Vintage Rose Skittles

I know, another big gap between posts. I can't believe how hard it's been to get back into my blogging routine since getting home. But on the other hand it hasn't exactly been a normal week. My sister had her baby two weeks early and my husband had a pretty serious surgery. Thankfully everyone is doing well in the aftermath of hospitalpocalypse 2013. I've loved my manicure this week because it's so bright and cheery and is somehow helping me feel less stressed out. Does anyone else feel that way about a good mani? I've been seeing this mix and match style of skittles all over Pinterest and I wanted to put my own spin on it. I picked a couple of my favorite colors and came up with this.

 

The red polish was one of my awesome Thailand finds. I'm going to try to do a full post soon about my overseas polish purchase so I won't say anything else for now. The brand is See San and it doesn't have a name so I'm calling it Tomato. I used two coats on my thumb and pinkie. The index finger is Wet n Wild, I Need a Refresh-Mint. The middle finger is one coat of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Gilty Party and two coats Golden Rule. For my cute zig zags I used two coats Wet n Wild, French White Creme and stamped it with Refresh-Mint using Bundle Monster plate BM-201. The rose accents were made by swirling my white and red polishes with a dotting tool and using it to draw little c shapes for the petals. The white dots.. dotting tool.

Laid-Back 31 DC: Inspired By A Blogger

Today I'm inspired by the talented Robin Moses. I love her designs because they look so intricate and complicated, but the videos explain everything so well it's like you're a nail art pro in minutes. I chose her video Badass Steampunk Nail Art Roses and Stripes Vignette as my inspiration for today's challenge. The roses also seem really appropriate for mother's day. I have the most amazing mom ever and since I can't send her real roses (she lives in another country at the moment) at least I can paint some for her.

 

 

 

 

The video probably does a better job with the how to portion

so I'll just skip ahead to what I used:

Wet n Wild, 2% Milk

Wet n Wild, Black Creme

Zoya, Richelle

Nina Ultra Pro, Mossy Britches

Wet n Wild, French White Creme

Color Club, Berry and Bright (smells like berries)

 

 



Laid-Back 31 DC: Inspired By My Childhood

Hello everyone. For some reason it feels like forever this time since my last post even though it's the same as usual. I've actually been doing a lot of nails in the last week, but not a lot of posting. Hopefully I'll be able to fix that soon and show you what I've been working on. Today I have nails inspired by my childhood. It took me a while to think of something besides cotton and dirt (the joys of growing up on a farm). Since I did pond scum last week I thought I'd spare you all the dirt manicure and went with this instead.

 

 

When I was somewhere around 2nd grade I had the most awesome sweatshirt-  pink with bright blue roses. Only in the 80's did people think these color should actually be worn together on purpose. I was in love with this sweatshirt and was convinced that I would someday paint my house these colors. Thank goodness my mom was right. I did, in fact, change my mind. Just because I wouldn't paint my house this color doesn't mean I wouldn't put it on my nails. I've got 2 coats of Wet n Wild, Tickled Pink. The roses were made using a dotting tool swirled in China Glaze, Shower Together and Wet n Wild, I Need a Refresh-Mint. The technique was based on this tutorial I found on YouTube.

 

 

 

And then because I can never leave well enough alone I added leaves on the right hand to see if I like it better. Meh. It's ok, but I like it without too.

 



Anna Karenina

I started reading Anna Karenina around Christmas time and despite reading pretty regularly since then I'm still only 30% through the book. It's really long! Near the beginning of the story Anna and her new friend Kitty both attend a ball and the descriptions of their dresses inspired these nails. Hopefully by the time I'm done reading the movie will be out on video so I can see if they look like I've imagined them.

 

 

The pink nails are for Kitty: "At this moment she walked into the ballroom in her elaborate tulle dress over a pink slip as easily and simply as though all the rosettes and lace, all the minute details of her attire, had not cost her or her family a moment's attention, as though she had been bore in tulle and lace." On my pointer finger I've tried to recreate her black velvet locket. From a distance it almost looks like a tiny cameo.

 

 

The black nails represent Anna: "Her black dress with its sumptuous lace was not noticeable on her; it was only the frame, and all that was seen was she."

 

 

What I used:

Pink nails- Sinful Colors, Easy Going (2 coats)

Rosettes- China Glaze, Purple Panic- disclaimer: something happened to this color since I bought it. It used to be a neon purple, but it's now most definitely a bright pink. The roses were hand painted with a small nail art brush and the details were painted on with the lighter base shade of pink.

Black nails- Wet n Wild, Black Creme (only 1 coat. this polish has great coverage). The white lace was painted on with a small brush in Finger Paints, Paper Mache.

The Locket- I used my small brush to draw on the black line with the Black Creme, then after my top coat I went over it with Matte Me Crazy top coat by NYC to give it more of a velvet look. The gold locket was dotted on with a small dotting tool, and the black dot was added to the center with a larger dotting tool. I used the small brush to add the white cameo detail to the center.