Studded Bow

Hello Lovelies! I have another mani recreation this evening for this week's "All in the Family" Nail Art Nation prompt. This one features another very talented artist,  Jessica Guilbe, aka @lolitajess. Jessica's designs always have a very feminine flair to them. I particularly like the way she uses charms and studs in her designs.  Here is my recreation of one of her designs:

Products/tools:

Basecoat

Gothic Gala Lacquer "Gigglemug"

Pueen image plate 25

Mundo de Unas "Silver" stamping polish 

Fab Ur Nails Stamper

Studs

Glossy topcoat Glisten and Glow "HK Girl"

Here is Jessica's original design:

I started off with "Gigglemug" as my base color. 

Than using a similar but not as pretty image from Pueen image plate 25 along with silver (instead of gold) stamping polish stamped the image on three nails. 

Then just as Jessica did a created a bow on my accent nail using studs. I too added another single stud to my mid finger. 

As always I finished up with a bit of clean up and a glossy topcoat. 

Checkout Jessica and all her lovely designs either on her Google+ page or on her Instagram @lolitajess. You won't be disappointed. I hope you enjoyed this recreation. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time. 

Your Fellow Plebe,

Rosy Skittle Mani

Hello Lovelies! I have another mani recreation for this week's Nail Art Nation prompt. This time I have a recreation of Danielle Rabone another very talented artists. I love Danielle's interesting skittle manis that offer a little bit of everything. This is my recreation:

Products/tools:

Basecoat 

China Glaze "Fairy Dust"

Chaotic Glitz "Purple On"

Ellagee "The Bell Still Rings for Me"

Dotting tool

Striping tape

Uber Chic image plate 5-01

Black stamping polish 

Fab Ur Nails stamper

Star stud

Glossy topcoat - Glisten and Glow "HK Girl"

This is Danielle's original design:

I started with "Fairy Dust" on my mid finger and "Purple On" on all my other nails. 

I stamped a negative space rose image from Uber Chic plate 5-01 over "Fairy Dust"

Using striping tape and a dotting tool I added the silver stripes and dots. I finished it off a star stud and lastly a shiny topcoat. 

Danielle's designs are wonderful you should check her out on Google+ or Instagram @danninailnerd. I hope you enjoyed my recreation. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time. 

Your Fellow Plebe,

Leopard Print French Tips

Hello Lovelies!  This week the Nail Art Nation (Google+ Community) is celebrating its one year anniversary.  In honor of said anniversary this week's prompt is "All in the Family."  We are recreating or creating nail art designs inspired by someone within the Nail Art Nation.  This group is full of so many talented artist that I am hoping to do more than one.  However, I started with a recreation of one of Karen Sulkowski designs.  Karen is a very diverse artist, she has so many lovely designs, but what I'm most attracted to in Karen's designs are her bright bold animal prints.  I don't do animal prints very often, in fact I think I've only done a handful ever.  So, I decided to recreate one of her leopard print manis that she created way back in December 2013.  Here is my version:

Products/tools:
Base coat
China Glaze "Fairy Dust"
Sweet & Sour Lacquer "Shamrock Mint," "Dubble Bubble Trubble," "Tango Mango," & "Poison Berry Tart" all from the Frozen Yogurt Collection
Metallic Silver Nail Art Striper
Small Dotting tool
Glossy topcoat - Glisten & Glow "HK Girl"

This is Karen's original design:

To recreate Karen's design I started off with a single coat of China Glaze "Fairy Dust" to give the background a bit of sparkle.

I then freehand painted a french tip on each finger, each in a different shade using the applicator brush from the bottle.

Then using a small dotting tool and the coordinating polish color, I dotted random sized dots along one side of each nail.  I also overlapped these on the edge of the french tip.

Using the same dotting tool and silver metallic polish, I outline the leopard print.  When outlining a leopard print you don't outline the entire dot but create c-like shapes.

Of course, I performed any necessary clean up with gentle acetone and a brush, and finished the manicure off with an application of a glossy topcoat.

I recommend you go check out Karen's fantastic art work, you won't be disappointed.  You can also find her on Instagram, @strutter78ks. I hope you like my recreation too.  With any luck you'll see a couple more recreations from other Nail Art Nation artist soon.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

Polar Express Inspired Nails Recreated

Hello Lovelies! I know its still a bit early to get into Christmas nail art designs but this past Friday we had a Polar Express movie viewing party. I used this as an excuse to recreate the Polar Express Inspired nails that I created last year.   I love to do recreations because it is a great way to see what kind of progress I've made and what techniques I've improved upon.  This is what I created this time...

I started with a gradient base using China Glaze "New Birth," "Capacity to See Beyond," & "Well Trained."

I sponged a little bit of Sinful Colors "24 Karat" across the center of all my nails.

Using my favorite calligraphy pen and silver ink I scribed "Believe" across my pointer, mid, and ring finger.

I layered white ink over the silver so that the silver created a shadow affect.

To create the jingle bell on my pinky, I used China Glaze "Swing Baby" and a large dotting tool. I then used my calligraphy pen and black ink to add detail to the bell. I added a bit of red ribbon using an Art Club Duo pen.

I used image plate QA57 from bornprettystore.com and silver stamping polish from Mundo De Unas to stamp a small snowflake over the "I".

I also randomly stamped snowflakes on my Cindy hand.

I did my usual clean up with gentle acetone and a brush, and topped it all off with a glossy topcoat.

Here is a comparison of the recreation and the original...

I prefer the gradient in the newer version of this design. In fact, I love this gradient. I also prefer using the calligraphy pen and ink. I have better control with the pen, and the calligraphy ink is similar to acrylic paint in that if you make a mistake you can scratch it away when it dries and start fresh.

It is really nice to see progress when doing these recreations. I am pleased with what my practice has produced. I hope you enjoyed this nail art recreation. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,