FingerFood's Theme Buffet (Gothic) and NCC Movies - Nosferatu

Hello everyone! Today I have some nail art to show you that I am insanely proud of! The theme this week in FingerFood's Theme Buffet is one that is very close to my heart as its been a huge part of my life for over 20 years now! It was suggested by the lovely Sarah from Penny Pinching Polish and I was so happy that she put it forward :) This also fits in with the NCC's Movies/Music/TV month so its a double win! 

Goth isn't all maudlin black and it has grown its own set of sub genres over the years (including the fluffy, neon cyber goths), but I'm pretty much old school apart from my nails, so I decided to try and recreate an iconic image from "Nosferatu", the 1922 film starring Max Schreck.

I started with a base of LA Colors French White and sponged on the "frame" using Color Club Silver Lake, Ciate Vintage and LA Colors Black Velvet. I used a black Sharpie to draw in guidelines for the bannister, doorway and Dracula himself, and then carefully painted them in with more black, using a little more of the Vintage and Silver Lake for detail. I finished with a coat of Seche Vite.

Here's the image I worked from:

This is one of those manis that I had to try once I'd had the idea, but had no hopes of it turning out well enough for me to be able to post it! Instead I am really pleased with myself! I know that it has areas which need refining, but I think it captures the essence of the original image and this style of nail art is way out of my comfort zone!

I have one more NCC mani coming at you for April and the theme for the Buffet next week is to try "something new". I'm going to take the rest of the evening off and look at these nails some more, and I will be back with you soon - please follow the links below to check out all the other fabulous NCC and Buffet manis :)

Sam xx

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

FingerFood's Theme Buffet Flowers and NAILS Mag 31DC Inspired by Nature

Hello everyone! I'm doubling up today as luckily the 31DC challenge matches up with the Theme Buffet Flowers prompt! I'd been wanting to paint lillies for a while but a lack of time/inclination/cojones had always put me off. I needed some distraction and a bit of a challenge this week though, so decided to give it a shot.

I used LA Colors Sea Foam as a base. Its a really unusual colour. One of those ones that you spend hours trying to describe. Then you settle on one but look at it again 24 hours later and its different again. Hey ho, maybe its just me... ;)

I then used my finest detail brush from Roo Beauty to paint in the lily petals with French White, and then added the petal detail with Jessica Blushing Princess. I dotted in the centres using Color Club Psychedelic Scene and more Blusking Princess and then used Color Club Gimme A Grape Big Kiss to add some colour to the edges of each petal. I then painted in some stems using Sinful Colors Exotic Green and Barry M Gelly Key Lime and finished with Seche Vite.

I am glad I had a go at these as they turned out better than I expected! I want to spend more time with freehand painting of actual objects, rather than my favourite stylized objects and abstracts. Its also another step towards biting the bullet and having a go at one stroke! This nail art game is vertainly never boring!

As far as the Buffet goes, we have just settled on our themes for the next few months and they are up for your viewing pleasure in the group :)

Don't forget to check out everyone else's fab florals below!

Sam xx

An InLinkz Link-up

FingerFood's Theme Buffet - Cute

Hello everyone! I've had this mani ready for a few days but just haven't been able to find a slot for it in the posting schedule! For this week's "Cute" theme, I had already decided to paint bunnies, but decided to go with a landscape style. Its a bit "Watership Down", but the least said about that book/film the better as I'm tearing up just thinking about it now...

I started with a base of Barry M Gelly Blueberry, sponged on some fluffy white clouds with Models Own Snow White and then painted the grass with Ciate Mojito and Sinful Colors Exotic Green. I dotted in a few flowers using LA Colors Moody Red, Rimmel Sunshine and Models Own Lilac Dream. I then painted in the bunnies with Color Club Silver Lake and Sheer DIsguise, and Ciate Vintage. I finished with Seche Vite.

Some of the bunnies are a bit iffy, but I especially love the thumb bunnies (hence the giant photo of that one at the top lol!).

Onwards and upwards to our next theme - Flowers! This one opens at midnight tonight so if you haven't joined in one of our theme weeks before, why not start now? Come visit us here!

Sam xx

An InLinkz Link-up

FingerFood's Theme Buffet Birthdays/Celebrations - Strictly One Night Only nails!

Hello everyone! Another Sunday has rolled around and the theme for the buffet this week is Birthdays and/or Celebrations! I chose this as its my birthday on Tuesday and thought it would give me a chance to have a go at something "over the top"! Also, (luckily!) an unexpected trip to TK Maxx found me buying the Color Club Girl About Town collection, which provided me with two polishes perfect for what I had in mind!

I started with a base of Color Club Pearl District, a gold with a warm Tigers Eye feel to it. Three coats for a beautiful finish and it was tempting to leave it there as I adore this colour (and I'm not a massive fan of gold polishes)! I then painted on randomish sections of deep purple to create a base for the simply stunning The Uptown, which has a purple jelly base crammed full of red, gold and other flakie delights. I thought the formula would be a problem but it went on beautifully. Once that was dry, I added the amber colour rhinestones on to a generous coat of Seche Vite.

Now you can see why I said that these were "one night only" nails! I'm in love with them though and I'm so glad that I chose this collection over the metallics that were also there (although in all honesty I'll probably be going back for those later this week!).

I think these are suitable for a celebration, and when I fall asleep on my hand at the end of the night I'll get to wake up with a myriad of pretty rhinestone patterns on my face too ;)

Next week our theme is Hearts - yes its predictable, but I want to see where I can go with it. Take a look at the links below to see all the other fabulous celebratory nails, and if you;d like to join us, we'd love to have you on board! Head over to the FB group, and join in as often as you want :)

Sam xx