Missed Valentine's Day

I started my blog once Valentine's Day was over so I missed out on a good V-day mani.  Didn't really miss it and hadn't planned on doing anything months later but.......

I got a new Gelish polish called Gossip Girl and I had read that it had amazing sparkle and looked alot like Dorothy's ruby slippers.  I couldn't wait to try it.  The color is amazing.  It really sparkles and is this vibrant red color.  I love it and it goes on smoothly, what else would I expect from Gelish?  The problem is that I can't just have plain nail polish anymore because everyone would be disappointed so I started looking through my stamps.  I didn't want a pattern because I love the color so much and didn't want it to be overshadowed by some Konad stamping polish.  This just made sense.  I guess I am better suited to bold, bright or deep dark colors.  I like the spring looks for a change of pace but seem to revert back to the stuff I love. 

I ended up using Bundle Monster plates 02, 03 and 09 but I originally was going to use my new Red Angel plates I just recently bought to test them out.  When I tried to pull the plastic off of one, it sliced my thumb right across the fingrprints.  Holy cow is that going to hurt this week.  Metal papercut.  I had read about that happening but thought it was nuts because I couldn't imagine it.  Well, I was wrong, it can.  So I dismissed them and will try again another day...

I hope the pictures can somewhat reflect the sparkle because it is really amazing....

Versatile Blogger Award

Thanks to Nearly Natural Nails (Jess) for giving me this nomination for my dragonfly nails.

The Rules:

1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers.
2. Let them know that you have nominated them.
3. Share 7 random facts about yourself.
4. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your blog post

I have nominated the following AMAZING nail designers who provide me with inspiration.....

1)  10 Blank Canvases  I was crushed this did not win the dotting tool competition
2) __Nail Rookie__  So simple but my first spring inspiration.  Love the color and DOTS!!!
3) A Little Polish  Runway challenge....LOVE LOVE LOVE these colors together.
4) A Plethora of Nails Aside from having great mani's, Bethany gave me a few great ideas with this post.
5) Dressed up Digits  Loved this, not to mention her gradients are perfection.
6) Kelsie's Nail Files  Amazing.  This is on my short list to try.
7) Love Life Lacquer  Love these colors and the creative patterns. 
8) MissAdelinne  Her mani's are fantastic but the photographic presentation puts it over the top.
9) MixedMama Water marbling at it's best... I kind of wished she had done more St. Paddy's Day designs because I was loving them all.
10) My Nail Polish Addiction Really lovely gradient in pastel.  Super for spring.
11) My Polished Nails  OMG, someday when I gain enough talent....I am Totally copying this!!!!
12) Neues vom Kellerkind Never seen anything like this.  She has amazing talent and is so artistic.
13) Quite Polished Another idea for my short list. Love that she is a great educator. Very creative!!
14) Amber Did It Oh, the Trapper Keeper.  What memories...amazing gradient too!!
15) Tin Roof Nails Amazing stamping.  Very clean and pretty pattern.

7 Things about me:

1) I have two pugs, Elmer and Roxy.
2) I teach group fitness at a nearby gym, chisel, spinning, tabata, soon to teach step I hope.
3) I used to bite my nails up until about a year ago.
4) I am somewhat obsessed with reality TV.
5) I get impatient sitting through movies but can take three hours completely focused when doing a mani.
6) I am obsessed with gel polish right now.  Even if it is just as a base to design over (it is keeping my nails long)
7) My happy place is sitting on the patio in the summer with a glass of wine.

Dragonflies for spring

Thought I was done for the week but today is my birthday and my friends got me a great gift package....It was a great surprise considering neither of them have worn nail polish since they were kids. They gave it to me at work and I just spent the day wondering what I could make with it.

Even though the temperature has dropped significantly, those few weeks of mild weather make me feel like spring.  So, I decided to continue with that theme.  I LOVED the dragonflies and the colors were bright which always appeals to me.  

I am still wearing the same base and top coat by Gelish that I started with when I did Angry Birds.  It only has a small chip in one corner that is not even noticeable.  Love that you can remove the color with non-acetone remover and just keep changing things up.  It has made my nails really strong and they are the longest I can ever remember them being.  Not ready to cut them yet.  Anyway, I love the outcome.  Hopefully it will last until the weekend.  The blue base is called Totally Teal and the green dots are done with Art Club's Mint Striper.

Spring dots

OK, Angry Birds were a hit but I found myself trying to keep them hidden at some points throughout the day.  Like when I met with the auditors for the first time.  They come in all in black with nautral nails and very conservative hair and makeup.  Angry Birds just seemed out of place.  I planned on doing a new design but wasn't sure what to do.  Didn't have alot of time tonight because I got home late and have to prepare music for a spin class in the AM (5:45 AM to be exact).  My mom wanted spring so I did something simple.

The only things that are bugging me are that the yellow looks much more pastel in person than in this picture.  It almost looks mustard here but it isn't.  And, for some reason, the pink ran a bit during the top coat.  Other than that, I am really hapy with the outcome.  I am not going to list out the brands and colors because I don't have much time but if anyone wants to know, just ask.

Angry Birds

Ever since the first time I saw this on www.cutepolish.blogspot.com I knew I wanted to give it a try. Love the game and I thought the recreation of the birds and the pig was so cute.  If only I had a steadier hand, it would be great.  I think I am just so cautious because I don't want to mess anything up so I go so slow but you really can't.  You just have to bite the bullet and do it.  Overall, I am happy with it.  You can easily tell what they are.  I love the bright colors.  I will probably switch it out once I get back to work and give everyone the chance to see it.  I am deciding on a couple to other things to do for next time.

Orange you glad Spring is here??

OK cheesy title, I know.  I can't help it.  Even though I am getting over an illness and still feel crappy.  It is March in NY and it is 70+ degrees out today.  I am ready for warm weather.  Ready for sitting on the patio with a cold beverage, and, ready for golf!!!  This weekend, I went to Sally's to look for Gelish in yellow from their neon collection for a friend who wants a design for her vacation.  While I was there, I spotted a sale rack.  Yikes!!!  They had some nail art products on sale, I saw these orange slices and couldn't resist.  And, China Glaze was on sale too.  Clearly meant to be.  Not usually one to wear bright colors but I love this. 

I used one orange slice on each nail and simply accented the tip using China Glaze Sun Worshiper.  What an amazing color.  I am definitely going to something with my toes this summer using this color.  I took a pic in the sun too.  Just because I want to prove that it is out, and not even officially Spring yet.  Almost though......

Music themed nails

I was kind of sad to see my shamrocks go but one of my nails started to lift and it was time to take the polish off before I had one naked nail and a bunch of shamrocks.  I have been miserable and sick with some kind of upper respiratory infection.  I am so sick of a sore throat, I can't stand it anymore.  Ever since I got the stamp from Konad that had the piano keys and music notes, I knew I wanted to do something with it.  The problem was that I prefer darker colors generally and didn't really want to do white.  Then I found a picture on Pinterest and thought...YES.  It was a photo of a design done by http://beautopia.onsugar.com/  Unfortunately I can't get you right to the picture because the person must have saved it to their computer or phone and pinned it.  There was no link.  Fortunately there was a watermark.  Up until now I didn't think I cared about watermarks because I don't care who uses the pictures, they are not that great anyway but I can see now why it may be useful.  Anyway, despite trying, I couldn't locate the picture on her website.  if anyone can find it, let me know.  She uses Red and White. 

So I got another couple colors in the mail yesterday.  After the last post with the retired collection from Gelish, I decided tht I wanted to see what the others were about.  I found on Amazon Izzy Wizzy, Let's Get Busy and thought it looked good.  The reviews, however, were not so good.  They said it was really thin and not what the pictures depicted.  I did read one review that said it was awesome as a top coat and one person said she paired it wih Plum and Done and loved the colors together.  I figured...let's give it a try.  The result was good. I can't say I love the polish but I do like it.  Gives a nice deep layered look and , of course, it sparkles.  Once again, forgot to take a picture of the picture pre-stamping.  Next time....maybe.

I used Konad white and scotch tape to make the thin white section down the accent nail.  This formed a great base and gave the appearance of having a piano on top of the nail.  I used Konad white and black for stamping the piano and music notes on m73.  Unfortunately, my nails are too fat to just use one roll of the applicator.  It took more then one application for each nail and lining them up was kind of a pain.  Overall, it is cute and I like it.

My only problem, and if anyone knows how to fix this, I would love the help.  Every time I go to apply a clearcoat on top, it smudges.  Even if I let the base dry overnight and work qickly.  Any ideas??

Shamrocks

OK, I am Irish.  50% at least.  So I needed to do something to support my heritage.  I may switch this up during the week but I like the simplicity of this design.  More importantly, I LOVE the polish color.  This is from a retired colection called Aurora by Gelish.  This particular color is titled Oocha Coocha Bing Bang Bam, Alakazy, Alakazam.....Seriously!!  Like I could make that up.  I ordered it on Amazon along with a few others.  They are meant to be used as a top coat over a dark shade but with two coats, I like it the way it is.

The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't photograph well.  Or I can't photograph it well is probably the way to put it.  It looks really blue but actually it presents as a bright green with a blue tint to it.  I just love the sparkle.  Here is another picture in different lighting....

This one shows a tad more green.  Anyway, I just used a simple accent in the form of a small shamrock in Konad special white using BM03.  I like it.  Taking a fitness workshop this weekend for step.  My mind is swimming with a bunch of ideas on building a class.  I was thinking today during a break that I want to do a spinning inspired mani.  Just need to figure out how to freehand the logo and what else I could add to make it interesting.  Will have to think about it.  Hmmmm...

Purple Leopard

So much for conservative.  I just couldn't do it anymore.  The simple flower is OK but not for too long.  Got in a new polish from Gelish called Emerald Dust.

Since I am all about sparkly lately, I couldn't wait to try it out.  It sort of disappointed me a bit.  The glitter is pretty mild with very tiny flecks in the polish but the part that bugged me the most was the yellowish effect that it gave off after the second coat.  I had to cover it it with something.  Next time I will remember to take a picture before I do anything over the top.  The Top is black Konad special nail polish using Konad m57.  Then I thought it needed a litle something so I added a tip in purple since the stamp didn't completely cover the nail and accented the spots with the same Konad special purple.  I really like the outcome.

Natural nails with flowers

OK, as a mentioned in my last post, conservative it is.  I used a base and top coat of gelish.  What I like about this, among all the things I previously mentioned, is that I can switch out the design after Wednesday when my last meeting is over to something a little more edgy.  Also, having the clear base gives a plain foundation for hundreds of options.  Lastly, I was able to use non-acetone remover when I made a mistake while stamping.  Coudn't do that with regular polish.  Which is annoying because many polishes require two, sometimes three coats.  Once you take the time to get that on and dry, making a mistake stamping is INCREDIBLY frustrating.

I made the flowers in Konad purple using Bundle Monster plates BM03.  The center of the flower is a dot of Stripe Rite in teal.  

I may check back in with a change before the weekend but have plans for a cute design for St. patrick;s day that I plan on doing for next week.  Until then....happy nail design....

Purple Lace

For the past year, when I have painted my nails, I have always used gel polish.  It takes longer and there are not as many color choices but I feel like you can add to the basic colors and make it more interesting.  Today, however, I was just dying to try this new color I bought on impulse by Finger Paints called Purple Palette.  It took three coats to get it on thick enough to cover but dried pretty quick.  I topped it off with a stamp in konad special white using plate m57.  Unfortunately, I didn't have time for a top coat.  The result, it already started to chip by the time I returned from the gym.  This is why many regular polishes get me frustrated.  It takes alot of time to get everything ready, wait for it to dry and then spice it up with some added touches.  To have it chip within hours makes me sad.  Anyway, my fault, should have done the top coat.  Also, it would have made it less rough in appearance.

Now, if only I could get Gelish to produce this color in their next release.  I wish.  Reminds me alot of the the Gelish High Voltage I did last week.  

I have plans to redo them tomorrow.  I have a busy week and some importnt meetings.  The kind of meetings were I need to maintain some semblance of professionalism.  So I have to have a somewhat conservative design.  Until then, happy nail design....