Thursday, October 28, 2010

Teeney-Weeney Halloweeney!


 Teeney-Weeney-Halloweeney!


These were a lot of fun and not really all too much hard work!
After I made a list of what I wanted to do, I wrote out which one would go on each finger.  Then, I painted the base coats on all the nails literally in the middle of the night one night and let them set up nice and solid overnight.  Then put on the little details the next morning.

Now one hand at a time with instructions...
RIGHT HAND
  • Thumb - Moonlit night
    • two coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear (SHXW for short) "Blue It"
    • then one coat of SHXW "Mellow Yellow" in a circular shape over the top left quadrant of the nail
  • Index - Bloody Fingers!
    • two coats of SHXW "White On"
    • I took SHXW "Cherry Red" in a jagged line across the top half of the nail
    • then I dipped a toothpick into the polish bottle, and laid in on top of the places where the jagged line dipped down, rolling it slightly towards to top of the
    • added a few extra drips with that toothpick
  • Middle - FrankenBride
    • two coats SHXW "Black Out"
    • drew the lightning bolt (yes, with my left hand) using Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen White
  • Ring - Ghostess with the Mostest
    • two coats of SHXW "Black Out"
    • when that was dry, I painted a swatch using SHXW "White On"  
    • to make the ghostly shape, instead of painting from cuticle to tip, I painted from tip to cuticle pressing down harder at the tip and easing off toward the cuticle to taper the end
    • drew the eyes and the mouth with Sally Hansen Nail Art Black
  • Pinky - Candy Corn
    • bottom stripe with SHXW "Mellow Yellow"
    • middle stripe with Pure Ice "Hot Tamale"
    • tip with SHXW "White Out
    • Secretly - this is so easy and totally one of my favorites!



LEFT HAND
  • Pinky - Bats in the Moonlight
    • two coats SHXW "Mellow Yellow"
    • "v" shapes with SH Nail Art Pen Black
  • Ring - MummyWrap
    • two coats SHXW "White On"
    • non-parallel lines for the wrapping with SH Nail Art Pen Black 
  • Middle - Frankenstitches
    • two coats of Pure Ice "Creme Wild Thing"
    • SH Nail Art Pen Black to draw the stitches
  • Index - Jack-O-Lantern
    • two coats Pure Ice "Hot Tamale" (Sally Hansen has an orange called "Crushed" but it has just a little pink to it that doesn't work so well for Halloweeney Nails)
    • drew on the face with Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen Black
  • Thumb - Eensey-Weensey Spider
    • two coats SHXW "White Out"
    • first, with SH Nail Art Pen Black I drew the anchor lines from teh center to the middle of the tip, each side of the tip and each corner of the cuticle
    • then starting at the center, drew the webbing
Topped everything off with two coats of Revlon Extra Life No Chip Top Coat.

Now off to finish making and frosting jack-o-lantern cookies for my daughter's preschool!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Modern Circles

First, the pictures.
Then, I'll explain how I did it.



Base Coat:  two coats of Sally Hansen Color Quick "Turquoise Chrome"

Circles:
  1. I laid out a small sheet of aluminum foil, and got out one of my daughter's crazy-straws!
  2. I also clipped a cotton ball with a clothespin and dipped it in polish remover. (Using the clothespin means I don't have to grip the cotton ball with my fingers and risk taking any polish off accidentally.)
  3. I did all the white circles first by brushing a swatch of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear "White On" on the foil, then dipping the end of the straw into the polish and printing the circle on the nail in random patterns.  I had to kind of roll the straw across the nail because the straw is flat and my nails are not.
  4. Then I cleaned off the straw with that cotton ball-clothespin.
  5. Black circles were made with Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear "Black Out"
Top Coat:  Two coats of Revlon "Extra Life" No Chip Top Coat

Next design:  something Halloween!


Thursday, October 21, 2010

Pink Nails for Breast Cancer Awareness

At a "Pink hair for Hope" party, I volunteered to paint pink fingernails for anyone who wanted to have them done.  In order to have some sort of "menu" for ladies to choose from, I did my nails in ten different pink styles.




Left hand:




Right hand:


*Note: I hope next time to include exactly which polishes I used, but here's a brief run-down


Left Hand:
Pinkie: Mauve base coat, then sparkly pink tip
Ring Finger:  Bright pink base coat (Sally Hansen Xtreme) with white dots (nail pen)
Middle:  Bright pink tip, clear top coat
Pointer:  diagonal half bubble-gum pink (sally Hansen) , half bright pink with white nail pen zig-zags
Thumb:  Bright pink base coat (Sally Hansen), spelled out "Hope" with white nail pen then went back with bubble-gum pink and made the "o" a heart using a toothpick "v" shape


Right Hand:
Thumb:  Marbled!  I'll do a whole post on this technique SOON!
Pointer:  White base coat, then use a toothpick to paint a pink ribbon with a toothpick
Middle:  Pink sparkles....hard to see, but I wanted to have a "calmer" option to show ladies
Ring:  Bubble-gum base coat with diagonal dotted perpendicular lines using nail pen
Pinkie:  just a calm, sparkly, pink.



A Sampling of My "Stash"

Just for grins, here are some photos of my "stash."


I had them set up for a fingernail painting party on foil-covered serving trays.
Pinks on one tray .
(in connection it "Pink Hair for Hope" and Breast Cancer Awareness)
Sampling of other colors on the other tray.




What is "No Junk Nail?"

"No Junk Nail" is my first attempt at a blog....
and it's a blog about fingernail painting!


I'm a busy, working Mom who enjoys painting my fingernails because:
1) they look pretty
2) I get to be creative
3) I love the challenge
4) it renders me completely useless for a few treasured minutes of "me time"


I can't promise to post ever day like "Daily Nail"
but I'll post as often as I change my fingernails
and include instructions and pictures.


I hope I can inspire others to try new nail designs along the way!

What is "No Junk Nail?"

"No Junk Nail" is my first attempt at a blog....
and it's a blog about fingernail painting!


I'm a busy, working Mom who enjoys painting my fingernails because:
1) they look pretty
2) I get to be creative
3) I love the challenge
4) it renders me completely useless for a few treasured minutes of "me time"


I can't promise to post ever day like "Daily Nail"
but I'll post as often as I change my fingernails
and include instructions and pictures.


I hope I can inspire others to try new nail designs along the way!