31 Day Challenge - Day 26 - Pattern

This one is a bit of stretch.... But I knew at some point I would HAVE to do CatDog. So my coorelation is that there is pattern to the entire cartoon. Everything is half and half, like their house is half fish and half bone, the wallpaper will be part cat and part dog themed. And basically all of the plots revolve around the same pattern. Dog is silly and dumb, while cat is the mastermind. So just go with me here....

My cousin was in town visiting and she's been my gracious hand model for previous cartoon manicures. She volunteered again. Am I just delusional? Or do our hands/nails look similar? Even our nail beds are the same shape. I guess it just proves that we are in fact related!

Here I did the sign that is behind them in the intro shots. All done with acrylic paints. 

The base polish is Essie Navigate Her.

Then on the other hand I painted their body stretching across her nails. It made for a really cool french tip on the middle nail. :)

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31 Day Challenge - Day 30 - Inspired by a Tutorial

Who better for a tutorial than Dora the Explorer? She is so educational and helpful. She teaches children Spanish all day every day. So today she's teach you how to say "nail polish" in Spanish.

Apparently it is "Esmalte De Unas"

Thumb - China Glaze Dance Baby

Index - Essence The One & Only

Middle - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away

Ring - Revlon Sorbet

Pinky - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Green with Envy

I love how the thumb turned out. It may be on of my best lettering jobs in nail art. Usually that is what I struggle with the most. 

Dora herself was done with acrylic paint, but the lettering was all done using the nail polish shades listed above.

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connect the... diagonal neons?

Afternoon everyone!
Here's the mani I mentioned in yesterday's post about Lynnderella's Connect The Dots - a fun neon mani with CtD on top!

Tada!
I think CtD is best over a neon color... And even better over two of them!

This mani started out with two coats of Julep - Hayden, one of the few Julep colors I love.
I then painted half my nail with Color Club - Poptastic, which I had to do 2 coats of to make it even.
I added 2 coats of Lynnderella - Connect The Dots on top.
And this fun neon mani was born!

I got a ton of compliments on this mani just because it is so eye catching!
Several people were really confused as to how I "did" the black and white - they don't believe it's just glitter.

What do you guys think of neons + black and white glitter? I basically can't get enough.

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31 Day Challenge - Day 29 - Supernatural

Again, I'm going out of order, but just deal with it. I'll cover them all in the end.

A unicorn is supernatural correct? I'm taking it from the definition of  "being seemingly against the laws of nature." This is Buttercup the Unicorn from Toy Story 3.

This is the sweetest supernatural thing I've seen in...... maybe forever. 

I first painted my nails with China Glaze Lemon Fizz, then China Glaze Crackle Lightening Bolt. Then I did a coat of Sally Hansen Glass Slipper for an extra magical quality. I freehanded Buttercup with acrylic paints.

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31 Day Challenge - Day 27 - Inspired by Artwork

I realize I'm going out of order, but I haven't had time to execute my idea for "inspired by a pattern" just yet, so rather than sit on these pictures.... I wanted to show them to you and I'll come back to Day 21 when I get done. ;) My blog, my rules. Lol

Artwork.... Cartoons..... Sonoma Nail Art hit the nail on the head when she suggested the Gargoyles from The Hunchback of Notre Dame! Wonderful idea! Thanks again Michelle!

The base polish is Zoya Kristen stamped with Barielle Coco Bar and the bundle monster pebble image. All of the Gargoyle art was done with acrylic paints.

Left is Hugo

Middle is Victor

Right is Lavergne

 So I haven't forgotten about the challenge, I've just been scatter brained.

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prom nail wheel

Hi everyone! Sorry for being so inactive this week - I've been working a lot at a new job but after this week it'll slow down! (Thankfully because if I keep working this hard I might die! Haha!)

I don't have time for a long post so I'm gonna show you guys an awesome nail wheel that I made for my cousin Megan who was having me do her nails for her prom. Her dress was black and her shoes were red, so I stuck to those colors and added some silver and gold for accents. Before she came over, I made this wheel so that when she came, she could easily pick what she wanted!

Tada! It was a lot of fun making this wheel.
I'll put a list of the polishes I used, but if you have any questions about a particular nail, leave 'em in the comments and I will answer you later tonight after work.

OPI - Comet Loves Cupid (all the reds)
Essence - Black is Back (all the black)
OPI - Getting Miss Piggy With It (red glitter)
China Glaze - Blonde Bombshell (gold glitter)
Essence - Make It Golden (gold glitter)
Urban Decay - Superfreak (gold)
China Glaze - Millennium (silver)
Milani - Gold Glitz (gold glitter)
Deborah Lippmann - Happy Birthday (rainbow glitter)
Essie - As Gold As It Gets (gold flake)
Glitter Gal - Red Sparkle (holographic red)
Lynnderella - Connect The Dots (black and white glitter)
Color Club - Nomadic In Nude (nude)
OPI - Black Shatter
OPI - Red Shatter
Sephora by OPI - Blasted Gold Shatter

Phew! That was a lot of polishes.
Megan chose to wear Glitter Gal Red Sparkle and a black accent nail with a row of red rhinestones. It looked great!

Doing wheels like this really help get my inspiration going. I hope you guys like it!

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a very special engagement

Hey everyone!
I have a short and sweet post for you tonight to show off some special nails I did today!

My dear friend Vicki got engaged on Saturday night!
She came over today so I could hear all the sweet details, and of course do some pretty nails because you know she's gonna be showing off that hand a lot this week!

I came up with the cutest idea ever and we both loved it!

Bride and Groom! Adorable, right?
And check out that rock! Her fiancé did a good job picking it out!

For the white, I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Whirlwind White.
The black is Essence - Black On Black.
On her other nails, I started with Nicole by OPI - Nothing Kim-pares to Blue and did a gradient on top with China Glaze - No Way Jose. 

Congratulations again to Vicki and Greg! I hope the nails last all week for all the showing off!

Well, Vicki's nails have made their first appearance here on RLN! I wonder if next year I'll be showing off wedding designs! ;)
Now everyone congratulate the happy couple!

More about → a very special engagement

go french with OPI We'll Always Have Paris Suede

Good morning lovelies!
Today I'll be showing off another OPI Suede polish and the resulting mani that I wore with it!

OPI - We'll Always Have Paris Suede
I seriously dig these suedes. I never liked matte finishes until I tried these out! They apply so nicely, dry in seconds, and just look really cool!

I wore this polish for 2 days before it started to wear away at the tips, which is great for a matte finish polish with no topcoat.
I wasn't ready to take it off, so it was time for some art to cover the tipwear!
(You may remember I did the same thing with Russian Navy Suede in this post.)

I went for a cool french mani! And man, I seriously enjoyed it. My nails looked so... vampy. I don't know. They were badass but still elegant. If that's possible.

To add on the V-shaped french, I used Essence - Black Is Back and just used the polish brush to quickly paint it on. It's not perfect, but it's hard to see the imperfections.

Et voilà!  A sexy french mani in Paris. Suede.

More about → go french with OPI We'll Always Have Paris Suede

31 Day Challenge - Day 25 - Inspired by Fashion

What better cartoon fashion than Cinderella's Glass Slipper? I had no choice but to use Sinful Colors Cinderella and Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Glass Slipper! 

I used Color Club Starry Temptress Topcoat and China Glaze Fairy Dust for my little glitter swirls on the other nails. 

Here is a gif tutorial of how I painted the thumb nail.

And some pictures of Cinderella before the nail art, just because....Disney Princess Cinderella Night-Light By Idea NuovaDisney Princess Cinderella Night-Light By Idea Nuova

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31 Day Challenge - Day 24 - Inspired by a Book

My mother actually works at the local library in specialized program within the children's department. She told me about this book a while ago, and it's stuck in my memory. My memory was jogged, when a follower suggested any of Mo Willem's books because she's a school teacher and all of her students love his work. She mentioned the characters Gerald and Piggy, but I knew I'd have to focus on the Pigeon!

The book cover is shown below. "Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus!" basically, the entire book is the Pigeon just begging to drive the bus. Little kids love it because they catch on quickly and like to participate by telling the Pigeon, "No!"

Description from the website:

"When a bus driver takes a break from his route, a very unlikely volunteer springs up to take his place —- a pigeon! But you’ve never met one like this before. As he pleads, wheedles, and begs his way through the book, children will love being able to answer back and decide his fate. In his hilarious picture book debut, popular cartoonist Mo Willems perfectly captures a preschooler’s temper tantrum."   

I just love the muted color palette too, it's really nice! 

Lettering is always a problem with me. I barely managed to squeeze on that "S."

And Pigeon! The background color is China Glaze Sunset Sail. I also used acrylic paint in black, white, and yellow. Pigeon's body is China Glaze Sea Spray.

So remember, don't let the pigeon drive the bus! No matter what he says!

More about → 31 Day Challenge - Day 24 - Inspired by a Book

my first ruffian mani

Hey everyone - before I start this post I am going to do some major whining! Justified whining though. I need an outlet!

I just found out that the blink-182 concert I was supposed to see next week is CANCELLED.
Because the drummer just had his tonsils out. TONSILS! Blink is my favorite band and has been for about 10 years. This was going to be my third time flying away to see them. I love them so much that I can't be mad at them but... tonsils? Drummer? He played with a broken foot before but... tonsils?! AH!

I spent close to $500 on plane tickets to go to Quebec City and now I don't know what to do. Go anyway? Spend another $150 to turn my tickets into a voucher? Ugh. It's not even the money that really bums me out but the fact that I won't be seeing blink this year. And I'm sure the stars won't all align in exactly the right ways for me to see them next year, the way they did this year. I'm so sad. :(

Anyway... depressing news aside... here is a mani I wore a few weeks ago.

I like ruffian manis but I'm not sure if I chose the right colors for my first one!

This mani started out with two coats of OPI - Russian Navy Suede.
I was wearing this for 3 days before adding the silver, I was surprised it lasted that long before chipping! Matte/suede polishes usually chip super fast but color me impressed.
I love this polish a lot, the suede effect is cool! I've got 6/7 of the suedes they released and I'd like to get the last one, too! I stupidly didn't buy it when I had the chance. (Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow Suede is the one I am missing.

So, when the chips happened, I wasn't ready to remove the color so I decided to do a ruffian mani!
A ruffian is a very chic look and can cover up your chips in a flash.

To do the look, you add a second color but you don't go all the way to the cuticle. It can be a bit tricky to get the spacing the same (notice my middle finger is different from the others) but with practice it is no problem.

The silver is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Silver Sweep. This mani was so darn reflective, it was hard to get good pictures.

I'm gonna try more ruffians this summer... but with neons!!

Now before I go, allow me to remind you that today is another day to vote for me in the Bundle Monster contest! Yes, I'm shameless.
If you've got Facebook, click HERE to go to my entry!
If you don't have Facebook, click HERE to go to my entry!

Thanks :)

More about → my first ruffian mani

31 Day Challenge - Day 23 - Inspired by a Movie

The Emperor's New Groove! 

These were suggested by a follower but you didn't leave your name?! So thanks to whoever you are. You reminded me of this hilarious cartoon that I had forgotten about! Emperor Kuzco is turned into a llama and has to learn some important lessons. David Spade and John Goodman are some of the contributing voices. 

 

I mainly used this image as inspiration.

I started to paint the lettering orange, but it didn't show up well enough. I just painted yellow on top.

What do you think? Did you see this movie growing up?

More about → 31 Day Challenge - Day 23 - Inspired by a Movie