Valentine's Day Nail Art Challenge: Cupid's Curse

Today's theme threw me a bit, I didn't quite know how to illustrate it. I mean it seems so lovely, sinister and quite conceptual, but my nails only afford me so much real estate. Thanks to Amanda at the Nail Polish Enthusiast for giving me some inspiration on this one!

So I went with my favorite, the trigger mani. (Cupid just found himself a gun.) I painted my pinky, ring, and middle fingers with Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Midnight In NY. My index and thumb were painted with a coat of Finger Paints in Paper Mache. I added two halves of a broken heart with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Fuchsia Power. The detailing and arrows were done with Stripe Rite in White and Black. I topped the whole look off with JENsations' Diamonds Are Forever.

Onto my Valentine's dedication, this one is for all those who have fallen in love and then out of love. Cupid is pretty sneaky, so you never know what may be around that corner. Pesky arrows.

 

Now go on and check out the amazing Erin at LovelyLacqueredLife and the lovely Lynette at Pink & Purple Dots. These girls are beyond fantastic with their nail art... Remember, share the comments, share the love!

Florida Dreaming: Glitter Gradient Mani FT. Julep's Madison

I have been feeling a bit homesick for my adopted state of Florida and it's two coolest residents ( Hi, Mom & Dad, xoxo). So why not a bit of color for a foggy and dark New Hampshire day?

I have yet to do a gradient and I also keep on forgetting to get makeup sponges to make it happen. Then genius struck... I was going to use glitter polishes and fake out the gradient. Let me tell you, it's super easy and it pulls off the look. 

For my ring, middle, and index fingers I started with a base of Finger Paints Paper Mache. I then painted the bottom half of the nails with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow. I covered the remaining white portion and a portion of the yellow with Wet N Wild's Can-Can You Hang the Mistletoe. I then did a stripe of Sally Hansen Complete Manicure Snow Globe over a part of the yellow. Lastly, I used Julep's Harper at the base of the nail. I finished the nail with a coat of Snow Globe and painted starbursts with Stripe Rite in White.

My thumb and pinky finger were painted with two coats of Julep's Madison and I used Stripe Rite in White to achieve the lattice-work effect. 

In the end it looks like drinking Mojitos, Pina Coladas, and Strawberry Margaritas in a Florida garden at sunset. Perfect. I'm booking my flight now...

Glamorous Nail Art: Inspired by Janet Hill's "Library Ladies"

Another day, another "Inspired By" post... today I want to introduce you to another one of my favorite artists, Janet Hill. I discovered her on Etsy and was just captivated. Her work is illustrative, detailed, and quite breathtaking. It recalls a time when things were just a bit more refined and elegant. I have purchased three pieces from her and was more than pleased. Also, I had the chance to exchange an e-mail with her and she is quite lovely as well! 

The piece that I chose to work from was 2010's "Library Ladies". I love how the piece is demure and flirty at the same time, quite the feat (ha ha.)! I combined some basic illustration on the pinky and thumb nail, with a modified ruffian manicure on the ring, middle, and index fingers to symbolize the ladies' dresses.

I used Revlon's Graceful as a basecoat for this mani. For the apple colored dress I used the following shades, Julep's Fiona, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow,  and Cynthia Rowley's Apple Shimmer. For the white dress I used, Finger Paints in Paper Mache, Julep's Fiona, and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow. Finally for the robin's egg blue dress I used, Julep's Daphne, Essie's Turquoise & Caicos, and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Golden-I. 

I drew the books with Julep's Delauney and Sinful Colors' Nirvana. The pages were done with Stripe Rite in White. The leg with the golden shoe was colored with Julep's Teresa and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Golden-I. 

I encourage you to go and support Janet's small business over at Etsy. 

I loved doing this mani and look forward to another inspired post...

Also, thanks to the amazing Ghila at Nails Noob, I am converting my Twitter account to support ECKlipsed by Color. Feel free to tweet me @ECKlipse, I'll totally answer back...

Lowbrow Nail Art: Inspired by Shag's "Fondue Set"

Yesterday in my post I spoke about my love for the work of Josh Agle- professionally known as Shag. He is the ultimate in hipster sophisticate lowbrow art (also called pop surrealism). It's fun, it's fresh, it's retro, and it's very tongue-in-cheek. 

Though his works tend to be very candy colored and glossy and are chock full of opulent and swanky subject matter, there is always a darker side lurking. It is not too often when someone asks you which piece do you like the most of this artist and your unwavering response is "every last damn one". I was so thrilled when Jesse liked him to. I remember saying when we were dating, " When we get married we are so going to buy a Shag".  Luckily we did both of those things. 

The piece I chose to interpret was "Fondue Set" from his 2004 Holidays On Ice collection. I primarily did this using nail art brushes and mixing different lacquers, and it was a bit tricky. I would have loved to sharpen up the detail a bit, but I think it is a decent representation overall.

For the sky I mixed Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Fuchsia Power, Finger Paints in Paper Mache, and Julep's Gayle. The mountains are a blend of Finger Paints in Paper Mache, and Julep's Gayle, and the mountain tops are the same with a bit more Paper Mache. The trees are January Julep Maven release, Fiona ( a stunning neon lime creme) and Stripe Rite in White.

The ski bunny's background was a blend of Finger Paints in Paper Mache, and Julep's Gayle. She was created with Stripe Rite in White, Finger Paints striper in Ch-art-coal Black, and her lips and eyelids were done with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Sunkissed. 

The fondue pot's background was a mix of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Sunkissed and Sinful Colors' Nirvana. The pot itself was a blend of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Sunkissed, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow and Finger Paints in Paper Mache. The chocolate in the pot was painted with Sinful Colors' Nirvana and the details were done with Stripe Rite in White and Finger Paints striper in Ch-art-coal Black.

 
Hope you enjoy this just as much as I did doing it! Now what will be my next inspiration...

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... Winter Foliage!

Once again (Seasons) greetings, and welcome to day eight of the Christmas Challenge! Today's theme leaves (ha ha) a lot of room for interpretation- Winter Foliage. Garlands, wreaths, pine boughs, and holly are just some of the themes I considered for today. My decision to do mistletoe was made when a friend bought me a holiday nail polish for my birthday. I took further inspiration from Susan's lovely birthday gift to me- a Betsey Johnson Glitter Lips bangle.

Without further adieu I present you the most Valentine's Day Christmas manicure ever... I started with a coat of Finger Paints Paper Mache to create a solid base for the featured color. I then painted two coats of Wet N Wild's Can-Can You Hang the Mistletoe- a gorgeous neon pink glitter jelly.

On my thumb, I painted the leaves of the mistletoe with Sinful Colors striper in Jungle and Revlon's Posh. I used a dotting tool and Paper Mache for the berries. On my remaining fingers, with a dotting tool and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Fuchsia Power I drew lip patterns.

Check out my fabulous Challenge partner, Kelly, at Tuxarina to see her foliage mani. Share the comments, share the love!

On the ninth day of Christmas, my nail are gave to me... Christmas cookies & treats! ( Yum!!!)

Stay tuned...

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me...Presents!

Welcome to a festive day five! Today's theme is a bit of a variation on a theme of my Breakfast at Elena's mani. I liked the look of the presents and wanted to kick it up a notch.

Speaking of presents, as a part of my birthday gift Jesse stocked me up with nail supplies- a 20 piece nail art brush/ dotting tool set and a new UV dryer for my gels. Nice. Now to see what Christmas will bring... ( I have my fingers crossed for some Whimsical Ideas by Pam, Spy Princess, or OPI gelcolors)

I used two of my tried and true one coat metallics today- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Golden-I and Celeb City. I have said this before, but I love a fun, flashy polish that is a one-coat. Woo hoo! Gold polishes are a little bit tough, sometimes they come off as way too yellow or brassy. Golden-I is a nice rich shade, I definitely recommend it and it will only set you back about $3.00.

For the ribbons, I used Sinful Colors stripers in Jungle and Be My Valentine and Stripe Rite in white. For the tag I used Finger Paints Paper Mache and a thin tipped black paint pen for the lettering. 

Most importantly, I hope you have been checking out Kelly's awesome designs at Tuxarina.

Thank you so much to everyone for the love this week! Almost 400 page views since Monday- wow! Please feel free to comment, I enjoy the feedback. 

On the sixth day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me...Christmas Trees!

Stay tuned...

On the Fourth Day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... Snowmen!

I can't believe we are in day four of the challenge already! I have to say even though I love Halloween, I have really enjoyed the Christmas themes. Also, I think the more you do something the better you get at it. As promised today is another "two-fer", a theme and a review.

Today I bring to you another smashing stunner from Whimsical Ideas by Pam- Cookie Monster. This polish is the most amazing shade of blue ( for all of you art buffs I think this is totally International Klein Blue). It consists of multi sized cobalt matte hexes, white matte hexes, and black matte hexes. Like Peppermint Schtick, this formula was smooth and applied like a dream! This polish works well over light and dark base colors. I highly recommend any of Pam's lovely Whimsical shades.

For my mani today, I went with the seldom used accent thumb. I have smallish nails, and when I want to do something detailed I need all of the nail real estate I can get. My base coat for this mani is Ivy, a new Julep December release. It's a gorgeous cobalt/indigo duochrome micro shimmer. I topped it with two coats of Cookie Monster. Amazing.

 

For my snowman I used Finger Paints Paper Mache for the body and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Emerald City and Sinful Colors striper in Jungle for the hat. I finshed the details with Sinful Colors striper in Be My Valentine and Finger Paints striper in Ch-Art-coal Black. I finished the mani off with a Sephora by OPI matte coat. (Pam highly recommends Cookie Monster plus matte.)

Once again, thank you to Pam, Kismet, and the "Whimsical Lovelies" for their support! Please check out Pam's site and purchase often!

Please check out the talented Miss Kelly at Tuxarina. She has been rocking this challenge so far and I am so excited to be doing this with her!

On the fifth day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... presents!

Stay tuned...

On the First Day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... Snowflakes!

(Seasons) greetings, lovelies, and welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge! I hope you enjoy what we have in store for you over the next few weeks. Kelly from Tuxarina and I have been brainstorming and stockpiling Christmas nail polishes like crazy. We will be posting on weekdays through the 21st, hopefully you will get some inspiration for your Christmas manis.

Day one starts us off with snowflakes. I wanted to capture the depth and layering of snowflakes as they fall at dusk- so New England. My base color is Revlon's Smoldering ( Butter London's Knackered dupe).

With a nail art brush and Finger Paints Paper Mache, I painted snowflakes alternating with coats of Smoldering and a coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Disco Ball sandwiched inbetween. I finished with a Sephora by OPI matte coat.

Please check out my amazing Challenge Companion, Kelly's blog! Share the comments, share the love...

On the second day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me- Santa!

Stay tuned...

 

Day Thirteen TDoHNC: Trick or Treat! Give me something good to eat!

It's the last day! Wow, talk about a month flying by. I don't know where October went and this time next week, I'll be in Florida, while Jes holds down the fort up here. Maybe Mojo will blog about hamster things in my absence...lol.

So, today's theme is favorite Halloween treat. I couldn't settle on just one, so I did a smorgasbord on my nails. I had a lot of fun. I used metallics and mattes. Neutrals and neons. I even used shaped tips on two nails and created my own stamp out of a pencil eraser. I threw caution to the wind with this one.

I began with a coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Celeb City- the best silver one coat ever! For my candy corn I used Finger Paints Paper Mache and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow and Sun Kissed. For the button candy, I used Finger Paints Paper Mache ( which I mattified for the paper look), Revlon Posh and the following Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Fuchsia Power, Mellow Yellow and The Real Teal. 

For the snowcaps, I used Sinful Colors in Nirvana ( with a matte top coat) and Stripe Rite in White. The pixi stix were done with Stripe Rite in White, Essie's Turquoise and Caicos, and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Fuchsia Power and Mellow Yellow. Finally, the chocolate bar was done in Sinful Colors in Nirvana ( with a matte top coat). The squares were stamped on with Revlon Graceful and highlighted in Stripe Rite in White.

And there you have it, the Thirteen Days of Halloween is over! I've completed my first challenge! Thanks to all the girls who have participated with me, it was so much fun. I really appreciate the support and feedback. As I said before- let me know when the next challenge starts- lol.
 

Kelly from Tuxarina

Heather from Peace,Love, & Polish

Jennifer from Little J’s Nail Corner

 

To everyone else, I hope those affected by the Hurricane will recover soon- our thoughts are with you.  

Before I forget- Happy Halloween!

Day Eleven TDoHNC: Once in a (Full) Blue Moon

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Welcome to the final week of the Thirteen Days of Halloween Nail Art Challenge- this month has flown by! Day eleven brings us to the Full Moon. I love Fall nights, the air is so crisp and you can always seem to catch a whiff of someone’s fireplace. I truly think that this is the best part of the year in New England.

I think this mani captured some of the mystery of the Fall night. I started with a base of Revlon Fashionista (btw… this color is amazing with a matte top coat).

I dabbed on Finger Paints Paper Mache and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Wet Cement to create the clouds and give them some depth. The moon was done using the same two colors. I then added some straight-up-no-name-Halloween-pumpkin-shaped-glow-in-the-dark polish on the moon (it’s as crapperific as it sounds). I thought I could take a pick with the moon glowing- it was a bit of an epic fail. 

I think this is one of the more painterly manis that I have done thus far- call it a tribute to all of Kelly’s sweet atmospheric nail effects so far. Speaking of, go on and check out the other ladies- they never fail to amaze!

Kelly from Tuxarina

Heather from Peace,Love, & Polish

Jennifer from LittleJ’s Nail Corner

Stay tuned, day twelve… skeletons!

Day Nine TDoHNC: There Will Be Blood

I have to say that I have been dreading today- day nine, blood. I am not particularly inclined towards red. That's not entirely true, I mean back in the nineties I wore OPI's I'm Not Really A Waitress to my Freshman Winter Formal. I have to say today achieved two things a fun nail design and a red that I really like!

I could have gone for something gory and oozy but I just wasn't feeling that. I wanted fun, and excitement, and maybe a drink...lol. So, I channelled that into some party nails with a dripping blood French Manicure and a bit of freehand art in the shape of a Bloody Mary cocktail.

I started with a base of Finger Paints Paper Mache. Then with Julep Vivian I did a glitter coat. I love the shimmer and gold hex combo. On my four fingers, I dabbed on Julep Demi to get the dripped blood effect.

On my thumb, I drew the main part of the glass with Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby. I added shading with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow and Julep Demi. I drew the stem and outlined the glass in Finger Paints Striper in Ch-Art-coal Black. The celery stalk and lime slice were painted with Revlon Posh, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow and Stripe Rite in white. I dabbed Julep Vivian around the glass to finish.

I love, love, love these nails. Makes me want to do some tiki bar nails at some point. Be sure to check out the other girls' blogs, they have been doing some awesome work!

Kelly from Tuxarina

Heather from Peace, Love, & Polish

Jennifer from Little J's Nail Corner

 

Stay tuned day ten... werewolves! AHHHHWOOOOOOO!

Day Two TDoHNC: Ghosts of Nail Art Past

Did you see that lurking around the corner? It’s day two of the Thirteen Days of Halloween Nail Challenge.

Ghosts are next up and I had a lot of fun doing these nails. Unlike the distracted pumpkin debacle, I was focused for this theme. Jes really dug the super graphic feel of this design. It’s another one that is pretty frill free but I love it all the same.

I call it "Ghosts of Nail Art Past". This is dedicated to all the times where I threw on a couple of dots or stripes and I thought it looked awesome. It was a hot mess.

The base is a super one-coat color, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in 670 Midnight in NY (a black crème with superfine multi color glitter). I painted the ghosts on my four nails and thumb in Stripe Rite White and Finger Paints Striper in Ch-Art-Coal Black. On my thumb the grass is Revlon 571 Posh and the gravestone is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 460 Wet Cement.

Check out the other participants’ blogs they are delightfully ghoulish… if you dare!

Kelly from Tuxarina

Heather from Peace, Love, & Polish

Jennifer from Little J's Nail Corner

Stay tuned for day three...cats!

Day One TDoHNC: Disco Pumpkins out on a Monday Night

Queue the eerie fog, the cackling witch, and the howling wolves…

Thus begins the Thirteen Days of Halloween Nail Challenge!

So, its day one and pumpkins are on the menu. For a while I wanted to go crazy and do pumpkin pie nails. I think I was hungry. Then, I wanted to do a pumpkin patch. My thought there was, “ It’s just going to look like orange polka dots on a green background.”

I just stopped thinking and started painting. It’s a bit simple and straight forward, but fun all the same.

I call it “Disco Pumpkin” or " I had to do some Pumpkins Quick".

I started with a base of Finger Paints Paper Mache. I did the pumpkins in Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 150 Sun Kissed and Finger Paints Striper in Ch-Art-Coal Black. I accented the design in JENsation’s Happy Birthday and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 60 Disco Ball.

 

Please check out the other participants’ blogs. The ladies have done a spectacular job of representing the theme. 

Kelly at Tuxarina

Heather at Peace, Love, & Polish

Jennifer at Little J's Nail Corner

 

Stay tuned for day two...ghosts!