Nail Art Doodling Summer 2012- Glitter Madness

It's been a while, but I've finally got some new nail art to share with you! I've gotten several new collections recently that seemed like they would play very nicely together. So one day I pulled them all out, grabbed some full coverage nail tips and started playing.

The image to the right gives you a hint of what's coming up. I had so much fun making these, and I've got some designs I'm absolutely in love with! So, first we've got a design I called Glitter Madness!

I started out with Zoya's Diva collection. This set has some absolutely gorgeous metallic jewel tones that I really needed to see together. I chose a very long nail tip for this one so I'd have lots of room to play. From top to bottom I used: Elisa (red), Suri (purple), Song (blue), and Ray (green). I then added dots of a greyed-out blue, but realized I wanted more oomph for the nail

Enter the Jordana Glitter Specialty Nail Polishes. I'm a bit late to the party with these, but holy WOW are these polishes amazing. The day I got the collection I ended up painting all my nails with a different glitter and just watching them sparkle. This collection was basically made for me, and I am so in love with it!

Getting back to the Glitter Madness, I went over each section with a corresponding glitter. I added Red Flash over Elisa, Magenta Magic over Suri, Blue Bash over Song, and Green Glitz over Ray. This took the nail from gorgeous to magically glam. I still wanted some definition between the colors, though.

Thankfully, Jessica Custom Nail Colour had just the color I wanted. I didn't want white, because that seemed like it would be too stark against the deep rich colors I had going. Instead, I went with Barely Blueberry from the Gelato Mio Collection. This color is a very pale, very cool blue, just barely blue but still with enough color to not seem shockingly out of place with the rest of what was happening on the nail.

With the separating dots, I didn't want a precise line of equally-spaced, evenly sized dots. Instead, I wanted a slightly meandering, wobbly line. You know, if a leprechaun with a peg leg got drunk, stepped in paint, then staggered all over my nail!

Wait. That just sounds wrong. Forget I said that. :D

I then added a coat of ProFX Quick Dry Top Coat to protect everything and smooth things out. I have to say, I am in LOVE with this look. I just wish my nails were long enough to wear it! The various glitter polishes have multiple sizes of glitter in them so there's a ton of sparkle, and the deeper toned base colors show through underneath.

It's just a crazy sparkly, intensely colorful look that makes me giggle when I think about it! This satisfies my inner magpie, and makes me want more more more. It's definitely my style of nail art...

But my question is this- what do you think of it? Is this something you'd wear? Would you tweak this to fit your own style, or does this design call to your inner diva? Let me know in the comments!

Polishes were provided by the brands for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

More Sketchbook Goodness

My first two coptic stitched books!

I have yet another new addiction. I've admired handmade books for years, knowing that eventually I would get into it. Apparently, it's finally time and I have been overwhelmed with the need to make books!

I started with a simple book bound with duct tape, then made a larger art journal and a smaller one bound only by glue and paper. I wanted to move on to larger, more complex and beautiful bindings. I did some googling, spent a few hours on YouTube, and finally came up with a plan.

I called it Another Test because I wanted
to see how it holds up to every day use.

I started out with rather common supplies- white printer paper, glue sticks and cereal boxes. I used heavy thread to bind it, then realized I didn't like that and ripped it out to start over. Eventually I used rich brown embroidery thread to bind it, and liked the results (finally, after 3 tries!). I colored the covers with sharpie markers and called it done.

I'm really happy with this one. It opens flat so I can get all the way to the edges of the paper, which makes me very happy! I glued two sheets of cereal box together for each cover, then wrapped those in regular printer paper. They're nice and strong, and make fantastic drawing surfaces.

Overall, this is a fantastic travel journal! It's 4.25" x 5.5" and fits perfectly into my purse. It opens well, stays closed when I want it to, and is wonderful for jotting down things I need to buy, or ideas I want to try, or quick sketches. I'll definitely be making more of these!

So far I've used it lots for sketching. I've been trying to learn how to draw better hair. I want to be able to draw more varieties of hair, rather than just straight or wavy blowing-in-the-breeze. To help with this, I've found several artists that inspire me and have been copying their style. Once I'm comfortable with it, I'll work on incorporating it into my own drawings!

This book will be filled with things that make me happy!

This next book was a total spur-of-the-moment thing, although I absolutely love it! We were walking through the Dollar Tree (yes, the same trip where I bought the nail goodies!) when I found a pack of brightly-colored index cards! I've been seriously obsessed with bright colors for ages now, so when I saw those I knew they needed to become a tiny book!

This book is seriously small: it's 2.5" x 3". I've been adding lots of media to the pages- some have been painted, some have colored pencils as a base. Some have napkin scrapbook paper covering the whole page! So, I'm doodling my way through this one.

I did do a quick sketch in this one, experimenting with drawing curly hair my way. It's... somewhat less than successful, but I won't complain too much. :D

Overall, I'm having a wonderful time exploring this new hobby! But don't worry, I've got a new set of nail art experiments to share with you as soon as I can get them photographed!

Til next time!

There's something zen-like about stitching a book binding.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

CND Shellac Giveaway by Nail Polish Canada

I really love letting you guys know about awesome giveaways. This one is especially awesome- you could win an entire lifetime's worth of CND Shellac!

Ok, it's actually only 25 years' worth, but still, I'm not complaining. The winner of this giveaway will receive 33 bottles of CND Shellac, 5 bottles of basecoat, 5 bottles of topcoat, a 36 watt UV lamp, and scrubfresh!

I don't know about you, but I am definitely entering. I would go nuts trying to decide which color to wear first...

Want to know what this looks like? (I know I did...) Thankfully, the kind folks at NailPolishCanada included a photo to let you see what you'll be getting if you win!

So what are you waiting for? Scoot on over to NailPolishCanada and enter! This giveaway is only open to residents of the US and Canada.

Iinformation was provided by NailPolishCanada.com.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Nail Art by Donna Michelle Salon Basics

This pack was $1!

You know, I have to say it... I really love Dollar Tree! I find wandering through the store lots of fun, and sometimes I find amazing goodies I can actually afford! A couple of days ago my husband and I went to Dollar Tree to pick up some sunglasses. (I tend to break or lose sunglasses often, so I don't want to spend more than $1 on them. It hurts losing a pair or Ray Bans!)

Of course, while I was there I had to check the cosmetics section. I'm so glad I did, because I found the most adorable little nail goodies. They're Nail Art by Donna Michelle Salon Basics, and there were several choices- tiny mylar chunks like the So Easy Cracked Ice, string glitter, micro glitter, micro beads, and tiny shapes. Each pack came with 8 different colors, and was only $1.

I chose the small shapes, and am so glad I did. They're awfully cute, and the variety of shapes really appeals to me. I spread them out on a sheet of scrapbook paper so you could see what they all are. There are tiny flowers in purple and lavender, hexes in gold holo and peach, pink hearts, green hollow hearts with tiny hearts, blue hollow hexes with tiny hexes, and silver holo stars with tiny stars. The holo shapes are very shiny and refractive, while the rest of the shapes have an iridescent coating on them. They really are beautiful!

Also, I can't help but love the teeny little bottles these come in. I'm thinking once I use the pieces I may have to make them into necklaces or something. They're just too cute!

Ok, enough babble. Til next time!

I love Dollar Tree!

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Sally Hansen #GetMagnetic contest!

Who here loves contests? I know I do, and this one has me bouncing!

Sally Hansen is giving away $1,000!

You probably know by now that Sally Hansen is one of my favorite brands. Treatments, polishes, tools... they do it all with quality and style. However, this contest just makes me love them all over again!

As you can see from the infographic I made, it's super easy to enter. Just register on the Sally Hansen Facebook App, visit the Instagram app and snap a photo of your gorgeous nail art and add #GetMagnetic in the caption, then show the love for your favorite nail art photos on the Sally Hansen facebook app!

This contest runs until September 17, 2012, so you've got plenty of time to enter. But don't put it off... you don't want to miss this opportunity!

Since this is showcasing their magnetic polish, why not learn a bit more about it? Did you know Sally Hansen now has eight gorgeous shades of magnetic polish in stores now? It's true- they retail for $9.99 each, and come in luscious shades: Ionic Indigo, Red-y Response, Kinetic Copper, Silver Elements, Golden Conduct, Electric Emerald, Graphite Gravity, and Polar Purple. I don't know about you, but I'm dying to try these!

Which color interests you most? Are you over the magnetic trend, or are you still itching to find your favorite? Leave me a comment and let me know what's on your mind!