Summer Challenge Day 16: Recreate Your Favorite Mani

Well, everyone, the Summer Challenge has come to an end after today. I had so much fun with it and I'm so glad I decided to take part. I was able to come in contact with so many great bloggers and I think my nail art has improved from pushing myself often! :] So with that, I present my final mani and it was inspired by the Dragonfruit design done by Kaki @ Glitter Obsession!

Overall, I am not super excited about how it turned out but it is definitely a design that made me push myself and I want to try it again sometime when I get better at nail art! The frame mani is really hard!! I tried messing with the tops of the frame near the cuticle while I was at work to try to even them out, but I only ended up making them worse! I do like the colors though, and I got a lot of compliments at work even if most people didn't know which fruit it was! :] I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White for the base, Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Sonic Bloom for the frame, and for the "seeds" I used Sinful Colors Black on Black and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Wet Cement. So that's all for the Summer Challenge, I am headed off to work, but check out what some of the other girls have created!

Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 15: Ocean/sea

I didn't have to think too hard on this one so I'll just get on with it - here is my ocean/sea inspired mani for Day 15 of the Summer Challenge!

This picture was taken at night using my boyfriend's super cool DSLR so it was really well defined, etc but something about the color left me unsatisfied. SO I took another one the next day in the natural light that captured the true colors better (below).

My inspiration for most of the nails, was mermaids, ocean water, stuff like that. I tried for a glitter gradient, but didn't turn out as great as I wanted. I used Sinful Colors Savage for the main color (which is has a really cool matte finish and I don't know why - I've never run into another Sinful that was like that, but I LOVE it) and then Sinful Nail Junkie for the glitter/scales/etc. Then I *attempted* a wave accent nail,  inspired by Kaki @ Glitter Obsession. I used Milani Sail Away as a base, then alternated sponging more of that on top of Wet n Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint, and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I didn't use topcoat on this mani because I loved all the different textures! :]

Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 14: Swimsuit

The challenge is winding down! Today I have for you: Swimsuits! My original thought at the beginning of this challenge was to do a different patterned swimsuit on each nail, but as the challenge has gone on, I've really started to value simplicity! For both practical and aesthetic reasons. So, the first thing that came to mind for me was.....
"It was an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini!" When discussing this song/challenge with my boyfriend, we both realized the song is not clear whether it's a yellow bikini with polka dots or a bikini with yellow polka dots. Oh, English. Anyways, I've always picture it as yellow with bright pink polka dots. Here's my interpretation!

I could not get these colors to photograph properly - this was the closet I got and this was using my phone! The pink is a BRIGHT neon over white and it's much brighter in real life. I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow for the "bikini" and Sinful 24/7 for the polka dots. I like how this turned out - very bright and summery! Hope everyone has a great Friday :]

Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 13: Water Animal

This day of the challenge was supposed to be favorite water animal, but when talking about water animals, my boyfriend suggested trying a jellyfish and I thought it was a great idea! I don't even know if I have a favorite water animal - maybe those baby seals, but that would be too hard to paint! Anyway to be clear jellyfish are NOT my favorite water animal, in fact I'm really afraid of them and they are the reason I don't go deep into the ocean (well that and sharks). But I did think it came out cool and unique as a mani:

I can even make it look like it's swimming when I wiggle my fingers haha! I like it :] Don't forget to check out the other ladies!

Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 12: Favorite Beach Memory

Today is Day 12 of the challenge and it is almost over! I will miss having something pushing me to try new things with my nail art, but my nails and cuticles are ready for a BREAK! :] Anyways, for today's theme, I had a hard time deciding on a favorite beach memory, mostly because anytime at a beach is going to be a great memory - I LOVE the beach! Finally, I settled on attempting to recreate Myrtle Beach, since that is where I've gone on vacation with my family for the past three summers. Since I had done ocean/sand for another manicure I tried to take a different approach and recreate some of the things we did there on my nails!

On my index finger is a symbol I associate with Myrtle Beach and SC in general, but I don't think it's their official logo or anything. I just see it on a lot of bumper stickers and key chains! It's a moon and a palmetto tree.
The middle finger is my interpretation of part of the Ripley's aquarium logo. I've gone there twice and I love it - anywhere I can go to see animals I'm happy. Here's a picture of the sign to give you an idea what I was going for.

Then, going along the same idea, the ring finger is part of a sign for Broadway at the Beach, a giant outdoor shopping center where we've gone probably about a hundred times. They have fireworks and performers and great food. Here's the logo:

And last, my pinky shows a simple sunset - because our condo is oceanfront and nothing beats watching the sunset over the ocean! Ahh, I miss it there :] Hope you all like the mani, and don't forget to check out the other girls!

Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 11: Seashells

Hello everyone, I hope you are all enjoying your weekend, as I'm sitting here updating this from WORK! :p It's time for Day 11 of the Summer Challenge and it's a fun one - sea shells! I recently went shopping at Sally's (dangerous) and they were having a sale on those little Cina packets with different glitters and fimo shapes, etc. So I bought one that just happened to have crushed up seashells in it and I thought they would be perfect for this challenge :] This is sort of a different look for me, I'm not used to the texture of having things actually sticking out from my nails, but I think I might sort of like it!

How convenient, the pack came with 5 different colors, one for each finger! I used a base coat of Rimmel Gold Silk, but in the pictures it comes across as more of a nude or skin color than a gold. It was meant to look like shimmery sand.

So, what do you think? I ran into the same problem here as I did when I made textured "sand" on my nails using glitter - it wouldn't stay on five minutes if I needed to use my hands for something (i.e. cleaning, typing, etc). Is there some trick to doing a textured nail or is it just the price you pay - any help would be much appreciated!

Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 10: Tropical Drinks

Well here I am with Day 10 and this one is very close to my heart - tropical drinks, haha! Probably the hardest part was narrowing down my favorites ;] Eventually I decided I wanted to keep this one simple but fun, so I decided on four of my favorite summer drinks and a tiny umbrella :} Here are my inspirations:

And here is the mani I created!

(Obviously I had not finished cleaning up some of the top coat chunks left around the nail, especially the ring finger - but this was the best I could do in a rush last night!) And please ignore the cut on my index finger, it looks worse than it is haha!
 From left to right: Blue lagoon - blue curacao and lemonade with a splash of sprite. Unfortunately it seems no bartenders here in Dayton have ever heard of this one, so when I have one it has to be homemade. It is sooo great and fruity tasting! Tequila sunrise - my absolute favorite drink! It's tequila, orange juice and grenadine, and when the grenadine sinks to the bottom, it creates a "sunrise" looking blend of colors. So I did a gradient using Sinful Colors Let's Meet, Hazard, and Thimbleberry. The blend turned out way better than I expected! Classic margarita - always a good old favorite! I used Sally Hansen Limestone and topped it off with a coat of Sinful Call You Later. And last, a strawberry daiquiri! The color was hard to get right on this one, I did some experimenting to get this shade. I used a coat of Sally Hansen Unbreakable Heart, then Pure Ice Tease over that, and then Petites Comet over that! Hope you like :D

Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 9: Favorite Summer Memory

For this mani, I was having a hard time deciding what my favorite summer memory was! I thought of a lot of summer spent swimming, camping out, and even summers working at Bruster's (that's what I alluded to before) that brought back great memories. But then it came to me! When I was in college, one year I came home for summer and my dad informed me we were getting a new puppy. I was perfectly happy with my Shih-Tzu, Zeppy, and I resented the idea. Especially when he told me what we were getting - a boxer! I thought they were the ugliest dog ever because of their smushed faces. Regardless, I picked out a little girl and named her Sadie and fell in love ever since! Here she is:

This was taken about 2 years ago in September when we went to Put-in-Bay, OH for Labor Day weekend. The dogs had a blast because we went to a drive through safari and they got to come face to face with water buffalos, llamas, etc. Anyways, about a month after that vacation, Sadie passed away suddenly at only 3 years old. You may think I'm strange but in our house, our dogs are family members and we took it hard. Especially because there was no medical reason that she died; the doctor said she just stopped living, maybe her heart stopped. Sorry for the LONG story but I felt I needed to explain - so thinking back to that summer when I fell in love with what I previously thought to be the ugliest dog ever created, and what ended up being the most loving, loyal dog you could dream of - I thought, that was my favorite summer memory. And here is the mani inspired by her!

I knew I couldn't paint a boxer face that would be recognizable so I took the easy way out! But I really like it. I used Julep - Mandy for the background, Sinful Colors Black on Black for the pawprints and Stripe Rite in a turquoise blue for the writing. Hope you like it!

Summer Challenge Day 8: Beach

So, I had lots of ideas for this mani, but I ultimately decided to go a little more abstract and try something new for me - glitter! Not that I'm new to glitter in general, but I have never sprinkled actual glitter onto wet polish. I thought it would be a cool texture for sand, though, so I gave it a shot!

And just for a different view, here's one with flash and a better view of the glitter I used:

The glitter is actually micro glitter I got from Walmart! It came in a pack of 5 colors and it's actually pretty good to use for frankening :] The polishes I used were (from top to bottom) Revlon Dreamer, Essie Trophy Wife, and LA Colors in a tan shade. I stuck the sand to the wet tan polish. My only complaint about this mani is part of what makes it cool is the texture of the sand, so you can't use topcoat - meaning it got messed up in about five minutes. Oh well! Hope everyone had a great weekend :]

Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 7: Ice Cream

Well here we are 7 days into the challenge! I'm surprised I've made it this far, it has really been harder than I thought, but I really like pushing myself. Only thing is, I have bought a ton of new polishes lately that I can't wait to swatch, so that's been hard! Anyways, here is my ice cream mani!

I was feeling kinda uninspired today, so sorry it's boring! I'm embarrassed to admit such a bland mani for ice cream since I worked at Bruster's for so long, but don't worry, I already have plans for a tribute to that job to surface later in the challenge ;] Anyways, for my mani I wanted to do a different scoop of ice cream for each finger and then a waffle cone to hold them all up!
Here's a scoop of strawberry:

Here's a scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate flakes and a cherry on top:

Here's a scoop of mint chocolate chip:

And last, a little baby scoop of dark chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles:

That's all, I hope you like my take on the ice cream mani! Check out the other bloggers and have a great weekend :} Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 6: Favorite Summer Color

Hey everyone! Here is my manicure showing my favorite summer color! I couldn't pick just one because my favorite colors to wear when it's hot out are pink, and orange! I really wanted to try water marbling again since I've had such tough experiences with it in the past, but I picked two really opaque colors so I was hoping it would turn out well. I used Julie G "Oh Em Gee!", which is a bright neon pink, and Love & Beauty in Orange (it reminds me of sherbet). Overall I like it! It could always be better, my technique is still not that great but I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong!

Sorry I've not been so talkative lately, like I said a lot going on...I'm going to try to keep up with the challenge but I've got some personal stuff happening at the moment so we will have to see. I plan to do my best.

Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 5: Fruits

Ah sorry this is so late! A lot going on today.

I know these have all been done to death, but I made a pineapple, a strawberry, an orange, a watermelon and a grape! Overall this is one of my favorite manis I've done so far. I've gotten so many compliments at work and I feel like looking at this in retrospect, I can really see how far my nail art has come since when I first started. Hope you guys like them!!

Summer Challenge Day 4: Palm Trees

Well, I'm exhausted from working all week/weekend without a day off and switching between all three shifts so this post is not going to be very wordy - sorry! Today's challenge was palm trees. I had been doing different designs on every nail etc, so this one I wanted to make more simple.

From thumb to pinky, I used Essie - Lights, Sinful Colors - Savage, Wet n Wild - On a Trip, and Sinful Colors - Clementine. There's also a strip of Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow on the accent finger. I freehanded the palm tree using Sinful Nail Art in Time Off. I tried to get a closer picture of the palm tree here:

Hope you all like it, and check out the other bloggers also doing this challenge!! Happy Saturday, I'll be working all night blah!

Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 3: Favorite Summer Song

Well, I think this was one of the harder manis I've ever done! When I first thought about, "what IS my favorite summer song?" the first thing to pop into my head was something country. I first started getting into country music about 5 or 6 years ago when my roommate got me over my resistance, and once I stopped avoiding listening to it, I realized I liked it a lot! But anyway, over the years, I've heard many country songs that just remind me of the beach, the sun, no school, hanging out with friends, etc - and the main one that kept replaying in my head when thinking about this challenge was "Summertime" by Kenny Chesney. Then came the task of figuring out what to do with that!! I eventually decided to try painting different elements from the chorus and it turned out better than I'd hoped!
So, for anyone who doesn't know the song, the chorus is: "It's two bare feet on the dashboard, young love and an old Ford; cheap shades and a tattoo and a Yoohoo bottle on the floorboards; perfect song on the radio, sing along cause it's one we know; it's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine, it's summertime."

Here's the finished product! I am actually really proud of how this turned out. Obviously there are always things that need improvement but overall I really like it - it's fun and I feel like it illustrates the song pretty well :]

A close-up of my "Yoohoo" bottle logo. I was actually surprised at how well this came out because the writing had to be so tiny! I used a few coats of Manisma - Lightening for the background, then I used a toothpick and some white (Sinful Colors Snow Me White) to write Yoohoo. Then I went over the white writing with a dark blue nail art brush (Stripe Rite from Sally's) and underlined it with a streak of Sinful Colors Nail Art - Be My Valentine. I have really shaky hands but I still felt like I managed to do pretty well with this one :}

Here are my "two bare feet on the dashboard." I never realized how hard it was for me to make foot shapes and I doodled quite a few before I got them to be recognizable, haha. I think the polished toes helps of course ;] I used Julep - Claire for the sky, a peach colored L.A. Colors polish from the Dollar Store for the feet, and Julie G's Oh Em Gee! for the toenails. The dashboard is Sinful Colors Black on Black.

And last, here is my Ford logo. I used Revlon's Mysterious for the navy blue background, and then I used a toothpick to try recreating the "Ford" in Snow Me White. My lines could have been cleaner, but again, I surprised myself with this one, because I mean come on - this is my pinky! It's little, haha.
And I didn't get a close up of my "cheap shades" because they looked pretty straightforward in the first picture in my opinion! I topped everything off with two coats of Seche Vite and there you have it - my favorite summer song mani! Definitely check out some of these other ladies - they are keeping me on my toes for sure ;]

Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 2: Picnic!

Hi everyone! Hope you are all enjoying this gorgeous weather :D Today I have my interpretation on picnic nails! This theme was a little tough for me and I felt that overall they are not bad, though they could have turned out better! PLEASE ignore my awful, awful cuticles. This is before I got a chance to really clean up the mani, because I wanted to take advantage of the sunlight. And here they are:

So, for my thumb I did my best picnic blanket with ants on it. I wish I didn't add their feelers because they looked better before, but I still like them! Then on my index finger, that's my take on lemonade.  My middle finger is supposed to be a picnic basket texture, but it didn't go so well. I guess this is one way to find out I don't own a single flat tan or taupe color! Definitely added to my list of need-to-buy-colors. Then I did a watermelon for my ring finger, and on my pinkie, that's a grill spatula, haha! I was going to do another food, like fried chicken or a hamburger, but it was just too hard! I wanted to add the matte topcoat for a different-looking finish, but today (after 1 day of wear) I learned why I swear by Seche Vite. The lemonade, watermelon and the spatula nails have all chipped significantly. Oh well, you live and  you learn! I can't wait to go check out what the other bloggers have done for today - this manicure was a tough one for me!

Everyone have a great 4th of July!!!

Kelly

Summer Challenge Day 1: Bees!

Well, the day is finally here and I am SO excited - the first day of my first nail art challenge EVER!! I really hope I can keep up with each day with work, but I think since it's every other it will be so much easier than most other challenges that are every day :] Thanks Theodora and Kaki for coming up with this challenge!

So, for those of you who are not doing the challenge, or don't know, I'll post a picture of the challenge first.

So, for day 1, the subject is bees! I never thought I would be doing a manicure of something I'm allergic to, but here I am anyway! Maybe Codeine for the next mani ;]
Anyway - I decided to combine two bee designs that I've seen while Googling, and what I came up with was this! (This is pre-cleanup of course - normally my nail arts will not be so sloppy - I hope!)

Right hand...

And left hand!! Now, for my self-critical comments. I really do love this mani and I thought it was great for summer. BUT - I used a toothpick to make the dotted line, and sometimes the black polish I had put on a CD for dipping out of, got a little bit hardened and so it became sticky, leaving a trail between dots. You can especially see this in the second picture on the pointer finger nail. Next time I would refresh my dotting pool more often! I also would probably tape my thumbs because one of the yellows I used (Manishma Lightening) is obviously very staining. The blue (Wet n Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint) came off so, so much easier. I'm also still learning how to clean up the cuticles and edges using acetone and a thin brush - a technique I saw on The Nailasaurus. So, you can see that sometimes I slipped and took off too much (i.e. middle finger on the left hand). Other than that, I thought this was a fun mani and something I will try to recreate in the future once I get better at nail art! Thanks for checking out my blog and definitely look out for some of the other bloggers taking part in this challenge :D Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Kelly