Saturday, May 21, 2011

A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art...

Remember the emotions chart from when you were a kid?  No, I'm the only one that needed that kind of therapy?  Well, it's just a bunch of clipart smiley faces labeled with different emotions to help a child verbalize what he's feeling.  Recently, I've gone through quite a range of emotions, but the original artwork is a bit boring for nails, so I used emoticons!

nail me, nail art, smiley, emoticon

nail me, nail art, smiley, emoticon, anna

nail me, nail art, smile, emoticon, anna
















I used MK Perfect Surface Base Coat, Orly Hook Up, Sally Hansen Black Out, Beauty Secrets Top Coat.

Of course I have played outdoor games. I once played dominoes in an open air cafe in Paris.

The other night my friend couldn't come out with me because she was playing Triominoes with her parents.  (She was home to visit, be nice.)  I'm actually not familiar with the game, so I just did Dominoes.


nail me, nail art, dominoes, anna, black, white




















I think they'd look better if my nails were square too, but I think I look weird with square nails.  Also, I find them unbelievably annoying.

MK Perfect Surface Base Coat, Sally Hansen Black Out and Pure White Tip, Beauty Secrets Top Coat.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.

My sister loved my first attempt at water marbling, and requested I do her nails (NOW, since she's moving out of state).  She chose her colors, and here it is:

nail me, nail art, water marbling, blue, purple, pink, model, anna

nail me, nail art, water marble, purple, pink, blue, anna, model






















Her left ring finger is my favorite, and I'm glad because I think it was her most attractive nail that day.  A friend who is also a nail tech suggested I put vaseline around the cuticles to keep the cleanup to a minimum - I did this, and it worked!  (Thanks D!)  I coated the entire finger just past the first knuckle with it, carefully avoiding the nail beds, but we wiped the polish off the skin easily and I only had to do a bit of detail cleanup.

MK Perfect Surface Base, Sally Hansen Spark, OPI Flashbulb Fuchsia and A-Rose at Dawn...Broke by Noon, Ulta Dance Teal Dawn, Beauty Secrets Top Coat.

As a side note - comments are not being published.  I get them in my email (so thank you, commenters*, I appreciate your feedback!), but I can't reply to them.  Switch to WordPress already? 

*I see that this is apparently not a word.  But commenter is, and I wanted it to be plural.

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.

It's been raining for most of a week here, and is scheduled to continue for another week.  Instead of being sad about the rain, I decided to be happy that I don't have to water my flowers (not including the one that died cos it got too cold, but I digress).  Tulips are possibly my favorite flower - also, they're reasonably simple to draw, even left-handed - and my partner isn't keen on having more (than the one by the porch).  Admittedly, their bloom period is short, but I still love them.  Same with lilacs...

nail me, nail art, anna, rain, tulip, flower

nail me, nail art, anna, rain, tulip, flower
















It occurred to me after that I should have reversed the colors - the dark blue as the clouds, and the gray as the sky/background...  Oh well, next time. 

MK Perfect Surface Base Coat, Ulta Moody Blues (base), OPI I Want To Be A-Lone Star (clouds), Big Hair...Big Nails, A-Rose at Dawn...Broke by Noon, Rose to the Ovation, Flashbulb Fuchsia, Orly Hook Up, Finger Paints Scenery Greenery, Sally Hansen Pure White Tip, Cherry Red, Love & Beauty Fuchsia, Beauty Secrets Top Coat.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

I tried water marbling for the first* time.  It's arson awareness week, so I used some fiery colors to do it.
I'm torn.  It is messy.  I'm content to spend two hours painting details with a tiny brush, but to spend it swabbing polish off my fingers?  Not so much.  I think my fingers have aged a decade - acetone is not good for you, and my hands have seen a lot of it this evening.
But, it's kinda cool.  I'm not very happy with how they turned out this time, but I expect with practice I'd get better at dipping into the pretty spots.  And keeping more pigment on the nail.  My results don't really resemble fire, but hey, they can't all be winners.  Actually, it seems to be pretty impressive... Maybe I'll try again.

































*Actually, we tried it in beauty school...  but we were instructed wrong; the result was ugly and messy.  It's still messy, but at least has potential.  Youtube it.

MaryKay Perfect Surface Base, Sally Hansen Cherry Red and Black Out, Orly Hook Up, OPI Big Hair...Big Nails, Beauty Secrets Top Coat.