31dc2014 Day 29 - Inspired by the Supernatural

I've been really excited about this prompt for a while now because I had decided quite early on what I was going to do. When I was brainstorming, I thought of all of the usual supernatural suspects (ghosts, vampires, werewolves, unicorns, mermaids, etc.). But I wanted to do something different. So, I chose a "supernatural" being from one of my (and hubby's) favorite shows, Game of Thrones. I picked White Walkers to base my design on. For those of you who aren't familiar with the show, they look like this...,

31dc2014 Day 28 - Inspired by a Flag

I'm not going to lie. When I was looking for a flag to base this design on, I was looking for two things; I wanted something REALLY easy, but colorful. It didn't take me long to find what I was looking for!

This is the flag of Seychelles. See what I mean? Easy, yet colorful! 

31dc2014 Day 27 - Inspired by Art

There is a cafe downtown called the Dessert Oasis that I just adore. It's one of those coffee shops that actually does the poured "latte art" on each coffee. (They make a fantastic Mexican Mocha.) Whenever I see it, I think of water marbling. I thought that it would be the perfect inspiration for today's prompt, inspired by art.      

31dc2014 Day 26 - Inspired by a Pattern (Just a Quickie)

Argyle Nails

Julep Amy (teal) 

Julep Olivia (Brown)

OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons (nude)

31dc2014 Day 25 - Inspired by Fashion

We are officially in the final week of the 31 day challenge and, I have to say, I'm going to be sad when it's over. I've had a lot of fun and ended up with some designs that I've really loved. And I've done really well keeping up with posting. I only fell behind once and caught up the very next day. I hope I can keep the streak going for the home stretch of the challenge.

Today's prompt is inspired by fashion. I didn't plan this but I ended up doing another Betsey Johnson inspired design. I stumbled across her Fall 2014 and fell in love. She is by far my favorite designer and I just adore her. I love her use of colors, patterns, textures, and accessories.

31dc2014 Day 24 - Inspired by a Book

For today's prompt, I chose to do nail art based on my favorite book of all time; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Call it a children's book, if you want (it technically is), but I love it. I can't tell you how many time's I've read it. The only reason I haven't done Alice nail art before (other than my fuzzy Cheshire cat stripes) it seems a bit overdone. I see Alice nails EVERYWHERE. It seems a crime, though, not to use my favorite book as inspiration for the 31 day challenge.

31dc2014 Day 23 - Inspired by a Movie

I don't know where it came from but, just as I sat down to start doing my nails, my movie inspiration popped right into my head. Drop Dead Fred! What a great movie! I loved it as a kid! Hubby and I rediscovered it a year or so ago and I still love it so much! It's just so fun and, as obnoxious as Fred is, he is just the greatest. I was more than excited to create a fun manicure inspired by Fred.

31dc2014 Day 22 - Inspired by a Song

I went through a laundry list of song choices before I settled on what to do for today's prompt. It's tough to decide which direction you want to go in once you choose a song. Do you use the lyrics, music, or maybe even the music video as inspiration? I was looking through some playlists and, suddenly, it came to me. I knew what song I wanted.

Then, it happened. I put off doing my nails like I always do and... I BROKE A NAIL! Bad! My nails are just getting to a respectable length! UGH! I am so sick of cutting my nails down. So, I patched my nail, instead. I hate nail patches. You always have to redo them and it's just a pain. 

By the time I was ready to do my nails, I was tired, and annoyed, and almost ready to skip it. But it's the 31 day challenge and part of that challenge is posting daily, right? So, I did it anyway.

The song I chose is Bullet With Butterfly Wings by The Smashing Pumpkins.

31dc2014 Day 21 - Inspired by a Color

I wasn't sure, at first, how to interpret today's prompt. I noticed that a few bloggers were using the name of a specific nail polish as their inspiration. That seems like a fun way to go with it, so that's what I did!

31dc2014 Day 20 - Water Marble

Let me start by saying that this is my favorite water marble EVER! I spent an absurd amount of time at my nail station doing a ton of trial runs and experiments but what I ended up with is awesome!

I love combining nail art techniques together. For instance, my water marble color block manicure. For today's prompt, I wanted to combine water marbling with yet another nail art technique; gradients! The idea was to marble with a clear nail polish to let the gradient peek through.

31dc2014 Day 19 - Galaxy

I've done several galaxy designs in the past so I really wanted to do something different this time around. So, I figured I could give pastel galaxies a try. I've seen them around the blogiverse but never tried them out for myself. What's a 31 day challenge for if not to make you try new things?

31dc2014 Day 18 - Half-moon (Just a Quickie)

Base Color - Sephora X Perplexed

Marble Color - OPI Do You Have This Color in Stockholm?

31dc2014 Day 17 - Glitter

I love glitter so much. If I could cover everything I own in glitter, I would. Hubby would never go for that, though. My initial design plan for today was going to be way over the top. Glitter galore. I chose, instead, to keep it simple and let the nail polish do all of the work.

31dc2014 Day 16 - Geometric (Just a Quickie)

Base Color - 

Sally Hansen Silver Sweep

Accent Colors - 

Sally Hansen Sun Sheen (orange)

Julep Marion (teal)

OPI Purple With a Purpose

31dc2014 Day 15 - Delicate Print

We're halfway through the 31 day challenge!

Today is the day I was dreading simply because this is the only prompt for which I did not have a single clue as to what I was going to do. Seriously, though, what the hell does delicate print mean? I struggled with this prompt last year and this year was no different. I started and scrapped three different designs before I got to this one. And, frankly, I am only posting this one because I didn't have time to remove it and do something else. 

Call it cheating, if you want, but I ended up using stamping for this design. I really could not come up with an idea that I liked and this was a sort of last resort. It still came out pretty, though.

31dc2014 Day 14 - Flowers

Since I used my favorite animal as inspiration for yesterday's post, I thought it appropriate to use my favorite flower for today's. I love lilies; specifically Tiger Lilies. I also love Stargazer Lilies. But I've seen so many lily nail art designs out there, I decided to find another kind of flower. I browsed a flower glossary website for a while and, as you can imagine, there were TONS of flowers to choose from. I was looking at all of the gorgeous, intricate flowers when suddenly...

...THIS beauty jumped out at me! Instantly, I knew this was the one. It's such a simple bloom. But that, in combination with the gorgeous foliage, was what drew me in. It's called Purple Shamrock!

31dc2914 Day 13 - Animal Print

I knew from the get-go that I wanted to do something different for this day of the 31 day challenge. No zebra or leopard here. I did some research for a while but couldn't come up with an animal print to do. Then it hit me. Why not do my favorite animal? Enter the Blue Ringed Octopus.

31dc2014 Day 12 - Stripes (Just a Quickie)

Base Color - OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons
Marbled Colors - Zoya Kelly, OPI Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow, OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons, Sally Hansen Pat on the Black

31dc2014 Day 11 - Polka Dots

My favorite day of the 31 day challenge is here! I love polka dots so so so so much! When I was planning out my designs for the challenge, this was one of the first that I came up with. 

Also, I am SO pleased with the way this design turned out! I would wear this one every single day. It doesn't hurt that I used my favorite color. ;)

31dc2014 Day 10 - Gradient

Today's prompt is gradient. Luckily, gradients are one of my go-to techniques. 

I debated whether or not I should do something more than just a simple gradient. Maybe some stamping, or rhinestones, or polka dots... I wasn't sure so I started by choosing my colors . Once I finished the gradient, I was so thrilled with it, I just wanted to leave it alone and enjoy all of its simplistic glory.

31dc2014 Day 9 - Rainbow

I was very excited for this day of the 31 day challenge because my original plan was to do tie dye nails. The more I planned it out, though, the harder it seemed it might be to do. I knew I would use dry marbling to create the effect. But to have the amount of colors I wanted, on top of the already large amount of polish you need on your nails to get a good marbling, I knew that the drying time would be ridiculous. Then, an idea popped into my head! Why not DIY rainbow dry marble nail stickers?! BRILLIANT!

The final product is pretty killer...

31dc2014 Day 8 - Metallic (Just a Quickie)

Silver - Sally Hansen Celeb City

Gold - Butter London The Full Monty

Copper - Butter London Shag

Baseball Nails! (Again!)

Hubby took me to a Detroit Tigers game last night. As per usual, I did some special nail art just for the occasion! I've done several Tigers inspired designs in the past (like this, and this, for instance), but I never get tired of them and it's fun trying to do something different every time. This time I wanted something with some bling to it.

31dc2014 Day 7 - Black and White

Again, I was supposed to post this design yesterday. This time, I have and even better excuse than last time. Hubby surprised me with tickets to a Tigers game! So, we got to spend the afternoon in Detroit with another couple. It was so much fun, and the Tigers won! Woo hoo! Seriously, I love baseball sooooo much!

So, yesterday's prompt was black and white. The design I ended up with was not at all what I planned but I LOVE IT!!!

31dc2014 Day 6 - Violet

I was at a loss for what do to for today's prompt. Hubby suggested, "...that thing where you spray alcohol in water and dip your finger in it!" Ha ha. So, water spotting it is! I thought this was an opportune time to use my newest Blurple, OPI Do You Have This Color in Stockholm.

31dc2014 Day 5 - Blue

I know, I know, I was supposed to post this yesterday. I have a good excuse, though. A friend of mine, whom I haven't seen in months, was in town and spent the evening with us. Dinner, dessert, movies, and games occurred so there was no time for blogging. 

The prompt was blue and I already knew that I wanted to do a cling wrap marble. I've been trying not to use techniques that I will be using later in the challenge. I always want to default to polka dots or gradients. I want to keep it varied, though. So far, so good.

31dc2014 Day 4 - Green

This is going up much later than I planned but I got caught up doing chores and forgot to post it earlier. Being that it's so late, this will be a quickie post.

Today's prompt was green so I snatched up a couple of my faves and went at it!

31dc2014 Day 3 - yellow

Fun fact: THIS IS MY 300th POST!!!!!! Wahoo!!!

Not so fun fact: I had a nasty break today so I'm down to suuuuper shorties.

So, I went into this day of the challenge knowing exactly what I wanted to do. I had this whole plan laid down and my tools set out and my colors chosen. Yeah, I didn't do any of it. Initially, I was going to do a Spongebob Squarepants inspired manicure. Bright yellow nails with green spots and Spongebob's face as an accent. At the last minute, I decided to use a lighter shade of yellow. I slapped that on and thought, "I've already done Spongebob nail art. Maybe I should do something different." In the end I decided to just go simple and pretty.

31DC2014 Day 2 - Orange

Orange is my favorite color so I always love wearing my orange polishes. I already knew which orange I wanted to use for this prompt. Fall is fast approaching and the weather is changing accordingly. I have the perfect orange nail polish for this time of year.

31DC2014 Day 1: Red

Aaaannnd we're off!

It's finally here! The 31 day challenge has arrived! I'm ready for it, too. I've been brainstorming ideas for over a week and getting myself mentally prepared. The only thing that could possibly get in my way now is feeling too tired/lazy to do my nails. I'm not letting that happen, though.

The challenge prompt for day one is red. The prompts for colors are always the hardest for me just because there are a near infinite amount of things you can do with a prompt that vague. So, my plan of attack is this; pull out every polish in the color (red, in this case) and pick a few that I like together. Narrowing down the colors makes it easier to decide what, exactly, I want to do! For today, I went with a patchwork mani!