The Crumpet Amateur Art Contest - Blue

Maybe you've heard by now, but the Crumpet is hosting a nail art competition for amateurs.  The rules are that you have to either not be a blogger, or have a blog under 100 followers.  As of right now, I have 96.

The theme for this competition is:  blue.  Here's my entry:

I started with Sally Hansen Sea and Be Seen.  I picked this up in a blog sale, and I love it.  It's pretty sheer, but sparkly.

I made the bottom tip with Sally Hansen Petrol, and then added stripes in white and silver.

I love these kinds of tips because they don't make my nails look more stubby.  It's not easy having tiny nail beds!

The competition is accepting entries until March 23rd, and then the voting begins.  If you'd like to help support me, please visit The Crumpet's blog. 

IC Awareness

Jenna Froggy of I'm Still Thinking has mobilized many beauty bloggers to create manicures in honor of September being Interstitial Cystitis Awareness Month.  IC is a painful condition that she likens to having a UTI 24/7, and is relatively unknown and often misdiagnosed.

She's hosting a nail art contest with the theme being the color and symbol of IC - teal, and daisies.  This is my entry:

And here's a little bit about how I did it.  I started with SOPI Who Let the Dorks Out? From the Glee collection.  Shiny teal!  Like every SOPI I've ever tried, the formula was great.  This is two coats.

I then did a gradient with Jessica Frost At All Cost, a dark teal.  I painted on the tips, and then used a cosmetic sponge to blend it some, and then covered it all with topcoat to help everything come together

I tried to copy a ribbon graphic from online - first painting it in white and then with Julep Daphne and the Jessica Frost At All Cost.  The daisies are painted in Sally Hansen White Tip and LA Splash Golden Seahorse, and the centers of the daisies are Zoya Pippa.

 A little more topcoat, and voila'.  My homage to IC Awareness. 

 I hope this contest brings a lot of visibility to this condition! 

I won 2nd place! and a prize! and I did a mani! And used many exclamation points!!

I won second place in **this** contest from Jilltastic Nail Designs with this submission.  "Speak up, I can't see you!"

And I got my prize in the mail!  Woot!  Jordana Rhinestones and a cool zebra nail file!

and cool color-changing nail stickers!  I used to use a lot of nail stickers, and I'd never seen these. 

 

So, I did a couple of manis to use my new, cool stuff!  I started with Jordana Boy Oh Boy, a beautiful turquoise blue that applied like a dream.  For an inexpensive brand, this stuff is great.  Look at that shine - no topcoat!

 

I was inspired by this dotticure on Lucy's Stash.. not that I have the nails or talent to do what she does.  Wow, her manis are awesome.

I used the Rhinestones by Jordana that I won as a prize!  They made cool dots, actually - most of the glitter is small, so it didn't clump up, and the occasional medium glitter looked pretty neat on the dot.

 Right hand:

Another day I used the stickers over Sally Hansen Loves Me Not, a gorgeous purple fleck that looks like it has a golden duochrome shimmer, but it was fairly shy on the nail.

It was too hot to stay outside for long, but I did see a very subtle pink color in the stickers before the heat forced me back into the A/C.

Thanks for the stash, Jillian!  :) :)

4th of July Fireworks!

This is a mani I entered into Ms. Lizard's patriotic mani contest. I've never done fireworks before, but nothing says July 4th to me more than a fireworks show.  I didn't win the contest, but I still really like my mani!

I started with NYX 103.  Have no idea if it has a name.  It sounds like a radio station, not a nail polish.  It is a gorgeous cobalt blue jelly.  Jelly!  I only did one coat, and you can see that it's not opaque, but I covered it with glitter, so it's all good.  The glitter is one coat of Girly Bits Into the Night.  Doesn't it look like a twilight sky?

I made the fireworks using a bunch of cheapie stripers I got from the dollar store.  I didn't take any more pix along the journey, which is so unlike me!  To make up for it, here's the mani, EXTRA LARGE!  so you can look at it longer.

 Can you see the glitter from Into the Night behind the fireworks? 

Here's another patriotic mani I did for one of my fave blogs -  Nouveau Cheap's Independence Day Roundup.  I like the index finger best - watching the fireworks with my sweetie. 

And, another mani for Genia Be Me.  First time using laser strands - they don't bend so easily to my nubbies!

How are you celebrating the USA Independence Day?  Beer, Apple Pie and some sporting event on the TV?

Speak up, I can't see you!

I kinda like entering contests.  They make me do things I wouldn't necessarily think of doing!  This contest entry was for Jilltastic Designs outrageous mani contest.  You had to enter a design that was outrageous or made a statement.

ETA:  I won second place!!  Check out the contest winners here.

The only outrageous element of my mani was this crazy color.  A few years ago, I would have never thought to buy a color like this.  Kinda gave me lobster hands, too.   This is Deborah Lippman Almost Paradise.  Ok, two outrageous things - why would anyone pair that color with that name?  Someone has been sniffing too much polish.

My statement?  Quit making blog fonts so damn tiny!  I'm old, I can't read that tiny crap.  And I don't feel like zooming in for each blog that does this.  I already have my font enlarged on my screen so I can read everything else.  Anything under 12 pt is unacceptable, people!

(Thumb - glasses, index - ?Can you Read this?, middle - magnifying glass, ring - disappearing dots, pinky - squinty eyed person.)

What's your statement? 

No H8

June is LGBT pride month, and I decided to enter a LGBT contest for nail art on Kyoti's Nails.  My theme was No H8, and on each of the fingers is a silhouette in rainbow colors, with duct tape over the mouth, like the No H8 ads.

The base of the mani was the, I thought, aptly named Decades of Dysfunction by Orly.  The red is Orly Red Flare, the blue is Sally Hansen Thinking of Blue, the green is China Glaze Gaga for Green (snuck in another little homage there) and the purple is Sparitual Shoot for the Stars.  The black is Pure Ice Black Rage, and the silver is Revlon Sequin.

Even though I only submitted the left hand to the contest, I painted the right hand and wore this mani with my 'think before you speak' shirt.  Good advice, on every level... even if I don't always follow it, I try!  really....

Hopefully, it won't be long before we all have equal rights.

The album for the contest entries is on Kyoti's Nails' facebook page if you want to see the other entries.

Happy Pride!

Dog and Butterfly

This was my submission to Berry Polished Black and White contest.  I used three polishes for this look - the base is Seche Blanc, the black is Sinful Colors Black on Black, and the white is Sally Hansen White Tip. - Update:  I didn't win. :( to see all the entries, check out: Berry Polished

It's my homage to Heart's classic song, Dog and Butterfly.

I submitted the glossy version to the contest, but I wanted to try it mattified.  I like it. 

Lyme green

This was a mani I did for a lyme disease awareness blog contest.  I don't even know how many bottles of green polish I used! I know the base is Essie Da Bush, and I used Sinful Olympia, OPI Don't mess with OPI, a-england Dragon, China Glaze Near Dark, Revlon Windfall... but then I lost count.  Each stripe was made with a detail brush on the nail.

Oh, I didn't win, btw.  Ah, well!