31DC2013 Day 30

I have been looking forward to this day since the beginning of this challenge!  A while back I bought some feathers from the Born Pretty Store and have been itching to try out a feather tutorial.  I choose to use The Nailasarus' Real Feather tutorial for a few reasons.  The Nailasarus is one of my favorite blogs, this is the first place I saw the feather technique, and its a great tutorial!  I followed this tutorial to a T, even the colors I used were similar.  I ordered 2 colors in the feathers; Red(AKA #2) and Brown(AKA #8)  I thought about using a maroon polish to make the red stand out in the feathers, but then decided the color might not show up that well.  I then chose to use Zoya Flynn for my base color.  I love Flynn, I had been wanting an awesome camel color for fall and this color is perfect.

As I said before, I followed the tutorial exactly.  The only surprising thing was that I had to use a TON of top coat to get a smooth look.  After the first top coat, I noticed the finish was a bit rough, so I applied another...then another...then another...it kept going.  I finally started taking the photos and noticed the finish was still rough.  I guess it is from the feathers?  So, I settled on quickly slapping on a top coat and snapping as many photos as possible before the finish got grainy again.  All said and done; I have no idea how many layers of top coat I have on...LOL

I am super excited that I finally got to try out this tutorial!  The Nailasarus made it easy to follow.  My only suggestion if you are planning trying this out would be to buy at least 2 packs of the feathers.  I only bought 1 and only had enough to do 5 nails.  Thank goodness thats all I needed!  I suppose you could get them from a craft store too...I will have to look into that.

31DC2013 Day 29

Its day 29 of the challenge and we only have 2 more themes to go!  Todays theme is Supernatural.  I immediately thought of a stamping plate I ordered from Llarowe.  The plate is made by Lealac and is labeled LLC6.  I tried searching the internet for more info on this plate, but cant seem to find anything on it..it was on sale when I got it from Llarowe and I am super glad I snagged it!  It has one full coverage image of planes and ufos.  My husband has his private pilots license, so thats why I got this plate.  It also has a little video game martian looking guy, a rocket, a planet, and stars.  I used the planes and ufos with the little martian guy for this theme today.

I painted my nails with Color Club Masquerading and stamped with Julep Dendrie.  On my middle finger I reversed the stamping colors.  I have never bought Color Club polishes, but own about 15 or so because they were gifted to me from family.  I must say I was super impressed with the Color Club I used today.  It was nice and opaque, it was easily a one coater polish.  I started out with a glossy finish, but didn't like how my lights reflections were making it hard to see the design.  So, I painted my handy dandy NYC Matte Me Crazy on.  With the matte finish, my nails photographed much better.  I liked how both finishes look, so I decided to share both!

American Heart Association Heart Walk

Happy Saturday everyone!  Today is technically day 28 of the 31 day challenge, but it is also the day of the American Heart Association Heart Walk for my town.  I was not feeling particularly excited about the flag theme today, but was however eager to paint my nails to match my t-shirt for the walk today.  I work at my county court house as a clerk, AKA the person you pay tickets and such to, and we participated in the Heart Walk this morning!  We had these hot pink t-shirts with vibrant lime green writing that said "Clerks With a ❤"  In the spirit of the event and shirts I decided to paint my nails like my shirt!  I painted them with Julep Lauren which almost exactly matched the t-shirt color, and then made adorable little hearts with a dotting tool using Lime Crime Pastelchio.  I absolutely love this mani, its simple but so adorable!

31DC2013 Day 27

Todays theme is artwork.  At first I browsed the internet for art, then finally narrowed my search down to modern art.  I wasn't really seeing anything I felt I could do homage to, then I saw a splatter painting and had a "light bulb" moment.  I've been wanting to try the splatter nail art out and it is artwork!  Just the other day I was looking at The Polishaholic's splatter tutorial and decided to give it a try today.  The splatter technique is great because your making a mess while making art!  Thats right up my ally!  I used 3 colors for this design and ran into a problem I can't seem to stop running into...my colors were all too similar.  However, that is why I choose them.  I love seeing colors from the same family together, but the camera does not.  If you stare hard enough you can see that there are 3 colors in use here...I used all China Glaze; For Audrey, Too Yacht to Handle, and Highlight of my Summer.  In person I can see the distinction between the colors pretty well, but the colors are too similar for the camera.  I think I need to make a sign above my nail polish storage that says "Put those colors back and choose more contrasting colors!"  LOL  Either way this splatter technique was very fun and I am excited to try it out again!

31DC2013 Day 26

Its day 26 and today is a pattern.  I decided for this theme I would like to do something really clean, seeing as how the last few days have been kind of eh to me.  I originally planned on doing a tape mani, but then as I was getting started remembered I have a whole entire book of stamping plates!  Yippie!  Clean and most of all EASY!  LOL  I painted my nails with Orly Luxe as a base and then stamped Maybelline Urban Utopia on using BM315.  I wanted to use Maybelline Fuchsia River and Urban Utopia blended together for the stamping and tried it out on my thumb only to run into the same problem I usually run into.  The colors did not pop enough.  Fuchsia River was definitely too light to use, but I liked the way Urban Utopia looked.  Now, if you haven't seen it, Urban Utopia is actually this great Teal.  I found it just yesterday, I realized I didn't have a great creme teal and saw this baby and fell in love.  I saw that it says its a limited edition though, sooo Im thinking I have to buy another!  When the Urban Utopia is stamped on the gold it almost looks like a light green jade color rather than a strong teal, but I like it!

31DC2013 Day 25

Hello all!  Originally I was writing this post before I left for work this morning, but realized I just didn't have enough time.  Then I said I would do it when I got home.  Well...you know how life goes, last night my husband's phone fell off its clip in the pouring rain and got fried.  We had to go to the phone store after I got home to get a new phone.  Now its 9:30 and I am finishing this post with wet nails for tomorrow!  Thats how it goes! ;)

Todays theme is inspired by fashion.  I was super excited for this challenge, I went searching for some inspiration and found it tough to get inspired by anything!  Uh-oh...I looked at tons of photos from this years fashion shows and found a lot of the clothes to be lacking in any graphic action.  I was looking for something that had a print, but found it hard to find.  May be I didnt find the right websites?  Either way, I did finally come across one designer whose clothes I felt I could mimick. Vivienne Tam is the designer I stumbled upon.  Her designs are very geometric which is what I was looking for.  I attempted to recreate one of the looks on my thumb, but it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.  So, on the rest of my nails I just free handed it.  My co-workers who have been keeping up on my daily nails seemed to like them, so thats good!  I used Zoya Purity, Zoya Jacqueline, OPI MonSooner or Later, and China Glaze Liquid Leather.  I used Zoya Jacqueline as my base, and have to be honest when I went to use it I was not too excited.  I have used this polish a number of times recently and each time have had difficulty with the application and coverage of this polish.  I just don't like the finish, it seems rough.  I think I need a new nude.  This challenge has definitely helped me realize that there are a number of colors I do not own or need more varieties of!

31DC2013 Day 23

Let me say this theme did not go as visioned.  It is eh.  Todays theme is inspired by a movie.  I had no clue what I was going to do for this challenge, and then the other day I was in Walgreens and saw these awesome looking nail art kits from Kiss.  They are 4 kits themed after Disney villains.  I had to have one, I was most attracted to the Maleficent kit, despite the fact that Sleeping Beauty is one of my least favorite Disney movies.  I should have taken that as a clue.  I ignored it and said I am going to do Sleeping Beauty as my movie for inspiration.

When it comes to creative freedom I am not that great, so I sat staring at this kit for quite some time, and finally decided to just start playing.  The photos below are what I came up with.  I used Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet, China Glaze Creative Fantasy, China Glaze Liquid Leather, and Zoya Purity.  There are some nails I like, actually I am fine with all but my middle finger.  That one is a wreck.  The black blob on it is a sticker of Diablo, Maleficent's raven.  I know his name because I just looked it up...hehe.  Then there are the awful over sized rhinestones.   That finger is a mess.  I considered not even sharing this post, but would rather put up something than nothing at all.  It can only get better right?!?!?

31DC2013 Day 22

Today's theme is inspired by a song.  I knew immediately what song I would choose.  I picked The River by Imagine Dragons.  Its my favorite song on their album.  This song has a lot of meaning for me, the last few years have been a little rough with jobs and such.  To me this song is encouraging you to keep going, hold your head up, and realize that things are not as bad as they seem.

Its pretty obvious what I would do with my nails for today seeing as how the name of the song is The River.  I choose to paint a river!  I also painted my nails dark to light to symbolize moving from a dark place in your life to a brighter place.  The colors I used on each nail are; Zoya Claudine, Julep Lisa, Zoya Jules, and Zoya Jacqueline.  For the river I used acrylic paint.  I am enjoying using the acrylic, its much easier to paint with and super easy to erase if you mess up!  I did notice there were some definate problems with the polish on my index finger...the polish applied horribly and then the top coat created tiny little bubbles.  Im thinking it is time to look for a different top coat, I still have not found "the one."

31DC2013 Day 21

Hello everyone!  Today starts the last 11 days of the challenge, AKA the part I am most fearing!!!  All of these "Inspired By" challenges are going to be hard, but I am excited to push my skills.  Today is inspired by a color.  Just like everyone else, I have been racking my brain trying to think of what to do for this challenge.  Inspired by a color?  Gosh, there are so many... After some research I decided to take a cue from Chalkboard Nails and More Nail Polish  and go with inspired by the name of a polish color!

A while back I saw a polish by KBShimmer called Band Geek and fell in love.  I myself was in band and played Flute, however I do not consider myself a band "geek"  LOL  I was very lucky to go to a high school that is known around the country for its freaking awesome marching band.  I went to Choctawhatchee High School home of the Style Marchers!  After my little bit of bragging, you can imagine I fell in love with this polish and had to have it.  I decided to use it today for my inspiration.

Band Geek is a black jelly base with lots of different size glitters in silver, gold, and bronze to represent all the musical instruments.  I painted Band Geek on my middle and ring finger over a black base, and then on my index and pinky I painted a clef note and music notes.  The silver I used is NYC Tribeca Silver.  This mani marks a first for me, my first time using acrylic paint!  The clef note and music notes are acrylic.  I practiced the clef note many times before the real deal, and it looked good during practice.  Then...I painted it on my nail and the bottom part became all one blob, but it's okay I think it still looks good!  

31DC2013 Day 20

Eek!  Its day 20, as we get further and further into the challenge I keep thinking how truly surprised I am that I am sticking with this.  I never have tackled a long challenge because I always thought I would fall, but here we are on day 20, my head is held high and my nails are painted!  Today is water marble and I was looking forward to this day.  I have done water marbling a number of times before and consider myself to be pretty comfortable with it.  In the past I have always done the standard; drop alternating colors, swirl, dunk, repeat.  This time I wanted to try to make a specific pattern.  I love when others do lines with their water marble and wanted to try it out.  After trying out a few different colors and brands I finally ended up with China Glaze for both colors, this brand is truly the best for water marbling in my eyes.  The colors I used are both from last year's Hunger Games collection.  I love the Hunger Games books and had to have the whole collection!  I used Dress Me Up and Foie Gras.  I started with painting my nails with Dress Me Up as a base and once that dried I put about 6-8 drops of Dress Me Up followed by 2-3 drops of Foie Gras into a cup of water.  I then proceeded to make my stripes, I didn't quite like the way they were looking so I started dragging my toothpick across the lines I had just created and came up with a cool looking chevron pattern.  I then choose which one to use and dunked!  My thumb was the last one and I decided since it probably wouldn't be in the photos I would try something different with it.  I ended up creating a really cool looking flower, and I like it a lot!  Water marbling is probably one of my favorite nail art techniques, I am pretty good at it and it is always so interesting looking!

31DC2013 Day 19

I got onto my blogger dashboard to write my post this morning and saw that I have a new follower!  Yay!  Welcome!  :)  Of all the themes for this 31 day challenge, galaxy nails were probably one of the most intimidating themes.  I have always loved galaxy nails but have been a bit intimidated by them, they looked so complicated.  Thanks to this challenge I can say I am no longer afraid of the galaxy nails!  I checked out multiple tutorials, grabbed like 20 polishes, narrowed it down to 6 and got to painting.  I didn't necessarily use any one specific tutorial for this, if anything I used Chalkboard Nails post on galaxy nails for a guide.  Here are the colors I used; China Glaze Liquid Leather, Sinful Colors My Buoyfriend, Sally Hansen Jaded, Sinful Colors Tempest, Julep Lauren, Essie Stylenomics, and Stila Icicle, and Zoya Purity.  I used what seems like the pretty standard method; I painted my nails black, tore up some makeup sponges, and got to dabbing on one polish after another.  I used Chalkboard Nails tip of applying a glittery polish in the dark spots to imitate stars, and also added some white stars too.  I honestly did not have much faith in this mani, I am not naturally artsy and don't quite get the whole "adding depth" to the sponging.  So, I just kinda dabbed here and dabbed there until I felt like it was good enough.  It wasn't until I added the glitter and white stars that I actually started to like the finished product.  I look down at my nails now and am truly surprised, they actually look like galaxy nails!  If it wasn't for this challenge, I don't know that I would have tried them anytime soon.  Im sure glad I did, and cant wait to do it again!

31DC2013 Day 18

Hello everyone!  Todays theme is half moon and I am using more texture polishes.  Except this time I am using the mother of texture polishes, Zoya Pixie Dust!!!!  I am in love these polishes, they are so awesome.  I used Liberty and Carter for my half moons today.  This was my first time using the Pixie Dust polishes and I currently only own 3 total, but will definitely be ordering more.  I'm trying to think of more to say in my post, but the polishes are so great that I will just let them speak for themselves.

31DC2013 Day 17

Today is glitter and I had a polish I had been wanting to try for a while now.  Normally I am not overly attracted to any of the Nicole by OPI colors, but about a month or two ago I was browsing my local CVS and saw one jump out at me.  My Cherry Amour, it is this beautiful red/maroon color with tons of glitter in it.  It is a texture polish from their Gumdrops collection.  Photographing this polish proved to be a bit tricky, it is my first texture polish to photograph.  The camera did not pick up on the glitter in the texture finish as well.  I searched Google images before writing this post for other swatches of this color and see that the glitter seems to be a generally tough to capture.  I was eager to add a clear top coat and was instantly in love with how sparkly it is!