Sugar skulls and alien heads!

Wait, sugar skulls and alien heads? YUP!  These kinds of noggins don’t normally go together… but these two designs were on the same bundle monster stamping plate… so why not?

These images you see on my nails are actually little diy decals that I made with nail polish.  They are so cute I’m glad I finally got a chance to wear them!  But it’s been two weeks since I made them (original post here)… and they got a little brittle.  Plus, my house is cold and that seems to make them even more brittle.   So I tried to warm them up before I applied them to make them more pliable.  I have one of those neck warmer things that you microwave, so I set my decals on that for a minute so they’d be more bendy.  That actually did help in getting them to fit the curve of my nail better. Oh, and two coats of seche topcoat helped too. 🙂  I also added studs at the end by sticking them into my topcoat while it dried.  The studs really made the mani come together.  Before studs- meh.  After studs- wicked!

Also, I don’t want to neglect mentioning my awesome base colors.  Under my decals I’m wearing two different AVON cosmic collection nail polishes.  The blue is called Celestial and the yellow is called Starlight and they’re both scattered holos.  I swatched these cosmics in the past (here) and I needed three coats.  But now that my nails are shorter, they only needed two coats.  Or maybe the polish thickened a little over time?  I dunno, but it works for me!

I hope you like my nails! Talk to ya soon!  Next time you hear from me we’ll be talking about the April prompts for the #NAILLINKUP. 😀

 

More Blasted Nails! *now with pink!

Yesterday’s blue crackle manicure was a lot of fun for me to wear and I loved it! So I took it off and did another.  (Yup, this only makes sense to those of us who are obsessed.  Because a normal person would KEEP their manicure on if they loved it.) But, I digress…..

Two manicures in a row using the same blue polish? That’s right! Out of all my ‘special’ nail polishes, this previously-untried electric blue crackle is a surprise favorite.  I love when a nail polish comes outta nowhere and knocks your socks off!

This time I started with a hot pink base color.  This is hot pink is hotter than hot and I love it.  It’s Zoya Ali.  Then I added my crackle- Electric Blue Blasted from Sephora by OPI.  Except for my 2 ring finger accent nails which I painted off-white using OPI My Vampire is Buff.  Then I added a butterfly wing diy decal that I made.  How did I make the decal?  I used my MoYou Pro stamping plate and… ummmm… well, I’m sure I’ve explained it a bunch of times before!  I really should just do a tutorial so I can just insert da link !  For now- here’s Indian Ocean Polish’s tutorial which is great!

Here’s a side by side comparison of yesterday’s and today’s blasted nails.  One blue nail polish, two looks.  It’s funny that the pics came out almost identical and I didn’t plan it.  Which do you like better- the orange or pink mani?  I’m not the biggest fan of how mix-match manis look on me sometimes… so I’m leaning towards the orange.  But dang, that hot pink!!!  What do you think?

My DIY Cameo Decals

Hey! !  I’m psyched to show you this mani… it came out so cute!

I’m wearing Zoya Dove (grey), Orly Jealous, Much? (my mom’s FAVE mint color) and some cameo  decals I made using my MoYou London Pro 04 stamping plate.  If you wanna know how to make diy decals make sure to check out Chanfie’s tutorial here.

I don’t feel like typing much today.  So here’s another pic!

I hope you have a great remainder of your weekend.  <wiping a tear>  Do you get sad on sunday nights too?  😦

On the bright side, the premier of Sherlock episode 2 is on Masterpiece Theater tonight. 🙂  Oh…. and I almost forgot!  I had a productive/busy weekend and still managed to set up a nail station for myself!  I used to have all my nail stuff located in one spot (well, maybe it spread out a lil bit)… and even though it was organized, I still I had no dedicated place to paint my nails.  Sometimes I’d be at the counter, other times the couch, or the computer desk.  But now I have my own well-lit work space!  It’s tucked away in a little corner of the hub of the house… so that means I won’t feel isolated or far away.  I look forward to painting many a nail there!  

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! And if you don’t celebrate Christmas then I wish your day is filled with plenty of good food, family, friends and love! ♥

This manicure is my entry for December’s Nail Art Ideas Linkup.  The theme this week is FESTIVE FRENCH MANI and I’m realizing how seldom I wear French manicures!!  I free-handed the white tips using a skinny brush and cheap NYC brand nail polish called French White Tip.  I could’ve used tape or nail guide stickers, but sometimes that feels like a hassle to me.  I did a light coat of a Seche Vite French Manicure color called Chic over top too.  This may be my favorite French mani color ever!  It’s very transparent but one one coat does the trick.  It looks so sheer and natural and it has the slightest shimmer in it which is not even noticeable, but it keeps the nail from looking dull or flat!

I’m happy with my finished frenchie, especially since I painted the white tip a little high to create an illusion that my nails are longer than they actually are.  It’s all smoke and mirrors, girls! lol

Now how did I do the little holly design?  That’s actually a diy decal that I made last week. I stamped the holly design onto a plastic baggie using black nail polish and my MoYou Festive 03 stamping plate.  Then I used some green nail polish to paint over and fill in the holly leaves. I topped that with a few swipes of topcoat and let it dry well.  The hollies peeled off the baggie like perfect little stickers.  Then I used some tiny scissors –you know those teensy cuticle trimmer scissors that we all have but never use?  They are perfect for cutting up decals!  I trimmed my holly bunches from three leaves down to two so they’d become smaller to fit better on my nails.  I laid the decal on my accent fingernail, dotted some clear polish on top to secure a few red rhinestones, then I topcoated the whole thing.  Here’s a shot of both hands…

These Christmas nails are a bit tamer than my usual style!  I felt a little bare wearing such a simple french manicure.  But don’t worry, I’ve already blinged them up by adding holo glitter that santa left in my stocking.  If you give me nail polish, I will be using it as soon as humanly possible. 🙂

WHAT DID YOU WEAR ON YOUR NAILS FOR CHRISTMAS??  Did you go simple like me, or did you wow everyone with your major cray cray nails? 

Warm wishes to you and yours- from the bottom of my heart!  Talk soon, Craftynail xo

N.A.I.L. Dec Theme 4 – Festive French Manis

Shopping Nails for #NAILLINKUP

It’s week two of the December N.A.I.L. Linkup and the theme is shopping.  If you’re like me, the word shopping in December means a mad scramble to finish your holiday shopping list!  Luckily, I got most of my shopping done on friday.  The only time I ever really visit Kohl’s is Christmastime… and what amazing deals they have!  Then they give you Kohls CASH which is icing on the cake!  I got gifts for everyone on my list and now I’ve even got gifts on my nails! Let’s take a look at my shopping nails for #NAILLINKUP…..

The wrapping paper and bows came out great!  They’re actually decals that I made.  I’ve shown you how to make decals here, but I’ve never tried it with stamping before.  So basically, I stamped the gifts onto a plastic baggie using my MoYou Festive 03 plate.  Then I painted on top of the gift stamps with green/gold/blue and then I topcoated it.  Once it was dry (overnight) I peeled it off the baggie, flipped it over, et voila!  A pretty little painted present!  I got the idea from Indian Ocean Polish’s blog.  Everytime I login to pinterest I go ga-ga over her decals so I just had to try them out!  Here’s her tutorial- you should check it out!

I’m also happy to wear red again.  I’m loving red more and more lately!  Shown here is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Cherry Red.  I’m really impressed with it’s formula!

Be sure to check out the other girls’ designs for the Linkup- see the blue guy below!  If you’d like to join in, here’s more info on the linkup…

N.A.I.L. December Theme 2 – Shopping