Leaf inspired pattern

I've seen this pattern floating around the blogosphere and thought it would be fun to try. And it was!

I think these are nice colors for the end of fall. It snowed here yesterday and my heart broke a little. I was not ready to put away my flip flops yet.

Happy Painting!

A quick little color block

Well, now that the challenge is over, I decided to give my nails a break for a bit. I also started playing my ukulele again and realized that my nails were way too long to be able to play well, so I'm experimenting with different lengths that look good but that still allow me to play well.

Anyhow, today I decided to do a quick color block so I could try out my new Sally Hansen Insta Dri mint polish. I didn't take a good picture, so sorry, but you can get the gist.

I like it. It works for fall, I think, since there are some fallish colors. I really like my new polish! Maybe I'll take a better picture of these tomorrow and post them, but otherwise I should be back to posting once or twice a week on a regular basis from now on.

Happy Painting!

Liebster Award

Well, this is pretty nifty. After finishing the 30 day challenge Kerry from Painted Fingertips nominated me for the Liebster Award, which recognizes new bloggers.




Here's how it goes:

1) Link back to the blogger who nominated you

2) Answer the 11 questions given to you by the blogger who nominated you

3) Nominate 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers

4) Go to the blogs you nominated and notify them of your nomination

5) Give your nominees 11 questions to answer.

I've discovered a few smaller blogs during the challenge, and I'm always looking for new blogs to follow, so I really love the idea of this award. And I'm super honored, by the way! Alright, let's get to it!




1) What made you decide to start blogging?

Well, I had been doing nail art for about 6 or 7 years and started to find some cool nail blogs via Pinterest. I didn't realize that there were so many people like me (aka not a pro) out there blogging about their nail art, nor did I realize how popular a trend it was becoming, since I am pretty much the only person in my social circle that rocks nail art on a regular basis. Since I was doing cooler designs and have blogged about other topics in the past, I thought it would be fun to start this blog and document my work, as well as connect with other nail art enthusiasts.

2) What’s your ‘day job’?

Uh, that's actually a bit tricky to answer at the moment. After working for a non-profit doing video production and then operational work for a large conference, I moved back to my hometown and began looking for permanent work, which I have unfortunately not found yet (yay recession!). But, I spent the last few months volunteering and have recently starting babysitting an adorable 3 month old during the week part-time. She really likes looking at the pictures on this blog. I'm hoping to find work using my office assistant skills and eventually work in the arts full time.

3) What is your favourite nail polish brand?

Hmm, I actually haven't tried very many because I'm an incredibly cheap person and can't afford it right now. But, I really love China Glaze. I'm a big fan of the consistency and find that their polish is generally perfect for nail art. I also love Essie because it goes on really smoothly.

4) What is your favourite polish colour? (It can be a single polish or a colour family!)

Definitely blues. About 1/5 of my collection is made up of blues. I think I use my First Mate (navy) most often.

5) Which is your favourite blog to follow?

Another tough one, but I think I'd have to go with http://1yearofnailart.blogspot.com/. Margriet posts a new manicure every day for an entire year! Considering how tiring it was to do this challenge, I give her major props! Plus her work is beautiful and she's incredibly talented.

6) What is your favourite type of nail art?

I don't know if this really counts as a type, but I'd say pop culture nail art. I really like designs that are based off tv shows and movies and memes, etc. I think they're fun and a great way to mix up typical designs and give yourself a challenge.

7) Do you have any other hobbies besides nails/blogging?

A few! I suppose you could call me a singer/songwriter. I write music under the name Laura Lee and a Ukulele, and while I've been on a long songwriting hiatus this past year, I've been working on a few things and hope to get back to posting more regularly. I'm actually terrified of people hearing me sing/play, especially original songs (hard to get more vulnerable with the public than that), but after a lot of encouragement from friends and surprisingly positive responses online, I'm getting more comfortable with sharing my music.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm interesting in working with film, and love to write sketches and parodies and direct and edit. And act! I love acting.

I'm a big lover of photoshop and like to touch up photos for fun. I've worked on a few senior pictures and engagement photos in the past, but mostly stick to my own photography now.

I'm a nerd in general, so I'm interested in a great many things, but my geek comes out in spades when it comes to tv. I really love television and watch far too many shows. I'm actually thinking of starting a tv blog, since I already review shows for fun on my own and think it would be pretty much a dream to be a well established television blogger.

I have more hobbies, but I'll be surprised if you've read this much (at least of this question), so I'll spare you and move on to the next question.

8) Which is your favourite season?

Easy! Autumn. I love it when it's between 50-70 degrees, and the trees start to change color, and here in Wisconsin those nice, cool, comfortable days last about 4-6 weeks before going back to completely bipolar weather.

9) What is your favourite finish for nail polish?

I'm a simple gloss girl. Matte is cool every now and then, but I prefer to stick with the classic.

10) What are your future blogging goals?

Part of the reason I love blogging is because it helps you connect with a larger community. I hope to become more engaged with the nail art community at large, but also to establish relationships with bloggers where we're able to learn and grow from each other. I always appreciate getting feedback.

11) Which manicure are you most proud of?

Hmm, well, since we're talking about manicures I guess it's a bit easier to choose. For my own nails I think I would pick my Urbana manicure, since they really did look like the logo and I worked with the Urbana conference for almost a year. On someone else's nails, I would pick my pumpkin manicure I did for my roommate. I just really like the detail I was able to achieve.

Okay, if you've made it this far I applaud you. I can be a bit wordy at times, but hey- I'm a blogger. That's sort of the point. Anyhow, let's move on to the bloggers I've nominated for the Liebster Award:

1) Pretty Tough Nails

2) Blingfinger

3) Nail Polish In My Eyes

4) Amey's Nails

5) Nail Polish Sleuth

6) Aisuru Nails

7) Bnasty Nails

8) She Who Does Nails

9) POW Nails

10) Oh No, Not Another Nail Art Blog!

11) Fanning The Fumes

And here are my 11 questions:

1) When and why did you start doing nail art?

2) What inspired you to start your blog?

3) What is your most frequently used polish?

4) What is your favourite polish brand?

5) What technique would you like to master?

6) What is your favorite nail blog to follow?

7) Which design are you most proud of?

8) What are your future blogging goals?

9) Do you have any other hobbies?

10) What are the top 5 polishes on your wishlist?

11) And for fun, if you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?




Happy Painting!

30 Day Challenge: Inspired by a Tutorial

We did it! Well, maybe. I'm perplexed. Some people think this is the last day of the challenge and others are going with 31 days. I don't know.

I'm getting this out a day late since I ran out of time after finishing this design yesterday. I was going to do an apple tutorial but then pulled out my China Glaze Peachy Keen and decided I wanted to used it, so I did my own take on this tutorial by Jennifer Marcus.

Kind of cool, right? It's sort of like a tribal print, which I'm generally not too great at, but I like a few of these. It's hard to tell, but the light color is a pink from Sinful Colors.

Because I was going out in public and didn't want to look weird with only one hand painted, I went for a full on manicure. With the exception of my pinky (which was basically a lost cause), I actually think I like how my right hand turned out better than my left.

The lines are far from perfect, but compared to some of the earlier challenges, I think I've come a long way. This challenge has been difficult and tiring, but awesome practice and really fun as well. So, perhaps in a few days I'll throw in the 31st challenge, but until then, I want to thank those of you who have liked my posts and commented. The feedback means so much to me and has been very encouraging. I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with post-challenge!

Happy Painting!