ABC Challenge: C is for Cat, D is for Dog

Hello all! I have more letters for you today, C and D. When I was thinking of doing this challenge, I really wanted to do C is for Cookie BUT I had no time so I am kind of cheating... Way back in October I did a guest post for Ashley from the blog Passion for Polish. I made nails especially for Ashley but I never posted my guest post here on my blog, so since the nails were so cute and they were of a cat, I decided to use it for the C.

C is for Cat

To see what polishes and techniques I used, check out the guest post here.

So then I thought, "Hmm... what should I do for D?" There's nothing better for D than dog, since it goes great with C for Cat.

D is for Dog

This is a pretty simple design. I painted my nails two coats of Sally Hansen White On, then I took black acrylic paint and painted on the spots and face. Voila! 

I'm excited for E, F, and G. I will probably post them when I get off work tonight! 

See you then!

Erin

PS Read more to see the inlinkz collections for each letter :)

No H8: Eradicate Hate in the Nail Polish Community

Bullying is not funny. It is not cool. It is not right. And more importantly, it is not okay. 

Most of us are, thankfully, residents of countries that support tolerance and many of our families have settled in these places simply for that reason. Generations later, it is our responsibility to perpetuate that message of tolerance across our new social platforms, including the internet.

As members of the nail polish blogging community, we all share a love of beauty, color, and lacquer. Other than that, we are remarkably different: from our race to our religion to our hair color...even to our polish application techniques. To marginalize anyone because of those differences is completely unacceptable and today I take a stand against that. I refuse to allow other people's view of "normal" dictate how I behave, believe, and blog.

In solidarity with a multitude of bloggers linked below, my purple manicure represents my proud commitment to the No H8 movement. Today, November 8, I dedicate my post to ending bullying of any kind and to encouraging diversity and imperfection among our colorful community.

Hello! Today is a special post, for me and for many others. As it reads above, I wear purple nails today to show my support against bulling and also to bring awareness to the bullying that goes on in our nail community. Not only that but I feel today is about showing no hate in any aspects of our lives.

I, like many others, was a victim of bullying growing up. It was a daily thing. Kids would tell me I was ugly and make fun of my hair or my glasses. It was a nightmare. It took me a long time to get over it and there were days when I felt like I should end it all. No child, no person should ever feel this way. 

I have been blogging for almost a year now and I have been fortunate enough to only come across kindness and support. I finally feel like I have my own little place on the internet, creating nail art with so many beautiful and kind souls. Unfortunately, there are some not so kind people in this community. I am a firm believer if you have nothing nice to say, don't say it at all. If people have the courage to share their nails with the world, don't cut them down if you don't like them. That is not what the nail community is about. I have learned throughout my year of blogging. that many bloggers are helpful to those starting out. They provide tips and tutorials of all sorts. Bullying someone just because their work isn't perfect just isn't right! We should all support one another. 

Here are my nails for today. Not perfect but that's ok. We are all human and we all make mistakes. We need to show each other support and love, especially for something we are all so passionate about.

Hearts have become a symbol for love and that's the point of my nails today, we should so love toward one another not hate! So if you are new and starting out, don't be discouraged. So what if you manicures aren't perfect? No one is!  Heck I'm not! I share my nails because I love to paint them and I know others would like to see what I come up with. Thank you to all who have shown me nothing but kindness and support, I am very grateful. And much thanks to all the wonderful people participating in today's No H8 post.

If you or someone you know is experiencing bullying, please don't hesitate to reach out to these helpful sites:

Stopbullying.gov

Report Cyber Bullying

National Suicide Prevention Hotline - 800.273.TALK (8255)

EradicateH8

Halloween Mani! Cheshire Cat Nails and Costume

Hello all! So yesterday was one of my favorite holidays, Halloween! I didn't really get to do anything exciting outside of work but work was a blast! Most of the staff dressed up as Disney characters and I was the Cheshire Cat from the movie Alice in Wonderland. My friend, who told me about the job, dressed as Alice! It was fun because we totally didn't plan it together. She did my face paint, which scared a couple of kids and most of them told me they found it creepy. haha. Oh well most of them could tell who I was suppose to be, which is fun. I'm going to share with you my nails I wore for the occasion and the costume I made!

As for my nails, I decided for each of my thumbs I would do the Cheshire's face. For my right hand I only did the smile because I'm still not that skilled painting with my left hand due to being right handed. For the rest of my nails I did his stripes. I painted the purple first which was a bad idea because it made the fuchsia color much darker than it really is, you can tell my looking at the thumb with his full face. 

I'm pretty happy with the way the nails came out. I started doing this mani with tape but I don't have proper nail tape so I lose patience and start painting the stripes themselves. So that's why they aren't perfect.

I was so surprised that I had proper Cheshire Cat colored polish! I do love my bright colors! 

What I used:

• Base colors: 
• Striped nails: LA Colors Fun in the Sun
• Left thumb: Zoya Charisma
• Right thumb: Sinful Colors Black on Black
• Stripes: Zoya Charisma
• Thumbs: White, black, yellow, red and pink acrylic paint
• Nail art brush and dotting tool

So I made my costume with furry ribbon stuff, safety pins, a sweater and jeans. I also made my ears with a headband, felt and cotton balls (genius idea thought up by Tara). I'm pretty happy with the way it came out.

The idea behind my costume was that I was the Cheshire Cat disappearing. In the original Disney movie he says, "Most everyone's mad here. You may have noticed that I'm not all there myself." He says this while he is vanishing. Below is the picture I used for my inspiration. 

I hope you all enjoyed the nails I painted to go along with my costume and my costume itself! What did you guys where on your nails for Halloween? And if you dressed up, what was your costume? I hope everyone had a fun Halloween this year!

Until next time,

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 6: Violet Nails

Hello! I have a quick post for you all today. It's day 6 of the challenge, meaning today's nails are violet nails. I had the hardest time coming up with an idea for today. I don't know why, I love purple! Especially purple polishes but nothing was coming to mind, so I decided to go simple today. The untried polish for today's challenge is China Glaze Grape Juice. It's a bright purple polish filled with itty bitty silver glitter specks. This polish is very sparkly, which made me think of diamonds, so I added some diamonds to today's nails.