April #NAILLINKUP Prompts

It is with heavy hearts that we announce this. We are discontinuing the Nail Art Ideas Linkup challenge that we’ve been running since there hasn’t been enough interest.

Hold up, we are totally kidding! April Fools!!!

Did we fool you, or are you too clever for our tactics?? Not a chance that we would discontinue the #NAILLINKUP! The only month we are skipping is July. Because that’s when we host our huge 2nd annual 31 day OMD nail challenge!  More info on our prompts and prizes in the coming months.
Let’s get back to April! It’s one of the rare months where we can squeeze 5 prompts in instead of 4. For your nail art pleasure, here are our ideas-

RAIN (week 1) There’s an old adage that says April showers bring May flowers.  Well, maybe not in all parts of the world.  But still, we all know about rain!  Let’s see your nails painted with rain, droplets, umbrellas, or however you want to interpret this theme!

BIRDS (week 2) Did you know that April 8th is officially Draw a Picture of a Bird Day?  Let’s ‘draw’ birds on our nails to celebrate this weird holiday!  Of course, you can use a stamping kit or some decals if you’d like.

EASTER (week 3) Bunnies, colored eggs, candies and green grass!  We expect to see lots of cute nails for this prompt.

DIAMONDS (week 4) What is the birthstone for April?  Diamonds.  And we can’t think of a prettier way to decorate your nails.  After all, diamonds are a girl’s best friend!

DOTTICURE (week 5) We like to throw a nail art ‘technique’ in the mix every month and polka dots are a classic!

Rules for Nail Art Ideas Linkup (N.A.I.L.)……

• Do one of the weekly themes, or do them all.  It’s flexible!
• The dates for each week are only suggestions- you can post your nails whenever you want in April.
• The nail art ideas/themes are open to interpretation so you can create whatever kind of design you want! Stamps, stickers, acrylics- anything goes!
• We encourage all nail enthusiasts to join in no matter what platform you use; blog, FB, IG, Tumblr, etc…
• Feel free to post our widget on your site and you can use hashtag #NAILLINKUP on your social media.
• Lastly but most importantly, don’t forget to share your nail pics via the inlinkz below.

31st March – 6th April : Rain (April Showers)

7th – 13th April : Birds

14th – 20th April : Easter

21st – 27th April : Diamonds

28th April – 4th May : Dotticure

NAIL ART IDEAS LINKUP is hosted by Brijit, Craftynail and Eeeek.  Feel free to contact us if you have any questions at all!  You can also read more info about our monthly N.A.I.L. Linkup on our blog links below.  We look forward to seeing your nails this April!

warm regards,

Brijit from Brijits Digits

Jacqui from Craftynail

Jemma from Eeeek! Nail Polish! 

Abs Challenge, #NAILLINKUP, and AVON!

ARE YOU INTO PHYSICAL FITNESS? I go to group fitness classes a lot and I’m always trying to get in better shape. If you are too then you should follow my pinterest board right here: FIT QUEST. I feel like I need an extra boost right now to whip me into shape though. Spring is around the corner! My fitness-partner-in-crime Vanessa (who has debuted her nails on my blog with her skull nails right here) put together a cool ABS CHALLENGE calendar for us. She printed the calendar for me and I’m going to check off each day that I do the workout. She based our calendar on this abs challenge shown below.  I’m going to start the challenge today, March 1st 2014.  At the end I’ll be doing 125 situps?  Yikes.  You should think about it though (if you’re into that kinda stuff) and lemme know if you try it!

Speaking of challenges!  If you are into nail art challenges….Brijit and Eeeek and I will announce the March Nail Art Ideas Linkup (N.A.I.L.) themes tomorrow Sunday March 2nd!  I love our graphic for the March N.A.I.L.!  Brijit did a great job on it- wait til you see it.   🙂

Oh, and the February N.A.I.L. is almost over.  The inlinkz are open through Sunday March 2nd.  That means I’ll be sneaking in my last mani for February pretty soon!  I can’t believe that I haven’t done my week 4 GLITTER theme yet!  I have 24 hrs left, but have something awesome planned for when I stop typing.  I’m gonna try a dark funky glittery french!  So that will be my next post.

I also wanted to show you some new stuff that’s in the latest AVON Campaign 6 catalog that I got from my AVON lady.  I scanned them on my flatbed scanner and they came out okay.

Avon is now selling these cute little gradient sponges for $1.99 >>

I don’t need this product since I use makeup wedges… but I think this is pretty cool!  Especially for someone who’s new at nail art.

Don’t you love the pale shades she’s wearing in this pic?  They’re called Serene and Honeydew Dazzle.  Here’s another shot showing what the bottles look like.  I might have to order Serene!

So, if you don’t have an AVON lady this is the kinda nail stuff you are missing out on!  They also have crackle toppers on sale right now for $1.89.  Insanity!

That’s all for now!  See you later tonite with my glitter french manicure!

February N.A.I.L. Challenge Announcement #NAILLINKUP

Hey N.A.I.L. Challengers!! It’s officially February so Brijits Digits, Craftynail, and Eeeek! Nail Polish! have some new themes for you as part of the Nail Art Ideas Linkup.  You guessed it- there’s a Valentine’s theme thrown in there.  But we promise we won’t get all ‘saccharine sweet’ on you!  More on that after the jump!  Let’s see the February prompts, shall we?

RED (week 1)- Let’s get back to basics.  Red nails!  They’re classy and sexy.  Show us some nail art using the color red or maybe share your favorite red nail polish with us.  This theme is also inspired by Wear Red Day (February 7th) to help raise awareness for heart disease in women.

VALENTINES DAY (week 2)- A Valentines Day theme is basically ‘a given’ for February, but you can get as romantic or as dark as you want!  If you love flowers or hearts it’s your time to shine.  But if the sight of Cupid makes you want to choke someone… well, then let’s see those gloom and doom designs too!

GRADIENT (week 3)- Gradients are a nice basic nail art technique with so much room for interpretation.  You can use different tools, different colors, the possibilities are endless.  Show us what you’ve got!

GLITTER (week 4)-  The life of a nail polish addict would not be the same without it, yet our glitter polishes sit there unused far too often.  Pick through your stash and find your most gorgeous bottle.  Flip it upside down now so the glitter mixes up and settles on top.  Then you’ll be all prepped for glitter week!

Here are the rules for Nail Art Ideas Linkup (N.A.I.L.)……

• Do one of the weekly themes, or do them all.  It’s flexible!
• The dates for each week are only suggestions- you can post your nails whenever you want in February.
• The nail art ideas/themes are open to interpretation so you can create whatever kind of design you want! Stamps, stickers, acrylics- anything goes!
• We encourage all nail enthusiasts to join in no matter what platform you use; blog, FB, IG, Tumblr, etc…
• Feel free to post our widget on your site and you can use hashtag #NAILLINKUP on your social media.
• Lastly but most importantly, don’t forget to share your nail pics via the inlinkz below.

Red :

Valentines Day :

Gradient :

Glitter :

Any questions about NAIL ART IDEAS LINKUP?  Contact us or read more about N.A.I.L. on our blog links below.  We look forward to seeing your nails this February!

signed,

Brijit from Brijits Digits

Jacqui from Craftynail

Jemma from Eeeek! Nail Polish! 

A frosty blue from Bath and Body Works

I’m taking the Crumpet’s Golden Oldies Thursday very seriously. 😀  We’re supposed to use old nail polishes for this challenge, so I’m trying to track down my very oldest bottles.  Like over ten year old!  A first I thought it would simply be fun to try some oldies again, but now I’m realizing that it might be a great way to de-stash!  This challenge may help me sort through everything and decide on which old bottles to put to rest.  Sadly, today’s nail polish will probably wind up in the trash.  Here’s what I’m using for the BLUE theme of the Golden Oldies Challenge……….

Do you remember that old scent from Bath & Body Works called April Showers?  I still have a mini body spray of that scent kicking around somewhere.  Well, I guess B&BW made nail polish to coordinate with it… and I got the set years ago from my cousin who was the manager of one of their stores.  (I think the bottle of polish had a silver-tone horseshoe charm on it too).  So let’s see what April Showers nail polish looks like on the nail….

This needed three coats to be opqaue.  Which normally is fine for me, but these layers were getting thick and it wasn’t drying well.  I placed some glitter for an accent nail because the polish looked a little BLAH to me.  I do like the shade of April Showers- the pastel blue is very pretty.  But the finish is too streaky and too imperfect.  Oh, it smelled it too.  😦  I added some seche vite topcoat which I thought would make it look better… but the seche somehow pooled at the tips of my nails.  It’s very weird!

Geesh, I wonder what gems I’ll dig up for the next GOT challenge?  Hahaha, but seriously, I promise to bring you some prettier nails next time, I swear!

  You can view the other girls’ BLUE manicures by clicking the little guy below.  I’m sure theirs will be nicer than mine so it’s worth a click! And please let me know if you’ve ever worn nail polish from Bath & Body Works before!

My Stripes for Golden Oldies Thursdays

This is my first entry in one of The Crumpet‘s nail challenges! This one’s called Golden Oldies Thursdays and the theme for this week is STRIPES. For my manicure I used some very old polishes to stick true to the rules. In fact, I really went for the gusto and used one verrrrry old polish!

My white tips were painted with Sally Hansen Teflon Tuff polish called French White Tips.  I don’t know how old it is, but I would guess about 20 yrs old? Wow, right? My magenta stripes were made with a Stripe Rite striper that I bought at Sally’s when I first started dabbling in nail art.  So I’d say that it’s probably 4 yrs old. Funny thing…. I never use my stripers anymore! Why, I have no idea! Then I outlined the stripes with a black nail art pen and stamped a little floral konad design on my accent nails.  This M4 KONAD plate was the verrrry first stamping plate that I bought a few yrs ago, so it’s perfect to use for this Golden Oldies challenge! 🙂

I’m not excited about my nail art pen lines looking so sloppy though!  I think the pen sticks and drags on the surface of my polish and it always looks funny- like a kindergartener did them.  Oh well!  It is what it is.  The sloppiness gives it some panache, right?

If you’re wondering why my nailbeds look so pink, so am I!  I started using Duri Rejuvacote and I am halfway through my ten day trial!  Not sure why my nails are turning pink with it!  I will post all the results when my ten days is up.  I love before and after pics!!!

view the other girls’ GOT Stripes here:

January N.A.I.L. challenge announcement!

Hello lovies, it’s officially January now!  You know what that means: a new year, new hopes and dreams, and new resolutions.  Well, we know how disappointing it can be to make a resolution and then never follow through with it.  So Brijits Digits, Craftynail, and Eeeek! Nail Polish!  are here to help you.  Here’s what to do….

Step 1.  Resolve to join our January N.A.I.L. Challenge.

Step 2.  Do as little as ONE manicure for our N.A.I.L. Challenge.

Step 3.  Revel in your high levels of self-esteem, personal satisfaction and increased sense of power- you have completed one of your 2014 new years resolutions!

If you’re thinking of trying a nail challenge, the Nail Art Ideas Linkup is the one to try!  It’s so flexible, you cannot fail at this challenge!!!!!!  We have four themes for January but you don’t need to do all of them.  More details at bottom of this post.  Ready for the 4 themes???

*We have two different January widgets for you, just pick your fave of the two!

Health & Wellness (THEME 1)-  Do you want to get healthier in 2014?  Maybe this theme will help motivate you?  Paint some gym equipment on your nails, or fruits n veg, or if you want to be more zen how about some nice meditative colors?

Inspired by Pinterest (THEME 2)- Pinterest is swimming with inspiring nail art ideas.  Pick one of your favorite manis from that site and re-do it your own way!  You can make an exact replica of a pinterest nail design, or you can utilize a design for liberal inspiration.  Just make sure to share the love by referencing the pin that inspired you!

Opposite Day (THEME 3)- Did you know that Jan 25th is officially named OPPOSITE DAY?  To praise this holiday let’s paint our nails opposite of our usual style!  Do you hate water marbling?  Try it!  Do you rarely wear blue nail polish?  Well, wear it!  Step outside your comfort zone for this theme and surprise yourself!

Border Mani (THEME 4)-  A border mani is when you paint a border on the rim of your nails, or maybe just embellish the borders of your nails with dots or glitter, etc.  You can google the search term BORDER MANI to find tons of inspiration.  If you’ve never tried one before, now’s the time!

Here are the rules for Nail Art Ideas Linkup (we like to call it N.A.I.L.)……

• Do one of the weekly themes, or do them all- it’s up to you!
• The dates for each week are only suggestions- you can post your nails whenever you want in January.
• The nail art ideas/themes are open to interpretation.  You can create whatever kind of design you want!  Stamps, stickers, acrylics- they’re all game!
• We encourage all nail enthusiasts to join in whether you have a blog, FB, IG, Tumblr, etc…
• Feel free to post one of our widgets on your site to share the word and use #NAILLINKUP on your social media.
• Lastly but most importantly, don’t forget to enter the URL to your nails via the inlinkz below!

6 – 12 January – Health and Wellness :

13 – 19 January – Inspired by Pinterest :

20 – 26 January – Opposite Day :

27 January – 2nd February – Border Manis :

Any questions about NAIL ART IDEAS LINKUP?  Contact us or read more about N.A.I.L. on our blog links below.  We look forward to seeing your nails this January!

signed,

Brijit from Brijits Digits

Jacqui from Craftynail

Jemma from Eeeek! Nail Polish! 

PS- For those of you with loftier resolutions… we’d like to remind you of our big international nail art challenge scheduled for July 2014.  Our 2013 OMD Challenge was a huge hit with over 900 entries, so you better believe we’re doing it again in 2014!  Keep your schedule open in July for OMD Part Deux.  It has prizes!  Click here to see the gallery of past OMD designs.

Green Glitter Christmas Nails

I wanted to squeeze in another holiday mani before Christmas day arrives.  Ready or not, it’s right around the corner!

I got this cute green glitter polish in an ABC Store in Las Vegas earlier this month.  It’s called Island Volcano by Island Girl Hawaii and it’s a perfect polish for a Christmas mani!  I also grabbed a few other items from this brand and I love that I own Hawaiian nail products now!  Especially the beautiful bottle of cuticle oil with dried flowers floating in it.  I’ll have to show you sometime!

Here’s what I’m wearing…

♥ Essence Peel Off Base Coat – 1 coat

♥ Funky Fingers in Limelight – 2 coats

♥ Island Girl Hawaii in Island Volcano – 2 coats

♥ no-name brand red studs – I like that they look like tiny maraschino cherries 🙂

♥ Seche Vite topcoat

I’d also like to add this manicure to the INSPIRED BY CHRISTMAS COLOURS inlinkz for #ChristmasWithFLP which is a cute December Nail Challenge that I found out about on Lekker Lacquer’s blog.  There’s a lot of fun themes for this Christmas Challenge… check it out here!