Sunday, September 30, 2012

Skyscraper

Since the HHN design took a couple hours last weekend, I figured I would keep it simple this time. This is "Skyscraper" (China Glaze).


Halloween Horror Nights (Orlando) 22

This is my 3rd year going to Universal Orlando's HHN. This year, the major selling point was AMC's The Walking Dead. There are 7 haunted houses his year, all of which are represented in this design. A big tradition of HHN, besides the houses and scare zones throughout the park, is the bill and ted show (also featured)

My thumbs say HHN 22, then from left: alice cooper, silent hill nurse, walking dead (locked door with hands going through), bill and ted phone booth, lightning for the house of horrors, mansion from dead end, stained glass from gothic (set in a cathedral), and radioactive mushroom cloud over vegas for the penn and teller house.

this was the inspiration for the alice cooper nail

silent hill nurse

walking dead door

Bill and Ted

House of horrors...lightning flash simulation allows you to see characters

Dead end was in a haunted mansion

Gothic was in a cathedral with gargoyles. I was inspired by the stained glass that is found in most cathedrals.

Theme of the Penn and Teller house was "Newkd" in Las Vegas.

Fake Nail Practice

Sometimes, if I don't have time to redo my nails and wait for them to dry, I practice on fake nails. These are some of the sets that I have come up with.

Balloons on a white background

Ok. So as a science teacher, I couldn't resist having some science designs. This is inspired by an electrocardiogram.

As I said, couldn't resist. This was inspired by a shirt I bought. (Periodic Table...spells out "science") Disclaimer for all those who are science nerds like me: I know that there is no elememt with the symbol "E" on the periodic table (which is why the atomic number is listed as 0)...but that doesn't mean there won't be one day :)

Pikachu! I used to play this game on gameboy back in the day when there were only 3: red/yellow/blue.

My sister is an incredibly talented artist, and in a pottery class, she made a pacman sculpture....then she gave it to me :) which was obviously exciting for me lol. That piece of pottery that she made inspired this design.

After seeing Avengers this summer I couldn't help myself. From left: Avengers A, The Hulk, Ironman, Thor hammer/lightning, black widow, and Captain America shield.


 These were inspired by the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. I was obviously rooting for the USA. :) Regardless of who wins, though, I love the idea of the world getting together to celebrate athletics, teamwork, hard work, and respect among all countries of the world.

 This is probably my favorite set ever! I am a huge fan of musical theater...and every so often I come across a musical that I become obsessed with....a few years ago, it was Phantom of the Opera by ALW. From top left: title of the show, playbill mask, stage and spotlights, piano, rose, phantom mask, masquerade mask, chandelier, musical note, and candle. I am really proud of how this one came out :)


Back to School / Work lol

LOVE this design. Ok, so I am a high school teacher, as I said in my first post. I developed my love for nail art over this past summer, so I was really excited to come up with a design for the first day of school. This is what I came up with. This design was a huge hit with my students as well as my friends and family.

Starting from the thumb: Apple done with "French Rose" (Rimmel), "Red Red" (Wet n Wild), "French White" (Rimmel), and I can't remember what I used for the stem and leaf; Ruler is with "Elegant" (Revlon) and a black striper by Milani; Loose leaf paper is "Moonlight" (China Glaze), "Blue Slate" (Revlon) mixed with white, and "Blossom" by Avon; A+ is done with "Moonlight" and "Red Red"; Pencil was done with "Sunshine" (Avon), "Sunny Side Up" (Wet n Wild), "Blossom", "Hazy" (Revlon), and "Gunmetal" (Avon). 


Preliminary Water Marble

Here are some of my first water marble designs. These are actually in chronological order. I had seen a lot of water marble designs (both pictures and videos) and was always nervous to try it, but now that I have...I love it :)

This was my first ever water marble... I like it because it sort of looks like tie dye..plus I like how purple and green look together. Base is "Moonlight" (China Glaze) and marble design is done with "Posh" (Revlon) and "Fuchsia" (Maybelline)...Since doing this water marble, I have found other colors and brands that work better. Even though I think this design came out pretty great, especially for my first attempt, I did have a lot of mess ups in the water that didn't end up on my nails. The polish would dry too fast and sometimes it would be a hot mess...but now I know.

This was my second attempt, and even though it looks like a whole lot of yellow with the flash, there is some green in there too (although you can only tell on the thumb). The colors are "Sunshine" (Avon), "Jade" (Avon), and "Orchid Splash" (Avon). Everyone always talks about China Glaze when it comes to marbling designs, and I have found that it is for good reason. CG does work really well in the water, but I think that Avon is diamond in the rough (Aladdin reference...yeah that just happened) when it comes to marbling. The polish spreads really well and doesn't dry insanely fast so you have time to do some intricate designs using these polishes. 

Another Avon marble <3 Got the idea for this design from My Simple Pleasures when she did a "bumble bee" design. I kind of went for the dessert vibe: strawberry ice cream with chocolate drizzle. The pink is "Pink Power" (Avon) and the brown is "Forbidden Fudge" (Avon). 



Simple styles on myself

So, here are some styles I've done on my own nails....the basics. These aren't in the order that I did them, but in the order that I had them saved/named on my computer...oh well. Hope you enjoy :)

Ok, here we go: here is just a basic mani with a glitter accent nail. This is done with "Jade" (Avon). I LOVE this color! If I had to pick a favorite green, this would definitely be it :)

This was my first gradient on myself. This was inspired by the beach, and I used "Elegant" (Revlon), "Dreamer" (Revlon), and "notting hill blues" (Loreal). I really like how this one came out <3

I have heard all sorts of praises when it  comes to OPI polish, but I had never used it...mostly because of the price (and until recently I didn't know much or use much polish). I am obsessed! Yes, it is on the pricier side at about $8, but it is totally worth it...and you can always find them on sale if you know where to go. I usually check ULTA in the discount isle.....I have found some OPI for up to 50% off. Now obviously with any sale isle, it's hit or miss...sometimes it's just puke or poopy brown, but sometimes you can find some really pretty ones.

This is the same base as the one above. After a couple days I wanted to switch it up and add a simple design. This is with "Moonlight"(China Glaze) and "Starry Sky" (Avon).

Loved this mani and this color. The base is "Red Wine" (Avon)---which is now, I believe, my favorite red. The flower is done with "Rave" (Avon) and French White (Rimmel). I liked that this one was so simple, but still had a little feminine accent.

This is "Racing Rubies" (Maybelline) and "Golden Vision" (Avon).

Probably the simplest of the manis, but I love the color (and the movie it reminds me of). This one is called "Ruby Slippers" (Avon).

 This is my most recent simple mani. I found this design one day done by another nail artist (can't remember who it was-- : / sorry) and I just fell in love. The base is "French Rose" (Rimmel), and flowers are done with "I will" (Loreal) and "Black Satin" (Rimmel). Loved this design and feel like it would be perfect for any number of occasions.

This one is a variation of a design that Chalkboard Nails did as her black and white design for her 31 day day challenge this year. Obviously by the name, hers was black and white, but I decided to do a little UCF (my alma mater) twist on it.The base is done with "The Perfect Trench" (Loreal) and the black I did with a Milani striper.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Some Simple Manis

This is my first post on my first blog, and I'm pretty excited. I am a high school science teacher, which takes up the majority of my time, but over the past year I have developed an obsession with nail art. Its has become my creative outlet. :)

So, I want to start off with some of the more simple manicures that I have done on my friends and family. In my next post I will show the designs I have done on myself.

This is a manicure that I did for one of my co-workers. It is a blue gradient. The lighter blue is "I need a refresh-mint" (Wet n Wild) and the darker is "Midnight" (Revlon). The design is topped with "fairy dust" (China Glaze).


Another co-worker mani...she loves daisies, so I translated that into her design. Base is "Candy-licious" (Wet n Wild) and the flowers are done with "Quick Canary" (Sally Hansen) and "French White" (Rimmel London). Not sure if you can see it all that well, but the position of the flower on each nail varies...I think that made it look a bit more unique...plus it removed the need for perfection. If I made a little mistake on where I wanted a petal to go, it didn't really matter. That was helpful since it was one of the first manis I did for someone else.

I did this design on my aunt. She likes clean, simple, but elegant designs, so this was a good one for her. The base is "Pink Power" (Avon) and the flower accents are done with "Candy-licious" and "French White." I really like how this one came out :)

This was one one of my dear friends. I did this for her days before she gave birth to her baby girl...so she went into the hospital with cute nails lol. Another gradient...done with "Disturbia" (Wet n Wild) and "Starry Sky" (Avon).

Ok. Now this one I did for my sister. <3 The theme is vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and sprinkles. I think it came out  cool. The white is "moonlight" (China Glaze). This color worked well because it's not a pure white...it's more translucent and milder. "Forbidden Fudge" (Avon) is the chocolate syrup and the sprinkles are done with "Candy-licious,"  "Sunny Side Up" (Wet n Wild), "Red Red" (Wet n Wild), "Sassy" (Revlon), and "Sunshine" (Avon).