Nightmare Before Christmas

I was really looking forward to doing this challenge in the 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge. I love this movie so much, and it is awesome that I get to do this theme twice a year (for Halloween AND Christmas)!

It's Jack Skellington in his Santa Claus (Claws) suit, with Oogie Boogie on my middle finger. Oogie has his own little holiday hat on. 

This is the image I used as the model for my manicure. I found this image online here. 

I started with a base of OPI Brand New Skates. This is three coats, and there is still visible nail line, but when I look at my nails in less harsh light (not directly under a lamp like these photos) the nail line is much less prominent. Brand New Skates was part of OPI's Holiday In Toyland line. It came out in 2008, but oddly enough, my local drugstore has it now. 

Here's Jack before I topcoated. I used acrylic paints to do the artwork on these nails. See my FAQ section to learn more about the tools I use for my nail art. 

Oogie Boogie was super fun to paint. I mixed yellow acrylic paint into my green paint to give him a little bit of a sickly glow. I thought about giving him a top coat of Ghoulish Glow glow in the dark polish, but that kind of mutes the nail art. 

On my right hand I painted some holly leaves and berries. It was a simple bit of nail art that ties the two hands together, and wasn't too difficult to do with my non-dominant hand. 

This is part of the 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge. Feel free to join in if you'd like! The rules are very loose, you can do as little or as much as you'd like, and in any order you want. 

Here are some other nail bloggers who are doing this challenge. Check them out for great holiday nail art!

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/

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/

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

For today's edition of the 12 Days of Christmas Manis, I did characters from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the claymation special from 1964. Did you know, that this is the longest running Christmas television special? How cool is that?!

On my thumb is Santa Claus, on my middle finger is Hermy the Misfit Elf, and on my ring finger is good ol Rudolph. 

I started with a base of Zoya's Marina. It is a blue grey slate color, and it has the right kind of wintry feel for this manicure. 

Here is a closer look at Santa. 

My hubby used to work at a dental lab, and his boss always decorated with pictures of Hermy the Misfit Elf during the holidays. You will remember that Hermy did not want to make toys like the other elves, his real passion was dentistry. LOL

Polishes used in this manicure: Zoya Marina, Essie All In One Base Coat and Seche Vite topcoat.

This is my 60th post on Sonoma Nail Art, and it means I am making another $10 donation to Women's Recovery Services. Women's Recovery Services helps women who are transitioning out of chemical dependence get back on their feet. Part of the items they supply to women are beauty products and personal care items. We all know how much a nice manicure or some pretty make up can boost self esteem. Every 20 posts, I like to donate to this cause to help women feel better about themselves. I encourage you to find ways to make your blog do good in your community, too! Find out more about Women's Recovery Services online by clicking here.

This is part of the 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge. Join in if you would like! And be sure to take a look at other girls who are participating as well:

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/

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. :-) 

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/

Gift Wrapping

For today's xmas mani, I am featuring gift wrap and a fun Gonzo popping out of a Christmas present. I really wanted to continue doing the Muppets characters, so you will see a few of them popping up here and there. :)

I used both stamping and freehand to make this manicure. I really like how Gonzo turned out, with his little bow tie and three fingers on each hand. LOL

The base color for this manicure is OPI Rumple's Wiggin' from the Shrek collection. My local CVS has the Shrek polishes for some reason. Totally bizarre! 

My stamping is not the greatest, and this pattern is kind of temperamental. Let's just pretend that my husband wrapped these presents, and that's why they look all wrinkly. I used a striping brush to do the ribbons on the packages. Then I used acrylic paint to map out the peeled back wrapping paper where Gonzo will pop out.

Here is Gonzo during the painting process. I did not spend as much time on him as I did on my Fozzie manicure, mostly because I was not looking for the perfect level of detail that I wanted in the competition. 

I painted the bows on the packages by looking at image of a bow online. I started with a grey base, then added dark grey lowlights, and topped it with silver highlights. The bows were painted with acrylic paint. From here I added topcoat and then it was done!

Polishes used in this manicure: OPI Rumple's Wiggin', Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Urgent Orchid (stamping), and Bon Bons mini silver polish. I used the mini silver for the ribbons on the packages. The stamp I used was from  Konad plate m60.

The idea of Gonzo bursting through the gift wrapping came from this set of Muppet stamps issued by the US Postal Service in 2005. These are such awesome stamps! On the back side of the set, there are words from each of the Muppets featured. They are in character and very funny. 

See what I mean??

This manicure is part of the 12 Days of Christmas Manis challenge that I am doing with some polish friends. Feel free to join us, and be sure to check out the other manicures from my fellow bloggers. 

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/

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!