Born Pretty Stamping Plate #BP17

Hello peeps! Life has been crazy for me -- my kids went back to school, I graduated from my Esthetics program and have started the Nail Tech program, my husband started a new job -- it's been a whirlwind! I am quite excited to have started the Nail Tech program. I am two weeks in, and I am having a blast! It's great to do what I love all day long :) Did you know that in the early 20th century, people would keep their broken nail tips and donate them to a nail bank for nail techs to use as needed?!? Crazy.
Anyway, I have to keep my nails short for my Esthetics state board exam in a little over a week, so I'm rocking the nubs. Today's mani base is Floss Gloss "Dinge." I used Funky Fingers "Dark Knight" to stamp the image from Born Pretty plate #BP17 on my nails (and my toes too, but I will spare you the feet!)

Simple yet elegant - I like it! Have you used the Born Pretty plates yet?

Gelibility + Crushed Shell Nail Art

Today I did my first and last crushed shell nail art mani!

I have had a package of little bottles, containing plastic crushed shell/iridescent looking stuff - I am really not technically certain what this material is called - sitting, untouched, unloved. No time like the present! - only thing is, I am not really 100% certain what I am supposed to do with this stuff. It's experiment time! Here's my tools:

I started out by using Gelibility to turn my China Glaze "Travel in Color" into a sheer base coat. I elected to use the Gelibility in hopes that the added thickness of the gel will sandwich in the little glittery pieces. After two coats of polish, I used my dotting tool to place the shell/glitter/whatever this substance is onto my nails. It took two more layers of Gelibility to really seal in the shards, and even with that I can still feel some of the material when I brush my fingers against my nails. I added a little gold shell and a pearl as an accent, and that was it!

I felt like this mani was more time consuming than it was worth. I still don 't even know if I used this stuff correctly (or should I say for the reason it was intended). Have you ever used this stuff? I would love to hear other people's experiences with this --- what is this stuff called?!? (for the record, the packaging said nothing.)

Celebrating Spring

Even though it feels like we jumped straight into summer, spring is in full swing here -- the lilacs and wisteria are blooming, the birds are mobbing the bird feeder, and my kid screams when I try to get her to go back inside. In honor of the season, I wanted to do something "flowery." I found the cutest houndstooth/floral design on Pinterest by Fall In NaiLove  (-you can see my inspiration here).

I used NOPI "Always a Silver Lining" as my base, and stamped on Funky Fingers "Gesso" with Bundle Monster plate #BM322. I used two pinks from The New Black pink ombre collection along with "Gesso" to paint the flowers, and then used acrylic paint in black and green for the leaves and to give the design definition. Acrylic is definitely easier to work with on more intricate lines.

I definitely feel inspired most by spring. What is your favorite season?

More Nails Mag Recreations

Even though you can get almost any publication online, there is something that excites me about opening the mailbox and finding Nails Magazine. Here are recreations of some of my favorites from the May 2015 issue:

Working left to right: nails 1, 2, and 4 were pictured in the Hawaii Collection by OPI advertisement. #2 actually have a step-by-step tutorial in the OPI insert within the mag. #3 is another step-by-step demo from Biosculpture gel (I used regular polish) on page 56. My last nail is a Neon Tribal Nail Art tutorial that was contributed by Mia Rubie (@superflynails). I love this design because it looks a bit complicated, but it's actually a lot easier than you might think.

Again, I am not going to clutter up this post with a listing of all the polishes I used, but if you are curious, please ask and I will be happy to answer! :)

Purple Flowers

Today's mani is inspired by this post by So Nailicious.

I used two of the purples from The New Black's "Haze" Ombre Set on this design. The negative space stripes were done using nail striping tape, and I used the watercolor technique for the flowers. I had originally placed three small white dots in the middle of the flowers, but I didn't really like how they looked, so I used the watercolor technique again to blend them into the purple and added tiny black dots. This design wasn't too difficult, and I have been getting tons of compliments all day :)

*Nails are pictured with my new awesome Pitcher Plant!

Cold Nails

I created this set of nails to give to a special lady I know. She has been through some major ups and downs in life, but her attitude is always stellar. She is one of those people that make the world a better place.  I wanted to do something just to say thank you for being an inspiration. Her favorite band is Cold – I know she is a hard core fan – so when I began to think of what I could do for her, something from me and from my heart, I decided on making a set of Cold-themed nails. I had to do some research, because I admittedly know nothing about the band. I decided to incorporate their logo and the trademark spider (I didn’t *f* up the L’s in the logo, that is how it’s supposed to be!).

I chose a black, white and silver color scheme, using Essie “Blanc,” Zoya “Imogen,” Wet N Wild “Lights Out” and a no-name silver bottle of Icing polish. The spider stamp is from Shany plate #SH09. The lettering is from fauxnad plates #m17 and #m18, and the lightning print is from Bundle Monster #BM305.  This was my first time using the nail art chains, and it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I used the chain, a small jump ring, and a rhinestone to make (what I think is) a kickass little necklace.  It took about 15 hours to make these – a few of the nails, I scrapped and started over again.

Even if she never wears them, I hope that when she looks at them, she remembers what a blessing she is.

Vivid Lacquer Stamping Plate VL027

I am an avid animal lover. I have been involved with animal welfare in some form since I was 15 years old, and haven't stopped. When I saw this post by Betty's Beauty Bombs, I knew I had to have that plate.

I watched Etsy like a hawk, waiting (somewhat) patiently for it to come back in stock. And NOW IT'S HERE BABY! 

I used China Glaze "X-Ta-Sea" for my base, and stamped my images with Salon Express Black and White stamping polish. I did my right hand in cat images, and my left with the dogs. I was super impressed with the quality of the words (I <3 my cat, etc) - I was really doubting they would stamp well, as I haven't had much luck in the past with such delicate designs. This stamp will definitely get a lot of use.  Now if I can just find some stamps with ratties and chinchillas on it, and maybe a bearded dragon, I will be set.  :P

Born Pretty #BP-24

I am very pleased with the new Born Pretty Store plates! For this mani, I used plate #BP-24.  I really loved the rambling flower pattern on the plate, but I was a little worried how the finer lines would pick up - but they were clean and crisp! I did a little happy butt jiggle in my seat :) I used Zoya's "Odette," "Paloma" and "Charity" to create a dry water marble on the first and ring fingers, and the remaining digits are each in one of the three shades (Pinky is "Charity," middle finger is "Odette." etc). I have a little bit of tipwear going on, but I also did a lot of cleaning :/ My bad.

Don't forget that you can use code TTHEX31 to get 10% off a Born Pretty Store purchase!

NYE Nails - C-Ya 2014!

So I am a week late with posting this mani, but better late then never, right?!?  I was so exhausted from our Christmas trip that NYE consisted of sitting on the couch with my kids, trying to stay awake until Midnight. Wild and crazy times! My nails definitely had a better time than I did.
 My base polish is Essie's "Over the Edge," which has been described as a "metallic midnight silver." It's an almost-black-but-not-really with just a hint of shimmer. I used Bundle Monster's plate #BM-H14 to stamp the fireworks in white, and then lead-lighted the colors in. The cityscape is from another Bundle Monster plate, this one is #BM-414. I pulled the music notes from a Pueen plate (#PUEEN47), and the cute little cocktail glasses are from Gals Cosmetics (#GA9).

Trees and Balls - oh what fun!

My little tornado has been ill, so I needed a quick and easy mani for my son's holiday band concert. Since my pinky patch did not survive, I felt it best to have a pity party and then cut down all my nails :(

For the base I used Funky Fingers "Mrs Mint" and Funky Fingers (the tag fell off so I have no idea what the name is!) green on the ring finger. I used my dotting tools along with Kleancolor "Red," Kleancolor "White" and Funky Fingers green-with-no-name to create the dotted look. For the trees, I created little triangles with striping tape, and added more tape diagonally and horizontally to get the criss-crossed look. One coat of "Mrs Mint" and a dot of white on the top, and voila! Easy cute holiday mani.  I really like the striping tape Christmas tree - I have seen it around on Pinterest, Bloglovin, etc. Have you tried the tree design yet? What did you think?

Paw Prints and Hearts

When I saw this design on Pinterest, I thought it would look neat with paws and hearts instead of the flowers. The base is LA Colors on "Lost Soul," and stamped over with a white houndstooth design (plate m63). I then stamped on the paw print (plate QA23) and the heart (plate BM03).

Inspired by: @alisnailart

Today's mani is inspired by an amazing artist I came across on Instagram, @alisnailart. For this design, I used Funky Fingers "Bizerk Turq" for the base, and then sponged on Funky Fingers in "220 Volts" on half the nail.  I sponged on some of China Glaze "Travel in Colour" for some shimmer, and used a striping brush with the Funky Fingers colors to add the finishing touches. I was very pleased with the results, and I cannot wait to try some of her other designs. :)

Tweed Nails inspired by Kawaii Claws

I was cruising Etsy for inspiration and came across KawaiiClaws.com. This chick is amazing! I pinned a couple of her manis to recreate. Today I used Essie "Play Date" for the base, and Essie "Full Steam Ahead" with Wet N Wild (sorry no name) to create the tweed look. I used a great tutorial from Valiantly Varnished for the tweed design, and put on the finishing touches with some rhinestones, pearls, and metal studs. :)

This Sh*t is Bananas!

I was blessed to win a giveaway in which I received 3 small Indigo Bananas polishes of my choice, along with a cuticle balm. One of my three pics was Perfect Night - a purple jelly with blue flakies. This is flippin' gorgeous!!!! I have gotten more complements on this polish than any other I have worn. I added some rhinestones, pearls and caviar beads, and stamped a couple nails with plate BM502 from the Sunkissed Bundle Monster collection. I just love the blue and purple together. I apologize that my picture sucks (I am working on that, I swear!) - you can't tell how amazing this color is.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I had a more detailed mani in mind, but every time I would sit down to work on it, something would go wrong -- one time a stink bug landed on my pinky and drug his nasty little legs through my wet polish. After 3 tries, I gave up and decided to go with something simple. I painted the base with Nicole by OPI in "Still into Pink." This is a matte polish, and I wanted to love it, but I needed something a little more, so  I added a thin coat of Wet N Wild "Break the Ice" to add just a little shimmer. I popped on some rhinestones for the bow, added a few hearts, and there you have it!

Inspired by ... Tarte

Today's mani is inspired by the packaging for the Tarte Rainforest After Dark palette.
I started with Kleancolor in Neon Purple, and stamped the snakeskin pattern (BM224) with LA Colors in Reckless. The snake is from Winstonia plate W03, and it's stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Style Steel.  I am also sporting a new nail shape - I am working myself into an almond shape.

 I LOVE this mani. It turned out rockin'. :) The pics could be better, but I am working on that.

Inspired by Robin Moses

If you don't know who Robin Moses is, and you are a nail art fan, you must google her now. Go. I will wait. 

Welcome back. She is .....tha shit...... Right?!?! Right. Besides the fact that her art is stupendous and she is creating these amazing videos to teach us for free, she is an amazing person. Kind. Thoughtful. Humble. I love her. She is the reason I decided to make myself a plan to make nail art more than just a hobby for me. 

Here's my nail art wheel that I created with Robin's tutorials.

If you haven't already, be sure to Like her Facebook page.  And while you are at it, subscribe to her YouTube page as well. I promise you will not regret it.

Inspired by Allure Nail

I am obsessed with nail art on Pinterest. You can see my collection of awesomeness here.  Anyway, I found this amazing design which inspired me to do the above mani. It was originally done by Allure Nail - see the original post here. I wasn’t sure I was going to like the negative half-moons, but I feel like it makes my nails look longer. I used Essie’s Blanc as my white base, then added a coat of WnW’s Break the Ice to give just a little bit of shimmer. Then I sponged some green, blue and purple randomly. I edged the half-moons with gold and added a few gold lines. The butterflies were stamped with Pueen plate #PUEEN39. A little gold and purple glitter, and Viola! Kickass mani. Love it!

Born Pretty Store nail decals

I have to say, I LOVE the new decals I got from the Born Pretty Store. I started with two coats of Zoya’s "Daul", and then laid on the stickers, sealing them in with two coats of Poshe topcoat. In hindsight, I wish I would have used a darker color, to show off the decals better. They are easy to remove from the paper, easy to apply, and gorgeous! More than that, you get TONS! Typically, with most decals/stickers/nail decor in general, you only get enough for a mani or two. In this set, you get 56 decals ~ that’s enough for 4 full manis, plus more! AWESOME!! You also get the fringed/scalloped decor as well. In case you hadn’t guessed, I am SUPER happy with these! You can find the decals here, and the awesome midi ring (also from Born Pretty) here. Both the decals and ring also come in goldtone. 

But wait, there’s more! Use discount code TTHEX31 and get 10% off their already amazing prices!

Be sure to check out the Born Pretty Store today!!!!

K.I.S.S. mani (Keep It Simple Stupid!)

Something quick and easy! I used a pink from the New Black pink ombre kit, and topped it with Funky Fingers "Saved by the Glitter." For a final touch, I added some blue nail studs.