August 31, 2014

Ice Cream Love

3D Ice Cream Nail Art

I bought a set of resin 3D nail art supplies from +Bundle Monster a few weeks ago, which includes cute little ice creams, cupcakes, candies, bows, and more.  Ice cream is a must for the summer, so I decided to do a cutesy ice cream design, using a color scheme based off of the resin ice cream bar.

August 30, 2014

Bear Down

University of Arizona Nail Art

Bear down, Arizona!  Bear down, red and blue!  Go, go, Wildcats go!  Arizona, bear down!  :)  These red, white, and blue nails are in honor of my alma mater, the University of Arizona.

August 29, 2014

Crossing Lines


This double gradient design is easier than it appears.  The hardest part is placing all the striping tape, so if you can manage that, then you can do this.  Since the patterns are a bit crazy, I kept the colors neutral. 

August 28, 2014

Fiery Beetles

Fiery Beetle Nail Art

There's no tutorial for this.  I just wanted to share my Fiery Beetle entry for Nail It! Magazine's #tinicontest3.

Nail It! Magazine Contest
I used a mix of nail polish, acrylic paint, and foil to recreate the beetles shown in the mood board for the contest.

The foil adds a shiny iridescence that cannot be accomplished with regular polish.

The final round of the contest ends on August 30th.  The prize package includes a 6-month subscription to the Lacquer Cabinet and a 1-year subscription to Nail It! Magazine.  There is still time to enter!

The foil can be better seen in the natural sunlight.
Fiery Beetle Nail Art


Mani Upcycle - Foil Fantasy

Foil Nail Stamping

This is another mani upcycle of my Foil Fantasy nails.  To update the look, I double stamped some +Bundle Monster nail plate designs.

August 27, 2014

Birds of a Feather

Real Feather Nail Art

A real feather mani is a fun, natural, bohemian look that is easy to create.  A soft pink base color pairs well with the hot pink feathers so the feathers stand out.

August 26, 2014

Foil Fantasy

Teal Foil Nail Art

Foils are extremely iridescent and easy to apply.  Here, I paired teal glitter polish with a purple/blue gradient foil.  The foil naturally ripples over the uneven glitter surface, giving it a molten look.

August 25, 2014

Turquoise Talons

Turquoise Nail Art

Born in December, my birthstones are blue topaz and turquoise.  I've seen a few different tutorials on how to create turquoise nails, but I decided to try the salt technique.  I had some technical difficulties, so the end result didn't turn out like a traditional salt nail, but it looks like turquoise so that works for me. :)

August 24, 2014

Mani Upcycle - Galaxy

Galaxy nai art

Ever get tired of your mani, but you don't have time or are too lazy to repaint it?  The answer - upcycle it!  To upcycle my galaxy nails, I added some stamping on top.

August 22, 2014

In A Galaxy Far Far Away

Galaxy Nail Art

Galaxy nails!  This is my first attempt at a galaxy nail.  I used a makeup sponge to dab on different shades of blue.  This is a more realistic version compared to those that have the dotted and starburst stars painted on top.  But I liked the simplicity at this point and didn't want to add any more.

August 21, 2014

Chrome Crazy

Chrome nail stamping

I've been trying to use different nail plates that I own, but have never used before.  With this swirling whirlpool stamp, I decided to do a chrome gradient underneath.  Since the lighter chrome polish was a bit sheer, I just painted it straight on the nail instead of using a sponge to do the gradient.  It works okay for under stamping, but it's not as smooth as sponging.

August 20, 2014

Military Mani

Military Nail Art

I always love a good military look.  Military nails, jackets, accessories, I love it all.  For this mani, I chose an army green polish, and added some gold start stamping and studs.

August 19, 2014

Busy As A Bee

Bumble Bee Nail Art

With all the summer flowers in bloom, bees are everywhere, so I thought I'd do some bumble bee nails.  I mixed some hand-painting with nail stamping, and of course used yellow and black colors.

August 18, 2014

Eye See You

Eye Nail Art

I first saw this design in InStyle Magazine.  I have a thing for eyes...I like to draw them a lot when I doodle, and it is always my favorite part to paint when I do pet portraits.  

August 17, 2014

I'm Like A Bird

Floral bird nail art

Stamping is always a fast and easy way to create fancy nail designs.  Here, I mixed a floral pattern with a bird on top.  Overlaying stamps allows you to create more advanced designs in different colors, without having to reverse stamp or leadlight, so it doesn't take much time.

August 15, 2014

Little Mermaid

Little Mermaid

The last polish in the Disney Fairytale Nail Polish set is Ariel.  I decided to paint the more cutesy POP version of Ariel for the feature nail.  For the blue nails, I used several different glitter polishes that looked like a part of Ariel's world under the sea (see what I did there?).

August 14, 2014

Jaws

Jaws Nail Art

Da-Dum, Da-Dum.  Jaws!!!  No tutorial for this, but I just wanted to share my creation for Shark Week!  I used acrylic paint to paint the Jaws poster.  It was hard to paint on my short nails (especially the tiny girl swimming), but I like how it turned out.  I think we're going to need a bigger boat.

Jaws Nail Art

Morocco

Moroccan Nails

Round 2 of Nail It! Magazine's #tinicontest is inspired by Moroccan Architecture and Lauren Clay Artwork.  For my first entry, I chose a bunch of Bundle Monster stamping plates with designs close to that of Moroccan architecture.

August 13, 2014

Anchors Away

Nautical Nail Art

I've been wanting to do a nautical nail for a while, so I figured I better hurry up before summer is over.  I kept the look navy blue and white with a couple gold accents.

August 12, 2014

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast Nail Art

Belle is the third of four polishes in the Disney Fairytale Nail Polish set.  For this look, the tips of the nails are painted to look like Belle's gown.

August 11, 2014

McDonald's I'm Lovin' It

McDonald's Nail Art

McDonald's is probably my favorite fast food.  I usually only order one of three things: (1) the Big Mac Combo, (2) the 10-piece McNugget Combo, or (3) an Oreo McFlurry or Cone with Fries.  After painting the pizza nail for the Ninja Turtle mani, I was inspired to do another junk food related design.  The McDonald's fries are probably the most iconic and have that unmistakably delicious smell, so I decided to paint that as the feature nail.

August 10, 2014

Snow White

Snow White

Poisoned apple anyone?  Snow White is another polish in the Disney Fairytale Polish Set.  With a bright red polish, I had to do the infamous poisoned apple.

August 09, 2014

August 08, 2014

Heroes in a Half Shell

 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Nail Art

Turtle power!  Time for another movie mani :)  So if you couldn't tell by the post title, or you don't know who those turtles are in the picture above, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is in theaters today!  Initially, I was going to paint the turtles to look like they do in the current movie, but it wasn't turning out.  So I looked online, and found this design by Jessica Vero for the turtles, and then added a pizza nail for the thumb. 

August 07, 2014

News Update

Prize WinningsHi Everyone!  Today was an exciting day for me, so I thought I'd share the news.

First, the tutorial I wrote for Don't Be Koi, went up on the Nail It! Magazine website today.  I'm truly honored that they asked me to write anything for their website.  Many of their tutorials online have inspired me, so hopefully I can now inspire someone else.

Second, my Pineapple Paradise nails won the Sally Hansen "Calling All Nails" Sweepstakes run by Allure Magazine last month, and my prize arrived today!  A giant tote bag filled with 34 beauty products!  I can't wait to try everything.  A big THANK YOU to the Allure Promotions Team!

Geometric Glacier

Geometric Glacier

This is my second entry for Nail It! Magazine's #TiniContest Round 1 that I mentioned in Iridescent Egypt.  Last time I did an iridescent design, so this time I did something inspired by glaciers.  I chose a geometric cutout pattern with textured glitter and polish.

August 06, 2014

LeadLight Seahorse

LeadLight Seahorse

Today, I decided to try out the LeadLight technique.  This involves painting directly over a stamped nail with sheer or jelly polish, as opposed to the reverse stamping method which creates a decal as in Don't Be Koi.  I've been wanting to try this for a while, but I don't own any sheer/jelly polish.  But when sharing this tragic fact with a fellow nail artist, she pointed out that you can make your own sheer polish by mixing regular polish with clear top coat.  Boom!  I don't know why I didn't think of that before.

August 05, 2014

Be Brave

Divergent Nail Art

Be brave.  Dauntless is one of the five factions in the world of Divergent by Veronica Roth.  They are the soldiers, they wear all black, are tattooed and pierced, and they believe in courage, bravery, and fearlessness.  It's my favorite of the factions, so I created these nails in honor of them.

August 04, 2014

Tangled

Tangled Nail Art

Disney's Tangled, tells the story of Rapunzel.  As a previous chameleon owner myself, I really liked Pascal, so I decided to paint him for my Tangled-themed nails.  Plus, his green coloring is a good contrast to the purple polish.

August 03, 2014

Iridescent Egypt

Iridescent Egypt

Nail It! Magazine's #TiniContest Round 1 is based on a mood board featuring glaciers and iridescent fashion.  For iridescent, my first thought was a iridescent blue beetle like a scarab.  From that I decided to do an Egyptian theme using +Bundle Monster stamping plates.

August 02, 2014

Hulk Smash

Hulk Nail Art

Today is International Nail Art Day! #INAD  This called for something EPIC.  I give you, The Incredible Hulk!  I based the design off of some promo pics for The Incredible Hulk 2 movie.  I stuck with the green and black look, but added a purple stud to my pinky as a nod to the comic book version.
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