Sunday, February 24, 2013

Dr. Seuss!

Hey there everyone! I am so bummed that I haven't had as much time to blog...school started and physics is taking up sooooo much of my free time! I am committing to at least 1 post a week though, so keep an eye out! Today's post is quick ( I'm on my lunch break) but I wanted to share these fun Dr. Seuss nails.

My roommate is also a preschool teacher and they are doing a whole week on him, so naturally we had to do nails to match. :0)


So this is her right hand. In case you can't tell, the pinky is Thing 1 from Cat In The Hat, ring finger is the foot from The Foot Book, middle and thumb come together to form Cat in the Hat ( I took that design from the talented Sammy at the nailasaurus) and the pointer finger  is the plate of green eggs and ham.


As for the left hand, we have the cover of The Foot Book, the middle and thumb form the lion from Apples on Top, ring finger is a delicious green ham and pinky is Thing 1's partner in crime Thing 2. 

What do you all think? We were both pretty happy with the results :0)

Welp lunch is over and I gotta head back.

Keep it polished!
<3 Jess

Friday, February 15, 2013

In Memoriam Of David Glenn

Hello everyone. Tonight I am writing to you in a bit of a somber mood. You all know I love doing nail art but it's not often I get to do nail art in the pure spirit of love. I am sad to say that my best friend Ashley had her uncle pass. Before I go on I would just like to say a little something about David. I only had to pleasure of meeting him once, just this past week while he was in hospice care. From all the stories I have heard he was such a gentle man, who loved Scooby Doo, winking at his sister, and above all else he loved God. I wont go into much detail but he was a man who in his 50's had the mind set of a young child. He was incredibly gentle and loving and had been struggling with his health the past few months. His family whom I love dearly have been visiting him every day up until his untimely pass last night. 
 I got the call from my friend Ashley today at work "David passed...can we please just get together and do nails in memory of him". It was my pleasure to spend my evening with her, sharing a drink and stories of David and how much he touched us and will be missed.  




So here is what we came up with.




Id like to just ask all of you to please say a prayer for Ashley and her family during this time. Heaven got one more angel..Rest in peace David.

 I'm closing this post with a song for my best friend....I love you sooooooooo much and am here for you whenever you need me. 

Keep in polished. 
<3 Jess

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Just A Quickie, Challenge Day 5

Hi friends! I am sorry to say but today's post will be a short one as I am not feeling to well :o/ I did however want to at least post today's FFF challenge: 3D/ Decal.

I chose a simple design and used these awesome 3D rhinestone nail accents that my mom got me for my birthday.


I apologize for the sloppy black tips, like I said I am not feeling well and just wasn't up to spending the time but I really didn't want to miss another challenge day (yesterday was the first). That being said I hope you all can forgive me.



Here is what I used and a close up of the little bows.


From left to right:  2 coats of a nameless Sephora mini from their Tinsel Town collection, followed by 1 coat of No 7's "Charm",  black striping polish for the tips that I received in last months Nail Art Society bag, and a generous topcoat from Kiss Acrylic Top Coat. I used that instead of Seche Vite because it was thicker and I wanted to make the bows stick without using nail glue (seeing as how they will only be on for 24 hours)

Please please please check out the links for the other ladies pages, they are all so talented :0)


Until next time! Keep it polished!!!!!
<3 Jess

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Day 3 Water Marble

Hello again! Happy super bowl Sunday! Are you all ready for the big game? I'm not much of a football fan ( although I do love my Tennessee Titans) so i will probably be spending my day chomping down on food, doing some nails (hopefully) and looking up at the t.v. when the commercials come on :o).

So again I am pretty excited  about today's mani. The challenge options for day 3 were either dry or water marble. I have never tried either of these techniques but i have been dying to try a water marble. I was a bit afraid because several of my favorite bloggers  have blogged that they hate the process and some have real issues with it. I found a great online tutorial here and decided to grab some polishes and dive in!

Here is what I used


From left to right: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "White On",  my trusty dusty China Glaze "For Audrey", Sinful Colors "Slate", and good ol' fashioned scotch tape to wrap of my fingers and make the clean up process easier.

Just as the video shows I just took a cup of water and placed drops of polish right in the center, I waited for each droplet to fan out before putting in the next. The pattern I used was white, teal, then grey. After producing several rings I used a toothpick to drag the colors into the center and create a design. Once I had something I was happy with I simply dipped my nail into the water, blew on the water to break the polish seal and used a q-tip to soak up the excess before removing the nail.





As you can see, I was not ready to give up my stained glass accent nail
(that thing took me a good 30 minutes!) so I chose colors that complimented the existing color pallet and just re-did the other 4 nails.

Overall I like water marbling. It was kind of fun and not too messy with the aid of the tape. After doing my dominant right hand I did understand some of the frustration others had, mainly the excess attaching to my design and flubbing it up a bit. But overall like I said it was fun and gives a really cool look. I would like to get some more practice under my belt to try and create even better designs as this one is just a bit hap hazard.

I cant wait to see what everyone else came up with today. Don't forget to stop by and check them out!



Keep it Polished!
<3 Jess

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Stained Glass Accent

Hey there everyone! How is everyone's Saturday going? Mine has been wonderfully relaxing with the exception of a few loads of laundry.

I am super excited about today's post. As you know I am participating in the flip/flop February put on by Jilian over at jilltastic nail designs, you can check out her blog here.

So today's challenge options were stained glass or accent nail. This was a rough decision for me...I knew I didn't want to just do an accent nail because I often do those and this is a challenge meaning you should challenge yourself. Problem was I have never done a Stained glass nail, didn't really know if I wanted it on all of my nails, and to be honest everything I googled for this technique was really not my style. And then I saw a super detailed super awesome design that was of a scene from a church window. I knew I wouldn't be able to pull that off but it gave me the inspiration I needed to refine my search. I finally found a cute dragonfly stained glass art piece that I thought I might be able to pull off. You can check out the artwork here.
Since this was my first attempt at this I decided to combine today's options and do a stained glass accent nail.


I started off with just one coat of Zoya's Zuza



 Then looking at my picture for reference I began to carefully paint on my dragon fly using some acrylic paint from a set my sister gave me for Christmas (seen above) and my thin paint brush 


After letting that completely dry I decided to do the outline of my "glass panes" with a dark blue sharpie (I could not find black to save my life). I am not sure if this is considered cheating because I didn't use black paint but I just new I wouldn't be able to outline it without messing the whole thing up (I am extremely new to freehand painting designs).





I am so pleased with how these turned out!!!! I know its not super crisp but for me this was pretty freaking good!

Here is a picture of the accent nail next to its inspired piece


Not too shabby if you ask me :o). Hope you all enjoy these as much as I do. Also don't forget to check out the other talented ladies joining me on this challenge journey

Thank you all for stopping by! Check back tomorrow for day three, pretty sure I am going to try my first water marble so it should be interesting!

Keep it polished!
<3 Jess

Friday, February 1, 2013

Flip/Flop February Day 1: Gradient

Hello lovelies! Happy Friday!!! I am certainly looking forward to my weekend, how about you all?

Today I am excited to start a new challenge! I know I know I totally failed the last 31 day challenge BUT this one is a no pressure relaxed challenge that allows you to do as many or as little as you would like. Perfect for a working student like myself. This challenge is also great because it allows you to  choose one of two techniques  each day. Day one was gradient or skittle mani. I decided to put on my big girl pants and try yet again to successfully pull of a gradient nail. I have no idea why this is so difficult for me but hey practice makes perfect right!?!

So here is what I used from left to right: my trusty dusty little glass shot glass thingy ( obviously that is the technical term ;0) ) I use this to pour my acetone and dip my angled liner brush in it to clean up my edges. Next up is a Sinful Color, which I will update and name later because I am at work and currently forgot the name ( for shame!). I used that with another nameless Sephora mini in a darker shade of purple.  My top coat was the ever fast drying Seche Vite. Also pictured is my makeup sponge used to apply the polish and my baggie used to set and dip the polish.

Ta da! :0/....OK so I know its not perfect, this is a technique that I really have yet to master, but hey that's the whole point of this challenge. Go big or go home is what I always say.

There are a few techniques floating around out there to achieve this look. I was short on time so I chose to paint strips of color on my baggie, lighter shade on top darker on bottom. Then I took my makeup sponge and dabbed on the color and transferred it on to my nails. This took several layers of sponging but went relatively quickly. After I had my desired color I let it dry and cleaned up the edges ( this manicure is VERY messy) once all of that was done I applied a coat  of Seche Vite and called it a night.

Be sure to check out the other lovely ladies participating in this challenge!

Keep it polished!
<3 Jess

PS please excuse my ugly ring finger, being a pharm tech often means nasty paper cuts :0(