New Sets!

   I have some new sets available in my shop! I've taken way too long to put something new up. I've had several fall and Christmas sets ready for a while, but I just got busy and forgot about them. So they'll just go up next season instead!

   This first set is one I've been wanting to remake for months. I didn't like my first version of Pocahontas nails, but it was the best I could come up with at the time. This version has 1 similar nail, her turquoise necklace. The others are new. Her tattoo on her arm is the other accent nail, and the other three are based off the Colors of the Wind song.

   You can find it here in my shop.

   My Sleeping Beauty inspired set has been a long time coming. When I made the Disney Princess sets, I never could get the design right. Six months later, I finally got it! And, yes, you can get it in pink.

   You can find the set here in my shop.

   This is my first new Valentine's set! I have plans for another one that will be neat... 

   You can find this one here in my shop.

Vintage Roses

   Sorry I've been so silent, I've been of vacationing and then working on a boat load of orders. Hopefully now that I'm done with summer vacations and getting ready for school, things will quiet down and I'll be posting and painting more regularly.

   This week I painted an old Etsy set.

   I wasn't a fan of this set originally - I like my flowers and things to be more realistic usually. But after painting it recently for an order, it started to grow on me.

   I started with a base of OPI My Dogsled Is A Hybrid and Revlon Colorstay Sure Thing. I used a white striper to make the dots and stripes. To make the roses, I started with Finger Paints Far Out Fuchsia. Then I swirled on various amounts of Revlon Colorstay Card Shark and Finger Paints Plum Perspective.


   Have a great week!

New Polishes!

   I have a ton of new polishes now, thanks to Wondrously Polished! She was moving last week and had to clean out a lot of her stash, so she was selling it to whoever wanted it. I have a bunch of pretty ones now!

   I have a bunch of swatches for you all too.

   This is two coats of Sephora's Formula X Ur . It's a neat polish. It's very subtly textured, similar to those sand polishes that were really popular last year or so.

   I hate removing glitter polish (I haven't discovered a great method for me yet), so for the glitters that I'm swatching I just put on some fake nails. This is Wet-n-Wild Cost Is No Issue. I don't really need this description, it's all on the picture! I really liked how this one looked over top a teal.

   I've always said I don't like holos, but I was so wrong! I own two now and I love them! This is Liquid Sky Lacquer What Was Your Name Again, around 3 coats, I think. Holos are so shiny and pretty......

   This is two coats of Rescue Beauty Lounge Insouciant. It's a really neat purpley-grey polish, with a slight blue sheen that you can see in the sun. I really like this color!

   Three coats of Girly Bits Well Isn't That Special, another pretty holo! I really like this shade of purple; this is the reason purple is one of my favorite colors.

   This is more or less one coat of Hare Polish's Teen Queen, a pretty blue and pink glitter. I love how it looks over these two colors, Spelling Bee and That's Hula-rious. It reminds me of spring and speckled bird's eggs.


   I don't have a swatch of Model's Own , it's essentially the same as a polish I already own, Studio M On the Field. If you really want to see it, you can stop in my shop and take a peek.

   I've updated all of my solid set listings over my vacation, so once my shop is open again you should be able to find all of these in my shop.

   I've been traveling all over the south this week, so I don't have any new designs. I thought I'd have one to show you all, but I forgot to take a picture. Something about traveling just makes me forget...


   Anyways, I should have more soon! I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Pineapple Accent

   This design was from two weeks ago. I went a little out of order on my last post so that Memorial Day's design would be somewhat close to Memorial Day. I've gotten a little behind again...

   I absolutely loved the pineapple design I painted last month, it's so cute and summery! I've gotten a new brush since then, and I wanted to retry the design with it, as well as make an accent set for my shop. I absolutely love my new brush, it's amazing! It came from Born Pretty, you can find it here.

   The pineapples were made the same way as last time. I used Revlon Colorstay Sure Thing as my base. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Butterscotch was the base of the pineapples, with a very thinned out OPI A-Peirs To Be Tan for the outlines. Revlon Parfumerie Balsam Fir was used for the fronds/leaves. On the rest of my fingers I used Studio M On The Field.

   You can find this set here in my shop! I also have a full set of pineapples, which you can find here.

   I hope you have a great week!

Marbled

   This is an extension of sorts of the pysanka design I posted earlier this week. I didn't dare attempt to paint the deer on my right hand, but I knew I didn't want it to be just a plain solid color.

   I started with a base of Orly Teal Unreal. To give the marbled effect, I thinned out some of Studio M Blue Ming. Then I dabbed it on with a smallish brush, making sure it wasn't too thick in some places. Once I was satisfied with the pattern, I sealed it with a matte top coat.

   This is super easy to make and looks really neat!

   You can find it here in my Etsy shop. I plan on adding some other colors too!

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Daisies and Dots

   Last week I was a little lazy... I've been in a bit of a creative slump recently. I really hope I pull out of it soon! So to make up for it, I painted an old Etsy set. Believe it or not, but I'm still trying to paint all of my Etsy sets onto my own nails. I've just gotten really slow at it!

   This design is crazy simple and really easy to recreate. I started with a base of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure. Next, using a white striper, I essentially made an asterisk *. I made each petal individually (it's easier for me that way), but you could certianlly make it however you want! Next I used a small-medium sized dotter to make the yellow centers. I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow. Lastly, I used my smallest dotter to make the white dots inbetween flowers. If you don't have a dotting tool, then a toothpick or small brush would also work!

   You can find the Etsy set here in my shop. It's great for spring! (Shameless plug, I know, but sometimes you have to!)

   I hope you all have a great week!

Orange Flowers

   About a year and a half ago I painted this set for a friend at church to wear on her trip to Hawaii. I've since had it up on my Etsy shop and though tit was about time I got around to painting it on my own fingers!

   It was originally an attempt at one-stroking some flowers. I ended up not being very  good at it, so it slowly morphed into this version, where all I did was paint some white petals and then paint a layer of orange over top (with it being thinner on the top and thicker in the middle of the flower).

   To make this set, I started with a base of Pure Ice Honey Do. It's a really old color that I've had for years (since I first started nail art almost 3 years ago!), so you might not be able to buy it anymore. To make the flowers I used Revlon Colorstay Sure Thing and Nina Ultra Pro Tangerine Dream. The dots and swirls were also made with Sure Thing.

   You can find it in my shop through the link at the top of the post.

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

New Spring Sets

   I have a few new sets to show you all this week! They are all old designs, but they're new to my shop. They're almost all flowers, so they are just in time for spring (and summer!).

   This first one you saw in my last post. I really liked how it turned out and think it will go over well with my customers. You can find it here in my shop.

   This one is from several months ago (you can read the original post here). I've always really liked this one; colorful and trendy, but simple. It was inspired by some fabric that always reminds me of an art deco print. You can find the set here in my shop.

   This one was inspired by some pretty stationary by the Rifle Paper Company. You can see the original post from a few months ago here. You can find the set here in my shop.

   This last one was a custom set for a customer on Etsy. You can read the original post here and find it in my shop here.

  I hope you all have a fabulous week/weekend!

Black Matte Glitter Gradient

   So, it's official - this semester is nuts! I've had so much going on the past few months it's been hard to keep up. It's looking like things will be getting back to normal, but we'll see... I hope it does!
   This design (from about three weeks ago) is based off a custom order I had a few months ago.

   The original design had the glitter on just the ring finger, but for me, I liked it better with all the nails glittered. For the glitter gradient I mainly used Finger Paints Wrapped in Ribbon (a fine glitter) and a little bit of Wet 'N Wild Fergie Glamorous (large glitter). My base was a black polish, I used Finger Paints Black Expressionism. Then I topped it all with a matte top coat!

   This one is available in my shop, you can find it here.

   I hope you all have a great week!

Christmas Lights

   Merry Christmas! A little early, I know, but what's a few hours?

   Today I have another Etsy "re-paint" - I have a bunch of Christmas/winter designs that I've made throughout the year, so I figure now it the perfect time to paint them!

   This design uses real thread! I found the idea at least a year ago on Pinterest. The trick is to get good, tightly wound (?) thread that doesn't have many (if any) little fibers sticking out. If you look at the next picture and make it larger, you'll see what I mean. The thread I used the first time was not great.

bad thread

good thread

   I started by cutting off a longish length of thread. I used Nina Ultra Pro French White as my base. When my second coat was about halfway dry (still a little sticky) I put on the thread, carefully pushing it into the white polish with my nail (or something thin). Be careful not to press your finger into the paint, I had several partial finger prints on a couple nails!

   For the lights, I used Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow, and Studio M On the Field, and a small brush.
   I've found that it sometimes helps to paint a top coat layer before painting the lights to help keep the thread in place. It just kind of depends on how dry/moist the white polish was at the time of applying the thread, as well as how curved the nail is. You'll know if you need it, the ends of the thread will start lifting up.

   You can find the set in Etsy here.

   I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Candy Canes and Snowflakes

   I know I've been a bit quiet the past few days. I've still been painting, but I've had no time to blog! My mom had some surgery last Wednesday and I've been busy running around caring for her. She's doing pretty good now and can do a lot of basic stuff on her own now, so I've got more time to myself now.
   Last week I painted another Christmas set from my Etsy store - candy canes!

   This one is super easy to make! I used Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet for my red nails and Nina Ultra Pro French White as the base for my candy cane accent. To make the stripes I used a red striper and a silver striper. Then I just topped it off with my base coat. Super easy!

   Forgive the terrible picture quality... The lighting was terrible the day I took this and then the polish started chipping before I had a chance to take another picture.
   I picked up a gorgeous new red glitter polish at Meijer a few days ago and I just had to try it out - Wet 'N Wild Fergie No Place Like Home. It's so pretty, and very festive. I think it's a limited edition polish, unfortunately. I told my mom that I need to go and buy another bottle so I have it when mine runs out!
   I think I'm going to offer this glitter as another option for the candy cane set. I think it looks fantastic!


   In other polish news, I finally painted my toes again! It's been forever, I know. I've really been slacking with them. But I guess it doesn't matter since it's cold and no one sees my toes this time of year anyway.

   I of course had to use No Place Like Home again. I think it's officially my new favorite glitter polish! I also used Finger Paints Wrapped in Ribbon for the gold glitter accents. For the snowflakes I just used my white striper.

   I have a bunch of new updates for this week, so stay tuned!

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Christmas Sweater

   Several months ago I painted this Christmas sweater set for my Etsy store, along with some other winter designs. Now that it's officially winter, it's time to paint them on my own fingers!

   I absolutely love sweaters, they're so warm and comfy! For this design I started with my favorite base, Orly French Manicure Pink Nude. The red I used was Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet, and the green was Studio M On the Field.

   To make the stars/flowers, I started with making the middle dot. Then I painted each diamond, going all the way around the circle, one at a time. I tried making the diamonds first when I first created the design, but making the dot first is a whole lot easier for me. It really helped me keep things evened out.

   For the other nails, I started with a wide red line. Next I added the small squares to make the red strip have an uneven line. I painted the green line with a thin brush. To make the green squares, I started by drafting it first in white so that the green pops against the red. Then I just painted over the white in green, fixing any mistakes with a red striper and a short brush (I can't control the long ones very well).

   As I mentioned, I do have this set in my shop if any of you are interested in it! You can find it here.

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Halloween!

   So I'm a few days late, but you probably expect that by now. Sorry guys! This year for Halloween I painted a cute skeleton design I've had on my Pinterest for a while. Skeletons aren't really my thing, which is why it's been sitting there for a few years, but this one is neat. You might have seen this one about a month ago, I made it into an Etsy set first.

  I started with a black base, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out. I used a combination of my white striper to make the skeleton. I outlined and colored in the basic shape, and then used my dotter to make the teeth and nose, and a brush to make the eyes. To make the teeth I made a row of black dots and then made some smaller white dots inside to get the outlined look. Then I finished it out with a matte top coat.

   As I mentioned, this is in my Etsy shop. It's a little out-of-season now, but you can still look at it! You can find it here.

   I have a review coming up next! The Born Pretty Store has sent me some awesome new goodies....

   Have a great week!

Fall Fox

   I am super in love with these foxes! They're so cute!

   I originally found it on Pinterest, and I knew I had to paint it! It was just so cute! I started with my favorite cream base, Orly French Manicure Softest White. To make the fox, I started with L'Oreal He Red My Mind. I used a white striper for all of the white on him, and black on a dotter for his feet, eyes, and nose. His ear shadowing was made with a thinned out brown (Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out).

   For the leaves I used orange (L'Oreal He Red My Mind), green (Revlon Colorstay Spanish Moss), yellow (Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Butterscotch), and brown (Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out), all slightly thinned.

   I also made this in to an Etsy set, so you can buy it! You can find it here in my shop. I made the fake set first, so of course it looks slightly better.

   I hope you guys had a fantastic weekend! I'm on my fall break, so I know I will! My mom went to the Biltmore mansion for the weekend. I'll have to show you some pictures when I get back.

Watercolor Flowers

   This is a remake of sorts of a design I painted on my toes back in July. I absolutely loved it and knew I wanted to paint it on my fingers once I finished with Disney Princesses. It's been in my Etsy shop for a while (you can find it here). It was based off this pin.

   I started with my favorite base! I used up my Revlon version (which is sadly no longer made!), so this is an almost exact match, Orly French Manicure Softest White.  It's just such a great color. It goes with everything, but it isn't as stark and glaring as white; it's... softer.

   To make the flowers I used orange (L'Oreal He Red My Mind), yellow (Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Butterscotch), and brown (Finger Paints Sketchy Character). To make the watercolor effect I used my polish thinner (two drops for the orange and brown , one for the yellow).

   To make the leaves, I used Revlon Colorstay Spanish Moss. I used the same thinning method for the leaves as for the flowers. I used two drops of the thinner. It goes on really thin at first, but then I go over select spots a second time to give it more texture.

   We're finally up to date! I just repainted my fingers two days ago, so I ought to have a post up soon. I also have made several new fall sets for my shop! I'm excited to show you guys everything!

   Have a great week!

Disney Princess Challenge #12: Snow White

   This week is Snow White! My design isn’t much different from most of the Snow White designs. I couldn’t think of any design that looked any better than those already out there, so I just combined the ones that I thought were best.

   For the accent I painted her red headband. I started with a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out to look like her hair. For the bow I used my red Stripe Rite striper because it shows up really well on top of anything and doesn’t really need a white layer underneath to it make it pop.

   For the rest of my fingers I combined her sleeves with her yellow skirt. I started with a yellow base, Revlon Colorstay Buttercup. I really like the lightness of this yellow, I think it’s so pretty! For Snow White’s sleeves I started with a blue base of Revlon Colorstay Indigo Night. Then I used my red Stripe Rite striper for the slits and the sleeve hem.

   I have this set available in my Etsy shop! You can find it here.

   Next post is on to non-Disney designs! I really liked painting the Princesses, but I'm ready for something new. I have some other Disney characters I want to paint – Alice (Alice in Wonderland), Giselle (Enchanted), and a few others – but I’ve come across some other designs I really want to paint as well. So eventually I'll get back to Disney, but for now it's on to something new!

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!