Poinsettias Inspired by Robin Moses

I tried to do this design modeled after a video tutorial by Robin Moses, but I think that I kind of failed at it. Ah well. Every design can't be a winner. :) These are SUPPOSED to be poinsettias, but in fact they look more Rastafarian  Perhaps this nail art can be used to reflect your "420 Lifestyle." Ha ha ha! We have a commercial for a smoke shop on my station that refers to your "420 Lifestyle" - so funny!

I painted these flowers on a black background. I like how dramatic it looks, even if it is not very Christmas-y.

I started with a darker green acrylic paint for the leaves. I placed these somewhat randomly across the nail so the flowers would be arranged in different spots. 

Then came the first red, a blend of black and red acrylic paint. 

I added a lighter red to the red petals to give it more dimension. 

Finally I added yellow to the base of each petal and gold dots to the interior of each flower. Perhaps I should have used white instead of yellow for the interior accent. Ah well... I used Wet n Wild Black Creme polish for the base on this mani, and acrylic paints for the artwork.

This is what my palette looks like for this manicure. I used black, white, red, yellow, gold, and green acrylic paints for the art work in this manicure. You can see blotches of other colors on the palette, which are from other manicures I have done. I usually reuse these plastic lid palettes about five times before I throw them out. I've started a small FAQ post which you can view by clicking here, if you are curious about what kind of paints I use and the brush that I use. Also, Robin Moses has some really great FAQ videos, which have taught me so much. Click here to view her FAQ videos.  

This manicure is part of the 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge, which I am already behind on, LOL. Please check out these other blogs for more great xmas manicures:

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

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

Jamie - http://www.nailsadored.com

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

Pauline - http://omgnoodles.blogspot.com/

A Christmas Story

I am so in love with this mani! I may have to wait for a day to do the next challenge because I want to wear this for a few days. :-) YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT! Ha ha! 

Here's Ralphie (as played by Peter Billingsley) on my thumb, and the leg lamp stretched across my other fingers. This just cracked me up.

I used a Konad stamp from plate m57 for the fishnet stocking pattern. I turned it on its side so that the lamp would stretch across my nails like this. Nice gam(s)!

Look at his little face! So cute!

I used acrylic paint to create the shape of the leg lamp, the lamp shade, and Ralphie himself. I think the likeness came out really well. Especially because people at work actually recognized it as Ralphie! 

"No! No! I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!"

On my right hand I painted the word "FRAGILE" (it must be Italian!) and a few Christmas ornaments. 

Here's the right hand topcoated. Polishes used in this manicure: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Petal Pusher and Wet n Wild Black Creme. I also used Essie All In One Basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat. 

Join us for more fun Christmas themed manicures! It's the 12 Days of Christmas Manis. Let me know if you would like your blog linked as well. And this is a low pressure challenge. Do as much or as little as you'd like, and if you have to take a break for a few days, no worries. Have fun with it!

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

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

Dilay - http://vanillanailart.blogspot.com/

Jamie - http://www.nailsadored.com

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

Pauline - http://omgnoodles.blogspot.com/

The Bird Is The Word

Please take a moment to view and vote for my Fozzie the Bear manicure in OPI's Mani Madness Contest. My entry is called "Fozzie Gets Heckled" and you can vote for me once every 24 hours. I only have until Sunday to get votes, so please ask your friends to vote for me as well! Thanks so much!

More poultry?! Ha! Well, seeing as I got food poisoning on Monday night and have only finally felt better today, I think I can stand a little more bird. This is a manicure I did for my radio station's annual recipe contest. Our theme was chicken and we got some outstanding recipes submitted.

This is the chicken's head, and it is a very stylized head. We wanted some chicken artwork that would be stylish but not too silly. This piece fit nicely. 

And on my right thumb a simple 25 to represent the number of years we have done the recipe contest. Woo hoo!

If you would like to see the finalists and winning recipe, please head to my stations' website and check them out. The recipes are all varied and they really tasted delicious. And no, I did not get food poisoning from any of these dishes. :)

Again, please take a moment to vote for my Fozzie the Bear manicure on OPI's facebook page. It's titled "Fozzie Gets Heckled" and features Fozzie, Statler, and Waldorf. You can vote once every 24 hours! Spread the word! Thanks. :)

Jacob Black

I am definitely Team Jacob. He's hotter, he's not dead, he is not as controlling as Edward (even though he still is a bit), and he is way better for Bella than freaky obsessive Edward. Ok, now that I have alienated half of you... ha ha! Anywho, here is the Jacob Black mani on my other hand to complete the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 manicure.

Ok, so he looks a little.... puffy. It was really hard to do this nail art. I was using my non-dominant hand to paint it. So considering that, I will give myself some slack for painting Jacob as if he needed to hit the gym after a few too many Twinkies. 

I really like the base for these nails! I started with a golden shimmery polish, then sponged on a deep red polish and a shimmery brown polish around the edges to get this grungy look. I think it is really beautiful!

Yeah, his face started out too round and didn't get better from there. Oh well. I used acrylic paints to make the Jacob portrait. Sadly, my nails are not long enough to fit his abs in the painting. 

Here is Jake before top coat. I was concentrating so hard on painting this that I totally missed everything my husband said to me last night. I hope it wasn't anything important. 

Here is a side shot of the finished Jacob. I was hoping it would hide his chubbiness. I blame his extra weight on the curvature of my nail. It's like the Doppler Effect!

Polished used in this manicure: Wet n Wild un-labled mini polish (I think it is The Gold and The Beautiful), Revlon Bewitching Bordeaux, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Coco a-go-go. Also Essie All In One Basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat.

My hubby bought tickets for me and my step daughter to go see Breaking Dawn tonight. Should be a squealing good time! LOL

Edward Cullen

In honor of the new Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn Part 1, here are my Edward Cullen nails! I am taking my step daughter to see the movie on Friday. She is beside herself with excitement. I am a Team Jacob girl myself, and I will share those nails here tomorrow. This manicure takes some inspiration from Robin Moses who did a spot on Edward Cullen mani a while ago. Check her version out by clicking here.

As my husband would say (in a falsetto voice), "Oh Edwin!" He also likes to refer to sparkle vampire #1 as Edgar. It drives his daughter crazy. :)

I started with a fun base of a pearly blue polish, then sponged some steel colored polish around the edges and finally sponged some black on it as well. I was going for a grungy/moody feeling like the dark pics of Edward Cullen on the movie posters. 

I mixed white and silver acrylic paints to give Edward's skin a subtle sparkly sheen. You can kind of see it in person, but it doesn't translate on these pics. 

After I took this pic, I realized that Edward needed more highlights in his hair. It looked way too much like an afro in this pic. Which could be a good look for him...

There's the mussy bed head we all know and love! 

I took this pic in the sunlight, hoping it would show off the sparkle in his skin a bit more. No, not really. I also added his little pea coat. Edward is so stylin'! Looking at these pics closeup, I realize I should have tried to add pupils to his eyes, but honestly, you can't tell in real life. His eyes are TINY.

Polishes used in this mani: Revlon Steel-her Heart, Wet n Wild Black Creme, and a mini un-labled Wet n Wild, though I am pretty sure it is Rain Check. I also used Essie All In One Basecoat, and topped it all with Seche Vite topcoat. 

And finally, I have a REALLY BIG FAVOR to ask you, my lovely followers! I have entered the OPI Muppets Madness contest with a manicure of Miss Piggy. I cannot post a picture of it here, since the rules specify that it cannot be published anywhere else, other than the contest page. If you have facebook, I would really appreciate you taking a look and please vote for my mani: PIG POWER by Michelle Marques. Thank you soooo much! Here is the link to my entry. Voting ends on Sunday.

These Go To Eleven

In honor of 11-11-11, also known as Nigel Tufnel Day, I have painted these awesome nails. On a scale of one to ten, these go to eleven. Bwahahahaha! If you have no idea what I am talking about, you need to go see a great movie called "This Is Spinal Tap" an amazing spoof on rockumentary films. A friend on mine on facebook shared an awesome image of Nigel Tufnel on a guitar pick in honor of today, and I used that image to create this manicure.

This is Nigel Tufnel, lead guitarist for the band Spinal Tap, as played by the actor Christopher Guest. (Christopher Guest is incredible, and he also played the 6 Fingered Man in The Princess Bride!!)

The base polish for this mani is Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris. I love this polish! It applies so well, and is perfectly opaque in one coat. Yay!

I used acrylic paints in white and black to paint Nigel. Here you can see the base white paint to start the image. 

This is Nigel before I topcoated. The eye on the right was actually really perfect and then I started messing with it trying to adjust it, and it took me about 10 minutes to fix it back to somewhat ok. Why oh why do I mess with things when they are just fine??! Arrg!

On my right hand, I painted the number 11. During a scene in This Is Spinal Tap, Nigel shows off an amplifier that has knobs going up to eleven. So funny! I will link the clip at the end of this post.

Here is the piece that got me laughing and inspired me to create this manicure. This is artwork by Metaluna 5 Media. You can find them on facebook by clicking here. 

Here are the two hands together. This manicure killed me, it was too funny. And really, if you haven't seen This Is Spinal Tap, go watch it. You'll love 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

Cinderelly Cinderelly

I wanted to try out a few of the mini polishes from my Wet n Wild Color Icon set that I am giving away here, so you could see some of the things you can do with them if you are the winner (deadline for entry is November 14th!). The polish I used was from my OWN set, not from the one you could win. That is brand new and safe in its little box waiting to be shipped to YOU! Here I used one of the clear sparkle top coats to make a Cinderella manicure!

"Cinderelly Cinderelly Night and Day it's Cinderelly! Make the fire! Fix the breakfast! Wash the dishes! Do the moppin'!"

I started with a gorgeous pink sheer shade from butter LONDON, then added two coats of this unnamed sparkle top coat from Wet n Wild. It is very sparkly and could work as a pretty main just like this. 

Then I painted Cinderella using acrylic paints. Her eyes and mouth were particularly hard to do. 

Here is Cinderella before I topcoated. And you can see the mega sparkle of the nails in the background. So pretty!!

Polishes used in this manicure: butter LONDON Pink Ribbon, Wet n Wild Mini Color Icon unnamed sparkle topcoat, Essie All In One basecoat and Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat. 

Here is the song I was singing while I painted these nails. :-)