"This is Halloween" Recreate

Happy Halloween!!! Look how happy my huskies are for Halloween! Momma made them some Halloween bandanas from fabric I picked up at Walmart.

Dpow and Amoki excited that it's Halloween!

It's the final challenge in the "This is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge. The last theme is recreating your favorite manicure from another participant.

I absolutely loved what Overpolished did for the Jack-o-lantern challenge. The colors were amazing and the idea was great. Moonlight spilling over a jack-o-lantern, love.

Here is my recreation.

moonlight Jack-o-lanterns

I wish my nails were a bit longer so I could fit more pumpkin into them like Overpolished.

Colors used:
   • ZOYA Noel - base color
   • COLOR CLUB Worth the Risque - moons
   • WETnWILD Black Creme - pumpkins
   • CHINA GLAZE Ride the Waves - moonlight detail on pumpkins
   • ZOYA Arizona - light orange highlights
   • CHINA GLAZE Roguish Red - dark orange highlights

I had a lot of fun participating in this challenge. Boy it is a lot of work though kicking out so much nail art! I hope you all enjoyed what I had to share with you and I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween. Oh, and of course a HUGE shout out to Lacquer Dreams for hosting this fun challenge. (:

Make sure you check out my Wicked Halloween Giveaway! Thanks for popping in!

A Wicked Halloween Giveaway

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I have a special giveaway to celebrate my favorite holiday. I have dubbed it "A Wicked Halloween Giveaway" as per my post title.

Up for grabs will be 1 new 4 set China Glaze Wicked Collection! This set comes with Roguish Red, Glitter Goblin, Bizarre Blurple and Ghoulish Glow.

You must be 18 years or older to enter and this giveaway will not be open internationally. US residents only. The last day to enter is by 12:01am November 08, 2012.  The winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is picked.

I'm not going to make y'all jump through hoops to enter. All that is required is that you follow my blog via GFC. Comment if you'd like, but at max you can only have 2 entries. :-)

Thank you all for following and I hope you have a fantastic Halloween. Good luck ladies! :-)

* I have since added swatches of the Wicked Collection you can view here.
 a Rafflecopter giveaway 

"This is Halloween" Trick or Treat

Hey guys! Happy Devil's Night. (: I remember when I was little my Mom used to make us bring our Jack-o-lanterns inside this night each year in case hooligans came to smash them and make trouble! Oooh good memories.

The husband and I made a Jack Skellington pumpkin this year. I decided to match my trick-or-treat nails to our pumpkin. I feel that it's a broad enough theme that I could take artistic license and say this fits because all of the trick-or-treaters will pass our Jack Skellington pumpkin to come to our house. :-) Here are my nails and our pumpkin. I am super happy with both.

Jack Skellington nails

Jack Skellington

our Jack Skellington jack-o-lantern and some eyes in the bushes

:-D I used WETnWILD Black Creme and French White Creme and free-handed the design. I used this photo as my inspiration.

I hope you all have a great Devil's Night and protect your pumpkins from rowdy hooligans!

Tomorrow is the last night of the "This is Halloween Nail Art Challenge." I also have a special surprise planned so make sure to come back!

Thanks for popping in.

"This is Halloween" Graveyard

Hey all. I hope all my east coast followers are staying dry and safe indoors, riding out Sandy. I'm happy to report that my power seems to have held out through the wind gusts although it has been raining since Friday.

Today's Halloween theme is graveyard.

I went with a blue silhouette of a graveyard at night.

graveyard silhouette at night

I used ZOYA Cynthia as my base color and CG Ride the Waves for the cemetery. The moon and stars are white acrylic.

Thanks for popping in!

"This is Halloween" Witches

Friday is almost over and I'm squeezing in my Witch post for the "This is Halloween" nail art challenge!

I decided to do a Wicked inspired manicure using the Elphaba image from the playbill. I saw Wicked earlier this year with Jessica and my husband and it was a fantastic show. I highly recommend seeing it if you have not.

Elphaba nails

Wicked nails

Wicked Playbill inspired Elphaba nails

Colors used:
   • ZOYA Midori - Elphaba's face
   • ZOYA Ivanka - green triangles
   • ZOYA Sooki - Elphaba's lips
   • WETnWILD Black Creme - black triangles
   • Black Acrylic - Elphaba's hair and hat
   • CHINA GLAZE Fairy Dust - Glitter on Elphaba's hat

I think Ivanka looks great against the black. I used tape to get the clean edge on the triangle halves. I free handed Elphaba with a small art brush.

Oh yes, these photos were taken in my snazzy new light box! I just picked up a CFL Daylight bulb from Home Depot for it today. The sister and I both made ourselves one while she was visiting. More on this later. For now, I hope you all have a wonderful night.

Thanks for popping in! Thursday at 5:04pm · Like

Go Pink Wednesday - Matte Ombre Gradient

Happy Wednesday! October is National Breast Cancer awareness month and to show support I am blogging pink for Go Pink Wednesday. Of course, this is the 4th installment of this so most of you already know. (:

I sort of mushed a bunch of different styles together for this manicure. I have a pink to red ombre sponged gradient style and topped with my BL Matte Top Coat.

pink ombre gradient featuring ZOYA Sooki

pink ombre gradient featuring CG Go Go Pink

pink ombre gradient featuring ZOYA Kimber

I started with CG Go Go Pink as my base color and then sponged on ZOYA Kimber in the middle then ZOYA Sooki on my tips. When my polish was dry I topped it with my Butter London Matte Finish Top Coat.

If you are wondering if there is anything you can do to help raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness then the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure might be just the thing for you. This race is an international success helping to raise money to battle breast cancer. You can participate in a race or simply pledge your support for someone who is. To find a race near you check out this Susan G. Komen website.

Thanks for popping in and help spread awareness.

"This is Halloween" Gradient

Hey, all. I'm back with the Gradient theme in the "This is Halloween" nail art challenge. Jessica did a gradient for it as well. It's always fun to have someone painting their nails with you. We did them on the couch watching Burn Notice.

I did a gold and white gradient using BARRY M Gold Foil sponged over WETnWild White Creme. I then freehanded black stripes on to make a mummy effect and then used a dotting tool to add eyes.

Mummy Nails over gold/white gradient

BARRY M Gold Foil sponged over white

Jessica used ZOYA Arizona and sponged SH Lustre Shine Lava for her gradient.

ZOYA Arizona & SH Lustre Shine Lava

I greatly enjoyed my sister's visit and she gave me some more polishes to borrow! (:  Even though I had to hand over Creepy Pumpkin.

Thanks for popping in!

"This is Halloween" Bats

Good evening! I am so late with this post, I know. My apologies! My sister, Jessica, is visiting me this weekend and we both did bat nails for the challenge (I coerced her) and I haven't had a chance to post them. So, better late than never.

Here are my nails inspired by this pinterest post:

Bats on a glitter backdrop

bat nails

Colors used:
   ● CHINA GLAZE Bizarre Blurple - base color
   ● CHINA GLAZE Fairy Dust - glitter over base color
   ● ZOYA Arizona mixed with White & CHINA GLAZE Lemon Fizz - moon
   ● Black and White acrylic for the bats

Jessica's nails:

Colors used:
   ● OPI Deutsche You Want Me Baby - base color
   ● CHINA GLAZE Fairy Dust - glitter over base color
   ● Black acrylic - bats

We both freehanded our bats. Jessica used a toothpick while I used a dotting tool. Isn't Deutsche You Want Me Baby gorgeous?!

I will have some posts to come of some of the crafts we did while she was here. (: Have a great evening! I will be back on schedule tomorrow with the next Halloween Challenge!

Thanks for popping in!

Go Pink Wednesday - Kimber Starburst

Hey guys! It's the third installment of Go Pink Wednesday to show support for National Breast Cancer Awareness month. I was talking with my sister about what I should do and she sent me this link. I went with an all pink starburst pattern using CHINA GLAZE Go Go Pink and ZOYA Kimber.

CG Go Go Pink & ZOYA Kimber starburst pattern

ZOYA Kimber starburst pattern

CG Go Go Pink starburst pattern

I haven't done many tape manicures before but it's fairly simple to do. I'm sure with more practice my lines will get more cleaner. Here is a picture of my nails with the tape.

starburst tape mani

I will definitely do more tape manis in the future.

Remember, early detection can save a life. If you're wondering where you can get screening done here is a website you can use to locate a screening center.

Thanks for popping in and help spread awareness.

FANTASY MAKERS Creepy Pumpkin

Hello all. I hope you are enjoying your afternoon. I'm excited for my sister visiting this weekend but this also means I have to hand over the polishes she loaned me including FANTASY MAKERS Creepy Pumpkin. :-( It's so pretty.

I have swatches of this gorgeous sparkle packed polish over orange (Zoya Arizona), white (SH White On) & black (CG Liquid Leather).

 FANTASY MAKERS Creepy Pumpkin over ZOYA Arizona

FANTASY MAKERS Creepy Pumpkin over SALLY HANSEN White On

FANTASY MAKERS Creepy Pumpkin over CHINA GLAZE Liquid Leather

I had to blow up that last one bigger so you can see all of the gorgeous colors packed into this; red, green, gold & orange. It's gorgeous over black. The black really brings out the full spectrum of color from Creepy Pumpkin.

I am so bummed to return this to my sister. She's really great about sharing her polish with me and her stash is much more extensive than mine so I'm sure I'll find more to snag from her.

Thanks for popping in!

"This is Halloween" Zombies

It's the zombie challenge of "This is Halloween" and be prepared because this is a gruesome one.

When I saw zombies on the list I knew I wanted to have actual zombie-esque nails and not just zombie art. I was perusing zombie nail images the other day and came across this link. It was gory and awesome and just everything a zombie's nails should be. I had to do it myself.

Zombie nails w/ brains!

Zombie nails

Halloween zombie nails w/ brain

Okay, first off let me put this out there; Those are FAKE nails. I zombified them myself but I would never do that to the ends of my real nails so I new stick-ons would be the way to go. I got a set for $1 at the dollar tree. I also found this fun brain there. Once I finished my nails, I realized they actually made the brain look too clean so I added some nail polish to bloody it up some.

Colors used:
   • blood - CHINA GLAZE Velvet Bow
   • base color - CHINA GLAZE IV thinned WAAAAAY down w/ ORLY Nail Thinner
   • half moons - Black acrylic paint

I pulled and ripped at the nails with clippers to make the jagged edges. To get the caked in dirt look I figured the most natural way would be to paint the underside of the fake nail (because clawing your way out of a grave is going to definitely get under you nails). I used the WAAAAAY thinned down brown (IV) as a quick brush over the fake nail. I applied the blood very thick and goopy right off the brush to make a fresher look. Let me just put this out there as a general notice about Velvet Bow, it is not cuticle friendly.

Here is the aftermath once I removed the nails.

after removing the zombified fake nails

So gross. I had to use pure acetone to get the red out of my cuticle bed then I scrubbed with Julep Hand Exfoliater, moisturized with St. Ives lotion and slathered my entire nail in Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream.

all clean - my naked nails

All clean!

This was fun to do. I am saving my fake nails. I highly doubt they will ever get used, but I mean...I can't throw these away!

Hehe. So, apologies for the nasty nails but I hope you at least think they captured the theme today.

Thanks for popping in!

"This is Halloween" Jack-o-Lanterns

It's the 4th challenge in the "This is Halloween" nail art challenge. Today's theme: Jack-o-lanterns!

Last year I remember seeing these completely unique and awesome Jack-o-lantern nails over at Nails by Kayla Shevonne. I went to her blog searching because I remember she had a tutorial for them. Well, I found said tutorial and decked my nails out.

Jack-o-Lanterns

I added CHINA GLAZE Ghoulish Glow to the cut out parts of the jack-o-lanterns, but I had one heck of a time capturing the glow. Here is the "best" (and I use that term loosely) photo of it.

Colors used:
   • base color - CHINA GLAZE Liquid Leather
   • base color glitter - CHINA GLAZE Skyscraper
   • Jack-o-lantern cut-out color - SALLY HANSEN XTREME WEAR Sun Kissed
   • Jack-o-lantern cut-out color - CHINA GLAZE Roguish Red
   • glowing top coat - CHINA GLAZE Ghoulish Glow
   • I used white and black acrylic paints as well to make the orange pop on top of the black and then to cover up any mistakes and add detail to the shapes

Kayla is extremely talented and artistic and this design and tutorial are both fantastic. I absolutely love how it turned out. This is the epitome of Halloween nails.

Thanks for popping in!

Go Pink Wednesday - Pink Stripes with Pink Ribbon Accents

Today is another Go Pink Wednesday. Today's design sort of evolved as I was doing it. I originally was going to go with a table cloth sort of striping, but then decided I didn't want horizontal stripes. Then I decided to add the pink ribbon accents. I have lots of pictures so get ready!

pink stripes w/ pink ribbon accents

I'm actually quite pleased with this. :)

Colors used:
   • base color - SALLY HANSEN XTREME WEAR White On
   • stripes - ZOYA Kate
   • pink ribbons - CHINA GLAZE Go Go Pink

I absolutely love ZOYA Kate. It's one of my favorite polishes I own.

I free handed the stripes with an art brush and added the pink ribbon accents with the same brush. I had to do a few coats of Go Go Pink because it's so light to make sure it popped against Kate. I topped it all with Seche Vite.

Don't forget that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Make sure to regularly check yourself and encourage the women in your life to do the same. If you are not sure what to do here is website that may help. Take care because early detection can save your life. SAVE THE TA♥TAS

Thanks for popping in!