Blue Holo Gradient

This will be my 3rd mani for Autism Awareness month!

For this mani I used China Glaze Hanging in the Balance and Color Club Over the Moon.

I painted one coat of Hanging in the Balance and then used the sponge gradient technique and sponged on a couple coats of Hanging in the Balance and Over the Moon.  I was surprised at how well they blended.  Unfortunately, I was not able to capture the holo goodness that is Over the Moon, but in real life the subtle depth is very elegant.

On a sad note...the Boston Marathon bombings are weighing heavy on our nation and our hearts.  My husband is a runner (sometimes I am too) and we have both participated in the Houston Marathon in the past.  I can only imagine what the people of Boston are going through.  My prayers and thoughts are going out to all effected either physically or emotionally.  Yesterday (late) I saw notices on Instagram to paint your nails purple for Boston today (4/16), but it was too late to do so.  So I will paint it purple tonight and share tomorrow. 

Please continue to pray for our nation.

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.

Coral Gradient

(source unknown)

Today's Coral Gradient mani was inspired by the awesome pic above (sourse unknown sorry)...mainly the colors on the surfboard.  I've never been a huge pink polish person, but lately I've been really diggin' the way corals look on my hands...makes me look tan..ha!

I really wish the true vividness of this showed up, but my camera just wouldn't have it.  In the pictures it looks like a nice petal pink but in real life its a neon coral gradient...and I mean NEON (much more orangey than showing here).  It's bright and happy and I love it. 

I used Sally Hansen White On, China Glaze Flip-Flop Fantasy, and Sinful Colors Tambleberry

What do ya think?

Sunset Palms Gradient

As I mentioned in my last post, the hubs and I took a mini vacation down to the beach over the weekend and I had to do a beach themed mani to match.

So today, a few days late, I wanted to show you what it looked like.

Love this mani!! Next time I will do my best to remember to make the design face away from me....geez I'm bad at that.  I had every intention of doing that until I started sponging the wrong way.  I also wish I had used black acrylic paint instead of polish.  It was drying to fast and getting sticky...much harder to get fine detail with sticky dragging polish.  Despite all the mishaps it turned out great. 

The base of this Sunset sponge gradient is Sally Hansen Blue-Away, Revlon Enchanted, China Glaze Flip-Flop Fantasy, Sally Hansen Lightning and INM Northern Lights.  The palm trees were done with Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and a striping brush.

Today is the start of Tuxarina's Spring Fling Nail Art Challenge, which I am participating in, but I am already a bit behind...ha!  Vacations have a way of doing that to people.  Today's challenge is Indie Skittle...which will be difficult because I don't have enough Indie polishes for a skittles mani.  I'll see what I can do...be back later.



Blue Nails for Autism - OPI Swimsuit...Nailed it

Quick post today of my second Blue Nails for Autism mani

For this mani I used OPI-Swimsuit...Nailed It and stamped with Sally Hansen Silver Sweep and BM-314.  I love this blue! It is my ultimate TARDIS blue (big geek) polish.  I used 2 coats of Swimsuit...Nailed It even though 1 thick coat is probably enough.  It is a perfect metallic blue foil that dries pretty quick.  I topped everything off with a coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat.

The Hubs and I are running away to the beach this weekend so I probably wont be back til Monday!  Have an awesome weekend.



Light it up Blue! Autism Awareness Month

(Sorry I don't know the creator of the above image - it's floating around the nail community on Instagram)

April is Autism awareness month and the nail community is "Lighting it up Blue" to raise awareness and support for those who have or love someone with Autism.  All month long you are encouraged to paint and post your blue mani's on Instagram using the tag

#bluenailsforautism or #Lightitupbluenails

Here is my first blue mani of the month.  Since many Autism groups use puzzle pieces as their logo/theme so I decided to replicate it as an accent nail using BM-319.  I filled in the puzzle pieces to match using Sally Hansen Rapid Red, Lightning, Blue Away and Pacific Blue.

The gradient was made with Kleancolor Metallic Blue, Sally Hansen Pacific Blue and Breeze Blue and IMN Northern Lights.

I am pretty happy with this mani.  The perfectionist in me wants the puzzle pieces to be neater, but I think it came out pretty good. 

More and more kids and adults are being diagnosed with different forms of Autism every day.  It may seem silly to paint your nails to show support or raise awareness, but every little thing helps...even if it's just to say you are loved and charished no matter what.  Let's do our part to find the missing piece to the puzzle.

Easter Mani....a little late

Oh boy am I behind on everything.  Life has been busy to say the least...forgive me.

I know its a little late, but here is a quick post to show you my Easter mani.

Both hands! I decided to do bunnies on one hand and chicks and Easter eggs on my left.

I started with a gradient base using Sally Hansen Blue-Away and Lickedy-Split Lime, then stamped some grass using Mint Sprint and Bunny Nails HD-B.

I used the Bunny Nails HD-B plate for the small bunnies and Easter eggs as well.  The big bunnies were done free hand with Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, Flashy Fuchsia and Black Out.  The chicks were done free hand with Lightning and a shimmery orange from Pure Ice (name escapes me). For some extra flare I put some pink flower rhinestones.

I really wanted to do multiple Easter mani's but the weekend got busy with house stuff and a sick hubby.  Stay tuned for my first April Autism Awareness mani!

Happy belated Easter y'all.