Winter Glitter

   So I bought this new glitter from Born Pretty. It is awesome! It is varying shades of iridescent glitter, and is so pretty! You can find it here on their website.

  I think it's perfect for winter. Or whenever you want glitter. Whichever comes first! I started with a base of Girly Bits January Morning. I only painted two coats to leave it more sheer. Then I placed each glitter piece. (Which took forever! But it was worth it. It's so pretty!) I finished it of with a matte topcoat.

   This is on my right hand, so I think I'm going to try and keep it as long as possible!

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Snowmen

   This week I have some cute snowmen with crazy hats for you all!

   I love the accent. And the base color of the tiny snowmen. And the tiny snowmen. It's just so cute!
   For the accent snowman, I started with a white base, and then added one layer of Girly Bits January Morning to give it a bit of snow shimmer. I used my dotter for the eyes, mouth, and carrot nose. His hat was made with my green nail art pen (which somehow turned teal-ish), and two shades of grey for the fur.

   To make the tiny snowmen, I started with a base of January Morning (two coats to leave it sheer). Then I placed some really pretty iridescent glitter on top. I used my dotter to make the snowmen, and my tiny brish to make their hats and arms.

   I finished them all off with a matte top coat.

   I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Sweaters

   Last week I had this cute sweater design on my nails. I had tried this a few weeks before with gels, but I didn't know what I was doing and it looked awful. So this time I tried something different and got a much better result!

   For the sweaters, I started with a base of Orly Matte FX Purple Velvet. To make the raised designs, I used Purple Velvet again. I put a drop of the polish on a plate and let it sit for a tiny bit to let it thicken up ever so slightly. Then I used my tiny brush and painted on the designs. I found I liked it better with two layers, to make the design a little more raised.

   If I still had access to a UV/LED light (I don't own my own), I would have applied my matte gel top coat, and then painted on two-three layers of the design to give it a raised appearance. The first time I did, I painted it in reverse order, so it all ended up blending together and looking like I couln't paint a solid color.

   On my index and pinky fingers, I used Noodles Nails Berries and Cream. I love this color for winter! And I love it even better with a matte top coat.


   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

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!

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!

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!

Sugar Plum Fairy

   A few weeks ago (1? 2? I don't know...) I bought some awesome new polish from Noodles Nails. It's a pretty cream crelly with purple and pink glitters, called Berries and Cream.

   I love the color combinations and I think it will be a perfect winter polish. Getting somewhat ahead of the seasons, I made a (sort of) Nutcracker-themed design. Since there are some purple glitters in the polish, I thought I'd try and paint the Sugar Plum Fairy.

   I loosely based my design off of some images of the ballet costume, and added some fairy-wings on the other two nails. I had high hopes for this design, but I think it needs a bit of tweaking before Christmastime comes around...

I used mainly pinks and purples for the design. For the wings, I started by painting the basic shape with white paint. I went over the white with thinned out Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Don't Be Leotardy on the wing ends, fading into Nina Ultra Pro Plum of the Earth. The dark purple stripes were made with OPI Vant to Bite My Neck.

   The ballerina was made by (again) painting the basic shape with acrylic paint. I used Don't Be Leotardy and Plum of the Earth again for the Sugar Plum Fairy's leotard and tutu. Her skin color was made with an extremely thinned out L'Oreal Doutzen's Nude, and her hair with a thinned out Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out.


   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Glitter and Rudolph

   Like I said in my last post, despite not posting much recently, I have been busy painting! I have two new sets to show you guys.
   Back before I left for home, I painted my roommate's nails with a cute Rudolph design.

   I started with my favorite base, Orly French Manicure Pink Nude. Which still isn't pink. Ha. I painted the dots using Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet and Studio M On the Field. To make Rudolph, I started with his head an ears, using Nina Ultra Pro Beige-A Vu. To make the nose I used Red Carpet again,  and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out for the antlers. The eyes were made with white and black.


   This next set I think I painted around Christmas. Maybe as an interim between whatever I had before and the design I painted for Christmas? Who knows, it's been too long!

   The red glitter is one of my favorite glitters! It's so pretty and perfect for Christmas! It's Wet 'N Wild Fergie No Place Like Home. I love it! The gold is pretty too, I'm just a little besotted with No Place Like Home. The gold is Finger Paints Wrapped in Ribbon.


   I hope you all have a fantastic 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!

Christmas Plaid and Nail Stud Review

   Expect to see a lot of winter/Christmas designs this month, I'm still super excited!
   I also have a new bag of goodies from Born Pretty! This week I have a review on some triangle nail studs. I'm really into plaids at the moment, so I paired the studs with a cute Christmas-colored plaid!

   You might already know, but I'm not a big 3D nail art wearer. I like how it looks, but the 3D-ness of it kills me! I'm always knocking or catching them on something and they rarely last for more than a a couple days.
   These studs though are something I can get along with! They're a whole lot flatter so they don't get in the way and they don't catch on things near as much. I do have to put on two layers of my top coat so that the corners are fully covered and smoothed over (so they don't catch on things), but that's no big deal! They were pretty easy to apply too, so that's always great.
   Overall, I really liked them! They look nice and are a great way to spice up your nails.

   To make the plaid, I started with a red base, Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet. Next I used my white striper to lay down a lighter base for my green stripes (to help the color pop). The green I used was a mix of Studio M On the Field and a little bit of Revlon Parfumerie Balsam Fir. Next I used my black striper to add double lines over top the green, then I added some gold glitter lines with Finger Paints Wrapped In Ribbon.

   I have some new sets in my shop! I've put this design up, as well as my brown plaid design from a couple weeks ago. I'll probably add some color options for it eventually.
   You can find them here:
          Brown Plaid
          Christmas Plaid

   I have finals Wednesday and Thursday next week, so I might or might not get another design painted before then. I have a bunch of orders to paint too, so we'll see...

   I hope you all have a great weekend!

   You can use coupon code AIBW10 to get 10% off your order at Born Pretty!

Pine, Birch, and Holly

   Have I mentioned yet that I'm super excited for Christmas this year? Cuz I kinda am. Just a little. I really love all  the pine cone decorations people come up with for winter! I helped my friend make a pine cone wreath last year and I really want to make one for my own door this year! The only problem, is I have no pine cones laying around the yard, and I'm cheap and a little broke...
   Anyways, as you might have guessed, this week's design is inspired by trees (and bushes). Pine/fir trees and birch trees are my favorite trees! I love the bark on birch trees, and I just have so many fun memories of pines and firs, from climbing and hiding under them, to cutting one down for Christmas, they are by far my favorite tree. They just make me smile!

   To make the birch and holly nails, I started with a white base, Nina Ultra Pro French White. Then I slashed on some brown lines using Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out and then added some light sponging with a mix of L'Oreal Walk on the Beach and a tiny bit of Nina Ultra Pro Beige-A Vu. Next I painted some green holly leaves using Studio M On the Field mixed with a tiny bit of Revlon Colorstay Spanish Moss to make it a little darker. I painted the berries with Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet.

   For the pine cone nails I started with a base of L'Oreal Walk on the Beach. Using Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out, I painted some thin brown lines (for branches) and some pine cone shaped blobs. Next I painted the needles with the same green mixture used for the holly leaves (Spanish Moss and On the Field), adding in a few needles in Revlon Parfumerie Balsam Fir for shadowing. To finish out the pine cones, I painted on some tiny dots in Nina Ultra Pro Beige-A Vu on to the brown pine cone blobs.

   I attempted to add some snow to the scene by adding in some white on the pine cones and on the holly. I also added some glitter, Finger Paints Sparkle Top Coat, for effect. Maybe not particularly snow-like, but I liked it!
   You can watch a tutorial on the pine cones here, this is a much better explanation!

   This might be it for nails this week, finals start next week so I might be busy with them. Although mine aren't until Wednesday and Thursday, so we'll see....

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Birds and Stripes

   It's been a while since my last update. I kept my last design on so much longer than usual because I had quite a few orders, and they were all on different days, so I couldn't do it all at once like I usually do! But I eventually got around to it.
   After a very long break, I finally got around to painting my toenails again. I think the last time I painted them was back in October, or something ridiculous like that. Back at Christmastime I painted the ornaments on my fingers. I had been debating back and forth between two designs before I painted them - ornaments and birds. I had kind of forgotten about the birds until earlier this week.

   I got my inspiration from a few different pins, all with the same basic idea, birds in a winter scene of some sort. I used Pure Ice Bikini as the base, and then a mix of acrylic paints and polishes for the birds and evergreen branches. I think it was brown and green acrylic paints for the branches, and Nina Ultra Pro Tangerine, black, grey, and white paints for the bird. White acrylic paint for the snowflakes.

  On my fingers I painted some chevron stripes. I got my inspiration from a knit sweater I saw online.

   I really liked how it turned out! I used acrylic paints instead of polish, so it was a little easier to paint thin lines (in my opinion, anyway). The base was a new polish I got a few days ago, Revlon Brilliant Strength Entice. I got it thinking it would be a close match to a polish that I ran out of (it's no longer made), but it turned out not being as close as I had thought. Oh well, it's still a pretty color! I used one of my new Wistonia brushes to make the stripes.

   That's pretty much all the news I have. I thought I would have some new sets for Etsy to show you guys, but I was majorly distracted this week by some fun new projects. You'll probably hear something about them later, once they're complete.

   I hope you all have a great week! Stay warm, to those of you who are like me and stuck in this freezing snowy weather!

Purple Stripes, Purple Dots

   I made two different designs this week - one on my left on on my right. I started out with a tape block on my right hand. ...But it was late. And I was getting tired. So I painted some dots on my left hand to make it quick and easy.

  I also got some new supplies last week! I ordered some brushes, dotters, and tape from Wistonia. I really love them!

   The new things are the 3 brushes on the far left (with the interesting handles), the colorful dotters (they're double ended), and the tape farthest on the left. If you care to see more of them, you can find the brushes and dotters here, and the tape here.

  The taped color block was inspiration from a pin that I found a while ago. I absolutely loved it, but I just never had the right supplies to make it happen. The tape that I got in the mail was the perfect color - holographic silver, so I was finally able to paint it! 

   The original pin used these pretty shades of teal. I really like purple though (it's tied with green for my favorite color). It was a little obnoxious getting the tape onto my nails. I ended up up wasting a lot of tape. :(   I really like the end result though! I hope to put up a set in my Etsy eventually, in at least purple, but I was thinking maybe blue and pink too. Maybe. We'll see! My to do list for Etsy is sooo long and is always growing!

   This is my left hand! It's getting almost common - two posts in two weeks! As I mentioned earlier, this was an unplanned design. I was looking for something easy late at night, and this is what came up with! I wanted to use my new dotters, so what better to do than make dots!

   I also have a really old design (well, not super old, it's only from Christmas) to show you guys too. I painted a sweater design on my friends nails a week or so after Christmas.

   I painted a similar design two years ago on my toes for Christmas. It was a lot more difficult on finger nails instead of toe nails.  I think it turned out pretty well!

   That's about all the news for now! I'm only just now watching the new season of Sherlock, so I'm kind of distracted! :)

   I hope you guys have a wonderful week!

**UPDATE**

   So I was obviously severely distracted by Sherlock last night... (It was a fantastic episode!!) I should've just waited to type this until today! Blogging in the middle of Sherlock was obviously not one of my best ideas. This ended up being a super brief post! I went back through the post this morning and fixed all of my typos. Sorry guys! :)

   The one tidbit of opinion I left out that I really wanted to put in was about the tape. It looks fantastic, but if you knock your nails around a lot don't expect it to stay on for more that 3-4 days. It started peeling off my nails around day two and half or so. I'm really bad about knocking my nails around a lot at work, so it probably would have lasted a lot longer otherwise. Other than that and the application (which I'm pretty sure was at least partly due to my being impatient and not letting the polish dry quite long enough), the tape is really great!

Have a good rest of the week!

Retro Ornaments

   I was really torn this week on what design to paint for Christmas. I have seen some really cute Christmas/wintery bird fabrics, cards, and the like. But then I found some old ornaments that I really liked too! I got a free gel manicure a few days ago so I really wanted to choose something I really liked since it would last a lot longer than my own manicures do. I finally decided on the ornaments because I really really liked them and I could always paint the birds later as just a winter design instead of a Christmas one. So you'll probably see some birds in a few weeks!

    I really liked the shapes and potentially detailed designs I found in a lot of the 60's ornaments. I was inspired by this pin and this one, as well as somewhat by this fabric.

   I used a lot of acrylic paints this time. I bought a bunch of new paints and I wanted to see how much easier it would be than regular polish. And let me tell you, for the most part, it is infinitely easier! It doesn't dry up half so quickly as it set on my paint plate. It's not half so gloppy either. I'm not sure how often I'll use the acrylic paints, but they are nice and easy when I do use them!
   I have mostly Apple Barrel acrylic paints pretty much because they're the cheapest at JoAnn Fabric. There's nothing like convenience to get you to by one product over another! The colors I used were Regency Blue and Cardinal Crimson in the Apple Barrel brand and Rose Layette and Blanc d'Osier in the Folk Art brand. My base color was an OPI gel; maybe Did You 'ear About Van Gogh? I'm not 100% sure what color I picked... I also used my white Stripe Rite striper as well as Loreal New Money, Royally Reinvented, and Club Prive.

   I hope you all have an awesome Christmas!

A Long Overdue Update...

   I've made some more designs the past few weeks. I've had a fair amount of orders through my Etsy, so that combined with work and Christmas present wrapping has left me little time for blogging! :(
   I've finally painted the long-awaited (at least to me) Thanksgiving owls! I was super excited to finally get to paint them on my nails.

   How do you all like them? It was a lot harder to paint them on my nails. I have tiny fingers so it's sometimes difficult to paint a design on my own small nails when I've first painted them on larger fake nails! The Etsy set is available here, if you care to look, although it is a bit late in the season for Thanksgiving nails....

   And of course I had to paint my snowflake design on my nails. That design has become one of my favorites! If you care to look, they're in my Etsy here. I offer it in both red and blue.

   I was trying to think up a new Christmas design the other day and I came up with this idea:

   It's a Charlie Brown Christmas design! It didn't turn out quite like I hoped, but I'm still happy with it. I've got the pitiful tree, the other outrageously colored trees, Snoopy's decorated dog house, and Charlie Brown's shirt.

   For other news, I made a new Christmas card a few weeks back! I have to show it off, you know.

   It was inspired by some fabric I found at work. I'd been dying to do something with it, whether it be a card design or a nail design. I'll probably still do a nail design if I can manage it. We'll see....

   Well, as I'm sure you've noticed, once again I haven't been overly chatty. And I'm trying to muti-task, so that doesn't help!
   That's all the fun updates I have for now! Hopefully I'll be back with another post next week. Maybe. I'm supposed to be getting my wisdom teeth taken out next week so we'll see how much gets done; I might be too loopy to do much!

   Have a great week guys! Merry Christmas if I don't post again before then!