October Challenge: Week 5

Hello darlings! It's almost time to say good bye to October and hello to November. I'm honestly sad, I love October and am sooo not ready for cold weather. We had such a mild-mannered October that I don't want to see it go.

It's also the final week in the challenge, which, I gotta say, is not something I am sad to see go. Though it is not the challenge's fault, but my own health. *shakes fist at immune system* These past couple weeks have been extremely hard to pull off, but I have done it!!!

This final week's theme is:

This mani very nearly did not happen due to bad planning, bad timing, and a bad immune system. I did not know tonight was Beggar's Night (what they call "trick-or-treating" 'round these parts), and also I spent the afternoon with my friend and her daughter and my kiddo in the Big City. I am currently expecting a food baby, due in a couple of hours (thank you, my darling Huhot!), and on top of everything, I'm not sleeping well. So yeah this was really difficult to pull off.

The original plan for this week was supposed to be recreating this mani. After two days of contemplating exactly how I'm going to pull it off, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm too tired.

So I decided to do my favorite one of that mani's monsters: The zombie!

Besides the fact that none of them have noses, I like these ugly guys. They each have a distinct personality and creepiness.

I used 7 shades of green blotched on with a fatter round brush, a couple of shades of brown, and red to make these guys. Pearls with black polish and red polish for the eyes.

Hopefully health-wise, November will be a better and easier month. 

October Challenge: Week 4

Phew, it's been a long week! Hope yours went by better (and faster!) than mine! Both kiddo and I have been sick, which means 10-hour shifts on little to no sleep, AND my favorite cuticle nippers broke :(

But never fear, nothing like a little stomach bug and some insomnia will keep me from painting my nails! I have a challenge to complete!!

...And a challenge this week's theme has been, too! This week, I created something inspired by:

After a week of searching and trying to come up with ideas, I finally decided on this one. Using the tutorial over at The Nailasaurus, I wanted to create a foggy, misty look. For the accent nail, I didn't want to create a bedsheet-ghost, I wanted to create something kinda realistic and creepy so I decided to do a humanoid-ish ghost.

The things that look like glitter are from the glow-in-the-dark paint I used to give her a glowing aura. Looks pretty cool in the dark, but my camera simply can't capture it, and I cannot find a blacklight for the life of me.

It took me several tries to be happy with the colors for the Nimbus nails. I kept trying to throw black in there and it just wasn't working. Finally, I decided to dump the black and hoo-boy am I glad I did. 

The colors I ended up using were Sally Hansen's White-On, LAC's Lost Soul (appropriate, right?), Sinful Colors' Tokyo Pearl, and Pure Ice's Kiss Me Here. I watered them down with acetone and then used regular cotton swabs. To blot, I took my cleanup brush and mixed White-On with acetone and brushed it on in 1-2 strokes per nail, keeping it as thin as I could.

For the ghost girl, I just used White-On, Lost Soul, and Kiss Me Here, layering them on top of one another with my striping brush until I had her. I'm pretty thrilled with how she turned out!!

Next week: Monsters! There's a good chance I'm planning something big with that one... dunno ;)

Next time we see each other, it'll be time to Trick-Or-Treat! Have you gotten everything ready? What are you going to dress up as? As always, please subscribe off to the right in the Google Friend Connect widget, and leave your feedback in the comments :) Happy Halloween!

October Challenge: Week 3

Hello lovelies! This week you're getting TWO blog posts!! How awesome is that? Today's post is Week Three of the October Challenge! This week's theme is:

I realized after I did Week 1 that I'd already used spider webs, and felt like a dolt. But I've been wanting to do a mani like this for forever, so I just went with it. 

Turns out I had some bad karma or something going when I was doing this, because NOTHING was working with me. It was a very frustrating mani :( I had intended on having newspaper print going, the webs were supposed to be black glitter, and the spider on my thumbs were supposed to be stamped. But I couldn't find my spider stamping plate, my bundle monster binder for my plates broke (still usable), my rubbing alcohol is missing, and neither vodka nor water worked for the newspaper transfers, and the black glitter I have bleeds into the topcoat. Oh, and I tried to freehand a spider with no reference. My first attempt looked like a tick. ...You very nearly didn't get a Week 3. 

But I persevered and I survived, and I've already gotten a few comments on them!

They glow in the dark! But my camera can't capture it and it is impossible to find a black light smaller than 2' in this teeny tiny town.

Ooooh spoooooky misty green!

Holy crap I didn't see how many stringies I have :(

For this mani I laid down a layer or two of Rue Beaute's Mint, and then dabbed on China Glaze's I'm With The Lifeguard, Finger Paints' Silkscreen Green, Sally Hansen's Limestone, and LAC's Limelife using a makeup sponge and some foam I cut up from some kind of packaging. I then did a thick layer of Seche Vite, because I just KNEW I was gonna mess up. Holy moly am I soooo very glad for that forethought! This is when things went... downhill. I'll spare you the gory details. I freehanded the spiders and the webs using a thinned Sinful Colors' Black on Black and a medium-length striping brush. Previously my arch-nemesis, it has become my favorite brush. Topped with a final coat of seche and I went to bed.

I really wish the newspaper transfer had worked out, but I'm still pretty satisfied with this mani. And I know it's messy, but I am damn proud of my spiders (not pictured, but the one on my left hand is actually much smaller). 

And just a reminder of what's coming up next:

October Challenge: Week 2

Hello lovelies! I hope you're enjoying your October, I know I am! Halloween is my favorite time of year. Lovely weather, pumpkins, lovely trees, and piles of leaves! I love how the air smells and the birds sound. October is my favorite month! And I'm keeping on with the challenge, so here's week two!

Inspired by this pin, which takes you to a slideshow of nails (all of which have no sourcing). I tried finding the original source, but after 10 minutes I can't find anything outside of more pins or unsourced lists. :(

I tried and I tried, but I can't catch the orange lines on my middle fingers.

No one's sent me anything to post for week one. I'm hoping I'll get some submissions for week two!

Happy October!

October Challenge: Week 1

Good morning! Sorry this is a wee bit late, I have some company. In this week's challenge, I'm doing "nude." And I decided to keep it simple and go for a purple gradient French tip. Which felt too simple, so I added some webs, just 'cause I need the practice and also because they're totes adorbs (sorry. I don't know what happened there). 

I am very proud of what my left hand achieved on those spiderwebs.

Please ignore my pinkie nubbins. I lost them both on the same day after weeks of superglue and coffee filters.
It was very sad. 

For the gradient, I used NYC's Strawberry Cream, Sally Hansen's Pronto Purple. Strawberry Cream is a lovely translucent soft pink, with barely a hint of shimmer. It's absolutely perfect for this type of nude gradient.

For the spiderwebs, I used Revlon's Spirit and Kleancolor's Metallic Fuchsia and a medium-length line brush. All fairly simple, really :)

I topped this with a mix of Seche Vite (which has already caused some shrinking, booo) and Pure Ice's Glow In The Dark.

I can't wait to see what you guys come up with for the challenges! You can email me your submissions at pinkies4apenny@gmail.com if you don't have your own blog, and you can always post to instagram, twitter, tumblr, or any other social media using the hashtag #OctoberChallengeP4AP. Hope to wake up to some gorgeous nails :) 

Happy October!: Nail Art Challenge

I've decided to do my first challenge! And since I couldn't find any that I like, or that work with my schedule, I decided to make my own!

Please join me this week in a challenge! Don't have a blog of your own? Email it to me and I'll make a post involving everyone! Also post on twitter, tumblr and/or pinterest! My first post is tonight, and I can't wait to see yours!