My entries for the #BMCYO2014 Contest

Have you heard of the Bundle Monster Create Your Own 2014 Contest?  You can submit up to ten original designs to Bundle Monster for consideration.  The company will select their favorites and those will be the designs they’ll use for their next set of nail stamping plates!  I am submitting 9 images (right before the deadline)!  The last day to enter is March 31st, 2014.  They didn’t say if they wanted all submissions on one pic, or separate pics?  So I decided to go with 9 separate jpegs sent via one email.  Hope that’s okay!

Here’s what I came up with!  I drew them on paper and then flatbed scanned them.  I had to brighten them up in photoshop a little bit since the pencil marks looked smudgey.   I am not really good at drawing, especially small things like these (I wanted to make sure they’d fit on a nail).  But these came out okay!  I think the frog is my favorite.  And even though it’s really simple, I think my magic wand is kinda cool!  In fact, I could actually go for a magic wand on my nails right now!

I can’t wait to see what the final collection will look like this year. 😀

my matte floss pik nails for All You magazine

I was recently featured in the March issue of All You magazine where they  showcased simple nail art made with household items.  In true Craftynail style I designed a dotticure using regular old bobby pins. If you view the slideshow here I am slide #8.  The web article is cool, but the print version of the March issue is what I will cherish.  Craftynail got published!  Here’s a screen shot of the web-version of their Mani Mania article…

Also, when I was reading the print issue I noticed that they have a nail art contest!  They want you to take your own spin on one of the designs from the issue and submit it to their fb.  You can’t find too much about it online other than their fb app, but the magazine says you should copy one of three manis from their march article.    I copied the ombre dental floss nail art design created by NYC nail artist Jin Soon Choi.  She came up with a gorgeous design using a blue cream base, matte over top, then gold polish dabbed on with floss string.  I did my own version but I used a flosspik instead of string.. so I got a slightly different effect.  Here it is!

I’m wearing Sally Hansen Maximum Growth as my basecoat.  Then I applied 2 coats of OPI’s AmazON…AmazOFF.  Then I mattified the teal with Butter London Matte Finish Topcoat.  Wow this butter london works great and dries so fast!  Then I dabbed on some blue/silver AVON polish called Platinum from their Brushed Metals collection.  I dabbed it on using a flosspik.  So basically I brushed some Platinum onto the short piece of floss that’s attached to the pick.  Then I placed the floss strand on my nails and rolled it back and forth so some of the AVON polish would transfer.  No topcoat needed for this design.

I really love how this came out.. the matte effect gives it a little something extra.  I hope you like it too!  It was fun doing a nail art inspired by a famous manicurist.  Have you seen Jin Soon Choi’s website?  She has a load of lovely tutorials that will blow you away.  I love that the majority of them are simple… but the results are stunning.  Here’s her nail art tutorial page: JIN SOON CHOI

Love Shields

Hey did you see that nailpolishcanada.com is doing another nail contest?  😀 The last one I entered was for the holiday season… this one is for v-day, of course!  Nail Polish Canada offers up some wicked prizes so if you are in the U.S. or Canada you should hurry up and check it out (ends on feb 10th 2014)!  A big reason I love entering these contests is cuz it’s so fun to link up with others in the nail art community.  Everyone comes up with such cool designs! Wanna see mine??

The idea for this mani was sparked by my fellow blogger Blimbo247.  She thought my China Glaze border mani from last week made my pointy nails look like little shields.  She was right!   I really liked that concept and it inspired me to come up with this valentines version of a border manicure.  Behold my little love shields!  It’s a very simple design… no crazy nail art this time.  But sometimes a simple mani can have just as much wow factor as a complicated one!  All I used was Nicole by OPI Be Ama-zing (rich pink) and a black striper by L.A. Colors.

You should go check out all the other ladies’ awesome valentines nails and vote for your favorite.  If you’d like to cast a vote for my little shields that would be mighty kind of you. 😉  Here’s the contest gallery link: VDAY NAIL CONTEST.  The voting ballot is at the bottom of the page… just enter your first name, your email (they won’t spam you), and then select your fave nails from the list.  Thanks y’all and happy valentines day!  xoxo Craftynail xoxo

My nails for the V-Day Nailart Contest!

Polish Alcoholic  and Beauty Expression by Luchessa are hosting a valentines day nail art contest (more details here)!  I cannot resist this kinda fun, especially when you throw an indie gift cert into the mix. 🙂  Here’s what I came up using my new Formula X by Sephora polishes….

These nails were intended to look more valentinesy because I was trying to do a heart-design water marble.  Shaaaaa, as if.  I kinda suck at water marbling. But I figure I have to keep trying or I’ll never get better!

I used black and clear in my marble.  I really like to use clear in my marble just to be different.  I like how you get a gap between the swirls so the base color shines through.  And these vampy base colors are stunning for v-day so I def want them to shine through!  The rules of this contest are to use at least three polishes so these are the three I’m wearing….

Black Cream- Dark Matter by Formula X for Sephora

Metallic Gold- Bond, Ionic Bond by Formula X for Sephora

Red Glitter- Atom + Eve by Formula X for Sephora

Wish me luck, and for your viewing pleasure…here are the other fantastic entries:

Essie Shearling Darling winter rose nails

Hey everyone! Do you remember a few weeks back when I was participating in a holiday nail art contest held by nailpolishcanada.com ? Well, thanks to all of your votes I won week 2 for my holiday underside mani!  Thank you so much to all my readers and also to Nail Polish Canada for the sweet prize pack!  I never won a nail contest before!! Here’s what they mailed me…

2 Enchanted Nail Polish – Hello New York & The Youth
Butter London 2 pc Double Take Ice Duo – Bluecoat Lacquer & Leccy Topcoat
China Glaze 3 pc Dash Of Dazzle Set
Zoya 6 pc Zenith Collection
Essie 6 pc Shearling Darling (Winter 2013) Collection
OPI 10 pc Take Ten Mini Set

I’d like to show you my Essie pics first since that was the collection that I’m really excited about. For today’s manicure I used the following four polishes from the Essie Winter 2013 Shearling Darling collection: Mind Your Mittens, Warm & Toasty Turtleneck, Shearling Darling, and Parka Perfect.

Prior to this prize pack,  I only owned two bottles of Essie so getting the entire 6 piece winter 2013 Shearling Darling collection was really fun for me!  I wanted to do some nail art that incorporated all 6 colors but that manicure didn’t turn out very blog-worthy.  It was good for me to test out those polishes though- to see which ones are opaque enough for some nail stamping, and also to practice with the Essie brush.  I’m not used to applying Essie so the combination of the runny formula and the skinny brush kinda threw me for a loop.  The first mani came out really messy but I think I got the hang of it by the second manicure.  Slow, thin coats did the trick.  Here are the final blog-worthy nails:

For these nails I used the above-mentioned four polishes along with my MoYou London Pro Plate 04 for a romantic rosebud pattern.  It’s funny, it looks like I used one design for all my nails, but I actually used two different designs: one stamp imprints the roses, and the other stamp imprints color OUTSIDE the roses.  For the maroon nails it may appear like I stamped light colored roses over top of the dark color.  But really, the nail is painted the lighter color, and then I stamped the dark maroon over top.  This worked out well since dark colors stamp much better than light colors, but I still get the effect of light colored roses.  Does that explanation even make sense ? I hope someone out there sees what I mean. LOL

Do you notice how these nails coordinate with my blog-header?  That must be why I like them so much!  I’d also like to add that I’m happy to have 400% more Essies in my stash now!  Thanks nailpolishcanada- this collection is so warm and luscious!

Do you girls own any of this winter collection?

Holiday Memories Nails

It’s the third and final week of Nail Polish Canada’s 2nd Annual Holiday Nail Art Challenge!  What a bunch of fun this challenge has been!

The theme for this week’s nail art is HOLIDAY MEMORIES so I tried to think back to one moment that stood out to me.  It winds up being Christmas 2010 and it was my first holiday with my boyfriend Justin.  He’s an amazing artist (he paints mostly movie paintings and posters) but he worked on something different that season- an awesome landscape painting that he created just for me.  He painted Lake Minnewaska since we went there on one of our first dates.   He even had the painting professionally framed.  I cried when I unwrapped it- it was a complete surprise and so thoughtful.  I thought, “wow, this guy’s a keeper”!  I’ve included a photo of the painting so you can see too.  This is what I based today’s nail art on!

I painted a few nails with trees, lake and clouds to simulate the landscape.  Ok, I don’t have Justin’s painting skills, but not many people do ! lol!  I tried my best.  Then I painted my other nails with X’s and O’s to give the feeling of love and romance since it was our very first Christmas together.  I dunno why my green O’s look so bright in the pics though…they weren’t quite so bright in real life.  But I like the green and red combo- it gives it more of a festive feel.  I really like the x’s and o’s pattern too- I will have to try this again sometime!  Maybe for valentines day if I change up the colors.

Anyway, I hope you like my nails! If you’d like to vote for me or any other mani here’s the link: HOLIDAY MEMORIES CONTEST.  There’s been a ton of talent so far on the Nail Polish Canada page, it will be hard to pick a favorite!

Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!

Tassel Nails for Eva’s Nail Art Contest

Eva from Fight of Whimsy is having a nail art contest giveaway and here’s my entry!

The only rules of the contest are that you must have ONLY nail polish on your finished design.  No rhinestones, acrylic paints, decals, etc.  That works for me since I mostly use polish for my nail art anyway!  For first step was to pick a color scheme.  I was laying in bed thinking about it, and I went to turn on my Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet.  While it was booting up the Nook logo appeared on the screen in the perfect color combo!  Here’s the four polishes I chose based on my nook inspiration:

light green ♥ Ulta Limelight

dark green ♥ Essence  Deep Sea, Baby

blue ♥ Revlon Blue Slate

yellowy/taupe ♥ China Glaze Kalahari Kiss

After I chose my four colors I did not come up with a plan like I normally do.  This time I decided to ‘wing it’ since some of my best work comes from no planning.  I created the cool V shape which looked great, but I thought it still needed something.  And then came the tassels!  I have no idea, it just popped into my head.

I really enjoyed my tassel manicure.  And that light green Ulta polish wore like armor!!  I had this mani on from last Sunday til today (Saturday) with no chips.  6 days…like, dang!  My polish doesn’t normally last that long.  I only took it off today in preparation of my eclipse mani for the N.AI.L. linkup.  I love this shiny green polish- Go Ulta!  And thanks to Eva for holding this contest!  Without her contest I never would’ve ended up wearing a cool mani like this, especially for 6 days straight. 🙂

Wish me luck in the nail art contest!  The contest ends on Nov 3rd, 2013…. so you still have a little time left if you decide to enter!  Here’s all the details on the Flight of Whimsy of blog.