Luck o' the Irish

Hello Lovelies! Today, I have some fun St. Patrick's Day nails to share with you. I created these nails for this week's WNAC, luck of the Irish prompt. Of course, I had to go with iconic clovers because what could be luckier. 

Materials I used:

Base coat - Dream Polish 'Smooth Gem'

Polish - Lacquered Polish 'Irish Creme'

Matte topcoat Nicole by OPI

Gel pens 

I started off with one of my favorite nude color, Lacquered Polish 'Irish Creme' it's a beautiful neutral with just a touch of gold in it. 

For this design, I decided to finally try out gel pens. I've seen some really great nail art designs created with gel pens and when I found this rainbow pack of gel pens I couldn't resist. 

I first tried using the gel pens over a gloss topcoat. This didn't work out to well, the pens didn't draw smoothly, and wiped off easily. I ended up using a matte topcoat to help with the application.  I simply drew clovers in various colors, randomly over all my nails. 

Usually, I perform a bit of a cleanup and apply a topcoat, but in this case I didn't do either because I didn't need to cleanup and I liked the matte finish. 

These were really easy and fun to create. The gel pens were easy to work with once I applied the matte topcoat. I would recommend you give them a try.  I hope you enjoyed this nail art design. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time. 

Your Fellow Plebe,

Lattice Lace with Heart French Tip

Hello Lovelies! Today, I have my lace nails for this week's WNAC.  I had a really epic break on my left hand, so it has gone into hiding for awhile.  However, I thought it was time I really challenge myself, and do some freehand on my cindy hand.  This is after all a weekly challenge, so why not push myself just a little bit.

Materials I used:
Basecoat - Dream Polish 'Smooth Gem'
White acrylic paint
Small detail brush (I recently won in a giveaway from IAMCCC, you can find it in her store)
Glitter or Die 'Romantic Tutu'
Dotting tool
Topcoat - Glisten & Glow 'HK Girl'

I started off with a base coat of Dream Polish's 'Smooth Gem' base coat.  This has become one of my favorite base coats because I have pretty significant ridges and this really helps hide them.  Unlike other ridge filler base coats I've tried, this is not thick and goopy and applies like a dream.  Also, it dries relatively clear which makes it perfect for doing french tip or negative space designs.

Using white acrylic paints and a small detail brush, I painted a criss-cross lattice pattern over the entire nail.  With the same paint and brush I filled in the tip with a somewhat heart shape french tip.  Switching to polish I filled in the very tip of the white french tip, leaving a boarder.  I then used a dotting tool and dotted the crosses of the lattice as well as small dots along the white board of the french tip.

I performed a small bit of clean up with gentle acetone and a brush, and topped off with a shiny quick drying topcoat.

So, my execution on this design isn't the greatest, but considering this is all done with my non-dominant hand, which hasn't really been put to task in a while it's really not all that bad.  With this design I have completed another month worth of WNACs.  I will be attempting to complete these challenges for the next couple months before I have to take a hiatus for our new little man's arrival.  I hope you all enjoyed this nail art design and the brief tutorial.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

   

Gender Reveal Nails

IHello Lovelies!  Awhile back I made a personal announcement that my husband and I were expecting our second child.  Since, then I have had many inquires as to the babies gender.  We did find out a couple of months ago, but I thought it would be fun to create a gender reveal manicure in conjunction with a mini tutorial, to share with all of you.  If you just want to know the gender and can't sit through a tutorial, go ahead and skip through to the end.

I started off with a solid white base, using Color Club 'On Cloud Nine.'

Then I stamped the chevron image from Pueen plate 03 in one of my Mundo de Unas stamping polishes, no I'm not telling you or showing you what color yet.

Using a small dotting tool and yet another Mundo de Unas polish I added cute little foot prints.  Using the smaller side of the dotting tool, I placed five cute little piggies (toes).  Then using the larger end I added the ball of the foot, and then the heel.  I connected the ball and heel with a little arch, dragging the dotting tool in an almost half circle shape.

I repeated this on my pointer finger, reversing the foot to make a left and a right.  I did a small bit of clean up with gentle acetone and a brush, and applied a glossy topcoat.

So, is the anticipation killing you?  Are you dying to know if it's a boy or a girl?

That's right, we're having a boy!  We are all very excited!  My daughter has been asking for a baby brother since day one of the pregnancy.  Plus, this is the first male grandchild in a family bursting with girls.  Needless to say he's going to be spoiled just a bit.  I'm currently 28 weeks along (aka 7 months), and I'm looking forward to meeting our new bundle of fun.  Already, in the womb he is a very active baby, so I know I'll have my hands full when he arrives.

Thank you to all who have shown interest and provided well wishes to myself and my family.  I hope you enjoyed this nail art tutorial and gender reveal nail art design.  Thanks for stopping by see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

For those of you who are interested I used the following materials:

Basecoat - Dream Polish 'Smooth Gem'

White polish - Color Club 'On Cloud Nine'

Pueen image plate 03

Mundo de Unas stamping polish - 'Light Blue' & 'Neon Blue'

Fab Ur Nail squishy stamper and scraper

Topcoat - Glisten & Glow 'HK Girl'

Rosy Spiderweb

Hello Lovelies! I enjoyed my previous mani so much that I decided to take another creepy theme and give it an elegant twist. Many people are horrified and disgusted by spiders, I personally find them tolerable except if they're on me. I decided it was time to give spiders a prettier appearance...

Materials I used:
Basecoat - Superchic Lacquer "Bring it On!"
Bornprettystore.com stamping plate - QA26 item
Mundo  De Unas "Silver" stamping polishes

XL squishy stamper and scraper from Fab Ur Nails

Polishes - China Glaze "Seeing Red", "Spring in My Step", & "Petal to the Metal"

Green Nailart striper
Dotting tool
Small Brush
Spider charm from Bornprettystore.com item #16739
Topcoat - Superchic Lacquer "Marvel"

I stamped spider web images over all my nails directly over a clear basecoat.  I varied the direction of the webs just to keep things interesting.

I then hand painted roses over the webs.  I used a medium sized dotting tool to create roundish red and pink dots. Then using a small detail brush and medium pink polish I drew semi circles and dots over both the red and light pink flowers. I repeated this pattern with white over the light pink and the red to give it more depth.  Lastly, I added green leaves for more color.

Since I varied the direction of the webs, I also varied the area that I placed the roses on each nail.  I performed a clean up with gentle acetone and a brush and added a topcoat. 

I then added a pretty spider charm amongst its beautiful rose garden.

I really like creating these more elegant and feminine Halloween designs and hope you enjoy them too. Also, be sure to use code CREATEX31 when you place your next bornprettystore.com order for 10% off.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

Witches Brew

Eye of newt, wing of bat, tail of rat, wolves fang, ravens claw, bones from the dead, and blood of the damned.  These are the ingredients that I stew in my witches brew. What is Halloween without an icky gross concotion?

Materials I used:
Basecoat - SuperChic Lacquer "Bring it On!"
Polish - Sparkle with Pop Polish "Lime Explosion"
Sinful Colors Glow in the Dark topcoat
Various stripers and acrylic paints
Small brushes and dotting tools
Topcoat - SuperChic Lacquer "Marvel"

Sparkle with Pop's "Lime Explosion" is an awesome lime green crelly with white circle and hex matte glitters. For this nail art design I used two coats, topped with two coats of GITD topper. I also applied a layer of quick drying topcoat because I used acrylic paints to create the design.

I then hand painted the various ingredients of my witches brew using strippers, and acrylic paint with dotting tools and small brushes.

The glow in the dark polish makes this fun and creepy when the lights go out.

These nails are perfect for Halloween!  You can put anything you'd like in this design, what would you put in your witches brew?  I hope you enjoyed these icky nails, thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

Poppin Bow

Hello Lovelies!  It has been a long while since I have done any kind of freehand nail art, so I decided to do a little.  I decided to make it a bit retro, because it's been a while since I've done anything retro too.

Materials I used:
Basecoat - SuperChic Lacquer "Bring It On!"
Polishes - Color Club "On Cloud Nine," "Sweet Getaway," "Je T'Aime," "Jitters," & Sinful Colors "Black on Black"
Small brush
Small dotting tool
Topcoat - SuperChic Lacquer "Marvel"

I began with a white base color on my pointer, mid, and ring fingers.  This is two coats of Color Club "On Cloud Nine," which smells like white chocolate.

Using a small brush I filled in the shape of a large bow on my mid finger and a stripe on both my pointer and ring fingers.  I used Color Club "Sweet Getaway," for the bow, it smells like roses.

I used a lighter pink to outline and add details to the bow and the stripes.  I did have to go back over some areas with white because I made some lines too thick.

Using a small dotting tool and black polish, I filled in the areas around the bows and stripes with polka dots.

For my thumb I did a simple black, and add a glitter to my pinky for a little bit of sparkle.  As usual I performed a bit of cuticle clean up with gentle acetone and a brush, and applied a glossy topcoat.

I repeated this on my right hand as well.  Unfortunately, my non-dominant hand is so out of practice, however I feel it turned out reasonably well.

There is something I really like about a black, white, and pink color scheme, and of course, I just love retro designs too.  So, all in all I am pretty pleased with this look.

However, I do feel my freehand needs a bit of work.  I was hoping freehand painting was going to be more like riding a bike.  You know one of those things you can pick up and do with ease, even if you haven't done it for a while.  Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case for me.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed this retro-ish nail art design.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,



Inside Out Movie Inspired

Hello Lovelies!  Last week's Nail Art Nation weekly prompt was the movie Inside Out.  I had the opportunity to see this movie with my daughter when it first came out and I really enjoyed it.  Even though I missed the Nail Art Nation deadline, I still wanted to create nails inspired by my favorite character from the movie.  Here is a clue to who he is...

Who's your friend who likes to play?
Bing Bong, Bing Bong
His rocket makes you yell "Hooray!"
Bing Bong, Bing Bong
Who's the best in every way, and wants to sing this song to say
Bing Bong, Bing BONG!

Bing Bong, is by far my favorite character.  For those of you who haven't seen this movie, he is Riley's imaginary friend.  He is this quirky creature made up of various animals such as an elephant, raccoon, rabbit and probably a few others.  His lifetime aspiration is to take Riley to the moon in his song powered wagon rocket ship.  This fury lovable guy, helps Joy and Sadness on their adventure through long-term memory.  I won't say anything more because I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.  However, he is an unforgettable character.

I started with a white base color, this time I used Color Club 'Blank Canvas'

I created rainbow stripes, representing the rainbow jets of Bing Bong's rocket wagon using watermarble stripes.  I simply created a rainbow bulls-eye using various shades of Ciate London.  I then stretched it to create curved oblong lines.

I tried dipping three fingers at once and end up with a bit of a problem on my pinky because I accidentally overlapped my fingers.

I ended up redoing my pinky, I performed a bit of clean up, added a bit of China Glaze 'Fairy Dust' to make it more magical, and topped it all off with a glossy topcoat.  I added an acrylic painted image of Bing Bong peaky over the tip of my nail.

I did a similar design on my right hand, except I painted his lapel flower instead.

I had some issues with the watermarbling on my right hand but I really like how the rainbow stripes turned out on the rest of my fingers.  The color is a little off on Bing Bong too but it was the closest I could mix up.

If you haven't seen Inside Out yet, I highly recommend it, even if you don't have kids.  It is a really cute movie, and easy to relate to too.  I hope you enjoyed my Bing Bong inspired nails.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time. 

Your Fellow Plebe,