31DC2015 Day 13 - Animal Print

I wanted to stay away from the obvious animal prints we all think of instantly: leopard, zebra, etc. I searched for exotic animals and interesting coats/skins. I spent quite some time searching when it dawned on me; where do you find some of the most colorful, most unique looking animals? The ocean! So I searched for aquatic creatures and within minutes I found one I HAD to recreate for today's prompt.

Sunset, Stamping, & Studs

I have a thing about the sky. I love nature, in general, but I really love the sky. Whenever I tote my camera around you'll probably see me snapping photos of the sun, moon, clouds, anything sky related. If I see some remarkable clouds or a sunset or a sunrise, I'll probably snap some with my phone. Well, the other day hubby called me to come outside and check out the sky. There was a storm rolling in and the storm clouds were covering up a sunset sky. The clouds had turned a brilliant red color. It was stunning.

This manicure is inspired by that sunset. Well, it started that way, anyhow. I sat down intending to do a stormy sunset gradient. But I couldn't get the colors to blend the way I wanted them to. So I changed the colors. It snowballed from there but the end result is pretty great.

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.

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.

31DC2013 Days 13 - Animal Print

I know I should have posted yesterday but I had a really long day and late night and just didn't get a chance. The prompt for yesterday was animal print. I thought about doing zebra print or leopard, at first. Then I decided to do an animal print that I've never done before.

More Color Changing

Today, I have another color changing polish to show you. As in my last post, this is a Funky Fingers polish from the Solar Collection. It's called Lil Miss Sunshine and it's a pearl white that turns orange. I was trying to decide what to do with this one and my friend, Heather, suggested zebra/tiger print. Genius!

 Zebra when white...

Lisa Frank!?

I've been a bad bad blogger. I've been on vacation (tomorrow is my first day back to work) and blogging has been kinda put on the back-burner. I've been doing nail stuff, I just haven't been posting it. Sorry.

Friday, Hubby and I went to the Zoo! It was so much fun and the weather was almost perfect; just a little humid. Before we went, I wanted to do a zoo themed manicure. I bought a t-shirt just for the trip that inspired me. It's a zebra wearing shades with neon rainbow hair. (I meant to take a picture of the shirt, but totally forgot.) Here's the manicure that it inspired!

 I used a base of NYC French White Tip on all nails to make the neons pop. From thumb to pinky I used Funky Fingers Atomic Poppy, Art Club Neon Green, Funky Fingers Riot, Funky Fingers Highlighter, and Funky Fingers Aloha. Believe me, these colors are WAY brighter in person and obnoxious in direct sunlight. The stamping is all done in Art Club Black. The snake print (which is absurdly crooked) is from BM-215, the alligator print is from BM-224, the cow print is from BM-222, the leopard print is from BM-221, and the zebra print is from BM-223.

The neons with animal print reminded me so much of the Lisa Frank school supplies that all of us girls loved so much when I was in elementary/middle school! All it needed was some sparkle, so I loaded it up. I used a coat of Nubar 2010 and then China Glaze Fairy Dust. Both of these glitters are fairly subtle until you take them into natural lighting, so they were perfect for the zoo!

Textured Animal Print

Let me just start by saying that I am IN LOVE with this textured nail polish trend. I have three textured polishes (one Julep and two OPI) and I can't wait to get more. For this manicure, I used the Julep textured polish or Sea Salt Finish.

This is Julep Jill. It's a smoky beige with a lovely textured, matte finish. I thought some stamping over top would be fun and I chose an all-over cow spots design from BM-222. I did the stamping in Art Club Black.