Deadpool Nails

FINALLY I got to see Deadpool, and it was awesome :)

For these nails, I started with a base coat of Color Club's "Harp on It," which is an amazing holographic polish.
All of the graphics were  done with stamps. For the Deadpool face, I used a peace sign (BM#07), removed the two diagonal lines, and used a reverse stamping method for the rest.
The lightning images on the pinky are from Born Pretty Store plate #BP06.
HeHe plate #008 is where the guns came from.
The letters D and P are brought to you today by plates #m17 and #m18.
And finally, the blood drips are from another Born Pretty plate - #BP29.

Inspired by....

Inspiration can come in the craziest places! Today's mani was inspired by a lighter. :)

I started with a black base coat for this design. I stamped on a lace design with one of Bundle Monster's new blogger collab plates, BM-XL206, using a lavender polish ("Sugar Plum Fairy" from Funky Fingers). I then took the pink and purple polishes from the OPI Sheer Tints and sponged them at the top of the nail to create a gradient.

Where is the strangest place you have found inspiration?

Holiday Blues

The awesome snowflake design is yet another new Bundle Monster plate, #BMS213, and the tree design is from Born Pretty plate #BP01. I used The New Black (navy) and Zoya "Aspen" (white).  I added a little glitter inside the snowflakes and on the tree. The middle finger has a Funky Fingers glitter topper over the polish called "Elsa."

More Stamping with Bundle Monster

I have been having a blast with the new Bundle Monster seasonal plates!

Have you tried them yet?!?

Bundle Monster Does It Again

I was a bad girl on Black Friday, and ordered nothing but stuff for me - specifically, stamping plates. Bundle Monster's new seasonal plates were #1 on my list, and they don't fail to amaze! 

It only took me 5 hours, but I put my first full set of acrylic sculpted nails on myself.  I don't think they turned out too bad for the first time :) 

Zoya "Arianna" is on my tips, and then I stamped with #BMS216, #BMS217 and #BMS218. These plates are unbelievable in the variety of designs! 

Welcome Christmas!

The greatest thing about holiday season? All the great holiday nail art of course!

I've been busy at school with lots of holiday manis, and I am loving every minute of it. It makes the day go by fast, and there is nothing more rewarding than the smile I get when I'm done doing someone's nails :)

Here's some of the work I have been doing this week:

So many possibilities, and only 20 days left! What are you wearing on your nails?!?

Halloween Contest Nails

We had a Halloween nail art contest at my school, and I won first place :)

I was so thrilled that the idea in my head transformed into nails! With the exception of the werewolf, all the nails were painted with a blue gradient, and then stamped with a variety of stamps for the trees, housing, etc. I free-handed the moon, adding a few different shades of yellow and some white to create dimension. Lastly, I used Bundle Monster acrylic molds to create the 3D bats. 

Lastly, the werewolf.....yes, it's real hair. Cat hair. Complements of Pink - who purred away while I gently trimmed some of his hair.

I glued the hair on, and then applied the eyes, nose and teeth that I created from acrylic. 

I really like how these turned out. What do you think?

Graveyard Nails

When a friend of mine tagged me in this gorgeous nail art on Facebook (by So Nailicious), my first thought was "challenge accepted!"

I used The New Black purples for my gradient, and then hand-painted on the graveyard scene. The bats and the skeleton were stamped with plates #BM13 and #BM413.

My Nails Mag Debut!

I'm ridiculously excited to report that one of my nail art pics was in the October Nails Magazine (pg 36):

You may remember this as the promo pic I did for Nails for Tails. I had no idea they were using it, so it was definitely quite the pleasant surprise!

I am currently wearing a gorgeous deep blue polish from Whet called "Facetious." I had never heard of this polish before I received this bottle in one of my Ipsy bags. It took a good three coats to get the level of opacity I wanted, but it was well worth it for this rich cobalt blue.

Unfortunately, this picture doesn't show how stunning this blue truly is. I stamped on some feathers with Bundle Monster plate #BM419 and Fresh Paint in "Firefly." I used a detail brush to add some microglitter to the feathers.

Have you ever used Whet polish? Did you like it?

Shark Week

It's Shark Week! No, I'm not going to watch it (too busy doing my nails), but it's still fun.

For this Sharktacular mani I used Dermelect "Phenom" as my base, and then did a circular gradient with Zoya "Ling" and Fresh Paint "Firefly."  I paired up my Morgan Taylor "Little Black Dress" with Winstonia stamping plate #W01 and Bundle Monster plate #BM503 to make the cute little sharks. Can sharks be cute? A matte topcoat was my finishing touch, and this is what I got. I like it. :)

Mermaid's Dream

Have you ever felt that amazing "high" when you score a bottle of nail polish that you really could never rationalize paying that much for, but get it for dirt cheap/free? No? Just my addiction? Maybe so. But whatever, this polish is gorgeous.......

This is Mermaid's Dream by Deborah Lippmann. I have been coveting this polish for a while - I'd eye it up at Sephora, and occasionally stroke the bottle yearningly.  When I won a DL 4-pack of polish on Listia, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this was indeed one of those four.

I felt like it was pretty mandatory to stamp something aquatic/mermaid themed on these nails, so I went with some Bundle Monster plates and Dernelect polish in "Phenom." (This was yet another adventure in stamping made easier and more enjoyable by Kiesque.)

Truly, this is a polish that I could wear all by itself -- which does not happen often. What do you think? Have you tried this polish yet? I also discovered that DL polish is 5-free as well as cruelty free (meaning they don't test on helpless animals), so I am really starting to like this line more and more.

Beach Bum (in my dreams...)

If I had a left nut, I would give it to anyone who would take me to the beach right now. To say I need a vacation is an understatement. Until then, I'll just paint waves on my fingers.

This was actually a super easy mani to do, especially with my best friend Liquid Palisade.
I used Floss Gloss in "Tanlines," Salon Perfect "Baby Blues" and Zoya "Ling" to create my gradient. Then I stamped on the waves with Bundle Monster plate #BM509, using Funky Fingers "Gesso" as my stamping polish. Finally I added some nail confetti from Bundle Monster - a cute little anchor - to finish the design.  This mani was cute and easy, and allowed me to drift away for a little bit, if only in my mind :)

Happy Daydreaming!

Game of Thrones: House Stark

If you haven't seen Game of Thrones yet -- what is wrong with you?!? No, seriously?
I really, really love this show. I am not sure why I am so obsessed, but I am.
Today's mani is based on one of the main families in the series - the Starks. Their sigil is a wolf (direwolf actually, but let's not get to deep) and they are typically getting the crappy end of the stick in life on GoT.

For this mani I used Indigo Bananas "Great Scott!" as my base. This polish is a gorgeous blue glass fleck shimmer that glows in the dark.  Holy Feces I love this polish. I did a circular gradient of sorts, using white to make a fading circle in the middle, and then put another light layer of "Great Scott!" over the white to soften it up.

Stamping: let me start with the pinky. Bundle Monster plate #BM315 was used to create a flying raven. Technically I believe the stamp is supposed to be a parrot, but I wasn't going to let that minor detail stop me - I took off part of the tail and added feet as well as a longer beak, so hopefully it looks a little like a raven. I didn't have any other bird stamps that looked like a raven dammit.

Anyway, next up: the ring finger. I used My Online Shop plate #JRZ for the House Stark sigil. Love this.

You may have looked at the middle finger and thought, WTF is this?! If you don't watch the show, you will have no clue. However, for us nerds, it represents the weirwood trees from GoT - they are white trees with red leaves, and a face carved into the front of the tree. (Click here to see what I am talking about.) To recreate this, I used  Bundle Monster stamp #BM409 for the tree and a dotting tool for the leaves.

The pointer finger is stamped with Born Pretty plate #BP16, and lastly the thumb is stamped with fauxnad plates m17 &m18.

As much as I am enjoying this mani, I am looking forward to doing more designs with the other houses from Game of Thrones. Personally, I am a big fan of the Starks and Targaryens. How about you?

Panda Bear Nails

Today's mani was inspired by my impending trip to one of my most favorite places, the National Zoo in DC.
My base is Fresh Paint "Firefly" : I like this polish because it is a light, light blue - almost white, but blue enough to allow the white to really pop. Next I did a double-stamping with Born Pretty's plate #BP18. I used two greens for the bamboo, but you can't really see it that well. The bamboo was done with more Fresh Paint, this time "Pistachio" and "#Winning."
I made decals with Bundle Monster plate #BM424 for the pandas. The paw prints are also from that plate.
I am so excited to go to the zoo -- what is your favorite animal?!

Flip Flop Weather is Here

It's pretty darn hot already, and it's definitely time to bust out the shorts and sandals. Today's mani is one I did for a friend.

The base is Zoya "Godiva," which is an awesome sandy-looking Pixie Dust. I used Bundle Monster stamp #BM309 and made decals with a variety of polishes. I love the beachy feel of this mani!

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?

It's a Spring Thing

I found an artist on Instagram and Facebook called Muses Gel, out of Taiwan. Her style inspired today's Easter/Spring/Pastel mani.

 I used a crap-ton of different products to achieve this look (see the pic below!). Polishes are Zoya "Piaf" (yellow), Zoya "Rebel" (blue), Essie "Full Steam Ahead" (lilac), and Essie "Blanc" (white). I added a layer of Essie Luxe Effects "Pure Pearfection" to give the lilac color a little more of a shimmer - similar to the Zoyas.  Zoya "Cosmo" outlines the heart on the ring finger. I added some water decals from the Born Pretty Store, some gold heart nail spangles, goldtone metal confetti triangles from Bundle Monster, rhinestones and caviar beads. I used the same tutorial that I used for my Tweed Nails on the ring finger and thumb.

I just got a new light box, and while I still have a lot to learn about it, I really like it! I think it will take a little bit of playing around to find the perfect angle.

Kitty Nails for the Pet Expo

Hola! Today's nails were inspired by an impending trip to the  National Pet Expo in Harrisburg, PA. This was my first time to a show like this, and I was very excited. I decided to use some of my cat decals from Bundle Monster. You get 3 large sheets of decals for $1.99 - you can't beat that!

I used Orly's "Peaceful Opposition" for my base - this is a slightly translucent white, with silver and white glitters. The water decals were very easy to use - they didn't fold over on (and ruin) itself, and I didn't have a single one rip - very cool :)

The Pet Expo was pretty cool, although I was told that it was pretty slow compared to others. Whatever! I got to experience a cat show for the first time, saw some interesting snakes as well as dogs galore, watched an amazing man speak about parrots, and had a crapload of people stop us to pet the Bearded Dragon that my son brought with us. It is definitely something I recommend any animal lover try to catch; you won't be disappointed.

Petal Tips

I received my order of Gelibility and was dying to try it! This stuff really is amazing. Previously, I had no desire to make the switch to gel polish. I like to change my polish often, and I have hundreds of bottles of regular polish that I have no intention of just leaving on a shelf. Is it weird that I have an emotional bond with my nail polish? Probably. Anyway, if you are saying "WTF is Gelibility?" right about now, fear not, for I will tell you. Gelibility is a product that you mix with regular nail polish and cure with a lamp to achieve your own DIY gel mani. Pretty freaking awesome, huh?!?

The Gelibility kit comes with two bottles - Stick It! and Fix It! You apply the Stick It" as your base/bonder. Cure. Then you mix your polish with the Fix It! in a small container or palette.( I ordered this one along with some brushes from Bundle Monster.) The instructions say to start mixing 50/50, but that you may need to adjust the amount. I did 50/50 and it worked fine for me, but I was using a sheer polish. I used Kleancolor "Sheer Pastel Nude" - I chose this color because even though you can't really see the color, it makes a nice, clean background for nail art.  This way I can change my art (using non- acetone to take off the regular polish that I am using for nail art) as many times as I like while preserving the gel mani.

I created decals using Winstonia plate #W04 and Sally Hansen Insta Dri in "Fuchsia Flare" and Funky Fingers "Gesso." I decided I wanted to add another color onto the flower petals, so
I used a salmon striper to dot in some color here and there. Finally, a coat of Essie Luxe Effects "Pure Pearfection" gave the mani a slight sheen and shimmer.

I am so excited at the possibilities that Gelibility opens for me! This is definitely an impressive product! :)

Snow Day

Today was the first day in a long time that I truly enjoyed a snow day -- no school! I am enjoying school, but I was really looking forward to a day to relax. I decided to do a snowy mani, because why not, it's the perfect day for one.  Plus I really wanted to try out my new Liquid Palisade that I won in a giveaway from Lace & Lacquers. 

I started off with a base of Fresh Paint "Firefly" which is a light light blue - almost white. I then applied the Liquid Palisade to my cuticles, and area surrounding my nail. I was impressed with how tiny the brush is and how easy the product goes on. 

I used a makeup sponge to create a gradient with the "Firefly" and Kleancolor's "Pastel Blue" and "Pastel Teal." I topped my gradient with Funky Fingers "Olaf" - a rockin' glitter topper made up of white glitters, a hint of iridescent microglitter, and even some snowflakes - very cute! I personally feel that Funky Fingers is an awesome yet under-appreciated polish line in the nail art world. (You can find them at Five Below stores.) 

 Finally I stamped a snowflake with Bundle Monster's #BMH01 plate, using Funky Fingers "Gesso." I believe this is the best polish I have used for white stamping as of yet.

 Now for the fun part -- taking off the Liquid Palisade! I used a pair of tweezers to grab and edge, and it came off much easier than I expected! I thought for certain that I would be picking of 4,5 or more pieces per nail, but they all came off in 1 or 2 pieces. As you can see in the picture below, I should have gone a little wider on the sides of my fingers with the LP, but still, look how much that reduced my clean-up!

In with my little ELF concealer brush I went, barely having to clean up polish around my cuticles. Happy Day! The first picture at the top is my finished result. 

I really liked using the Liquid Palisades. When I run out, I will most certainly be making a purchase. I am definitely looking forward to using it again -- I can see this making me want to do more water marbles. I also would like to try using it for other nail art applications. 

Have you used LP before? What were your thoughts?!?