Merry Christmas!

   Merry Christmas Eve!

   This year, as usual, I couldn't pick just one thing to paint. So I made a Christmas collage, Cotton Coney style.

   I started with a base of Girly Bits Cosmetics January Morning. Then I added on stockings, candy canes, presents, and a tree.

   To make the tree, I used some striping tape to mark off the space for the tree. (I used a great tape dispenser that I'll have to tell you all about soon...) The green I used was Finger Paints Sketch N Etch, and I added a very thin layer of Zoya Pixie Dust Vega over top to give it some sparkle. I topped the tree off (literally, ha!) with a tiny gold stud.

   The candy canes, stockings, and presents were all made with either my red striper or Revlon Parfumerie Balsam Fir. The white stripes and stocking tops were made with my white striper, and the gold ribbon on the presents was some polish I got as a gift (Love brand, with no color name).
   I also added some tiny iridescent hexagon glitters in the empty spaces ...so it didn't look so empty. And to make it glittery.  (Man, I am excelling at writing today....) Then I topped it off with a matte coat!

   I hope you all have a good time this Christmas, but I know it's not always as fun for some as it is for others. :/

   Merry Christmas!

Star Wars!

   Those of you that follow my Instagram saw my sneak peak a few days ago. I saw The Force Awakens on opening day!! It was really good. They definitely knew that you knew that there is another movie coming, so they didn't care about giant cliff hangers, but it was good!

  Anyway, you know know some Star Wars nails had to be made for the night.

   I started with a base of Nina Ultra Pro Glamrock. It is one of my favorites bases for anything star related.

   To make the letters, I used Revlon Gel Envy Casino Lights and my favorite teeny tiny brush from Born Pretty.

   I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!
   (And if you didn't see Star Wars... go see it!)

Christmas Ornaments

   I'm so excited that it's December and I can officially start Christmas and winter designs. Especially since I have a beautiful new holo from Girly Bits Cosmetics, called January Morning. It is the perfect winter polish!

   I've been wanting to paint some ornaments for a while. I based these of old retro ornaments.

   I made the ornaments with black and red acrylic paint, and a green polish pen.

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Butterfly Wings

   I am in love with this set!

   I've never painted butterfly wings before, but I have always wanted to try. A friend at school and I have been trying to get her nails painted for months, and we finally fit it in on her last day.

   Isn't it so pretty and sparkly?! I used all holos for this design. We couldn't resist their shiny-ness! And they were all Girly Bits Cosmetics polishes... I guess she could be a walking ad for them. :)
   I used Downtown Funk for the wings. January Morning is the pretty white holo behind the half butterfly. Well Isn't That Special is the purple in the wings of the half butterfly.
   For the outlines and dots I used black and white acrylic paints and my favorite super tin brush.

   I just can't stop looking at this one! Partly because I like how the design turned out, but also because of the sparkle....

   Anyway, I sculpted these out (they are acrylic nails, which I don't think I mentioned). Looking at the pictures, I'd love to go back and reshape a couple; some of them look a little fatter than the others. But it's not too bad. Picky Sarah strikes again!


   Well, that was a super distracted post. If you can get past all the "I love holos" it might be an intelligible post!

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

3D Acrylic Flowers

   My friend at school wanted me to give her some pretty nails before I left, so I gave her some 3D acrylic nails.

   We found a pretty picture on Instagram that she wanted on her nails. (I won't show you the original, mine looks nothing like it!)
   I'd love to explain the process to you, but it would probably take too long, and I'm not sure if I'd be able to!

   I started with a base of black polish, and then put the acrylic flowers on top of the polish. I used blue and white premixed acrylics. I've mixed my own, but it's a lot of work to get the color just right!


   Have a fantastic week!

Gold Glitter Acrylics

   I'm slowly getting better with my acrylics. They don't ever look bad, but perfectionist Sarah likes them to look just so! Last week I put some acrylics on a fellow student and painted them up pretty for her.

  I sculpted them out, because I need the practice. (For those of you that don't know the lingo, sculpting is applying acrylic over a disposable form. You can also apply nail tips and put the acrylic over the tips instead. For me, sculpts are quicker, but tips are easier. So I need the practice!)

 

   On her nails, I used Cover Girl Boundless Color Plum Pudding and Essie Summit of Style.

   By the way, I'm almost done with nail school! I won't be licensed until I take my state test in January, but I graduate Tuesday!!

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Pumpkins

   Still a week late, but oh well. I'll get there! These are my Thanksgiving week nails.

   They were inspired by Cotton Coney. She creates some of the most detailed and intricate designs. It's crazy what she can do!

  It's very detailed and I used lots of polishes, so I won't go into a lot of detail. I'd have a super long post!

   Suffice to say, I started with the pumpkins and went out from there. Pumpkin shape, detail, grassy stuff, detail, flower, etc. You get the idea! If you ever have questions about a design, you can always email me.

   My Thanksgiving this year was busier than years past. I learned what it was like to be a responsible adult that had to help prepare the house and food before everyone came over! It was still fun though. Seeing and visiting with the family is always good.

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Thanksgiving Turkey

   I'm still behind, but only by a week this time! Here's a Thanksgiving design I painted on a fellow student.

   Aren't they cute? We even gave them crazy eyes.

   The majority of her nails were painted with OPI Lincoln Park After Dark. The turkey was made using Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out. His tail feathers were painted with Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Butterscotch, L'Oreal He Red My Mind, and L'Oreal Orange You Jealous.

  I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving (those that celebrate it, of course). Have a fantastic week!

Blueberries

   I ordered some new polish, and they are both holos! I'm telling you, I'm officially addicted to them like the rest of you. I don't know what took me so long...

   This is Girly Bits Cosmetics Downtown Funk in bright sunlight and indoor light. It's such a pretty holo!

   (This isn't a very color correct image for Downtown Funk, but you've already seen some in the first two images.)
 
   I made some vines with berries (blueberries?) on this design. It ended up looking kind of wintery.... I started by painting the vines with thinned out OPI A-Piers to Be Tan and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out. To make the berries, I used Aurora Gel Effect Inky Dinky, and highlighted them with L'Oreal Royally Reinvented. The leaves were made with Studio M On the Field and Revlon Parfumerie Balsam Fir.


   I hope you all have a great week!

Peacock Inspired

   I've been inspired by Pier 1 Imports again. This time by a cute peacock wicker headboard.

   I thought it was so pretty! My design is only loosely inspired, so don't expect anything super fancy.

   My base is Girly Bits Cosmetics Well Isn't That Special. I love this color! I used white acrylic paint and a very thin brush to make the design.

   I forgot to take pictures of this design, so this is the only one I have.... Sorry!