31 Day Challenge! Day 30: Inspired by a Tutorial

Hello all! So today is the last day of the challenge for most people! I am still planning to do day 31, recreate your favorite challenge. We created 30 days of nail art using 30 different untried polishes! WOW!  We did it! I'm pretty proud of all of us. Today's objective was to create a manicure inspired by a tutorial. There are a lot of great tutorials out there! I honestly had a problem choosing one. Ultimately,  I decided to go with a tutorial I have been wanting to do for almost a year...Chalkboard Nails' Eyeball Pattern! I thought this was a great nail design the moment I saw it. It's a perfect design for Halloween, which is coming up soon! The untried polish for today is OPI Meet & Jingle. It's a really great red polish, especially for the holidays. I thought it would look cool as the background for the eyeballs.

What I used:

• Base color: OPI Meet & Jingle
• Eyeballs:
• White stamping polish
• OPI Too Hot Pink to Hold 'em
• Sally Hansen Blue Me Away
• OPI Mermaid's Tears
• China Glaze Street Chic
• Sinful Colors Black on Black
• Various dotting tools

Spooky right?

It's not my best work due to the fact that I had to scramble together to get my nails done for posting but I really like how they came out and would love to do them again when I have more time.

See you tomorrow for the last post of the challenge!
Erin

31 Day Challenge! Day 29: Inspired by the Supernatural

Hello all! I have been looking forward to today's challenge. The objective was to create nails inspired by the supernatural. When I think of the word supernatural, I think of ghosts! So I decided to paint all of my favorite cartoon ghosts onto my nails!

Today's untried polish is Sally Hansen Gun Metal. I bought this polish months ago and just forgot about it! I think it's an awesome color too! It reminds me of lead, like from pencils haha! So I choose this color for the base color of this mani because of the name being Gun Metal. This is how the thought process went: Gun Metal---> Gun Smoke ---> Smoke= Fog---> Fog is spooky!---> GHOSTS! Yep, that's seriously what happened. 

How many cartoon ghosts are there? I could only think of four but I feel like I am missing some! So just in case you don't recognize my ghosts from thumb to pinky we have: Slimer from Ghost Busters, Casper the friendly ghost, Boo from the Mario games, Haunter (who is a Pokemon), and my pinky is a ghosty stamp!

So what do you think of my ghosts?

What I used:

• Base color: Sally Hansen Gun Metal
• Pinky:
•  Konad stamping polish
• BM 223
• For the rest of the nails I used my assortment of acrylic paints.

I just adore how my ghosts came out! Another manicure I am going to hate to get rid of! There is only a couple days left of the challenge, which is sad, I am having a lot of fun. See you tomorrow for nails that are inspired by a tutorial!
Erin

Tara's Magic Birthday Nails!

Hello all! If you have been reading my blog, then you have probably heard me mention by best friend Tara. Well her birthday was September 4th and I created special birthday nails just for her. I took the time to take pictures and edit them but I just haven't had the time to post them! Now seems as good a time as any, so HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TARA!

Tara is one of the most supportive people in my life. She has gladly bought me nail polish and food, and anything else that I have ever needed. She is the best! She fully supports this growing polish addiction of mine and I support her hobby: Magic the Gathering. So that's part of her birthday theme for today!

I'm not going to lie, I don't know much about Magic. I find it fascinating and challenging, so it was kind of hard to come up with something to paint on my nails!

After some research, I found these mana symbols and decided they would be the perfect inspiration for her birthday nails!

I was so happy she loved them! I would list all of the polishes I used but honestly I did this mani so long ago (seems long due to the 31 day challenge) that I don't think I could remember all the polishes.

Once again, I would like to say happy belated birthday to my bestest best friend in the whole world!

I just love making birthday's special for people! Do you like to do special nails for special occasions?

See you tomorrow for Supernatural nails!
Erin

31 Day Challenge! Day 28: Inspired by a Flag

Hello all! Today's objective was to create a nail design inspired by a flag. I knew right away what I wanted to do, the Union Jack. I have decided to use the flag of the United Kingdom as my inspiration for today's challenge for a couple of reasons. For one, many of the bloggers doing this challenge are from the UK and 2012 has been such a big year for the United Kingdom. The UK celebrated the Queen's Diamond Jubliee and they hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics. I want to dedicate these nails to all the amazing bloggers from Britain and to your wonderful country! I hope I will get to see it some day!

The UK really has an awesome flag. The untried polish for today's challenge is OPI A Sparkle Yule Love. I got this polish at Ulta last Christmas and completely forgot about it. I really like how it looks on the Union Jack.

31 Day Challenge! Day 27: Inspired by artwork

Hello all! Today's challenge was to create nail art inspired by artwork.  I originally wanted to do a Jackson Pollock painting but I just can't figure out how to create splatter! It was so frustrating! Ultimately, I choose to do a painting by one of my favorite artists, Claude Monet. My inspiration was his painting Water Lilies (The Clouds.)

31 Day Challenge! Day 26: Inspired by A Pattern

Hello! Today's objective was to create a nail design inspired by a pattern. I thought long and hard about what to do for this challenge and I decided on argyle. However, my attempt came out just awful so I caved and did the trending Ikat pattern instead. I am very happy with the results.

I've been seeing this pattern everywhere lately. It's a pretty neat design and I'm glad I decided to do it. Today's untried polish is Orly Gumdrop. I am in love with this color. I've been wanting it for so long and I was so thrilled when I was able to track it down and purchase it. Oh it is so pretty. 

 To achieve this look, I watched a great tutorial by Jen of Polish and Pearls. It's a very easy design to replicate. I recommend watching her video but if you don't have time, the idea is to use tiny brush strokes. It's very easy to do and I did this design pretty quickly. I just had a hard time using my left hand, so practice is needed. 

 What I used:

• Base color: Orly Gumdrop
• Kiss Stripers
• Black
• White
• Sally Hansen So Sexy Red

I was very happy with the color combo I decided to use. Ikat is one of those things were it's fun to experiment with different color combos. I intend to do more ikat in the future, that's for sure. What do you think of the ikat trend? I'm loving it!

Up next, we will have inspired by artwork. Oy. I am not looking forward to this one. I LOVE art, so I don't want to mess up! Don't forget to check out the other patterns for today done by the lovely ladies of this challenge!

See you tomorrow!
Erin

Let's Do the Time Warp Challenge! Day 6: They sure don't make 'em like they use to!

Hello all! Day 6 of the challenge already! Today's objective was to create a nail art design based on a classic game or toy. I knew what I was going to do for today the instant I saw the layout for the challenge! I choose my absolute favorite game, the board game Clue! As for the title of today's challenge, "They sure don't make 'em like they use to," this statement is very true for Clue. They really don't make Clue like the use to. In fact, I absolutely hate the new version of the game. 

The box from my favorite edition. I wish I still owned it!

I really hate change, especially when something is so good. So Parker Brothers, give me my Clue back! I was so excited to do Clue nails, however, I love Clue so much that I think I went a little over board on the details of my nail art. I really need to learn how to simplify my ideas. I can't get over how many little things I painted, it's really hard to see them all! I have all 6 character pieces and all 6 weapons. I decided to only use four of the nine rooms. I choose some of my favorites; the conservatory, the billiard room, the library and the kitchen. The idea was to do some of the game board, using all of the game pieces. What do you guys think?

And here's a close up of the nails without direct lighting. Hopefully you can see the details better.

Here's a picture of the game board I used for inspiration:

I hope you guys got what I was trying to do and I hope you guys liked my design. I really need to remember to simplify...Only two days of the challenge left! Day 7 of the challenge is going to be hard! I have no idea what is timeless...

I'm going to have to really think about the next challenge. I'm really looking forward to what everyone else came up with today.

Erin

31 Day Challenge! Day 25: Inspired by Fashion

Hello! Well today's nails came out a little bit interesting. I don't consider myself a fashion person. In fact, all I wear are jeans and T shirts. Which means today's challenge was just that, a challenge. So I went to Vogue for some fashion advise. I ended up finding this really bizarre yet intriguing pantsuit to use for my inspiration.

Keep reading to see the nails!

31 Day Challenge! Day 24: Inspired by A Book

Hello all! I'm late posting today because I am not feeling so well. I think it's allergies or something. I usually post at midnight but I was so exhausted last night that I went to bed early. Anyways today's nails are inspired by a book. I decided to go with one of my favorite books from my childhood, Holes by Louis Sachar.

Let's Do the Time Warp Challenge! Day 5: "We can do it!"

Hello all! I hope everyone had a nice weekend! I did but I woke up feeling sick today. No fun but hopefully I'll feel better soon. Anyways, today is Day 5 of the Let's Do the Time Warp Challenge! The objective was to create a design honoring an influential woman in history. I choose to honor Marie Curie, one of the most influential women of all time.

31 Day Challenge! Day 23: Inspired By A Movie

Hello all! I just loved everyone's song post yesterday! I'm thinking today's posts are going to be just as fun!  I like to consider myself a real movie buff, so I was very excited about today's challenge. I love creating nail art based off movies, I just couldn't decided on what movie! Then the song "The Candy Man" popped into my head and it was like a light bulb went off. So there you have it, my movie is Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory.

31 Day Challenge! Day 22: Inspired By A Song

Hello! Today's post was a lot of fun. The objective was to create a nail art design based off of a song. I was kind of forced into my song because Blake was very adamant about me doing Gangnam Style by Psy. Needless to say, he loves this song. I must admit I really dig it. For those of you that may not have heard of this song, it's by the South Korean rapper Psy and it's becoming rapidly popular. Apparently it's now on radios here in the US.

Keep reading to see more pictures and the video for the song!

2012 Summertime Challenge! Week 9: Summer-themed Water Marble

Hello! Today is the last day of the 2012 Summertime Challenge, which was my first challenge ever! First challenge I've participated in and the first I've created. I learned so much about creating a challenge. I think I might do it again but next time I am going to network better and come up with it well in advance. It was a really nice learning experience.

So today's objective was to create a summer themed water marble. If you have been reading, then you would know that water marbling is something that I am really bad at. In fact, I've never done it before this week (successfully.) I almost died when I realized that the 31 Day Challenge had one for the day before I was to do this one! I was like, "Seriously? I have to do two water marbles?! I suck at them!" Well yesterday's water marble came out pretty good and this one isn't too bad either!

What I used:

• A dixie cup
• Bottled water
• Toothpick
• Thumb and ring finger:
• China Glaze Street Chic
• Orly Decades of Dysfunction
• Index, middle and pinky:
• Sally Hansen Pacific Blue
• SH Blue Me Away
• OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui
• Masking tape

I wanted my water marble to remind people of the beach. That's why I went with sand colors and blues to represent water. It's not too bad. I think it would have been better if I had used a base color but I was feeling lazy and just used a base coat, then I did the water marbling. I really love how my thumb came out. What colors do you like to use when you water marble?

As for clean up, I used tape this time. It was so much easier to clean up but I hate wearing it. A couple of my fingers were getting stuck together. Only me right? I am so clumsy! :) What is your preferred way to clean up when doing water marbling?

See you tomorrow!
Erin

31 Day Challenge! Day 21: Inspired By A Color

Hello all! Today starts the last segment of the 31 Day Challenge! Every day from here on out will be inspired by something. First off, a design inspired by a color. I was looking at my remaining untried polishes and came up with the best thing! The untried I used is Zoya Evvie. Anytime I hear the name Evvie, I think of the Pokémon Eevee! Thus my nail design was born! It's not the best freehand I've ever done, but I hope you guys enjoy it.

Keep reading for more pictures of Eevee nails!

31 Day Challenge! Day 20: Water marble

Hello all! Oh the dreaded water marble! Today's challenge is one of those days were patience is needed. I'm actually lacking patience today since I'm not really feeling well. Luckily the only thing that has suffered is my thumb. Today's untried polish is OPI Cajun Shrimp.

Let's Do the Time Warp Challenge! Day 4: Lights, camera, action!

Hello all! I intended to have this posted hours ago but something came up. So let's get on with it: Lights, camera, action! Today's objective was to pick a nostalgic movie, song, or piece of literature and turn into an awesome nail art design. I choose to do the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz. I would have to say that these nails were probably the hardest I've ever done!

I choose to do a story with my nails. My left hand depicts the yellow brick road and how Dorothy (the ruby red slippers) is on her way to see the Wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz! I have the yellow brick road, some poppies and then I tried to do the Emerald City, which was really hard! Right in front of the city, I have four little stick figures to represent the gang.

Before I added some black outlines to the Emerald City.  Looks like a green blob right?

 Which brings me to my right hand! I have Dorothy herself, the Scarecrow, Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and of course, Toto. I just love how my Scarecrow turned out and Toto is just adorable. Unfortunately Dorothy looks like a creepy possessed doll, while the Tin man looks like Humpty Dumpty coated in silver paint haha.

I just love how Toto came out! 

What I used:

• Base color: Sally Hansen White On
• Yellow: Ulta Sun-sational
• Red: OPI Rudolph Red
• Brown: China Glaze Street Chic
• Silver: Sally Hansen Silver Sweep
• The rest of the colors are all acrylic paint. I mixed some. All the colors used: black, white, blue, yellow, red, peach.
• Fine tipped nail art brush
• Dotting tools for eyes

Here was the picture I used for inspiration:

Despite this film being from 1939, it is still an amazing and classic work of art. Generations have seen it and I believe will continue to see it for years to come. I definitely think this film deserves to have some spotlight.

Next week is definitely going to be a challenge, Day 5 especially! We have to create a manicure inspired by an influential women in history. Day 6 is going to be fun, since I already have a classic game in mind :)

See you tomorrow with more nail art!

Erin