Christmas Listings!

   I've been making a ton if new nail sets for my Etsy store! And I've already sold some! I've had 14 sales since I opened my shop a little over a year ago, but each new sale is just as exciting as the first! Or nearly so, anyway. I guess nothing beats the excitement of your first sale!
   I have mainly been focusing on Christmas nails since I'm a little late for the Halloween rush. ...But I couldn't resist painting two Fall/Halloween sets. They called to me and practically begged to be made! They might've bullied me a little...
  

   I hadn't planned on making this set at all. The others were pretty much all planned. And had been for a while. And been put off. And avoided. And put off again... These were very last minute and inspired by some ribbon my mom bought on a whim. I like the ribbon better, but the nails turned out fine! You can find these here in my store.

   This set is one of my favorites. I'm not convinced that the webs are right, but the cat and the fog (especially the fog) looked so nice I kind of over look them. For now. I did a ton of sponging for the background and it took me forever to be satisfied with the mix of greys, blacks, and whites. I'm so picky! I can't wait to do these on my own nails! My only dilemma is whether I should do these on Halloween week or the week before. I have some Halloween owls that I want to do too. You can find this set here in my store.

   This is the first of three Christmas sets I made up last week. I had done up one nail like this last Christmas in a Christmas montage of sorts. And I apparently used different thread. The thread I used for this one was such a mess! I'll definitely have to find something different if someone orders a set. You can find these here in my Etsy.

   You might have noticed that I have this problem with either loving or not loving every set I make. There usually isn't anything in between. These, I really like. A lot. I will definitely have to paint these on my own nails come winter! I saw two snowflake sets on Pinterest that I liked, but didn't really like on their own. So I combined them to make my own version! (You can see them here and here if you like.) You can find this set here in my store.

   I made these last year too. They are so cute! I love these too! (You can find a picture of my first version here if you want to see them. They don't really look any different.) Don't those penguins just look so cute all bundled up in scarves and muffs?! I'll stop now so I don't gush too much... You can find them here in my Etsy store.


And that's about it for now. I do actually have some more nails to show you guys, but I don't want to make the post too long. Besides, I haven't put my watermark and everything on there either. Because it takes so long to do that... Mostly I'm just tired and lazy!

Have a wonderful week guys! I should have more time to blog and create; at work the corporate people messed up our hours, so we had to have our hours cut a lot so I'll have a ton more free time this week and the next!

Fall Photography!!

   As I mentioned in my last post, all of that talk about fall and photography really made me want to show you guys my recent pictures! No nails in this post, sorry... Just fall photography overload! I'll try not to get too carried away...

   Sunflowers are some of my favorite flowers. When I was younger my dad used o always plant a few in his vegetable garden. I was always so fascinated by how tall they grew and how big the flower was! We haven't had any for years (they yard at our new house was a mess and need a ton of help to make it flower-ready), but we were finally able to grow one this year!

   Last month I discovered these teeny tiny webs all over our front yard. I'm sure they're there all the time, but I never noticed them until I started taking our dog on his morning walk and saw the sun shining off of the dew drops. They were so small and fascinating!

   I had never noticed that goldenrods are pretty. I'm fairly allergic to them, so I had always steered clear of them. They grow all over the hill in my backyard, so I finally decided to take a few pictures of them and see what they really look like. I payed for it the next two days, but I learned that they are much prettier than the yellow blob I used to always see them as.

   Joe Pye weeds are very photogenic in the early fall when they are just beginning to bloom and the late afternoon sun in shining on them. I had always thought them interesting, funny little flowers, but they can actually be beautiful. this is probably one of my favorite shots I've ever taken. That says a lot, because I have taken a ton of pictures!

   My mom bought some chrysanthemums last month, and she sure picked out some pretty ones! I even think the pinks are pretty, and I'm not too fond of pink. Let's just say that the late afternoon light really looks good on them too.

   I think these used to be asters when they were blooming, but I honestly don't remember. I had never really thought much about flowers and things after they were dead until I got my camera. Then I realized that they can still be at least interesting, if not sometimes still beautiful. You might still think it looks like an ugly dead thing, which is fine. I like it though!

   Let me just say that this spider has mastered camouflage. I found him yesterday morning by accident. I didn't run into his web, luckily; my dog did. I saw the spider running quickly away. Later I came back out to take some pictures of him and even though I knew exactly where he was, it took me a while to find him! Same thing this morning. I was very glad he wasn't out to get me, because I would have been dead.

   These are so pretty! They're one of those flowers that have so many tiny blooms on them that you kind of gloss over it all and think that it's a pretty flower, but not much else. At least I always did. The dew was out in full force this morning, so I was busy running around taking pictures of wet things. I decided to give these guys a chance. Dew really becomes them! They are really pretty!


   That's it for now. If you want to check out some more of my photos, you can go to my deviant art or my photography Etsy store. My deviant art has pretty much everything. My Etsy does not... Some things I just can't see someone wanting to hang on their wall. Like spiders. Or snake skins. Or mushrooms.

Deviant Art: robertsphotography.deviantart.com
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/SarahEPhotography

Final Doll Challenge And Fall Nails

   I've finished up my doll series (for now). There are two more dolls, but I don't own them. If I can find some decent pictures, I'll probably make some nail designs from them. Probably. We'll see. I've been in a fall mood ever since the leaves started falling. Fall is kind of my favorite... I just had to do some fall designs!
   I have to go in chronological order, so here's my last doll design from forever ago. She's from India and has a pretty sari! Unfortunately, there wasn't a ton of embroidery or any other designs, so I kind of had to make some stuff up. It fits good enough though!

   You can't tell, but my nail color is actually pretty close to her sari color. It has a little more red, but not as much as it looks like in the picture. For some reason it kept getting blown out and I couldn't fix it. :( Other than the colors, not much else came from her dress... You could say that the little flower-y thing in the middle of my nails is based off her shorter necklace, but I didn't really plan it that way. It just kind of happened. And it's not really that close...

   Have I mentioned yet that I LOVE fall? It's definitely my favorite season! I had never been able to pick a favorite season, but now that I'm not in marching band, I've come to realize that fall is amazing. Before last year I had been busy with marching band during the fall, so all I really did was run around, sweat, toss some flags, sweat, perform, sweat... So I never really got to enjoy fall. I loved marching band, don't get me wrong, but I like being able to enjoy fall now! It's so pretty and the weather is PERFECT!
   So, as you can understand, I might be trying to make up for lost time. I have been out in the woods a ton this year, just soaking it all up. And taking a million pictures (they're all on my deviant art, if you want to check them out). And in honor of fall, I have made up my toes and fingers accordingly.
   My fingers are super simple right now, but I like them. I just poured a ton of orangey-yellow glitter on them. Apparently it's kind of Halloween-y (I've had 2 or 3 people at work compliment my Halloween nails), but it never really crossed my mind, I was so caught up in fall! Fall leaves was more what I had in mind. You can choose whichever makes you happy though!

(This picture isn't mine... I stole it from google)

 

   For my toes I made a pretty little flower design that's really not all that fall like except for the colors. Sort of. Mostly it just is because I'm in that fall mood.

   See, they're kind of fallish!

   Since I just talked about all of my fall pictures, that really made me want to show you guys some of my pictures... I don't want to make this post ridiculously long though, so I'll make a separate post.

   I hope you have a lovely weekend!

French Tips For Sale

   I know it's been forever and a half since I updated. I've been busy with work and I've been updating, reorganizing, and relisting items in my Etsy stores. In fact, I now have 3 Etsy stores! One for nails (Once Upon A Nail), one for photography (Sarah E Photography), and one for my embroidered cards (Papered Tales). Let's just say I don't want to do any more reorganizing and relisting for a while...

   As for my nail news, I actually have quite a few updates, but only half of them are ready. So here's the first half, which are some more Etsy listings! I made them up for an auction. I ended up only using one of them.

   This is the one I put in the auction. I really like it! It's a basic french tip with a rose accent.

   I was partly inspired by this pin. I made a few changes, but I must confess, as you can see, I was obviously a little lazy and more or less copied some of the design. Although her roses are a lot better than mine. I've yet to master that skill. Mine aren't terrible, but they aren't like hers. You can find it here on Etsy.

   The other set is essentially the same thing, it just has a swirly design instead of the roses.

   This one came straight from my head, and I wasn't sure if I would like it. Usually when I draw things like this I have a pencil and I can erase! I'm pretty satisfied with it. I really hope I can reproduce it if someone buys it though! You can find this one here on Etsy.


   More updates later this week! I'll try to get back to being more regular again!
   And yes, I did change my blog's name. I was never really fond of the original name, but it wasa the best I could come up with at the time. (Names are not my strong point. At all.) I figured I could make my nail blog name match my nail Esty store, so I'm now Once Upon A Nail!

   Have a wonderful week guys!

New Etsy Listings!!

    And they're so cute!!! I think one of these ties with the cat nails I did last month (and maybe even passes them up, I'm not sure yet...). I am a little bit infatuated with this set right now....

   Aren't these guys just so adorable?! If you love them as much as I do (and even if you don't), you can find them here in my Etsy. I found this cute fabric at work (JoAnn Fabrics) the other day and I knew that I had to make a design from it!

   To make this set I did a lot of sponging. I sponged the grass, trees, and leaves with a little makeup sponge. For the rest of it I just used my usual tiny brushes. To make the owls, I used the color for their bellies as a 'base.' Then over top of that I painted in the darker color for their heads, then I painted on their eyes, beaks, wings, hats, etc.

   To spare you from my gushing, I'll go ahead and show you my other set I made. :) I think they're really cute too, but it's a different sort of cute...

   These are loosely based off of yet another doll I have in my small-ish collection. She came from my great-grandmother. I'd hazard a guess that she is at least based off of 50s fashions, if not actually from sometime around there. But I really have no idea. These are terrible pictures (I'm rushing around trying to get ready for work and write this at the same time), so I'll try to take some better ones when I have a chance.

   I didn't notice until later that the 'dots' on her dress were actually hearts... That would have been so cute on the nails! Oh well.. they still look cute anyway!

Well, I've got to run to work! Hope you guys have an awesome week!!

Doll Nail Art Challenge: #5

   Hooray for new nails! I really like this one, for multiple reasons. It was super easy, so that's always great. And the doll is from early 18th century France! The clothing from the 18th century was one of my first loves and was what got me addicted to historical fashion! The opulence and extravagance of that era always astounds me, but it's so pretty! I probably would have never been able to afford any of it if I had lived back then... But hey, I get to look at it all now, so I'm happy!

   Isn't her outfit gorgeous?! I'm such a sucker for pretty clothes.... Especially old ones! :)
   I drew my inspiration from her bodice, mainly from her stomacher. That flower pattern was just irresistible! And it was super easy to recreate, which is always a bonus. The picture of my nails is kind of terrible... The lighting has not been great lately; it's been super overcast. I'll try to get a better picture and upload it for you guys. No promises though, because work at JoAnn Fabrics is brutal on my nails. I'm always knocking them on thing when I'm reaching for scissors or putting away fabrics! :( Overall though, it's a pretty good job and I like it so far.

   That's about all for now. I should be back sometime next week with a new design. I'm not sure when because I work a lot this next weekend, so it might be close to two weeks before I'm back.
   Have a good week in the meantime guys!

Doll Nail Art Challenge: #4

   I've finally had a chance to paint my nails! I'm continuing my doll series, but this one is a little different from the others. I had little to work with for this design, so I ended up having to look up some stuff to make the design. This doll is an Inuit girl from 1890's Alaska.

   I was going to make a design from her earrings, but they were just stripes. So I looked up some Inuit beading and I found lots of cool stuff! I didn't get to do the design I wanted (it was too complicated), but I did find a design that worked. It might not be an exactly traditional design, but it's close enough!

   As I was looking, I also came across some beautiful parkas that had a mix of white and brown furs, which I loosely used for the design on my middle finger.

   I was planning on putting designs on all of the fingers, but it was a bit much (it looked a little over crowded) and I might have been a little bit lazy yesterday...
   At any rate, here are my nails. I like the design from my ring finger best on my left hand, for once. I thought I would like the design outlined, but when I outlined it on my right hand, it didn't look as nice. It's not bad, but the other looks better.

   I will be super busy this week, so I won't have any updates of any sort most likely. Hope you guys have a great week!

Orange Flowers

   I've made some more nails for Etsy! Well, indirectly for Etsy, anyway. I painted them for a friend of mine who is going to Hawai'i next month. She wanted some beachy/tropical nails that weren't too cutesy, so I made her this set. (You can find them here on Etsy)

   She's going to be there for two weeks, so I made her this set, and the a set like the ones I made for the bridesmaids at my brother's wedding. To make the flowers, I used my own version of the one-stroke stuff, which isn't really one stroke at all... But it works!

   In other nail news, I haven't really been doing much with my nails. I've been busy with work and other junk, so I've been slacking on nail designs... Hopefully I'll have time this weekend, but it might not be until next weekend... :(
   I will be continuing my Doll series though! I've got about 4 or 5 more dolls I want to design some nails after!

  Have a great rest of the week!

Doll Nail Art Challege: #3

It's been forever since I posted. I just started a new job and I've had a million other things going on, and I just haven't had time!

This week's (well, it's actually from last week... That shows you how far behind I am!) design is another from my doll series. She is a doll from Tudor England, about 1590s. Her bodice has a beautiful design on it! I tried to recreate it on my middle finger, and it worked for the most part. It's just such an intricate design...

For the majority of my nails, I used Cover Girl Boundless Color Plum Pudding and made the dots with Maybelline Color Show Bold Gold and Stripe Rite Cream. For my middle finger I used Stripe Rite Cream for the base and Cover Girl Boundless Color Plum Pudding with a thin layer of Sally Girl Pink (EH2901) to make it a lighter shade than the other nails.

On another note, if you remember my last post, I mentioned some embroidered cards I was making. Well, I decided to sell them on Etsy! If you want to look at them, you can go here.

Have and awesome weekend/week!

Embroidered Cards

   This is yet another off-subject post. I really do try to keep focused on nails, but I just can't help myself!
    My newest artistic endeavor is embroidering cards! I had these blank card-shaped bits of card stock lying around my room, and they were pretty lonely. I had been trying to think of how I wanted to decorate them and yesterday it hit me! I wanted to embroider them! But I had no idea how.... So after lots of research I finally figured it out! I found this awesome post about how to embroider cards (apparently you have to poke all of the holes before hand, which makes it super complicated if you want to do anything more than a regular stitch!). It was super helpful! I also found this amazing site that shows you step by step (with awesome, helpful pictures) how to do millions of different embroidery stitches! It's awesome!
   So far I've made three cards and am thinking up a fourth. I think I'm probably going to put them up on my Etsy to see if people like them. If they seem to do good, I'll make more and maybe open up a different shop for them so I don't have this random mish-mash of stuff in my current store. :)

   Here are some pictures!

 

  In other fun news (still not nails, sorry), I have a new (to me, anyway) old fairy tale book! Fairy tales are my weakness, and so are old books, so I absolutely can't resist an old book of fairy tales! Last week I bought an old book full of French fairy tales (it's written in English though, so I can read it!) from 1869. 1869! My oldest book yet for sure. Before this one my oldest was 1896 or so. And it's in pretty good condition. The front cover is barely held on by a bundle of threads on the inside, but other than that and one loose page the binding is great! It's amazing! 
   It's interesting though, because instead of the fairy tales being 5-15 pages like you usually see them, they're lots and lots of pages and have chapters! In my book there are only around 5 tales, but it's a decently thick book. I haven't started reading it yet (I'm waiting to finish my current book), but I can't wait! I'm so excited!

 
   I got so sidetracked raving about its awesome-ness, that I forgot to tell you guys the name! It's called (predictably) French Fairy Tales and was written by Madame la Comtesse de Segur. I absolutely loved her dedication! It reads:

To my Granddaughters,

Camille and Madeline de Malaret

My very dear children:

Here are the tales with which you were so well pleased, and that I promised you to have published.

In reading them, dear little ones, think of your old grandmother, who, to please you, has left her seclusion, and offered to public criticism the name of 

Comtesse de Segur 

   Isn't that great? She loved her grandbabies for sure! :)


   That's about it for now. And I might be getting a little sleepy...

   Have a wonderful night! (Or day, depending on where you are)  :)