31 Day Challenge - Day 6: Your Favorite Color Family

       Happy Sunday!  My post for you today is the 6th post in the 31 day challenge being hosted by Debbie Crumpet of The Crumpet.  Today we are supposed to show our favorite color family.  Mine just so happens to be pink.  Like I said a few days ago when our challenge was pink, pink is my favorite color, but I try not to show it too much here because I would do every post with pink in it.  Lol.  Whelp, I don't really have much else to say.  This mani was pretty simple, but I really like it and I hope you do too.

Base coat:  Pro Fx Fiberized Ridge Filler

Pinky: Princesses Rule! from OPI - 3 coats

Ring: Lolly from Zoya - 2 coats

Middle: Charming Rose Creme from NYC - 2 coats and one coat of Sparked from Wet N' Wild

Pointer: Koala Bear-y from OPI - 2 coats with one coat of Essence Nail Art Special Effect! Topper

Thumb: White on the Spot from Milani - 2 coats with two coats of a no name pink neon from Claire's

Top coat: Seche Vite except for the pointer finger

I'm not sure what is on my pointer finger; I think maybe some snow fell on it as I was taking the pictures.

What is your favorite polish color?

Happy Saturday everyone all though I\'m sure it is Sunday for a lot of you right now.  I was really excited to wear Aurora from Zoya for this mani.  It is a part of the new Ornate Collection that was released last month.  I fell in love with Aurora when I saw the first swatches of it.  I received it in a secret santa swap that I did in one of my Facebook groups and I was pretty much jumping up and down when I got it.

     To achieve this look I painted two coats of  each polish onto each nail then a coat of Seche Vite to help it dry quick.  After it dried I applied striping tape to each nail and then painted each nail with one coat of the opposite color.  

Base coat: Pro FX Fiberized Ridge Filler

Accent color base: Aurora from Zoya - 2 coats

Main base: I\'ve Got Bieber Fever from Nicole by OPI - 2 coats

Top coat: Seche Vite

Llama Nails: O is for... Owl

       All I can say is brrr!  Now, I am not one to complain about the weather, whether I like it or not, but it is downright freezing today!  I had to leave out heater on all day so my polish wouldn't get too cold.  ;-)  All right, now on to business.  Today's post is another installment in the ABCs of nail art challenge that is being hosted by the Facebook group, Llama Nails.  Each week we post a manicure that has to do with the letter for that week.  "O" was actually last week, and this mani was done on time, but I took a little blogging hiatus when we were supposed to post these.  Better late than never, right?

Base: Pro FX Fiberized Ridge Filler

Accent base:  Audrey from Zoya - 3 coats

Base: Pink Friday from OPI - 2 coats

Owl: Body - Fly from OPI

         Belly - Olympia from Sinful Colors 

         Eyes - Morning Breath from Sinful Colors mixed with French White Tip from NYC and Black Creme from Wet N'                  

                    Wild

         Nose - Clementine from Sinful Colors

Top coat: Seche Vite

Whoops, I almost forgot the most important part of this post!  I was inspired by this post on Let Them Have Polish.  I have been wanting to do this since she first posted the adorable mani.

How is the weather in your neck of the woods?  Hopefully a little warmer than 11 degrees F.

Here are some other "O" manis, please, check them out!

SassyNails Nail-Aween Nail Art Challenge: Day 6 - Frankenstein

       On Facebook SassyNails is hosting a self paced Nail-Aween Nail Art Challenge.  Today I have the sixth day of that challenge for you.  Our topic was Frankenstein.  I really wanted to do something than just a Frankenstein face and my mind wandered off to a new movie entitled, Frankenweenie.  In my opinion the Tim Burton movies are a little to creepy for me, so I won't be seeing this one, but I didn't mind doing this on my nails.  I think he looks more like a rat on my nails, but oh well.  At least I tried, right?!

Base coat: Sally Hansen Triple Strong Advanced Gel Nail Fortifier

Base coat: Tangy from Zoya - 2 coats

*All the artwork was done with Lamp Black and Titanium White acrylic paint from Artist's Loft.  Frankenweenie's body is a franken, lol, of the black and white.  I know, cheesy, but I had to.

These were taken inside without flash.

Here is the movie poster so you can see how I compare. 

This image is from Wikipedia.

So, what do you guys think, does he at least look some what close to the original?

SassyNails Nail-Aween Nail Art Challenge: Day 5 - Ghosts and Goblins

     Hey everyone.  It has been a few days since I have posted anything, but for good reason.  On Friday my friends and I took their kids out to a pumpkin patch close by and they do this corn maze every year.  This is one of the things I really look forward to every fall.  Escpecially since this year they did a Pac Man maze!  I love Pac Man!  Whenever I go to our local bowling alley I play Pac Man and Centipede for ever.  But really, who can resist those awesome, classic arcade games?!   

     The inspiration for these ghosts came from another YouTube video from IHaveACupcake.  Here is a link to the video.  I just thought these were so cute and I knew there was no way I would be able to do a goblin so I went with these.

     Unfortunately, I went a little to thick on my base color and never let it fully dry before applying the glow in the dark layers an it chipped off rather quick at work the next day.  :-(  Oh well. 

Base coat: Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Hardener

Base color: Ibiza from Zoya - 1 thick coat followed by Go With The Glow from Wet N' Wild Fantasy Makers - 3 coats

Ghosts: Titanium White acrylic paint from Artist's Loft and Lamp Black (eyes)

Top coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

Taken inside without flash

Taken inside with flash

I tried so hard to get a picute of these glowing in the dark but my camera is part of my phone and the light from the screen would cancel out the glow in the dark and only take black pictures.  :-(  Just know that it was really cute.

This challenge is being put on by SassyNails and it is a self paced challenge.  We have until the end of October to create our ten manicures.

Check out all of the NailAween Nail Art Artists!

datyorkLOVES

Erica's Nails and More

DreamyMM Nails & Make Up

 Tes Did It Nails
Sassy Paints 
Nicole gets Nailed 
Wicked Tips 
Fancy Schmancy Nails
Delight In Nails
Polish Groupie 
My Nail Journey 
Get Polished Up! 
Just A Girl and Her Polish
Spellbound Nails
Le nail's corner d'Alex
Hello.Lacquer
Color the world with polish
Cutie Cuticles (nail art by Laraib) 
Wacky Laki 
Nail-Aween Nail Art Challenge October 1-31st, 2012 
GLAMOROUS NAILS 
Over The Topcoat 
Polish Gone Crazy 
tragedystipsandtreats
Susy In Color
Countess Nails 
(List includes blogs and FB pages)

CNT Halloween Challenge Day 3: Zombies

     Today in Crumpet's Nail Tarts Halloween Challenge we are supposed to do Zombies.  Now, let me start off by saying, I am not a fan of zombies.  Don't like them, don't watch them, don't know what they look like, don't want anything to do with them.  Off to Google I went... (Does this sound familiar?  I love Google).  I searched "cute zombies" and found this image.  It was the cutest one I could find and I figured that I could re-create it.  I think I did a pretty good job.  

     After I painted Ibiza on my ring finger I painted the entire zombie in white acrylic paint so that when I added the color it would pop.  

Base coat: Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Hardener

Base color:

  accent nail: Ibiza from Zoya - 1 coat

  other nails: Night Prowl from Wet N' Wild - 2 coats - How ironic, right!  Perfect name.

Zombie attire:

  face and hand: San Tan-Tonio from O.P.I.

  brain: The One That Got Away from O.P.I. mixed with white acrylic paint

  shirt: I Need A Refresh-Mint from Wet N' Wild

  pants: Why Not from Sinful Colors

  heart: The One That Got Away from O.P.I.

  outline: Lamp Black from Artist's Loft acrylic paint

Top coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat      

AND a close up of my cute little zombie...

I hope you guys like my take on the zombie mani.  If you are interested in more gorey zombies, check out the other manis from this challenge.

AIS: Metallic Madness - Silver Sweep from Sally Hansen With Mash Plate 46

     Happy Sunday all.  I hope that you are all having a very relaxing weekend.  I am not. :-) On top of my normal 60 hour work week I added on an extra ten hours working at the fall festival yesterday and today.  Oh well.  Other than my feet hurting, I can't complain.  Made enough money to cover a bill so that is all that matters, right?!

     Today's stamping challenge in the Facebook group, Adventures In Stamping, is Metallic Madness.  Now, I don't have that many metallics so I knew that I would be stamping with Silver Sweep from the Sally Hansen Insta Dri line.  For my accent nail I also used this color.

Base coat: Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Hardener

Base color: Ibiza from Zoya - 1 coat

Accent nail and stamping color: Silver Sweep from Sally Hansen Insta Dri - 1 coat

Stamping plate: Mash 46

Top coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

Taken inside with flash

Taken inside without flash

All right, well I need to get caught up on my laundry for tomorrow since I wasn't able to get it done today.  I hope you guys enjoy this mani.

Sat-ART-day Challenge: Tarts

     Hey everyone!  Today marks the start of a new art challenge!  Debbie Crumpet, owner of the Facebook group, Crumpet's Nail Tarts, decided to start a new challenge since our summer one ended.  I only participated in a few days of the summer challenge because I joined about half way through.  I also didn't know how fun they were!  The thing I love about a group challenge is seeing the variety of nails people can come up with for one theme.

     Today's theme was... tarts.  I know, I know, right?!  What the hell!  Debbie posted this in the beginning of September, ( I think) and I brainstormed the entire month!  I almost didn't participate but I figured, what the hell, it is a challenge for a reason!  Off to google I went.  Turns out there are two definitions for a tart.  One, "a small pie containing fruit or the like,"  and two, a "prostitute or promiscuous woman. " Both definitions come from the dictionary.  So, if you're anything like me, your jaw just dropped.  You know it did.  How the hell am I supposed to draw a pastry on my nails!  I sure as hell wasn't going to put prostitutes on my nails!  Welp, I believe I solved the problem.  As soon as I was done with these, I asked my hubs what was on my nails and he guessed on the first try, so I figure they can't be that bad, right?  Hopefully you can guess as well.

If you guess strawberries, you're wrong!  They're blueberries!  I am very pleased with how this turned out and I hope that you were able to guess what they were.

Base coat: Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Hardener

Base color: Audrey from Zoya - 2 coats

French tip color: Superstar from Pure Ice

Blueberries:

 light blue - Vintage Blue from Avon

 dark blue - Why Not from Sinful Colors (both applied with a dotting tool)

  stems - Scream from Pure Ice (applied with a small brush)

Top coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

If you're curious as to how others approached this tart challenge, check out these other blogs!

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to comment! :-)

 

CNT Halloween Nail Art Challenge Day 2: Black Cats

     Today is day 2 of Crumpet's Nail Tarts Challenge.  Our challenge today is, "black cats".  I wasn't quite sure what to do so I decided to Google Robin Moses + cats and was super excited with what I found.

 

Now of course mine isn't as good as the amazing, spectacular, glorious Robin, but I think it is pretty dang good.  I mean, you can tell my cat is a cat, can't you?!

Base coat: Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Hardener

Base color: Audrey from Zoya - 2 coats

Top coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

Acrylic paints: Lemon Yellow and Lamp Black from Artist's Loft

How did I do?

Please feel free to check out these other "black cat" manis. :-)

 

 

Zoya Lolly and Stamping With Sinful Colors Let's Talk and Mash Plate 38

     Today's challenge in the Facebook group Adventures In Stamping was pulsating pink and purple.  I figured it would be a really good time to try out my camo stamp that i have been dying to try since I got it.  I love camo.  My sister makes fun of me and tells me she doesn't understand who snuck in to my bedroom in the middle of the night and raised me because I love everything country/western, penguins, and nails.  Odd mix of things lol.

     I was irritated how this ended up looking more like zebra print though.  I think next time I will try mixing the stamping with white and purple so that it creates more of a girly camo look.

     I decided to us Zoya Lolly for the base color, a bright pink with a matte finish.  The formula on this was funky!  I ended up doing three coats to even it out.  I then applied my Essence Nail Art Special Effect! Topper, waited for it to dry and then did the stamping.

Base coat: Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Hardener

Base color: Lolly from Zoya - 3 coats

Top coat: Essence Nail Art Special Effect! Topper

Stamping color: Let's Talk from Sinful Colors

Stamping plate: Mash 38

All these pictures were taken inside without the flash

Zoya Rica Swatches and Stamping Plate with Mash 45

  Zoya Rica has been on my want list for a few months now, and I finally saved up some tip money to buy some new polishes the other day.  :-)  I purchase Zoya Rica, Faye, and OPI's Russian Navy.  Russian Navy was on my want list as well and I picked up Faye because well, I liked it.  I had a few other polishes in my hand and the employee at Ed Wyss asked me if I wanted her to swatch them on some paper to see what they looked like and I told her no, that it was ok because I was going to buy them all sooner or later, lol.
  Zoya Rica is part of Zoya's 2011 Sunshine collection.  According to the Zoya website Rica "can be best described as: Warm light coral with pink and orange tones and heavy gold metallic sparkle."  So true.  I have loved this color since I first saw swatches.  It has so many facets to me that I just stare and stare and stare while I wear it.

Base coat: Chip Skip from OPI and Smooth Beginnings from Avon

Base color: Rica from Zoya - 2 coats

Top coat: Out the Door

Stamping polish: Stamp Me! White from Essence

Stamping plate: Mash plate 45

Outside in natural light

In case you can't tell by the water on my middle finger, it was raining

and I was unable to capture a picture of this beauty in direct

sunlight

Inside without flash

Inside with flash

I would say that the middle picture is the most accurate display of this polish butt it is always changing.  Sometimes it is really. really pink and other times it is very coral and orange.  Do you have Zoya Rica?  Do you love it, hate it, or are you just ok with it?  I hope you all had a great weekend!

When in doubt, dot it up!

     I wanted to swatch one of my unused Zoya polishes the other day and dug for Audrey.  Not let me first start out by saying neutral and light colors are NOT the polishes that I go for.  I received this polish in a swap about a month and a half ago.  That is how unexcited I was to try this color out.  All I have to say about this color is, dang!  I need to step out of my comfort zone more often.  I LOVE Audrey.  Something about her is SO classy and says look at me and how primp and proper I am.  I definitely want to play around with this color and try some funky tips with it.  I think it will look really nice.  I tried to do some stamping, fail, and some nail art, fail and then just gave up.  I jumped in the shower and all the sudden thought, polka dots!  After I toweled off and took my normal spot on the couch I reached for some poppin colors and used my awesome dotting tools I won a few weeks ago and went to town.  Here is the amazing finished product.  (Funny that I love this mani so much because I hate polka dots as well)!

I wasn't going to show this picture but I decided to because I want you guys to see how easy it is to do your  

non dominant hand.

Audrey all by herself 

Base Coat: Smooth Beginnings from Avon
Base Color: Audrey from Zoya - 3 coats
Pink Dots: Strawberry from Avon
Blue Dots: No More by Sinful Colors Nail Art Line
Purple Dots: Moon Light by Sinful Colors Nail Art Line
Green Dots: Acrylic paint
Top Coat: Out the Door

My going out mani

     Last weekend I went out dancing for the first time in months.  The first time I have gone out since  I started this blog actually, so I wanted to make sure I did my nails cute so that no one could see them in the dark bar.  Lol.  It is the thought that counts, right?  I picked up the Zoya matte sampler the other day and thought what the hay.  Matte polishes are slowly growing on me.  I guess maybe because the matte finish makes them look dull to me?

  If you guys haven't learned that doing art work for your nails with acrylic is possibly the best idea ever, you need to figure it out girlfriends.  I wasn't quite sure why so many people didn't use polish for their art work until I heard that you could do clean up with rubbing alcohol and it wouldn't affect the polish.  What better way to screw up artwork and not have to redo the entire nail again!  I tell you what.  Learning this has saved me hundreds of tears!

finished product

Three coats inside with flash

Three coats outside with no flash

Base Coat-Avon Smooth Beginnings

Base Color-Phoebe by Zoya - 3 coats

White tips and black stripes - acrylic paint

Top Coat - LA Colors - was only place on the ring finger.  I didn't put a top coat on the other nails because I wanted to keep the matte look on the other nails.

What do you guys think of matte finishes?  Yay or Ney?