. Magic was born just four days before his mom died, and he is a little treasure. I love him so much! Dealing with the loss of my sister in law has been heart wrenching, but I find that being creative makes the pain hurt a little less.

I started with a base of OPI My Vampire Is Buff. Then I used a water color technique to add splotches of Morgan Taylor Berry Perfection, Orly Fresh, and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Fairy Teal. 

After I topcoated the watercolor layer, I stamped with BM 04 plate using Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. Then I used acrylic paints to add little Baby Magic on my middle finger. His nick name is Magic, his real name is Will. :D I had so much fun painting in his little dimples, which he got from his dad. 

Here is the photo I used for reference. I will have to do a manicure of my niece Molly, too! If Molls will slow down long enough for a picture, that is. Look on social media platforms today to see more Lucky manicures. They will be marked #LLlucky

Have a great day!

Oh YEAH, It's My Birthday Nails

As my young niece Molly yelled at her 3rd birthday party, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEE!" Today I am wearing nails to celebrate my 41st birthday. I thought about something with balloons, or cupcakes, or stars, but they didn't seem right. So instead, I grabbed my Konad Coraline stamping plates and did THIS:

I love the pose of this image. It's got ATTITUDE. and if you are painting nail art on your nails with goofy characters, you gotta have attitude. I painted my nails with Love and Beauty Glow In The Dark polish in Neon Pink (the color is rather chameleon like... soft pink in indoor light, neon pink outdoors), then used the decal technique to create the image on my ring finger.

First I stamped this image from Konad Coraline plate CO4 using Wet N Wild Ebony Hates Chris. Then I let the image dry on the stamper for 5 minutes, before coloring it in with thinned down acrylic paints. After that paint had set, I coated the image with Sally Hansen No Chip Acrylic Top Coat and let it dry for about 30 minutes. I then gently peeled it from the stamper and applied it to my nail, pressing it down to conform to my nail. Then I top coated with Seche Vite. Coraline looks like she is saying, "Oh snap, girlfriend."

And yes, these nails DO glow in the dark, however my camera sucks at taking pictures of glow in the dark stuff, so this was the best I could get. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEE!

Hello Kitty Nerd

Sorry about the gap between posts, I was covering for a coworker and I also had a polish sale, so sadly I did not have time for fun manicure. But I am making up for it with this cutie patootie mani! Hello Kitty Nerd!!  I was able to use a new technique I have never tried in this manicure, and I am thrilled with how it turned out.

This is a combination of an amazing gradient technique which I learned from The Nailasaurus, some hand painted nail art with acrylic paints, and my very own glitter topcoat called "My Three Glitters!"

I started by painting my nails light pink with Butter London Teddy Girl. It was a little bare in spots with two coats, but I didn't mind since I was going to do a gradient over it anyway. Click here to see a great tutorial by The Nailasaurus on how to accomplish this easy gradient technique. I was able to do this on my very first try!

Here are the colors I used for my gradient, and oops, they are in the wrong order. Butter London Teddy Girl, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Speedy Sunburst, and OPI Elephantastic Pink. I actually used them in this order: Teddy Girl, Elephantastic Pink, Speedy Sunburst. This made for a very gradual gradient with lots of oomph!

Then I started on HK herself. Here you can see the white and black parts filled in on her head and body. Using acrylic paints makes it much easier to get smooth lines and to fix errors. 

Next I added facial features (the few she actually has), whiskers, and her little buttons on her dress. Then I turned her into an adorable little NERD!

This is a sticker of nerdy/1950s era Hello Kitty. She's got big ol glasses on and cute tenny runners. I found this sticker at the Sanrio store in San Francisco's Japantown. I LOVE that store, and I have to be careful when I go there or else I come home with an empty bank account, LOL.

Finally, to add dimension and fun to this mani, I topped all of my other nails with my Sonoma Nail Art glitter topcoat called "My Three Glitters". It is a black and white topcoat with white squares and black diamonds and has a fun retro feel to it. Then I topped everything with Seche Vite. 

My Three Glitter is inspired by one-time Sonoma County resident Fred MacMurray who had a ranch here. One of his most popular roles was the dad in the television series My Three Sons. My friend Sarah from Chalkboard Nails helped me design this label and I really love it! I do have more bottles of this polish available from my last etsy sale. You can buy them here if you haven't picked up this color yet. I like the way the fun squares and diamonds in this mix make the polish a little different than the other black and white topcoats out there. Have a great week polish friends!

Grape Stomp and Winner!

Here is a quick post showing a polish I am working on. It is not finalized but it will eventually be called Grape Stomp.

Here is one coat of Grape Stomp over Sally Hansen Anemone of Mine. I want to have this polish remind you of grapes being squished between toes and juice squirting out everywhere. :-)

Here is Anemone of Mine pre-cleanup. This was a really easy shade to apply!

And here is is in the sun. I like it, but it is not quite right. 

And congrats to Jen Cote who is the winner in my 100th post contest! Jen will get a bottle of Sister Sparkle The Exalted One (newly renamed). Thanks to everyone who entered!

Frog Eats Cupcake and a Giveaway

Hello! I am cramming a bunch of stuff into this post so I hope you have a minute or two to check it out. First of all, the Frog Eats Cupcake mani. What the.... okay, so my friend Amber is having a nail art contest and you can  create a mani using her favorite things as themes. Her favorite things include: frogs, pink, cupcakes, animal print,  and stars. I crammed almost all of those things into this mani. :D

See!? It's a frog on a pink background eating a cupcake. There's even a little fly buzzing next to him and he don't care, he just wants the cupcake! And really, who doesn't love cupcakes?! (This is actually the first time I have even done a cupcake mani and it was kind of fun!) I did not take any pics during the painting of this manicure, but I started with the frog, then did the cupcake, and finally added his little tongue zipping out, and the fly on my pinkie. The base of the cupcake is China Glaze For Audrey, but everything else was done with acrylic paints.

I started the mani with this bright pink shade from Sally Hansen. It is called Speedy Sunburst. This is two coats and it has great coverage and is easy to apply. (And look, I am just like Sarah of Chalkboard Nails. She doesn't own this hand pose you know, so I am rockin' it! Moo hoo ha ha ha ha! I kid, I kid. I love Sarah, so I have to give her a hard time.)

And to seal the deal and hopefully help me win Amber's contest, I added stars. What the heck, why not?!? Now I have to win. :D This was with a Bundle Monster stamp and Konad special white polish.

Here are the polishes I used in this manicure: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Speedy Sunburst, and China Glaze For Audrey. Ok, now for some fun! Every 20 posts I make a donation to a local women's shelter as a way to give back to my community and make my blog do some good. We all know a little makeup or a nice manicure can really boost ones self esteem. And for women transitioning out of substance abuse, a little boost in self esteem is so important. With my 100th post I am donating another $10 to Women's Recovery Services. I encourage you to find a way to make your blog help your community. 

And to celebrate my 100th post even MORE, I am giving away one bottle of my Sonoma Nail Art custom polish: Sister Sparkle The Exalted One! I just did my first sale of polishes on etsy and it was an overwhelming success. Thanks to everyone for your support. To win this bottle of polish, you need to follow my blog. You can also enter by following Sonoma Nail Art on Facebook. Entry deadline is Tuesday, May 1st at 9:01pm Pacific Time. Open to everyone, international entries welcome! 

You could win this! ^^

My First Starry Night Nails

Many people have been inspired by Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night painting. There are some really great manicures with this theme out there, like here, and here. When I agreed to do my coworker's nails and her daughter's nails, I didn't know what she wanted me to paint. So when she pulled out Starry Night, I was pretty excited to give it a Gogh. (Ah hahaha! Sorry, bad pun).

Kira had her nails already painted with OPI Russian Navy when I arrived with my box of nail art supplies, so this was a good foundation to start with. I painted all five nails on her left hand with stars and swirls inspired by Starry Night. On a few nails I dotted a bit of Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Diamond to give it a little bit of holographic shine.

On her right hand, I only painted her ring and middle finger. I think it turned out really pretty and definitely pays homage to Starry Night. 

Here is the inspiration for the manicure. :) Now I have to say, that I did not go into as much detail as I might if I do this on my own nails. I was doing nail art for two people and we started at 6:30pm, plus I stopped for some dinner. I really didn't want to keep them up until midnight. LOL! That being said, I still think this is a really pretty manicure and Kira loved it. 

21st Bday in Vegas Nails

Last night I went to a coworker's house to do some nail art for her and her daughter. They have the same birthday and are headed to Las Vegas to celebrate! Her daughter is turning 21 years old, so we wanted to do something with Vegas/21/and of course BOOZE. So here is what I did!

A 21 with a bit of sparkle on her middle finger, and the Queen of Hearts and an A (for Ace) on her ring finger. Of course, the Queen and an Ace add up to 21! I used a bit of Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Diamond along the smile line and in the sparkles to give it some holo-y goodness.

On her right hand I painted a cocktail with a straw and sparkles on her ring finger, and a pile of poker chips on her middle finger. Again, there's a bit of Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Diamond to bling it up. 

She had already gotten her nails done with the french tips, so it was fairly easy for me to add some nail art on a few fingers. I hope they are lucky for her in Vegas!!

Diamond and Tiara Party Nails

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!

I Wuv That Wascally Wabbit

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!

Sumbody Nail Polish

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