Spring Flig Challenge - Day 2 In Bloom

Ok....so I missed Day 1 - Indie Skittle mainly because I honestly don't have enough Indies to do a skittle mani and I flat ran out of time.  I know...I know...how is that possible, but really I don't.  I plan on fixing that in the near future...promise.

So on to Day 2 - In Bloom

These aren't super impressive (again time is really not on my side this week), but I think they came out ok.  I used China Glaze Budding Romance as the base.  Budding Romance is a moss green squishy crelly polish (part jelly/ part creme).  It took 3 coats to get a good opacity.  I decided to do the "blooms" as a pseudo french tip with yellow and white acrylic paint accented with some white swirls and leaves.  I really like the idea of this mani, just not happy with my execution...I will give it another go in the future.

Today, Day 3, is Patterns of Fashion.  I will do my best to get caught up and post later today.  Until then I will leave you with a Louis Vutton mani I did a little while ago, pre-blog, when I only posted to Instagram (explains the weird yellowish filter..ha!)

pardon the bad photo quality and lighting...it was a while ago

Big thank you to Elena from Ecklipsed by Color and Kelly from Tuxarina for putting on this challenge!! Please go check them and the other participants out.

Valentines Day Nail Art Challenge Day 6 - Your Choice

Today wasn't really a challenge day.  I wanted y'all to have the freedom to do what you wanted for Valentines day. 

I decided that since I have been doing detailed nail art for this challenge I should do something simple and elegant.

Here are my Glitter Gradient Valentines Day nails - Sally Hansen Flashy Fuchsia and Razzle Dazzler

I'm on the fence on how it came out.  Ive done glitter gradients before and they have looked better.  My Razzle Dazzler is old and getting really thick, so I had a hard time getting the gradient smooth.  They will do. 

I would like to thank everyone you has been reading and keeping up with my posts.  It means a lot.  Also super special thanks for my challenge participants Elena and Lynette.  I didnt expect anyone to participate in my challege, especially since I am new to the block, so it was really nice to meet these two and get their encouragement. 

Please go check out their Valentines Day nails:

1. Elena from Ecklipsed by Color

2. Lynette from Pink & Purple Dots

I hope everyone has a great Valentines Day!

Valentines Day Nail Art Challenge Day 5 - Hearts

Only one more day left in this little challenge! 

Today's theme is Hearts.

I knew going into this challenge that I was going to do some stamping, but I also wanted to try water marbling ( i know...i know...how have I not done this before?).  Earlier this week on instagram I saw an awesome heart shaped water marble (@milly_cutenails) and knew that I had to try it myself.  Lets just say its not easy to water marble, let alone capture a heart small enough to fit on your fingernail (tip use a small mouth cup).  I was able to make some successful hearts but once on my finger I realized it was much bigger than it looked in the cup.  Then I smeared a few, once on my nail, and had to re-do...boo.  I think I ended up attempting the heart about 5 times before I settled on what is on my middle finger here....1 finger!!!

So here is my Heart skittles mani

As you can see I only got the humps of my heart! But I think it turned out pretty.  I added some dots and little hearts with a dotting tool to cover any air bubbles and make it look more "heart" themed.  My other fingers were stamped with a mix of Bundle Monster and Cheeky heart themed nail plates.

Pinky - Sally Hansen White on stamped with Rapid Red (Insta-Dri)

Ring - Sinful Colors Truth or Dare stamped with Sally Hansen Pink Satin (Extreme Wear)

Middle - Marble of Sally Hansen Rapid Red, Flashy Fuchsia, White On, Northern Lights

Index - Color Club Miss Bliss stamped with Konad White

All in all im pretty happy with this mani.  What do you think?

Only one more day left and you get to choose what you want for Valentines Day.

Please go check out my fellow participants and share the love:

1. Elena from Ecklipsed by Color

2. Lynette from Pink & Purple Dots

Valentines Day Nail Art Challenge Day 4 - Cupid's Curse

Today's challenge is Cupid's curse.  I'll be honest, I have no idea why I threw this one in here and it has proved to be the most challenging of them all.  Not because of the skill needed to execute, but because no one knew what the heck to paint!  Me included. 

The first thing I think of for cupid is a naked angel baby with a bow and arrow and some pierced hearts....who thought up this stuff? It's creepy.  So I decided to go with an arrow and some hearts.

What do you think?  Meh, they are not my favorite mani from this challenge, but they will do.  I started with Sally Hansen Blue Away as a base and then sponged on some clouds with Sally Hansen White out, accented with China Glaze White Cap.  Then I pained the arrow with China Glaze Mahogany Magic and Zoya Jinx.  The hearts are Sally Hansen Rapid Red. Arrow tip is Revlon Gold Coin and arrow accents are Sally Hansen Rose Run and Flashy Fuchsia.

Only 2 more challenge days left!!

Hop on over and check out the other participants of this challenge and share the love:

1. Elena from Ecklipsed by Color

2. Lynette from Pink & Purple Dots

If you would like to join in the fun, it's not too late.  Send me an email with your link and I'll add you to the participants list!.

Valentines Day Nail Art Challenge Day 3 - Girly Gradient

I was looking forward to today's challenge.  I fell in love with the gradient technique a little while ago and will do it anytime I get a chance.  The only thing that was stopping me from doing it more often was the clean up process.  Well, not anymore....more on that later.

On to today's challenge - The Girly Gradient!!

What do you think?  This screams girl and valentines day.

A couple of weeks ago I showed you my expirement using glue around my cuticles to make the clean-up process easier with sponged gradients...which worked.  But I also mentioned that I had heard Liquid Latex was even better (the cheap version of Liquid Palisade) and that I would give it a try.  Man...let me tell you this is 10x better than using glue. 

Here is the little short video I put up on Vine last night showing how easy it is to "clean up" (vine user name is ezzi if you want to find and follow).

I used Sally Hansen White On as a base and sponged a combo of Sally Hansen Rapid Red, Urban Outfitters Hot Tub, Sally Hansen Rose Rush and White On and a coat of Northern Lights (not pictured).  Before I started sponging I brushed a thin coat of Liquid Latex around my cuticles (anywhere it gets messy) and it made this mani so much easier.  Virtually no clean up!!  It takes a little patience to get it brushed neatly and not on the nail itself, but totally worth it in the time it saves in clean up.  I bought this little bottle here and it will probably last me forever (about half as much as Liquid Palisade for twice as much...yes please!).

I also stamped a quick heart using a BM plate and Konad white (didn't stamp well for some reason..but it cant always be perfect) and added a little rhinestone heart for a little extra sparkle!

Please go check out the other participants of this challenge and share the love!

1. Elena from Ecklipsed by Color

2. Lynnete from Pink & Purple Dots

If you want to play along leave me a comment and I'll be sure to link you in my next post!!

Valentines Day Nail Art Challenge Day 2 - Roses

Today is Day 2 of my little challenge - Roses!!!

I was nervous about putting this one in there, because roses can be hard.

I figured I could always stamp them with one of my many plates with rose motifs, but then I was like..."no, this is supposed to be a 'challenge'."

I have always wanted to try "one stroke" roses with acrylic paints, so I did what I always do and trolled through videos on YouTube to learn how.  I have been painting my entire life and have done commission artwork for many years so I thought this would be a piece of cake.  I wish I could say it was, but it was definitely a challenge.  If I had better quality acrylic paints then I think this would have been much easier.  FYI the Michael's brand craft acrylic paint is worthless for this type of art.  You really need to find an acrylic paint that is highly pigmented and has a "high viscosity."  Mine were so sheer that it took going over everything with 4 coats of paint just to make it opaque....so annoying.   Without further ado....my first try at one stroke roses.

What do you think?  I think they turned out ok.  I think my index, ring and pinkie came out great....middle finger is a little wonky.  I used Sally Hansen Spring Green as a base and used a combo of red, coral, pink and white acrylic paint.  I had to use 3 coats of topcoat to get it mostly smooth.  Something about the paint and the topcoat was weird because I got giant bubbles in my topcoat, I managed to smooth them over but it was making me mad.

Once I get some better quality paints I will definetly try this again.  Have you tried one stroke flowers?  Would you like a tutorial?

Please check out the other participants of this challenge:

1. Elena from "Ecklipsed By Color"

2. Lynette from "Pink & Purple Dots"

If you would like to play along with my Valentines Day Nail Art Challege leave me a comment with your info (blog, instagram, etc) and I'll link you in my posts so others can see!

Valentines Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 1 Love Notes

WooHoo it's finally time for the Valentines Day Nail Art Challenge!!

Today is Day 1 - Love Notes.

The first thing that pops into my head when I think of love notes are silly notes or doodles passed back in forth in grade school...."Wanna be my boyfriend at recess? Yes or No"

So I devoted 2 of my nails to that.

I used a combination of stamping plates (something like 10 total..ha).  The notebook paper was done with Sally Hansen White On and some fine point sharpies....yes sharpies.  It was just easier to draw on quick lines then try and tape them off or free hand with a brush.

My ring finger was done with a Sally Hansen Pink Insta-Dri and an all over print of cute little birds delivering love notes.  My pinkie was done with Sally Hansen Rapid Red and the BM love note full nail design (the cheater newsprint).

I love that math equation stamp...my hubs specifically asked that I use that one (he loves math)!

Cute little story about the crocheted heart I'm holding - I made that last week one evening while he was out and slipped it in the pocket of his work pants so that he would find it the next day.  He found it the next morning while I was getting ready for work and thought it was sweet and has kept it in his jacket pocket ever since.  He gives it a squeeze whenever work gets stressfull and it makes him smile.  I know I know....super mooshy.

What do y'all think? cute?

Wednesday is "Roses" and I cant wait to see what y'all come up with.

Please check out the other participants in this Valentines Day Nail Art Challenge:

1. Elena from Ecklipsed by Color

2. Lynette from Pink & Purple Dots

If you would like to join this art challenge please feel free to email or instagram me!!

Preview of the Valentines Day Nail Art Challenge Schedule

I know...I know...its way to early but I couldnt help myself. 

I have only psuedo-participated in a Christmas Nail Art Challenge and loved it!!

I was trolling around to see if anyone had posted a Valentines Day Nail Art schedule and couldnt find one...bummer. 

But then I thought...."why the heck cant I make my own?"

I dont know the protocol on properly making or "joining" a challenge so I'm going to open it up to whoever wants to participate.  Tag my user name on Instagram (@lovelylacqueredlife or @ezzimcgee) or email me a pic/blog link and ill be sure to list you in my posts so other people can check it out!

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge Day 9 - Christmas Wreath

 Monday was Day 9 - Christmas Wreath

Sorry for posting these so late, but it has been a busy few days...you know with it being Christmas and all.  

For this mani I decided to have some fun with my Cheeky Rhinestones and a little stamping.  My ring finger served as the accent nail with the "Christmas Wreath" made entirely of green rhinestones and a hand painted bow.  In person this mani was much more sparkly.  Both the OPI and China Glaze base colors are beautiful glass fleck polishes...sad it wouldn't capture on camera....to much awesome I guess.

I failed to take a picture of my nail plate and stamping polish I used.  I used plate BM14(2010 set) and Revlon's 24k.

One more post and I'll be caught up.  Stay tuned!

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge Day 8 - Christmas Tree

Ive been late in posting my Christmas Nail Art Challenge mani.

Friday was Day 8 - Christmas Tree 

Here is my Christmas Tree....a bit simple but I like it.  

Here are the colors I used as well as the addition of a silver star from my Cheeky rhinestone set I ordered here. 

Once again head on over to Nicole's blog to see her challenge mani's and the other participants of this challenge.  

I'll be back with Day 9 and 10 in a few.

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge Day 7 - Ugly Christmas Sweater

Today's challenge (by Nicole) is ugly Christmas Sweater. 

A few weeks ago I saw Chelsea's (from The Nail Network) Christmas sweater nails and since then I knew I wanted to try my hand at them for today's challenge.  This is a very stamp heavy manicure and it was definitely a challenge. 

Pop on over to Chelsea's blog to see hers....which are definitely better executed.

I love this design....just wish I had been smart enough to think of it myself. 

It most certainly would have come out better if I had been using "special" white polish.  Instead I used Sally Hansen Whirlwind White...until it got way to gloppy (really old) so I switched to White On.  Both are good alternatives to the Konad special polish...just in case you were wondering.I used a mix of Bundle Monster and Konad brand plates for this mani.  I didn't write them all down but I'm sure you can figure it out if you have them.

I also wanted to quick show you the base and top coat I used.  I randomly bought the Sally Hansen Acrylic Gel treatment, that I use for a base coat, and I love it!!  It makes my nails strong and keeps them from breaking...my nails are finally long at the same time.  I have also switched to Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat.  For me it dries almost as fast as Seche Vite, it doesn't blur stamps, and doesn't have the ridiculous shrinkage and chipping.  It makes my polish last for days and yields a super high shine.  If you are looking for a new base and top coat combo you might give these a try.