China Glaze - Dorothy Who?

I don't know why it took me so long to add this to my stash. It's absolutely stunning. I wore it to work and got tons of compliments. I didn't want to cover up too much with art, so I just added some rhinestones.

I've learned that my favorite color nail polish is blue. I never knew that before this obsession. 

Favorite nail polish? Essie Coat Azure! 

But do you have....

a go-to nail polish to perk you up when you're feeling down? Nubar Reclaim!

Share your perk-me-up polishes in the comment section, I'd love to hear!

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Flintstones 2.0

Flintstones is what started out this entire epic cartoon series. I did a design based off of them here, on my natural nails. I decided it deserved a spot in my mixed media art project as it will also be well recognized.

I hope you can tell which characters that they represent without me having to list it.

Dino was actually painted using Zoya Keiko and Orly Lollipop. None of my acrylic paints were the right color, and I didn't feel like mixing for thirty minutes to get it right. I looked up on my shelf and those two colors just jumped out as perfect.

I hope you like them!

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Adventures of Tin Tin

Jessica suggested these, which I don't really remember as a child. I thought I would include just two nails for those that do.

Background polish is a franken I made. It's a black base with two different sized holographic glitters.

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Ren & Stimpy

Thanks again anonymous! I always thought this cartoon was a little too gross and obscure, but I did watch my fair share. I chose to stick with just a simple look for them. 

For any of my new followers with questions.... I use acrylic paint when painting these false nails for my mixed media art project. I usually paint a background of polish, and then details all with acrylic paint. It's more affordable due to the large volume of nails I'm cranking out with this project in mind.

Background polish on these is Sinful Colors - I Miss You

Keep the suggestions coming! I appreciate the help. Drop it in the suggestion box form at the bottom of the page. Thanks!

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Additional Winners Are....

The judging round has concluded! After a 20 minute heated discussion.... we have reached our decision!

In no particular order.....

Love @ First Sight

I have loved Marion's creation from the minute she sent it to me. I think her design is so well executed. The turkey is adorable! So I loved it, and my family agreed that it was worthy of a prize!

"Reely" Creative Use of Cartoons

I love how Lisa incorporated cartoons and food! This is perfectly fitting for my blog topic! You guys know I love painting cartoons, and there were several of you guys who used cartoon related topics, but Lisa's were by far the best execution!

Highest Calories

Irma was very clever in the way she designed her nails. She used each nail to represent a different ingredient to Boston Cream Cake, then the thumb brought out the final product. So cute! Great job!

Most Unappetizing

I said, Do ya speak-a my language? She just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich!

Yeah, a fourth category was created so I can use that line from "Men at Work".....

When I asked Cathy from "a land down und-a," what does Vegemite even taste like... she said this:

"Well, it’s a very salty and savoury spread, intended to be spread very thinly.  It has a similar consistency to peanut butter but would taste similar to Marmite or Bonox?

It can be used as a flavour enhancer for stocks and gravies, so it has a flavour likened to concentrated dark mean like beef.

Sounds gross doesn’t it, but we grew up on it and love the stuff!!"

Yes, that does sound disgusting! But her design was interesting enough that I'll pack her up some nail art goodies and send them her way. Unfortunate for me & Kim, our mom now is determined to order some Vegemite online and try it.....

Quotes from the hilarious judging session:

Micah - "Can you put Vegemite in a Bloody Mary?"

Argued with me over the rules of my own contest and that this one or that one wasn't even on natural nails. Like I don't know nails....

Mom - "What is this one?" ...cheese.... "It's gotta be in the runnings!"

Dad - "Who's having a contest?"

"What are we looking at here? Is this supposed to be fingernails?"

"Do they expect to win anything of value?"

*edit* Removed by author

"Hey, this one looks like fish!" Yes, master-stater of the obvious......

I swear he is just clueless.... but completely honest and nonbiased! He was the most intent in studying the pictures. (I don't want you to get the wrong opinion of my dad, he is a very successful businessman who works helping people with financial investments.... Scary, huh?)

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And the winner is....

Jihye Lee!

She has won the Milani 3D Holographic prize pack. Well deserved, don't you think?! She received 108 votes out of the 648 votes that were tallied. I have already contacted her and her package will be on it's way shortly. :) Congrats Jihye!

Several mentioned that they would like to see where everyone placed. *Note* the remaining 3 prizes will be given after the entries have been reviewed by my judging team. Sorry, but none of them will be related to number of votes. So just because you came in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th in People's Choice doesn't necessarily mean you will win a prize pack.

People's Choice Rankings:

Top 20

(number of votes received is out of 648 total valid votes.)

1. Jihye Lee with 108
2. Zarina with 63
3. Kate V. with 53
4. Kate W. with 40
5. Vanessa with 31
6. Malou with 30
7. Alyssa with 29
8. Pip & Stephanie S tied with 22
9. Jane with 21
10. Minnie with 20
11. Rebecca with 19
12. Karen & Michelle tied with 18
13. Marijana with 15
14. Cathy with 14
15. Laura & Sonja tied with 13
16. Sylvia with 12
17. Yoli with 11
18. Griselda & Dianna tied with 9
19. Marion with 8
20. Cheryl with 6

If your name was not included in the list, that means you received 5 or less votes. I didn't want to embarass anyone that might not be proud of that. Lol. If you are still curious as to how many votes you got, and you weren't mentioned.... just send me an e-mail and I'll let you know.

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Where's Waldo

These were suggested by an anonymous follower, but I had them in mind to do and just hadn't gotten around to it. I'm so glad I did though, he turned out so cute. :)

I had to include a third nail featuring his tourist junk he would leave lying around. The red thing is supposed to be his rolled up sleeping bag. Lol.

Ok, now I'm off to try and hunt down who the winner is of "Good Enough to Eat!"

I'll announce who the winner of People's Choice is, and then once I get everything all straightened out.... announce the other 3 winners of the not-yet-disclosed catergories!

Would you like me to make a post of how many votes each got? Or would you rather I just e-mail you entrants individually with where you ranked? Just let me know!

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China Glaze - I Wanna Lei Ya

I just love this color. It's such a delicate coral color. A gorgeous fine shimmer/pearly finish.

 I think this was just two coats. Then I added some simple decals that my mother gave me from eBay.

What do you think? Do you have this color? Do you like it?

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Dobby

A Dobby for KarzU

I don't know what a dobby is.... nor have I ever read or seen Harry Potter. Yeah, I'm uncomfortable with the idea of wizardry and children. I also find it a little scary that it has such a cult following. But that's just my opinion and I'm aware that some of you out there are fans, and that's your business. KarzU asked for a Dobby tutorial, so here it is. 

It was hard to find a reference picture that I would be able to adapt to my style.... I found a cartoonized version of him, but I hope it's still recognizable to you guys. :)

Tutorial:

Thanks for suggesting it KarzU!

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Gumby & Pokey

Voting ends tomorrow in the "Good Enough to Eat" contest!

These were suggested by Maria and a lovely anonymous person that used my suggestion box at the very bottom of my page. Thanks to both of you!

Gumby & Pokey

Great clay-mation work from back in the day. :)

And I leave you with a cute picture of Wally sunbathing on my balcony.

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Eyeko - Coral Polish

This was my first Eyeko polish to try and I really like it. I don't understand why polish brand from other countries have such tiny bottles? Are we in the US just feeding the polish hoarders with 15-19mL polish bottles? Eyeko only had 8.5mL, Essence 8mL, H&M 3mL, GOSH 8mL, Catrice 10mL..... I think I see a pattern here. I guess just another way to link to why Americans have such a problem with obesity. We think bigger is better, and we always want more, More, MORE! :)

 Just a very bright orange-y red. This was 2 coats, still some very minor visible nail line, but that didn't bother me enough to put a third coat on. I love it! Hope you do too!

I'm off to eat an entire container of Crescent Rolls. 6 in a package? Really? That's all? I can eat all 6, thank you Mr. Pillsbury....now I'm the dough-boy.

They are just too tasty to share....

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The Suggestion Box is Up!

Now that I've figured out how to work Google Documents.... I thought that would be a good way to keep track of suggestions from you guys! If you scroll aaaalllllll the way to the vvvveeeeeerrrrrryyyyy bottom of my page, you'll see the form embedded there. (I thought that was best so that it didn't take up too much room.) I find it really difficult to navigate back through the comments saved in Blogger. It's really irritating when I try to search back and find where so-and-so suggested so-and-so as a cartoon for me to do. So I've been lazy and working instead on others that I had lined up. With your suggestions going now to a google document, I'll be able to click one place and find who suggested what much more easily.... delete them once completed.... and sort out the ones that I've already painted. So I hope this works out well, and I'd greatly appreciate any of you that would kindly offer cartoon suggestions! I aim to please. Oh, and feel free to include in your suggestion whether or not you want to see it as a tutorial, or just a finished manicure.

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Abby's Adorable Toes

I don't often get inspiration from pedicure ideas. I usually end up just wearing a plain swatch of color on my toes. Abby from Lovely in Lacquer did such a cute combination here, I had no choice but to copy her work. I painted my toes with two coats of Zoya Caitlin, then BM19 polka dots using Konad White. For my large toe, I stamped the dots image just once and filled in empty space with dots using a dotting tool. I just continued the pattern outside the area that stamped. Rather than have to try and align it, just right, to stamp again. Then a cluster of rhinestones and half pearls to the big toe. I think they are adorable and I love it! Thanks Abby!

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Bambi

*SPOILER ALERT!* Bambi's mother dies. 

If you didn't cry during that part of the movie, something is seriously wrong with you.

Bambi's mother can live forever here on this little acrylic nail.

As well as Bambi himself.

 Owl & Thumper & Flower

Do you remember the part about the Owl teaching them about the others that were "twitterpated"? I know an old man who uses that word far too often and he makes himself looks foolish instead of funny. Lol

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Hello Kitty Polish

This was included in my package from Swaafie for winning 3rd place in her nail art contest.

Hello Kitty by H&M Nail Polish in Pink Candy.

It's a really nice shimmery pink that I don't know how to describe. So see for yourself. :P

Sorry so short, but gotta run!

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Rainbow Brite 2.0

I know I did a Rainbow Brite design on my own nails here, but I wanted to include it on my exhibit project as well. So I painted her again. What do you think?

 I just had to include one of her sweet moonboots! ;)

And yes, I found a picture of Kim in the Rainbow Brite costume our mom made for us. It was big and puffy, made of cheap fabric that didn't breathe and it gets hot in Louisiana.... hence the ugly look on Kim's face towards mom for making her put it all on and go outside. I also had to crop my younger self out of the picture because I don't want to be arrested for publishing child pornography..... Yes I was standing beside her butt-naked.... Why did our parents let us do such things? "Oh yeah, that'll be a great idea! You girls go pose in front of the van! Go ahead Leslie, you too! You look fine! Say cheese!"

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Kool-Aid

I think this guy is still around, but he made quite a few appearances in the commercials between our favorite saturday morning cartoons. We even had (still have, my mom never throws anything away) a plastic Kool-Aid Man pitcher. She saved up the little points on the back of the packets of mix and sent them in to redeem a literal pitcher in the shape of this dude. He was super cool. ;)

He was a integral part of my childhood, and he wanted to be included in my project.... give me a break.

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Off Centered Chevron French

These nails are based on Robin Moses tutorial seen here. I liked the concept and was in the mood for a french, so I chose my colors and got going. I wanted to use pink and green to coordinate with a skirt I plan on wearing.

 I mostly followed her same tutorial. I hid some staining by using 2 coats of Sally Hansen Cafe Au Lait.

China Glaze Laced Up in a diagonal french. I taped it off to make it exact, but even then it's not perfect.

Add the other half of the chevron.

I used white acrylic paint here because I thought I was going to go over it with a sheer lime green polish, but changed my mind. You could use a white nail art striper polish if you have that.

Using a thinner striping brush make the little "whoosh" lines.

I added a little green rhinestone because I just like that combo. :)

 Enjoy!

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French Tip Dip Tutorial

Can I just say that I'm loving "Nail Files" on TV Guide Network? The Painted Nail looks so incredibly cute. I love the decor. Despite my hatred for most reality shows, I can't help but love this show. Its about nails, hello!? So yes, my DVR has been set on high alert to record every episode. ;) Her little white smart car is the only hideous part of the show. Lol

Kim reviewed the French Tip Dip kit here. Some asked to see a tutorial, so here we go. First off, I apologize for the terrible lighting. It was late afternoon and we were watching "True Grit" in the background and didn't have the overhead lights on.

She started with the usual prep, base coat, then wanted to make sure no staining showed. She applied Sally Hansen Cafe Au Lait.

You then pour some of the white tip polish into the little tiny glass container. Not much, just however deep you want your french to be. (Don't think you're wasting polish here. The glass container comes with a air tight screw on lid that keeps the polish from drying out so you can use it again the next time.)

Dip the right size end of the tool into the polish. (4 sizes, before you dip it make sure you pick which side will fit your nails best. In most cases, the same size tool can be used on all 4 fingers, then next size up for your thumb.)

 Pull the tool straight out of the polish and it picks up some on the end in a proper smile line curve.

 Then the instructions say you can do the application multiple ways, but Kim says that she prefers to lightly touch the tool down to center of the nail tip, then pull it back up. Then turn it to fit the curve of the nail and lightly touch at the edge nearest the cuticle. Repeat on the other side. So she is lightly touching down two - three times per nail. It's like Konading in that you have to move kind of fast. If you get the hang of it, the tool holds enough polish to do all four nails on one hand before re-dipping.

 Move to the next size up, dip, and do thumbs.

This is a shot of the tool. You can obviously see which two sides she used. The other sizes fit just right for toes!

 It's made of a slightly flexible plastic. You can just clean it up with some polish remover and you're ready to go next time.

Finished shot with topcoat.

This is the gigantic bottle of white tip polish that it comes with. It holds 33ml, compared to some standard 14ml bottles you might be more familiar with. It's a really nice opaque, easy to use, white. Good formula. The kit also comes with a sheer french polish, but it's "barely there" nude sheer, and Kim wanted to cover staining so she didn't use it this time. The kit also comes with a "quick dry" topcoat, that is not so quick dry... Nice, but not great. The sheer polish, and the topcoat come in standard size polish bottles.

Kim really likes it and she's able to do it really quickly without a lot of fuss. The containers and tool can be used with other polishes as well. So you can go crazy doing a funky french with different colors other than white.

Hope this helps someone!

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