Spring into spring

Spring.... what's that like? Eeeesh we're supposed to be getting snow today so I'm posting these to maybe convince mother nature that we really don't need anymore snow. Maybe it will work.... -_-

LOL But anyways I was itching to do some more gradients and I thought some nice light colors would look spring appropriate, though they came out a bit more "easter egg-ish" then I would have liked I still think they work ;)

I started with a base of Essie Blanc on all of my nails. When that was dry I created the gradient using Lime Crime Crema de Limon, Maybelline Color Show Green With Envy, and Essie Rock the Boat. I stamped over the gradient using Polish Me To Go White Undies and Bundle Monster plate BM-408. I top coated everything with Poshe and I was feeling super springy!

I was really happy with the way PMTG White Undies stamped, I've been looking for a white that worked and I think this may just be the one! 

What are you guys doing to try to coax the warm weather out?
Thanks loves :) 

From the vault: Starburst Watermarble

Eeeeeeek my nails are NEKKID!!!!

I haven't painted my nails in almost a week! The horror right?! Lately I've been working on a project to improve my nail painting area, I bought my very first melmers from Michael's woohoo!! But you know I can't leave well enough alone and I had to Mod Podge the front with some pretty chevron paper and add some pink glitter and then when that was all done I had to completely reorganize my work area! It's still not finished but I'm hoping to put the final touches on tonight so I can finally get back to polishing! Don't worry I'll make sure to post some pictures too ;) 

So for now I had to pull out a manicure I did a while back, I'm surprised I didn't post it because I actually loved this design. I tried out my very first starburst water marble and even though it took me like 3 hours, I'm so happy with the way it turned out :) 

Since this was a while ago and you know I didn't write down what polishes I used I'm going to do my best to remember... if I get it wrong you can't yell at me though!! I started with a base of Azature White and then taped off around my fingers for easy clean up. When that was dry I created my marble using Maybelline Color Show Navy Narcissist, Maybelline Color Show Orange Fix, and Sally Hansen Hard Lemonade. I took the tape off, cleaned up, and added Color Club Snowflakes, a flaky iridescent topper, and put on some Poshe top coat over that to seal in the design. :) 

I think I wore this design for like five days! I really loved how unique it looked and the color combination is one that I don't usually wear. Actually the only reason I used these colors is because they all spread really well in water which made the marbling easier. I had to go through 6 or 7 polished until I finally found these ones :) I believe my original color combination was going to be using the Color Club Halo Hues but they just didn't want to work with me that day! Grrrrrrr ;) 

What do you think? Have you ever tried a starburst water marble? I forget which tutorial I used but there is plenty online so look it up and give it a go! 

Thanks loves :) 

Neon outlines

Neons! And some more neons! 

Because eff-you winter that's why ;) 

Those winter blues keep trying to drag me down but I've been using neon polishes to fight them off and so far I'm succeeding! Neon outlined nails have been on my to-do list for about forever... and I'm not sure if these are a fail or not quite yet so let's see what you guys think :) 

I started with a base of Wet n Wild Black Creme. When that was dry I outlined with OPI Alpine Snow first so the neons would pop. Looking back now I probably should have outlined with some white acrylic paint because it wouldn't have been so thick, ehhh oh well. Then I used China Glaze Pool Party, China Glaze Orange Knockout, Orly Highlighter, and China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard to finish the outlines. I used some Poshe for top coat and the design was finished. 

I really liked the idea of these nails, and I have to say I got quite a few compliments on them but I just wasn't happy with them. I had to do some back painting with the black to get the outlines nice and thin and it just made them too thick right near the edges -_- Not even top coat could smooth it out. *sigh* I suppose I'll just have to be more careful next time. 

What do you guys think? Fail or not?
Thanks loves :) 

Fabric swatch-spiration skittles

Mehhhhhh NUBS!!

Yeah you read that right.. NUBS! T.T I haven't had a bad break in a long time so I suppose it was about time. I snapped off my middle finger nail trying to pull up my covers on my bed. I won't repeat to you all the select words I decided to use when it happened.... I don't want to skew your view of me! ;) LOL Needless to say I wasn't a happy camper. So I filed my nails back down to nubs, my middle nail actually snapped the corner off lower then I could file but I tried to position my nails so that you couldn't quite see that part ;) 

Anyways, I was surfing the web looking for some nail inspiration and I have heard that some bloggers use fabric swatches for inspiration and I'm like "DUH" why haven't I tried that? -_- Sometimes I'm not the brightest crayon in the box... or ever ;) But hey what are you going to do?? One of the first things that came up was a pile of pastel yellow and gray fabric swatches with various patterns and I immediately fell in love. I didn't use all of the patterns on the fabric because I just wanted to run with the yellow / gray idea and I'm super excited about the out come!

I started with a white base of OPI Alpine Snow on my index finger. On my pinky and thumb I used E.L.F Misty Haze and on my middle and ring I used Lime Crime Crema De Limon. I used white acrylic paint for all of the details except for my index where I used E.L.F Misty Haze to create the chevrons. I top coated everything with a generous coat of Poshe and I was good to go :) 

How did I do camouflaging the break? With the exception of the middle picture of course.. I'm not really sure why I thought that was a good hand pose -_- lol! But I really loved the gray and pastel yellow color combination and I was so happy that all of the designs worked so well together! I know it's a little bit difficult to see the designs on the yellow nails, they were much more apparent in real life, but I like that it gives the finished product a soft look.

What do you think?
Thanks loves :)  

Oh dotted tree, Oh dotted tree!!

Rolling along on the Christmas posting train choo, choo!! ;)

My creative juices just may be returning to me, I'm feeling more inspired and I think my designs are starting to reflect that again. *Sigh* it feels good to be getting back into the swing of things! 

Anyways I've been wanting to do a dotted Christmas tree design for a while and I'm super happy I decided to finally give it a go!

I started with a base of Azature White on all of my nails. For my thumb and ring I did the trees using China Glaze Con-Fused?, Blackheart Beauty Jealous Type, China Glaze Def Defying, and Maybelline Color Show Candy Apple. I topped the trees with some yellow acrylic paint. For my remaining fingers I used a striping brush and the same colors and painted some random stripes. I topped everything off with some Poshe and the deign was finished! 

Look at that pudgy little Christmas tree! Awwwww

I wish I had my Christmas tree decorated when I did these nails I would have loved to have a photo with it! Maybe next time I suppose. I hope my creative mojo stays with me for a while but we'll see. ;) 

Thanks for reading cupcakes!

Mish Mash Challenge: Card or Board Game

Hello cupcakes!!

Can I just say that I am super pumped that I'm actually getting this post up on time ;) I hope you are all having a wonderful Wednesday and maybe preparing for Thanksgiving tomorrow?? All I know is I'm SO ready to stuff my face with some turkey and all the fixings!! LOL!

Anyways on to the mish mash challenge! Today's theme is card or board game. I really wanted to do some Sorry nails but I was multitasking when I was doing these trying to figure out my Thanksgiving nails so I went with something a little easier: LIFE nails :) Now I've never actually played the game LIFE but the cover of the board game was super pretty and I instantly knew what I wanted to do.

I started this design with a gradient of Azature White and Orly Gumdrop on all of my nails besides my thumb. On my thumb I started with a base of Lime Crime Crema de Limon. All of the other details were painted on using acrylic paint. I used Poshe as a top coat and I was finished! 

I ended up really liking this design. It's simple and really colorful! And not that the game has anything to do with it, I like it too because I'm finally getting my life back in order and it's kind of a bright little happy message on my nails :) 

I hope you all have a wonderful day! I'm going to start working on my Thanksgiving nails shortly after I post this so look for some awesome nails on the blog tomorrow ;) And while you're here make sure you check out everyone else's card or board game nails!! 

See ya later loves! 

From ruined to revived

Hi chickies

So what do you do when you aren't happy with a design??? You stamp over it of course! ;) Just the other day I showed you THIS design, and while I liked it it came out super thick and I messed it up almost immediately after I took photos of it. I really loved the way the gradient came out so I decided to do a quick fix.

I removed the black chevrons off of my middle, ring, and thumb nail. I repainted the half and half design with Lime Crime Pastelchio and Once in a Blue Mousse. Then I stamped over them with L.A Colors  Striping Polish in Black using Bundle Monster plate BM-201. 

The change took me about a half and hour from start to finish and I'm super pleased with the outcome :) So hey, there's no such thing as a ruined manicure, just new opportunities! ;)

How about you guys? What do you do to fix a mani that gets smudged? 
Thanks loves :) 

Black chevrons

Hello dears,

How is your week going so far? I hope it has been a good one! I've got some black chevron nails to share with you today inspired by the lovely @lacquertude on Instagram! 

So let's cut to the chase shall we? :) 

I started with a base of Azature White on my index and pinky. For the gradients I used Lime Crime Crema de Limon, Pastelchio, and Once in a Blue Mousse. I topped the gradients off with China Glaze Fairy Dust. For the chevron nails, I did a half and half base of Lime Crime Pastelchio and Once in a Blue Mousse. I freehanded the chevrons on with Wet n Wild Black Creme. I top coated everything with Poshe and the design was finished. 

And this is the photo I was inspired by from the talented @lacquertude 

These were so much fun to create and I love how the black stands out over the pastel background. What do you guys think?

Mish Mash Challenge: Rainbow

Happy Wednesday lovelies!

I'm sure you all know by now that Wednesday means mish mash challenges! Today's theme is rainbow and I was so excited because there's so many different possibilities with this prompt. Unfortunately I was having one of "those" days yesterday, you know, the days where nothing you paint on your nails comes out right, when you can't even paint your nails properly. UGH! I was so frustrated yesterday, I usually do between 3-5 designs on Tuesdays because it is my day off but I only managed to get this design finished before I just gave up    -_-

Well, oh well! At least I got something halfway decent for these :) 

I started with a base of OPI Bubble Bath for a base on all of my nails. Then I painted the drips and chevrons with acrylic paints. I top coated with Poshe and was finally done!

I know I could have executed these so much better, but I am still quite happy with the way they came out. I've been wanting to try rainbow drips for a while now so at least I can check that off my bucket list ;) 

Don't forget to check out what everyone else did for today's rainbow prompt! 

Thanks cupcakes :) 

Neon tribal

Hello dears!

I'm not going to lie... I'm extremely jealous of anyone who can do a tribal nail... like I can't even handle it! Lol! But! I've been practicing and I think I'm improving! Improving enough to show you guys my attempt anyways ;) I'm not sure why exactly I used neon colors, I just kind of picked three colors I liked together and they just so happened to all be neon coincidence?! I don't think so!

I started off with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Then I took China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard, Nina Ultra Pro Blue Blaze, and Orly Highlighter and blocked off my nails. After that I took my smallest striping brush and outlined and doodled with some black acrylic paint. I top coated with Poshe and I was done! 

Since I love mattifying neons I was dying to see what these looked like mattified. I used NYC Matte Me Crazy below:

I'm not sure which way I like it better... I really love neons mattified but there's just something about that shine that stands out to me ;) Which way do you guys prefer? 

Thanks so much loves :) 

SPLAT!

Hello cupcakes!

I've got a super fun manicure for you guys today. A little while back I did some nails for the Mish Mash challenge that I'm participating it. The theme was a nail art technique you've never tried before. I decided to try some water spotted nails, and while frustrating, the effect was pretty cool. The design I did for the challenge was turquoise nails... and while I was doing these I came up with a new idea. What about some neon water spotted nails??

I started off with a base of Azature White. When that was dry I taped off my nails and used the water spotted technique that I mentioned in my previous post using China Glaze Pool Party, China Glaze Orange Knockout, China Glaze Sun-Kissed, China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard, and Nina Ultra Pro Blue Blaze. And finally I top coated with Poshe. 

And just because I love it, I mattified the mani with NYC Matte Me Crazy.

I was afraid at first that the colors would get all muddy and blend together but I was so happy to find that they didn't. I love how bright it turned out and surprisingly it really didn't take me too long... probably around an hour and a half from start to finish. 

What do you guys think?

Groooovy man

Hi dolls

I'm back again for some more water marbling torture ;) I see a lot of gorgeous water marble designs using neon rainbow colors and just knew that I needed to try it. I'm glad China Glaze polishes are so good for marbling because almost all of my neon colors are from them! Now let's get this mani done shall we?! ;) 

I started with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. A perfect muted white that I use under all of my neons to really make them pop :) The I used China Glaze Pool Party, Orange Knockout, Orly Highlighter, and Nina Ultra Pro Blue Blaze for the marbling colors and did a flower-ish design on my middle, ring, and thumb. On my index I did two coats of China Glaze Pool Party and on my pinky I did two coats of Orly Highlighter. Seal it it with a great top coat and you're all done! 

UGH! I wish my camera didn't hate neons -_- I tried to color correct these and China Glaze Pool Party just refused to look color accurate! It much more pink and neon then my photos show. But despite my camera having a fit I really loved the way these turned out. They were super bright and have a certain 70's feel to them don't ya think? ;)

Groooovy dude B)