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!

Antler Tree

   I recently made the mistake of looking at a Pier 1 catalog. I could easily waste so much money there. I love pretty dishes and furniture! They are definitely one of my biggest weaknesses. Especially dishes...

   I love this plate! I really like how the antlers are trees and have little birds on them. I thought it was so cute!

   I wasn't about to try and paint the actual deer, but I had to paint the rest. I started with my favorite cream base, China Glaze Oxygen. To make the antlers, I used a thinned out brown (Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out), and added a bit of highlighting with a lighter brown (OPI A-Piers To Be Tan).

  To make the birds, I started by drawing out their basic shapes with white acrylic paint. Then I painted their coats (color markings? feather patterns?) with whatever colors fit the breed I wanted. But I probably made up a breed or two... Who knows! I kind of just painted... But I do have a cardinal! And maybe some sort of chickadee?

   Then I painted some green leaves with a thinned out Revlon Colorstay Spanish Moss. On my thumb, pinky, and right hand, I used Orly FX Starburst.

   Have a great weekend!

French Fairy Tales

   In addition to loving calligraphy, I also love fairy tales! I might have mentioned this once or twice before... This week's mani was inspired by a fairy tale in one of my old fairy tale books, simply titled, French Fairy Tales. It has three or four longer tales, more like a chapter book.

   The first story, called Blondine, Bonne-Biche, and Beau-Minon, is about a princess who tricked into wondering into the enchanted forest by a boy who was overcome with a love for bonbons. There's a lot more to the story than that, but it would take a while to tell. You can read the story here.

   I took my inspiration from her carriage and the forbidden lilac woods. This passage: "
The garden in which Blondine drove in her little carriage, drawn by ostriches and guided by her little coachman, Gourmandinet, was separated by a grating from an immense and magnificent forest, called the Forest of Lilacs because during the whole year these lilacs were always covered with superb flowers. No one, however, entered these woods. It was well known that it was enchanted ground and that if you once entered there you could never hope to escape."
  I thought an ostrich-pulled carriage was just too funny!

   I also really liked the idea of lilac woods, it sounded really pretty. After doing some research, it seemed a little hard to draw, so I went with some wisteria instead. It's still purple, right? Besides, wisteria is just so darn pretty! I love how it hangs down. If I could ever grow some, I would! I'm not too thrilled about how the ostrich came out, but I'm pleased with the rest of it.

   To make the lilac/wisteria woods, I started with a cream base. Then I drew on some trunks using Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out. For the purple I used three different shades of purple; China Glaze Sweet Hook, Nina Ultra Pro Lilac-ing Discipline, and OPI I Vant to Bite Your Neck. For the grass, two greens; Revlon Colorstay Spainsh Moss and L'Oreal New Money. To get the dappled look in the grass and wisteria, I thinned out the polishes and dabbed them on somewhat haphazardly.
   The carriage was made with white, black, and Maybelline Color Show Bold Gold. The ostrich with China Glaze Pelican Grey, Maybelline Color Show Neutral Statement, white, and black.

   I think I wold have loved this design if it looked more like my left hand - all wisteria woods and no carriage! The carriage and ostrich aren't bad, but (as always) it looked a bit different in my head. Not too terrible though for my first real attempt at an full animal. I didn't know what to expect!

   I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! 

Peacock Stamp Review

   Last week I finally got around to my final review from my bag of goodies from Born Pretty! I'm desperately hoping things will quiet down again soon. This first week of class hasn't gone as anyone planned, and we all hope it never happens again!
   This review is on a really pretty peacock stamping plate, #BP-04. You can use code AIBW10 to get 10% off your order at Born Pretty.

  It's full of really pretty peacock prints. The main, largest design is really pretty. It's what first caught my eye. Then as I started thinking about my design and another smaller design caught my attention. I liked the shape of this one, and the three distinct feathers. It was really easy to apply, which is great! Like my last stamped design, I used reverse stamping. To get the stamp on two fingers, I just cut the design in half before placing it on my fingers.

   For the stamped fingers, I started out with a base of Orly French Manicure Pink Nude. I painted Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Jungle Gem. It is a little dark in places; when I went to put the design on my finger, I pushed on it too hard so I smudged it and had to go back in and fix it. The green I used was Pure Ice Saddle Me Up, and the yellow was Pure Ice Excuse Me. For my other fingers I used Zoya Pixie Dust Vega again. I just love that glitter! And I thought it was appropriate to have flashy polish with a flashy bird.

   (Fogrive the chipping. Like I said, it's been crazy here.)
   I also tried out a new top coat with this design, Revlon Transforming Effects Matte Pearl  Glaze. It's so pretty! I don't know if you can really see it, it was really hard to get a picture of it. I put a gloss coat over top of it because I thought gloss was better with this design than the matte.

   I hope your all's week was better than mine. Here's for a better week!

Thanksgiving!

   Despite being way ahead of seasons this year, I am super excited for Thanksgiving! I love all the food, and of course seeing my family. I don't get to see my cousins enough. My roommate and some friends had our own small Thanksgiving this past Saturday and it was lots of fun! We didn't burn the turkey or anything, so we were happy. I don't think any of us ate any supper that night, we ate too much at lunch!

   Anyway, back to nails. I of course had to paint some Thanksgiving-themed nails for this week, in honor of the holiday. I found the perfect inspiration on Pinterest!

   Aren't they so cute?! I found them a couple weeks ago and knew I had to paint them!

   I started with two different bases; the Indians/turkeys have an Orly French Manicure Pink Nude base, and the Pilgrims have an Orly FX Starburst base (although you can't really tell...). I thought the glitter in Starburst would be really cute, but the minions are too big! Oh well, you see it on my right hand -

   To make the minions, I started with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow.
   For the Indians/turkeys, I painted the turkey feathers next, using Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Butterscotch, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed, L'Oreal He Read My Mind, and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out.
   For the Pilgrims, after painting Mellow Yellow, I painted the hat next, using OPI A-Piers to Be Tan. To make the buckle I painted a yellow square (over top white, to make the yellow pop), and then used my black striper.

   Next I painted their faces, starting with China Glaze Pelican Grey for the goggles, then white and black for the eyes and mouth. To make the teeth I used the tip of my smallest brush. It works really great if you leave a bit of the previous polish on and let it dry so it makes a firm point (you can clean it off later). I used OPI A-Piers to Be Tan for their shirts and black for the buttons. Then I topped it all off with a matte top coat!

   After tomorrow at 12pm, I am done with class and officially on Thanksgiving break! I'm so excited! I won't have any new posts until I get back, I don't want to mess with carting polishes home this week. Besides, when I'm not at work, I'll be to busy visiting with my family!

   Have a wonderful week and a great Thanksgiving to those of you celebrating!

Fall is Coming...!

   Like last year, Fall has taken me over! I'm super excited for it and still convince that it is the best season ever. I feel really sorry for you guys that don't really get this season. You're missing out!
   I haven't really painted any fall designs on my own fingers yet, but I have made up a few sets for my Etsy store!

   This first one is a design you might have seen before; I painted it on my fingers not quite two years ago.

  I bought a new brown a couple weeks ago - Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out - and, despite not liking it at first, it has become one of my favorite bases. For the leaves I drew them out with a white striper first (so the colors would be bright) and then used orange, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed, red, L'Oreal He Red My Mind, and green, L'Oreal New Money. I used a small brush to add in the brown veins, and then topped it with a matte coat.
   You can find this here in my shop.

   This next design was inspired by some cute Halloween fabric I found at work (JoAnn Fabrics). You can see it here.

   It didn't turn out quite like I wanted, but I think it's still cute! I'll probably tweak it at some point. I started with a base of Revlon Colorstay Indigo Night. Then I drew on the pumpkin shapes with my white striper and then went over them in yellow, Revlon Colorstay Buttercup, red, L'Oreal He Red My Mind, or orange, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed. I painted the crows and the designs in the pumpkins with some black polish and a small brush, then I gave the crows their eyes and beaks. I finished this one with a matte topcoat as well.
   You can find this here in my shop.

   This last one was inspired by a cute Halloween pin I found.

   It's really simple and easy to make, and has the added bonus of being cute! I started this one with a very thin nail-toned base (the base is optional, I just use it because I like to). I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed to make the orange tip. Then I used my black striper to creating the stitching/Frankenstein look.
   You can find this here in my shop.

   You can find all of my Fall and Halloween designs in this section of my shop!

   That's all for now. Last week was busy so I didn't really paint a design on my fingers. My roommate and I had matching brown glittered fingers. I meant to take a picture for you guys (it was a really pretty brown!), but I forgot to take it before I went home over the weekend, and then I didn't have my camera, and then it started peeling.... But I should have something new soon!

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Dots and Feathers

  I don't really have a lot to show you guys today. I've got two designs, but they're both pretty simple. For the most part, anyway. I've actually had two designs on my fingers since I showed you all my leaf design, but they both were a little goofy looking. They didn't turn out at all like I wanted, and they were just slapped on so my nails weren't bare.
   For the last half of this week I've had a simple dot design on my nails. I like it for the most part, but it really only did like it was supposed to on one finger. I'm never good at purposefully random designs. Mine are either a mess or laid out and precise. I just can't do things like randomized dots. At least it doesn't seem like I can to me. Maybe that's just me being really picky again, who knows! Anyways, here's the design and you can judge for yourself.

   I've come to like it more each time I see it. It's a nice and easy (and quick!) manicure.

   I had a friend request some feather nails after she had seen them in one of my facebook albums.

    I hadn't made feather nails of any sort since I first tried them out a little over a year ago. I had been putting off posting them in my Etsy store because I was so apprehensive about it. When I did them on my own nails, I had to do touch ups every few days because a corner of the feather would try to peel off. They lasted a really long time (around two weeks or so), but I wasn't sure how customers would like having to put some clear polish on corners every now and then.

    And now that I've made some on fake nails, I'm even more worried! Apparently feathers don't like curved surfaces at all. My nails are fairly flat, but my fake nails are not. At all. It was such a chore getting those feathers to stick!
  I think over all they turned out pretty well. Feathers are just so cool on nails! I just really hope they last for her.


   That's about all of my updates for now! I'm off to do another quickie design on my fingers to last me until Monday or so when I put on my first Halloween design! I'm still undecided on whether or not I want to do owls or the cat first....

   Have a wonderful weekend!!