Snowmen of Calvin and Hobbes

Today's manicure features a few of the beleaguered snowmen from the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. Bill Watterson's amazing cartoon strip had some really twisted snowmen created by Calvin. Often the snowmen made his dad's life more difficult, by blocking the driveway, or embarrassing the family. Click here to see a few of the great snowmen comic strips, as well as some real life recreations.

This nail art is a combination of two different comic strips. On my thumb, I have Calvin walking along in his snow gear, quite satisfied with himself. On my middle and ring fingers you see two melting snowmen holding signs and warning of the coming Spring.

One of the strips I based my manicure on. 

I started with a white polish base using Sinful Colors Snow Me White. And lookee at my hand pose, inspired by my polish buddy Sarah from Chalkboard Nails. :-)

Here are the snowmen up close before I top coated. I was hard to write those small letters on their signs, so I had to truncate the messages. Artistic license. 

Here's the manicure before topcoat. I think it turned out well!

On my right hand I painted a little bit of Lynnderella glitter polish on the tips to give it a cold frosty appearance. This could be a very pretty winter themed manicure on its own. 

Polishes used in this manicure: Lynnderella Thank Blue! and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I also used Essie All In One Basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat. 

I made a quick video of these nails to include it in Robin Moses' Let It Snow collaboration. Any snow inspired art work is welcome. I think this is pretty fun. :-) 

Snowflakes

I am starting a new nail art challenge today with a few of my polish buddies. Feel free to join us if you would like! The thought of creating 24 different xmas manis on top of everything else I am trying to get done this holiday season was a bit too daunting, so we are doing the 12 Days of Christmas Manis! And I may not do them in order or even get them done in 12 days, but that is totally allowed with this challenge. :-)

I do not use stamps a lot, because I really enjoy doing freehand art. But this is on my right hand (meaning I did it with my non-dominant left hand) so I thought it might be prettier to use stamps. 

This is a combination of two different in expensive polishes, and it kind of reminds me of OPI's Swimsuit... Nailed It! This combo has large and small blue glitter, which is really fun. :)

I started by stamping with a light blue polish. This is a snowflake image from the Bundle Monster BM14 plate. I tried to place it in different spots on each nail. 

Next I used a silver polish with the same stamp. Finally I topped it with white snowflakes. I went through a LOT of Q-Tips with this mani, LOL. 

Here are the two polishes I used for the base color: Love and Beauty Blue Glitter and Sinful Colors Ciao Bella. I really like the combination of these two polishes!

I topped the blue glittery base with snowflakes stamped using OPI No Room For The Blues, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri White Out, and a tiny silver polish from Bon Bons. 

Here are the different themes we will be trying during the 12 Days of Christmas Manis! Check out the other awesome nail bloggers who are joining in the fun:

Amber - http://amberdunson.blogspot.com/

Chilli - http://polishandpoise.blogspot.com/

Jamie - http://www.nailsadored.com

Jen - http://sweettipsnails.blogspot.com/

If you want to join in this challenge, please link your manicure in the comments and I will add your blog to the list of participating bloggers! Merry Christmas!

Attitude Adjust-Mint Vintage Swimming Pool

Hi everyone! This manicure reminded me of vintage swimming pools, and those fun mint green patterns and colors of the 1950s and 1960s. I used a new polish I got from Lynnderella called Attitude Adjust-Mint from her Funny Money collection. I believe that Llarowe will begin selling Lynnderella polishes in December, so check there if you are interested in purchasing Lynnderella's gorgeous glitter polishes.

I added some little dots to a few accent nails to give this design a retro feel and reinforce the pool/bubble idea. 

This photo is what I thought of when I finished this manicure. Image from: http://www.bombago.com/101805/~max0073.jpg

Here's the mani before I added the dots. It is really cute with just two coats of the base polish and one coat of the glitter polish. 

Close up of the glittery goodness! There are different colors and shapes of hexagon glitter, and also a really lovely micro greenish glitter. So interesting!

Here is my right hand. Again, I just did the dot design on two accent nails. I used two different sizes of dotting tools to get the different sized dots. 

Both hands together.

Polishes used in this manicure: Revlon Minted (base polish with two coats), Lynnderella Attitude Adjust-Mint (one coat), and for the dots: Borghese Menta and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I also used Essie All In One Basecoat, Relvon Quick Dry Top Coat, and Seche Vite topcoat.

This would be a fun holiday manicure with reds or darker greens. A creme color base, topped with a coat of matching glitter, and then a few contrasting dots on accent nails. If you try it, please post a link here, I would love to see it!

Sarah Waite vs Nessie

Ok, just to warn you, this is a VERY SILLY manicure. It may not make much sense to you. I was playing with my nail polish last night and tried a combo of a pretty shimmer green with a glittery topcoat, and I showed the base color to some of my polish friends. I asked them what I should paint on my nails as artwork. My friend Sarah Waite of Chalkboard Nails said, "my face" which of course is a very silly thing to paint on ones nails. I got a few other fun suggestions including one from Laurie Nievin to paint the Loch Ness Monster. So I decided to do both: I give you Sarah Waite vs. The Loch Ness Monster!

Bwahahahaah! So in case you couldn't tell, that is Sarah on my thumb and Nessie is swimming along the rest of my fingers. 

Here is the beautiful base polish. I will tell you which colors I used to make this base mani at the end of this post. Hint hint, one of the colors I used is up for grabs in my 100 follower giveaway! You still have time to enter. Just click here and scroll to the bottom to get your name in the drawing. 

I started by painting Nessie on my nails. I made her look kind of cartoony and fun. This was a fairly easy design to do. You could do it with acrylic paint like I did, or try it with nail polish. I think this design would be easy to do either way. 

Here is Nessie pretty much finished, and before topcoat. Also, no Sarah Waite yet. 

By the way, this is a pic of Laurie Nievin who suggested the Loch Ness Monster design. Thanks for the great idea, Laurie! :-)

This is my nail polish BFF, Sarah Waite. When I decided to paint her face after she pretty much begged me to do it, I chose this picture of her. It is black and white, and fairly stark, so I thought it would be easier to duplicate rather than a color photo. 

Here is how I started with acrylic paints. I used only black and white acrylic paint for Sarah's portrait. 

Here she is without her glasses on. I also made more adjustments to her hair before finishing the portrait. 

Before topcoat. I think I got pretty close!

Here are the nails together. I added some little bubbles to Nessie. Of course, when discussing this nail art with Sarah and Laurie, we knew that the two designs would have to duke it out, and thus the nail art on my right hand...

It's Sarah Waite vs. The Loch Ness Monster! (I was tired after that portrait of Sarah, so this was a lot easier design to paint using my non-dominant hand.) 

Polishes used in this manicure: Wet n Wild mini color icon in a shimmery aqua green, Sinful Colors Nail Junkie, Essie All In One Basecoat, and Seche Vite topcoat. 

This manicure demanded an epic video to showcase all of its awesomeness. I give you the Battle of the Ages!!! Sarah Waite vs. The Loch Ness Monster:

I am SUCH a nerd! And no, I am not going to paint your face on my nails. LOL

Redwood Empire Food Bank

Today's nails are in honor of one of my very favorite charitable organizations. Redwood Empire Food Bank serves 78-thousand Sonoma County residents every MONTH. Every MONTH! And they don't just help the hungry in Sonoma County, they also serve Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, and Lake Counties. On my bento blog, I donate $1 per post to the Redwood Empire Food Bank. I am excited to be talking with the lovely people from the Redwood Empire Food Bank during my show this afternoon to spread the word about their Winter Food and Funds Drive and ways that our community can help feed those in need. Listen at about 5:35pm online at ksro.com. Here are my Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) nails!

It's the REFB logo on my thumb and a Campbell's Tomato Soup can (a la Warhol) on my ring finger! These were really fun to paint. 

I started with a base of white polish. I used a new white polish that was recommended by Leslie of Nail Polish Art Addiction, thanks Leslie! This is just one coat of Snow Me White by Sinful Colors. I'll never go back to Sally Hansen Whirlwind White!

The soup can was the hardest thing to draw. I used acrylic paints for all of the art on the nails. There are so many tiny details on the soup can, I did the best I could. 

Here is the beginning of the REFB logo. So cute, a heart inside of an apple inside of a box of food. It is very evocative and has a clear message. 

On my right hand I painted an apple (it turned out really photo-realistic! I am so proud!) and also the letters 'refb' for Redwood Empire Food Bank. I painted this with my non-dominant hand.

Here are the two hands together. I really like how both of the items of food are red, which brings the design together. I also like that one item is non-perishable and the other is fresh fruit. Redwood Empire Food Bank is able to distribute both shelf stable and perishable food to our community. It is really an amazing effort. 

Here are my thumbs with the REFB logo and the letters 'refb'. I had to ask my friend Lauren to take this pic at work for me, LOL. 

Polishes used in this manicure: Seche Vite topcoat, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, and Essie All In One Basecoat. The nail art was all done by hand with acrylic paints. 

You still have time to enter my 100 follower giveaway! Click here to get your name in the drawing. Deadline for entry is November 14th, 2011. Good luck!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by the Supernatural

I absolutely LOVE how this challenge turned out. I chose ghosts as my subject for the Supernatural. And who is the awesomest ghost evar?? SLIMER, of course! Slimer is the gross-out ghost from Ghostbusters who slimes Bill Murray in a great scene in the hotel. So funny!

I was sad to take this one off. Man, it turned out good, if I do say so myself! :)

I started with black nails (yes, I pretty much recycled my Skull and Crossbones manicure!) then added bright yellow and green neon polishes to put a glowy aura around where I wanted to place Slimer.

Here's his basic outline in light green acrylic paint. I could have started him in white and then topped with green for a brighter ghost, but I think this turned out just fine. Besides, he is not super glowy, more see-through actually. 

I added darker shading with a dark green acrylic paint. (I mix my colors for each manicure, I don't have a bunch of green acrylic paints, just one shade.)

Then I started adding highlights and accenting low light areas. I also added his gaping mouth. 

Next it was his eye balls, nostrils, gums, and finger nails. I painted a ghost on MY nails, and then painted HIS nails on MY nails. My head hurts. 

Finally I added his tongue and his teeth. I also tried adding a bit of China Glaze Ghoulish Glow glow in the dark polish in his aura, but it did not do much. I could kind of see it in the dark, but I didn't layer it on thick enough. 

Here he is all topcoated. Oh Slimer, you are so cute!

Both hands together. I added some slime on my other hand on the middle and ring fingers. I like how the look together. This was a SUPER fun manicure. 

Polishes used in this manicure: Sinful Colors Neon Melon, Love and Beauty Scented Polish in Lime, China Glaze Ghoulish Glow, and Wet 'n Wild Fast Dry Ebony Hates Chris. I also used Cult Nails Get It On basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat. 

Next up: Nails inspired by a tutorial. You can probably guess which nail artist I will choose. :-)