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!

Goldfish Nail Art

Today's manicure is for the Adventures in Stamping challenge: Under the Sea. I sadly found that I don't really own many aquatic stamping plates. Note to self: remedy that! I do however have this gorgeous stamping plate from MoYou London which has a pair of goldfish swimming around each other. An infinite circle of koi. So I combined that stamp with a water technique that I have used previously on another manicure.

I started with a base of Color Club Factory Girl, then used a cosmetic sponge to dab on some OPI Fly in areas. After that I used acrylic paints to add little veins of blue-grey, and light blue to indicate little waves. I used a stamping decal technique and MoYou London plate Suki 09 and Konad Black stamping polish. I filled in the fish with orange and yellow acrylic paints. The stamp decal was a little messy, but I like the effect. It feels lived in, like it's been there a while.

Enjoy!

Adorable Rice Bowl

Today's manicure is something I came up with for two different challenges. One is The Lacquer Legion "Adoration Challenge" - I am super in love with Japanese food (bento boxes RULE) and love all things kawaii, so this mani fits perfectly within that theme. And it also works for the AIS stamping challenge this week, which is purple and orange together.

I used OPI Tangerine Scene as the base color, then used MoYou London Suki 03 Stamping Plate with Konad Black for the stamp decal. I filled in the stamped decal with acrylic paints. If you like bento too, be sure to check out my bento blog.

Have a great week!

Molly and Me Nail Art

I adore my little niece Molly! She is three years old and loves to have her nails painted blue. When she first got her nails painted, she did not want to have anyone wash them for fear that the polish would come off. It took a bit of practice to demonstrate that nail polish can be removed and reapplied, but this girl has the routine DOWN. She's so awesome. I brought along some nail art supplies during my last visit to see family in January. Here is a record of our home nail salon adventure!

I made water transfer decals with her favorite characters from the Pixar Cars movie. She was thrilled with them!

Molly is ready to get her nails done! She had patience for a base coat, decals and topcoat. And she's only three! 

Our nail salon set up complete with nail polish remover, three colors of polish, a shot glass with water for the decals, and the decals I made for Molly. I did accidentally spill a tiny bit of nail polish remover on my brother's dining room table. Shhhh, he'll never know.

After applying the decals and letting them dry, it was time for Playdoh! If I mash enough Playdoh into my brother's table, he'll never notice the little patch of nail polish remover. Plus he'll probably blame it on Molls. Best. Aunt. Evar.

Here's Auntie's nails. I prepped my nails for the Seahawks game during my visit to see my family in Washington state. I've got a 12 for "12th Man" on my middle finger and Sally from Cars on my ring finger. The colors I used are butter LONDON Jaded Jack, OPI Ogre The Top Blue, and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. 

I can't wait for my next visit and nail salon party with my favorite 3-year old.

Pueen Stamping with Clockwork

Today I am featuring some of my new stamping plates I got from Pueen! They are gorgeous and I love the full plate designs which let you really customize your images. I paired this plate together with my polish Clockwork, which is available right now in my etsy shop.

I painted my nails with Orly Buried Alive first, then topped most of my nails with my Sonoma Nail Art color Clockwork. On my ring finger I stamped Orly Glitz over the nail with Pueen Plate 57. I topped it all with Seche Vite. 

Isn't this color pretty!? I am not sure why I haven't tried it before. The colors in this collection (inspired by Dark Shadows) were super vampy and fun. I bought this at a big discount at Sally Beauty Supply.

Here is the full plate image from the Pueen Palte 57. There are so many ways you could wear this, I just love it. I think I will have to do a Yellow Brick Road mani verrrrry soon! Happy Monday!

Run Lola Run aka Lola Rennt

One of my favorite films is 1998's Run Lola Run (originally "Lola Rennt") starring Franke Potente. At the center of this movie, a woman is trying to save her boyfriend and each scenario ends badly, until she finally finds success. Lola, the hero, runs almost non-stop through the film, but instead of being monotonous, the film is filled with tension and energy. The film style is innovative, the acting is intense, and the soundtrack is elementally entwined in the telling of the story. If you haven't seen it, you should. And please, please, PLEASE watch it in German with subtitles. The English overdub is particularly annoying.

I am developing a set of Powerful Women decals, and I tried this one featuring Lola.

I started with a base of OPI Big Apple Red, then painted on patches of my glitter topper Sonoma Nail Art "Red Flag Warning" (check it out in my etsy shop here). Then I added stamping from Pueen 52 (from the new stamping buffet set) with Konad Black polish. On my ring finger I painted Sinful Colors Snow Me White, and then added my Lola water slide decal. After I top coated it, I added thinned down red and blue polishes to color her hair and tank top. I hand painted the black french tip with Wet 'n Wild Ebony Hates Chris.

This is before I added the stamping and black french tip. I kind of like it this way too. The glitter gives it a fun sense of urgency.

I will soon have some fun news related to the Powerful Women decals I am putting together, so keep checking back for an announcement!

Beast Mode Nails

These are the nails I did for the Superbowl on Sunday, and I did them right before we were headed out to watch the game at our favorite watering hole. My husband was chomping at the bit for me to get done already, so we could score good seats to watch the game. And so I am sharing these with a caveat: I didn't have time to moisturize and make sure all of my cleanup/lines looked good. I was kind of horrified to look at close up pictures of this mani. SO DRY! With that in mind...

I deconstructed the Seahawks logo. You can see part of the beak on my index finger, and the eyes on my middle and pinkie fingers. On my ring finger is The Beast from Disney's Beauty and The Beast. For those unfamiliar with the Seahawks, one of the players, Marshawn Lynch, is nicknamed 'Beast Mode' for his amazing skills as a running back. So these are my Beast Mode Nails!

The base colors I used were Zoya Dove, Orly Fresh, OPI Ogre The Top Blue, and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. All of the artwork is done with acrylic paints, then topped with Seche Vite. And obviously no moisturizer. What have we learned from this, kids?! Always moisturize your cuticles!

I think it was totally worth it to keep my husband waiting while I finished these. Can you imagine what would have happened if I hadn't?! LOL