Abstract Art Negative Space Manicure.

I just wanted to try something I had never done before. I have done negative space nail art, but never abstract nail art. I didn't want anything fussy. I used my acrylic paints and dry brushed on simple sweeps of color.

The only thing that really sucks is that I got busy, and the paint started to dry before I got back to painting. I could have poured out fresh paint, but between keeping the baby happy and myself fed, I was just like "Whatever!"

So here's the result.

I paint petroleum jelly around my nails with a wide, flat brush to protect my skin from stray paint. It wipes off easily with a paper towel or baby wipe.

I used a fan brush that came with my nail art brush set from ebay. (I heart ebay!)

The acrylic paints are just basic craft paints from Walmart.

I don't buy expensive products to work with. I have other ways to spend my money! My goal is create awesome nail art on a tight budget.

Well, that's it for now! I hope you enjoy my negative space nail art. It's weird, but I was sick of seeing the same old designs over and over...

An InLinkz Link-up

Super Colorful Winter Blues Busting Manicure!

I have something colorful and funky to share with you today. I was planning on doing something for Valentine's Day, but realized I had never tried "Palm Breezy" by Sinful Colors and it was calling my name! I don't regret it. By itself it is lovely, and I apologize for not having a swatch of it by itself.

I am just very happy to have such wonderful colors on my fingers. It makes dreary Washington winters more tolerable.

I was very disappointed that my nail art tape started to peel up on the ends, which I also talked about in my Red Valentine's Day Manicure w/Engagement Stone post. After I finished the tape I had to pick up the baby and play with him until bedtime, and the tape peeled a bit. Nail glue can fix that, but I've found that the nail glue can also damage my nails. So I just dealt with it. Please try to picture it with perfect tape!

I could have added a small yellow rhinestone to my pinky finger, but the Hello Kitty kit that I used didn't have any. 

This manicure was totally random, but I wish I had something to wear with it and somewhere to go to rock it!

Yep, the life of a stay-at-home mom...always dreaming...

Let me know what you think of this manicure in the comment section below. I'd love to hear from you!

Pink and Aqua Manicure

I must admit that I love how this turned out. It's so very feminine. I am calling it my "Barbie Manicure." It took me all day to do this, due to the fact that I have a five month old who loves to be snuggled.

I started out with one coat of pink, but quickly realized it would take many coats to get full coverage. So I quickly slapped on one really thick coat of the pink, and topped it off with another thick coat. It was a difficult polish to work with.

The colors I used are: Wet n Wild Wildshine "Tickled Pink" and Sally Hansen Hard as Nails "Celeb City."

I was trying to come up with something creative to do with the "pink and aqua" prompt, even trying swatches of several aqua polishes on paper. I wanted to do aqua roses with delicate green foliage in a pretty floral pattern on one nail, the rest accented with my new silver glitter polish. Or perhaps, aqua candy cane stripes with silver glitter accents.

Nope. "Ain't nobody got time for that." At least not me, anyway.

At 9pm this Mama was tired, and sick of trying to make the decision. So I grabbed my favorite silver polish and the dotting tools. I made one silver dot close to the base of each nail (with the intention to make more dots), but quickly realized that it was a crappy choice to do dotting with! The dots came out uneven. No biggy, I'm a sucker for rhinestones and I happened to have some little aqua rhinestones on hand. I plopped them in the dots before they dried and covered everything with a thick layer of fast drying top coat.

I've found that sometimes the most simple manicures give the biggest impact. When you focus more on the color, or a simple accent, that's what makes it really stand out.

Oh, and of course I have to mention my new, totally amazing engagement ring. Squeeeeee! How could I forget!

31 Day Challenge, Day 3 "Water Spotting" Hot Pink = Summertime in Winter! (with instructions)

Here's my experience...

At first water spotting was pure hell! It took me about three hours to figure it out (with breaks because the baby was awake for part of the time...so more like six hours!) I tried using using two kinds of body spray and one hair shine spray to see what kind of product made the best "spots" in the top color. Your best bet? Rubbing alcohol. I just emptied out a small spray bottle and filled it with rubbing alcohol.

I practiced on my non-dominant hand with a pearly magenta base color. I tried five different top colors on five different fingers. I actually tried about 15-20 polishes, but some didn't spread on the water or the colors were not bold enough. I learned that the more contrast the better.

So I decided to try a white base. Yes, I cleaned up the edges with a make-up brush and acetone.

Then I got lucky and tried a really fun color, which is Pink Cream by Sinful Colors. It has a little bit of a pearl effect which looked pretty on top of he water.

I finally found the perfect materials and colors, and once that was done I thoroughly enjoyed the water spotting technique! I added a rhinestone to my ring finger (which I've come to realize is sort of my signature), slapped on a fast drying top coat and was very pleased with this vibrant manicure!

Here's the colors and some additional products I used to make things go a little smoother:

Base color - Sinful colors - Snow Me White
Top color - Sinful colors - Pink Cream
Base coat - Sally Hansen double duty base and top coat
Top coat - Sally Hansen Insta-Dri
Filtered water
Small bowl
Orange manicure stick
Isopropyl alcohol
Small spray bottle
Petroleum jelly
Wide paint brush
Baby wipes
Acetone
Elf make-up brush
Clear rhinestone
Nail glue

The Process

1. Use a small bowl, not too wide, and fill it with room temperature filtered water
2. Choose your colors and make sure your top color spreads on the water
3. Paint the petroleum jelly around your nail, up your front and back of finger and under your nail if you have long nails
3. Drop your top color into the water and watch it spread. I used about 6-8 drops per finger.
4. Hold the spray bottle back a bit, spray on top of the polish, watch the little bubbles form
5. Choose the spot that you like best, and dip your finger in at a 45 degree angle, nail facing down, keep finger in the water.
6. Blow on the nail polish floating in the bowl to dry it, then clean it out of the bowl with the orange manicure stick.
7. Once all the nail polish is removed from the water, pull your finger out.
8. Use baby wipe to clean up the nail polish and petroleum jelly that is on your finger.
9. Repeat these steps on all fingers.
10. Use a stiff (eye liner/shadow) make-up brush dipped in acetone to clean up and remaining polish on your cuticles or fingers.
11. Apply any appliques you may want to use.
12. Apply top coat.


That's how I did it and it worked great.

There it is, and now I kinda wish I was at the beach sipping on a fruity drink...and the kids were with a babysitter. A girl can dream, right?

I hope you enjoy, and if you have any questions about this manicure shoot me a comment down below. I'd love to hear from you!

My Unfinished New Year's Nails

Well, I had good intentions, but quickly started to realize that maybe, just maybe...I had other priorities. As the title of this blog implies, I am a mom. As I come into this nail art journey and the New Year, I realize even more than before how this new year is dedicated to my children first...my aspirations second. I have a feeling this will not be my only unfinished manicure this year!

Even though I wasn't able to finish, and the base color started to chip before I even got to the top coat slapped on, I still love looking down at this sparkly wonder.

I was planning on adding different shapes and colors of rhinestones to every finger except my ring fingers which are accented with the glitter polish. Then I would have finished it off with a shiny top coat.

This is how it all went down...

The day after Christmas I went to the mall with my children. I spent some time in Forever 21 looking at all the cute clothes, feeling a bit jealous of all the girls who can wear such cute things. Me? Yeah, I'm still nursing a baby and have to have easy access to my boobs...so I had to walk past all those cute things.

Anyway, at Forever 21 I found an awesome rainbow glitter polish and glow in the dark polish. Honestly, the girl at the check out counter was so rude to me, that I just put them back and walked out of the store. I was mad and I wanted to cry. I just wanted to find something that I could use to make myself feel beautiful. That flew right out the window. I just didn't need that kind of treatment.

The next day I picked up a gift pack of four Elf nail polishes at Walmart after Christmas sale, and I must admit that the glitter polish was the main reason. I paid about $2.50 for the set.

So here's my failed attempt at my New Year's manicure...

The glitter polish accent nails are the only ones that got a top coat.

I'm a happy girl because I got four new polishes to add to my collection which includes this little gem.

The base color is a beautiful silver. It's Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear, color Celeb City. I love this silver. It dried wonderfully, and was flashy and fun.

Anywho, the past few days have been so busy. I guess I'm lucky I got this far. I will try harder to finish my designs in the future, but I can't promise anything at the moment! I have to just go with it.

So far this is my favorite manicure (even though it's unfinished) since I started this journey last month.

Happy New Year to anyone who actually reads this. It's a new year and a new start. I'm ready to embrace it!

Green and Red Dot Manicure for Christmas!

It's the last day of the "12 days of Christmas" challenge, and I am far behind since I just joined yesterday! The prompts are just so much fun, though, so I am cramming in as many as I can in one day. This is my "Red and Green" entry.

I'm just learning how to use the dotting tools, and seriously rushing to get everything done before the baby needs me to pick him up.

A couple of my dots smeared a little, but I think it still turned out very pretty!

Here's the materials I used:

Base color - Sinful Colors "Innocent"
Dot color - Sinful Colors "Ruby Ruby"
Dotting tool - Cina brand
Tiny red rhinestones (from Walmart)
Base coat - Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top Coat - Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

I just thought this shot was pretty and 'Christmasy", so I had to include it in this post!

I had a lot of fun doing this design. It's simple, but makes a big impact. I can't wait to try more intricate designs with the dotting tools!

If you like this design or have any questions, shoot me a comment down below! I'd love to hear from you.