Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 28: Art Nouveau

Hello polish lovers!

It's the last day!  I made it...with a few late posts in there, but posting every day very difficult when I don't have a set schedule at work and with this cold I am still trying to get over.  So some days were better than others.

For the Art Nouveau prompt I began with 2 coats of SOPI Chestnuts About You! a gorgeous copper-y rose gold metallic.

Once this was dry I added my stamp, one of my favourites from Messy Mansion, William Morris and Friends plate MM16.  I love how intricate the images on this plate are, they are very indicative of the Art Nouveau style, with flowing organic forms.  I chose the grape vine image(its my favourite).

I used Konad Black to stamp with and I love how crisp the image turned out.  I have used this image a number of times before and I keep going back to it.

That is all for today and the end of Gnarly Nails Nail Art A-Go-Go Challenge.  I will go back to my regular mix of reviews and nail art on Sunday.  There are also a few polish comparisons that I want to do as well.  As well as posting about a few Awards that I have been nominated for that I have never gotten around to creating posts for.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 27: Pointillism

Hello polish lovers!

Last post of the night, and the shortest, because I am tired and fighting a bad headache.

For the Pointillism prompt I decided, of course, to use my dotting tools.  I did not want to do anything representative, and so went to the basics and did overlapping dots.

I started with a base of 2 coats of Barry M Papaya(can you tell I want summer to come already?).

I then used a small dotting tool and SHID Lightening to dot all over my nails.

I repeated with SHID Lickety-Split Lime leaving an area bare.

And again with SHID Mint Sprint, moving out slightly again.

And lastly with Barielle Shades Girls Night Out, moving out again.

I then topped with SV(because I learned my lesson last time).

That is all for today(finally).

I will be back tomorrow with my final installment of this challenge, Art Nouveau.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 26: Graffiti

Hello polish lovers!

I am back with my next challenge mani, Graffiti.

When I thought about this prompt I immediately thought of the type of graffiti that was shown in the documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, as apposed to tagging and spray painting.  When I watched that documentary I immediately fell in love with the work of a street artist using the name Space Invader.  Most of Space Invader's work is tile work depicting classic 8-bit arcade game characters, like the space invaders, Pac-Man, the Pac-Man ghosts, and others.  I knew I would not be able to recreate the 8-bit look with polish(although small square studs would have worked, Ah hindsight, always 20/20), so I attempted to capture more the feeling of his work.

I started with a base of 2 coats OPI Lost on Lombard, a brick red crelly.  I only have the mini's from this collection, San Francisco Fall 2013.

Once this was dry I got out BM422 for the brick pattern and Kleancolor Black(I did not use Konad because I wanted the stamp to look more like a shadow and so did not want the lines too opaque).  I then started in with my dotting tool a small striping brush and the following colours:  SHID(Sally Hansen Insta-Dri) Blue-Away, Cobalt Blue, Kleancolor Black, Grass Green, Sinful Colors Snow Me White and Barry M Blood Orange and Key Lime.

Unfortunately I did not use SV but my Nubar Top Coat and did not wait quite long enough for the polish to dry to stop it from smudging.

That is all for this post but I will be back soon with Pointillism.  The last post for today.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 25: Watercolours

Hello polish lovers!

Today I have 3 posts for you...then I will be caught up with the Challenge...just in time for it to end.  That's right, tomorrow is the last day of the current challenge so let us begin.

I will start off by saying I made 4 attempts to finish this mani in time for it to be posted on the correct day, the first looked horrible...not even a fail but just ugly.  The second was going ok until I attempted to clean up and destroyed it with an inopportune sneeze.  The third was my fault as I was now frustrated and did not wait long enough before attempting my gradient and ended up removing most of my base coat.  The fourth is the one I will show you, still not 100% happy but at least it is not a fail.

I will not show you the base alone, I have shown it before, Sinful Colors Snow Me White.  Actually one of my favourite whites as it is almost opaque in 1 coat.  I use 2 to ensure no streaks.

Once this was dry(this time) I got out my trusty sponge and some Barry M polishes: Papaya, Grapefruit and Turquoise, and created a gradient.

I was attempting to recreate the look of one of the first techniques they teach you when you are learning how to paint with watercolors and that is to keep a pool of colour on you page and slowly add another colour to create a slow transition.  I have to say, using a sponge is easier(as long as you wait long enough).

Photo taken with flash

Once this was dry I used OPI Matte Top Coat to make it look more like paint and less like polish.  I used white as a base instead of Papaya because I wanted the colour to look slightly translucent, as true watercolor does.  This is also why I used mostly Barry M Gelly's, although Turquoise is not a jelly and it was the most translucent(and also the most difficult to work with).

That is all for this post but I will be back shortly with Graffiti and Pointillism.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 24: Abstract

Hello polish lovers!  Long time no post;p

Today's prompt was Abstact, and I used this as an excuse to do one of my favourite types of nail art, gradients.  I worn you, I decided to include a pic of what this gradient looked like before clean up!  So messy!  This was inspired by 2 of my favourite Abstract artists, Rothko(who did colour fields), and Bridget Riley(who did, I want to call it, optical illusion paintings).

I created a gradient using all OPI colours, Greenwich Village, Jade is the New Black and Ski Teal We Drop....here comes the mess...

I used a new type of makeup sponge for this, I usually use the really cheap Walmart ones but I bought these on clearance at Winners and they have a much finer texture and create a smoother gradient.  I use a Q-Tip and acetone to do the big clean and then finish with a small brush and more acetone.

Once this was coated in Seche Vite and completely dry I got out my MoYou London Sailor Collection 06 plate and Essie No Place Like Chrome to do some stamping.

I almost like it more before I did the stamping...I need to learn that sometimes less is more...only very occasionally, but this appears to be one of them.

That is all for today but I will be back tomorrow with the next prompt of Watercolour.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 23: Oils

Hello polish lovers!

Its another double up day, I have recently come down with a cold and it is just not making me want to do nail art much....mostly because it is impossible to blow your nose with wet polish.

Anyway, yesterdays prompt was Oils, difficult to do with polish since polish has a lot of the opposite characteristics of oil paint.  Most difficult is the differences in drying times and the difficulty to create brushstrokes.  So for my interpretation I did not want to deal with brushstrokes and used, instead, Jackson Pollack as my inspiration.

I started with a base of 2 coats Sinful Colors Snow Me White.

Once this was dry I got out a variety of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes, (Lightening, Rapid Red, Cobalt Blue) a new Kleancolor, Grass Green, and my Konad Black.  I decided to stamp for this and used BM416 making sure to stamp each colour in a different direction so that the overlap was random.

I quite like this effect, this is the first time I have stamped over a stamp multiple times.  I like that each nail is random and the colours almost appear to be fighting.

That is all for this prompt, but I will be back in a few with today's prompt of Abstract.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go. Day 22: Surrealism

Hello polish lovers!

Today's prompt in the challenge is Surrealism, and I have fallen in love with these nails.  I was originally going to do Dali's The Persistence of Memory but I remembered a painting that I fell in love with in Art History, I loved how graphic it was.

Source

This is Rene Magritte's Son of Man.

And here is mine.  My base colour is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Blue Away.  I used Sinful Colours Snow Me White and Color Club Silver Lake and a Q-Tip for the clouds.  The Son of Man itself is Nubar Midnight Matte for the suit and bowler hat, OPI My Vampire is Buff for his face, Snow Me White for his shirt, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Rapid Red for his tie, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lickety Split Lime for the apple.  The shadows are Midnight Matte added to the original colour, and the highlight is Snow Me White added to the original colour.

Matte

I ended up liking this so much I did clouds on my other hand and wearing it all day yesterday and today.

That is all for today, but I will be back tomorrow with the next prompt of Oils.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 21: Snow Day

Hello polish lovers!

So the prompt from yesterday was Snow Day and I was immediately transported to my childhood where my mother would have a stock of 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles in the cabinet for just the occasion.  When the weather was really bad(and in Ontario in winter the weather is frequently bad) if the schools were closed we used to spend the day doing puzzles.

I started with 2 coats of Color Club Silver Lake, a light toned grey with slight brown undertone, opaque and non streaky in 2 coats.

When the base was dry I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Rapid Red and MASH plate 43 and then stamped over my accent nail with BM319 and Konad Special Black Stamping Polish.

Unfortunately I did not wait quite long enough before top coating so a few fingers have some slight drag marks.

I will be back in a few with today's prompt of Surrealism.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 20: Pop Culture

Hello polish lovers!

I know this is late but you are going to be getting 3 posts tonight so I am caught up for the new week.

Thursday's prompt was Pop Culture and I immediately thought about Pop Art, which is an art movement that was heavily influenced by Pop Culture.  So for my mani I decided to go for comic book nails.

I started with 2 coats of China Glaze Electric Pineapple, a bright chartreuse yellow.  Once this dried I got out my stamping plates and Barry M Greenberry.

My thumb and pinkie are from MoYou London Pro Collection 07 and the rest of my nails are from a MASH set, I don't know why MASH has their lettering on their plates backwards, you end up with them backwards on your nails as well which looks weird.

Anyway that is all for this post but I will be back as soon as I edit the rest of my pics for the next 2 prompts.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 19: Game Night

Hello polish lovers!

Today I have my Game Night nails for you.  So in my house game night is either Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit.  Since we played both of those games on Family Day, they were particularly fresh in my mind.

I chose Trivial Pursuit nails for this prompt.

I chose China Glaze First Mate for my main colour, since it is similar to the background of the game board, and a 1 coater, and I am still in love with it.  My ring finger is 3 coats of China Glaze Oxygen a cream jelly formula.

Once this was dry I added striping tape to create my pie piece shapes and used OPI Pink Friday, Barry M Turquoise, OPI Need Sunglasses?, Orly Prince Charming, Barielle Shades Central Park and Color Club Wham! Pow! to fill in the different categories of questions.  I went with the original colours as apposed to the new ones, the have replaced brown with purple now.

That is all for today but I will be back tomorrow with my Pop Culture nails.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 18: Sci-Fi

Hello polish lovers!

Time for my Sci-Fi nails.  For this prompt I decided to go way back and chose my first fan-dom.  I always loved the Star Wars movies...when I was little it was mostly because of the Ewoks...this was only increased when they came out with the 2 Ewok movies, Battle for Endor and Caravan of Courage and finally with the Ewok cartoon.  So I decided to do Wicket, my favourite Ewok, and the trees of Endor.

On my accent nail I began with 2 coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, and on my other nails its 2 coats of China Glaze The Grass is Lime Greener.  For Wicket I used Color Club Wham! Pow!, Butter London Tea & Toast, Orly Prince Charming and black and white stipers.

The trees are A England Dragon and BM407.

Of course I had to matte it.

Anyway that is all for today but I will be back tomorrow with my Game Night nails.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 17: Animation

Hello polish lovers!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday but it was Family Day here in Canada(Ontario to be exact) and we all spent the day together.

So yesterday's prompt was Animation and I took the opportunity to try out some nails that I have been wanting to do since last summer....Adventure Time nails!

They definitely did not turn out the way I wanted them to but I don't think they were that bad for a first attempt.  They all started of a base of OPI Alpine SNow.

I think LSP turned out the best but I will list the polishes that I used here for you:
LSP-OPI A Grape Fit!, and Need Sunglasses with a black striper.
Finn-OPI My Vampire is Buff and a black striper.
Jake-OPI The "IT" Color and black and white stripers.
Princess Bubblegum-Color Club Flamingo, China Glaze In a Lily Bit and the Grass is Lime Greener, OPI Need Sunglasses and a black striper.

That is all for now but I will be right back with my Sci-Fi nails.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 16: Doodles

Hello polish lovers!

Today I have my Doodle mani.  I decided to recreate the design that I used to put in all my notebooks when I was bored in High School.

I started with 1 coat of China Glaze First Mate.  This is a new polish for me and I am kind of obsessed.

Sorry about the size of the watermark, I pushed the wrong button.

First Mate is the perfect navy blue, blue in all lights, it is not like some navy's where you have to be in certain lights or it looks black.

Once this was dry I used a small dotting tool and China Glaze At Vase Value and began creating my doodles.

In case you hadn't noticed I have been using the new polishes I got quite a bit recently, but they are so spring like and I am so ready for winter to be over.

That is all for today, but I will be back tomorrow with my Animation mani.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 15: Round and Square

Hello polish lovers!

Today I have my mani for the Round and Square prompt.  I used this as an opportunity to try out 4 of the new China Glaze Spring Collection, City Flourish.  I missed out on most of the Avant Garden collection from last spring( I have Mimosas Before Manis, Budding Romance and Keep Calm, Paint On) so I was excited when I was able to pick up a couple when Sally's was having their 2 day sale last week.

My pinkie is In a Lily bit, a light pink based lavender creme, opaque in 2 coats.  My ring finger is At Vase Value, a light and bright blue creme, opaque in 2 coats.  My middle is What a Pansy, a deep blue based purple creme, opaque in 2 coats.  My index is Grass is Lime Greener, a bright almost neon green pastel creme, streaky and requires 3 coats to be opaque(yet still my favourite colour of the collection).

Once this was dry I got out my Pueen Sumptuous stamping plates and found many images that would work for the prompt...so I did a different image on each finger nail.

The images in order from left to right are: 02, 16, 13, and 20.  They are all stamped using Konad White.  I think my favourite is my ring finger, I love that blue.

That is all for today, but I will be back tomorrow with my Doodles nails.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 14: Sweets

Hello polish lovers!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Today marks the half way point in this challenge, Yay!

Today's prompt is Sweets, very appropriate for the date.  So I decided to create Valentine Message nails.

Dreaded thumb shot.  So from pinkie down through the nails the colours used are: Barielle Shades Joytini, LimeCrime Once in a Blue Mousse, Orly Mint Mojito, OPI Pink Friday, and LimeCrime Crema de Lemon.  This is 2 coats of each polish except for Joytini, which needed 3.

Once this dried, I again reached for the Revlon Parfumarie in Bordeaux(so good for Valentine's stamping) and BM425 for my text.

Even though these are pretty simple, I received numerous compliments on these nails while I was at work.  Sometimes simple is good.

That is all for today but I will be back tomorrow with my next prompt, Round and Square.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 13: Hearts

Hello polish lovers!

Today, the day before Valentine, our prompt calls for Hearts.  Tres Appropriate!

I began with 2 coats of OPI Pink Friday, a lovely light blue toned pink.

Once this was dry I got out my stamping plates and Revlon Perfumerie in Bordeaux(stamps awesomely).  I used a different image on each finger from Pueen 29 and 41, with an accent in Wet n'Wild Ebony Hates Chris(should have used Konad to make it more opaque).

I think my favourite image is the overlapping hearts, they are just so cute.

Anyway, that is all for today but I will be back tomorrow with my Sweets nails for a special Valentine's Day mani.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 12: Camouflage

Hello polish lovers!

I am back with my Camouflage nails for today's prompt.  Since I am a Canadian girl and it is winter, I decided to to snow camo.

I started with 2 coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls,  a perfect dirty white.

Once this was dry I got out my medium and small dotting tools and got to work.  The lightest gray is Barielle Shades U-Concrete me mixed with My Boyfriend Scales Walls to make a lighter shade, the next gray is Color Club Shabby Drab and the black is OPI Black Onyx(the black is done using the smaller dotting tool.

I really enjoyed these and will definitely have to do them again.  Of course I had to try matting them and I love that too.

That is all for today, but I will be back tomorrow with my Hearts mani.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 11: Wallpaper

Hello polish lovers!

Sorry, ended up not posting yesterday so double post today!

Yesterday's prompt was Wallpaper and I really liked the design I came up with.

I started with 1 coat of A England Galahad.  Photo is not quite colour accurate, but as best I could do during editing, its one of those colours my camera can't handle.

Once this was dry I added stamping with A England Saint George and MoYou London Pro Collection 07.

I LOVE this!  Once it started to chip I took it off and immediately put it back on again.  The waviness reminds me of Bridget Riley inspired wallpaper.

That is all for now, but I will be back soon.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 10: Night Sky

Hello polish lovers!

Here is my Night Sky mani...

I started with 2 coats of Zoya Storm.  I only have a few Zoya polishes but this is one of my absolute favourites.  It is a black crelly with scattered holographic particles and is totally opaque in 2 coats.

Photo taken with flash so you could see how colourful the holographic is.

Once this was dry I took my smallest dotting tool and trusty Google and began to create 2 of my favourite constellations as double accents.  I chose Orion(the archer) and Ursa Minor(the little dipper).

I really liked the simplicity of this mani, but I also felt it was an interesting variation on Night Sky.

Anyway, that's all for today.

I will be back tomorrow with my Wallpaper nails.

Until then, polish happy!

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 9: Inner Geek...Doctor Who!

Hello polish lovers!

I took today's prompt to mean what makes you geek out or what do you fangirl about, and for me, that's Doctor Who.  I love Doctor Who, although I have to say I took a break when Tennant regenerated into Smith, but Smith won me over, and has since become my favourite Doctor, although Tennant is still the prettiest.  Although I have seen Doctor Who enemy nails in the past, I only looked at Google images of photos of the actual villains for these nails and any similarity is not intentional.

So for today's prompt I decided to go with some of my favourite Doctor Who villains... because we wouldn't need a Doctor if there were no villains around.  All nails have a base of 1 coat of OPI Black Onyx.

On my pinkie nail I have done an Adipose...probably the cutest problem the Doctor has ever had to face(and it reminds me of the Tribels from the Star Trek universe).  Who's a cute little fat alien(literally)?  An Adipose is.  I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and a black striper to create.

On my ring nail I have a Dalek, the Doctor's worst enemy...the destroyer of Gallifrey.  I used Nubar Sunset Matte, Essie Go
od as Gold and a black striper to create.

My middle nail is a Cyberman, a machine with a human brain...but lacking humanity.  I used Essie No Place Like Chrome and a black striper to create.

And on my index nail I have The Silence...originally confessors created by the Papal Mainframe, a splinter cell tries to kill the doctor on more than one occasion, no one remembers them once they are no longer in site, but definitely one of the creepiest enemies....along with the Weeping Angels.  I used Barry M Lychee, a black striper, and Color Club Silver Lake with a detail brush to create.

I, of course, had to Matte this(because I have a problem).  I wonder how many other participants chose Doctor Who for their Inner Geek nails.

That is all for now, but I will be back tomorrow with my Night Sky nails.

Until then, polish happy!

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 8: Still Life

Hello polish lovers!

I told you I would be back!  So lets get started...I began with 2 coats of China Glaze Lemon Fizz, a soft butter-cream yellow(I have a few by different brands that look to be similar colours if anyone would like a comparison).

Once this was dry I got out my trusting dotting tools and a detail brush and got started.

The vase is Color Club Pucci-licious, the stripe is Color Club Silver Lake, the leaves are Orly Mint Mojito(light green) and OPI Jade is the New Black(dark green) and the roses are Barielle Shades Euphoric(lighter raspberry) and OPI Visions of Love.

I was kind of going for a Van Gogh look for the vase of flowers but its hard to make nail polish look like brushstroke-y oil paint.  I really love how the full roses look, better than the buds in the vase.  The last time I did roses I used a small dotting tool and dabbed in C's while this time I put a dot of the dark colour in the center of the wet polish and used my thinnest dotting tool to swirl the two colours around.

The roses are my favourite freehand that I have done recently, and I cannot wait to show you my mani for Camoflage...but that is later in the week.

I will be back tomorrow with my Inner Geek nails...I will give you a hint...EXTERMINATE!!!

Until then, polish happy!

Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 7: Primary

Hello polish lovers!

I know I didn't post yesterday but I was just feeling like being lazy, so I edited the photos but didn't post.  So this is going to be short and sweet since I will be posting again soon.

Today's prompt was Primary, and that is exactly what I did.  I started by painting one third of my nails Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lightening, the middle third Formula X Omni, and the final third Formula X Flashy.  They are all bright primary colours, and this reminds me of a child beach ball.

For my stamping I used Essie No Place Like Chrome and the crown image from the MM05 plate.

I didn't realize until I was editing the photos that I stamped this upside down but I kind of like it that way.  This mani reminds me of a Renaissance Fair with a jousting match.

That is all for now but I will be back with my Still Life mani soon.

Until then, polish happy!