The Digit-al Dozen does Decades Day 5 - The 60s (but the 1660s!)

Hello everyone! Today brings the Digit-al Dozen Decades week to an end and I have loved every minute of it! Everyone's art has been so creative and the diverse interpretations have been awesome! I'm finishing with a curveball, born out of a school project that Scarlett did a while ago. I've had this idea on the back burner since then (fire pun - yay!), and seeing as the Great Fire of London happened in 1666, I bring you the 1660s!

I started with a base of Models Own Lemon Meringue, before sponging on OPI Yellopalooza, Barry M Gelly Mango, OPI The Drummer Is Hot and Dream Black to create the burning skyline effect. I then painted in the burning building silhouettes with Color Club Rebel Spirit, watered down with a little acetone in places, before finishing with Seche Vite.

So I'll admit this isn't the cheeriest topic to end the week on, but I am in love with how this came out (even if I did have to do it twice after I painted it upside down the first time - grrr!). Decade week has been a blast, and if you haven't checked out everyone else's manis for the week you are missing a treat! Follow the Inlinkz below to check out all the other ladies' work :)

Sam xx

An InLinkz Link-up

NAILS Mag April Challenge Day 23 - Bow

Hello everyone! Despite having the worst night's sleep ever (thanks to a fox that decided to sing us the song of its people from our driveway at 2am), I'm here bright and early with today's post. When I saw the prompt for today was "Bow" I wasn't overly thrilled. I've painted some freehand bows before that didn't turn out great, but I had some success with them at Christmas and was hoping to get away with not painting any more until this coming Christmas. Fortunately I was out shopping and had a bit of a Eureka moment - this happens all too often when I'm shopping, but usually causes more damage to my credit card than this one did ;)

When I got home (with a new shirt, no shoes), I started these nails with two coats of OPI Don't Bossanova Me Around. I painted a freehand French tip in Dream Cheeky Cherry and then extended it down the sides of the nail. I added a fine outline in black (very carefully!) and then topped with Seche Vite. Before the top coat dried, I added the acrylic bows to my stilettos and they were done!

These are impractical in so many ways - yet many of the best shoes are! They also fit the Bow prompt and I didn't even have to paint any! I have to say that they couldn't possibly have stayed on for very long, but I did love them!

Tomorrow's prompt is nice and simple - Pink. There is also a "Something Tropical" prompt for the GOT Polish Challenge so I might try and tie them together. Maybe I should go shopping for more ideas! ;)

Sam xx

The NCC Presents Movies/Music/TV #2 - A Twin Peaks Skittlette

Hello everyone! And Happy Easter to those of you that celebrate! As I mentioned, I'm not really doing any Easter manis, but I do have some swatches of my Easter present polishes coming up later today and some of those colours are a little bit Easter-ish, so that'll have to do.

This post has my second April mani for the Nail Challenge Collabrative and I've painted a skittlette inspired by one of my favourite TV series of all time - Twin Peaks. I remember watching it when it was first on TV with my Dad when my Mum was out at an evening class. I was definitely too young to watch it and my Mum would never have let me, so its also tied in with a lot of nostalgia and some fond memories of time with my Dad. Its also not his usual kind of TV at all, but he loved it and we're planning to make time to watch the DVDs through again sometime soon.

I wanted to recreate the style of the Red Room in the Black Lodge/White Lodge, so I started by painting my ring and middle nails with white and allowed them to dry. I then applied some vinyl nail decals (which I bought on Ebay after reading this post on Glowstars.net), painted over the spaces in All About Nails Liqorice and removed the decals (I totally arsed this up so the chevrons are more than a little bit wonky, but I was tight for time so couldn't redo). I painted my thumb and little finger with Dream Cheeky Cherry and while still wet, dragged through lines of Barry M Passion Fruit, MAC Vintage Vamp and a little white with a striping brush. For the index finger I did a simple glitter gradient using Color Club Art of Seduction over black. All finished with a coat of Seche Vite.

An InLinkz Link-up

Matching your nails to your dress - who said that was a bright idea???

Hello everyone! So this weekend I am heading to the wedding of two lovely people. Even better, they are getting married on HMS Warrior in Portsmouth so we have a bit of a road trip and are staying in a hotel on the harbour so we can take full advantage of the party!

I had decided what to wear about a week ago, had nails planned and everything (go me with the forward planning). Decided, that is, until today, when I completely changed my mind and found another dress. Obviously that meant different nails too. It also meant spending several hours painting both hands (therefore about 20 minutes on my left hand, but about 90 to do my right!). My neck is now completely stiff/sore so I'm glad I won't be even looking at a bottle of polish until at least Sunday (except for painting Scarlett's nails in the morning).

I started with a black base and waited for it to dry. I then painted in the base colour for the flowers in Color Club She's Sooo Glam and the base for the leaves with OPI My Vampire is Buff. I added detail to the flowers with a fine detail brush using Barry M Gelly Blood Orange, Ciate Mistress and Jessica Imperial Rouge. I finished the leaves with LA Colors Solar Gold, Jessica Bittersweet and Color Club Rebel Spirit, before finishing with Seche Vite.

Here's where we'll be tomorrow, can't wait!

 

And here's a quick pic of the fabric of my dress - the colours aren't showing very true, but I can assure you that I have matched them perfectly lol! ;)

So there probably won't be a post tomorrow, but I'm guessing I'll be posting a few pics on IG, so if you're interested, you can follow me here!

Sam xx