Tag Archives: freehand

#31DC2014 – September 2 (Day 2): Orange Nails

02 Tuesday Sep 2014

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Today’s manicure is nearly identical to last year’s! I used the same base and a similar glitter topper. How funny! I guess I my nail art has not changed that much.

I tried one-stroke flowers but my nails were too short and the petals looked like blobs. I reached for my striping brush and the rest is history. The finished design was not what I planned for but I love the outcome! It kind of reminds me of tiger stripes. I hope you like it!

 

I thought the matte acrylic paint looked really cool against the shiny base so I matte the entire manicure. It did not look very good so I am glad I took pictures beforehand! I kind of wish I had taken pictures before topcoat as well!

 

DSCF0728_fotor-001I used 2 coats of Color Club Wham! Pow! and a generous coat of Formula X for Sephora Bombshell as my base. I bought this in celebration of Halloween last year and turned out it was limited edition. It is no longer available as part of the Explosives line. Great formula and I did not need to fish for the pieces. It dried a little gritty but only needed one coat of Seche Vite to even it out.

I used orange, white and black acrylic paint to detail.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

 

Check out the other orange manicures below!

The Crumpet’s SIMPLES Challenge – Week 10: Watercolor Base

29 Friday Aug 2014

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I am so behind on all the challenges due to my unstable symptoms. I better whip myself into shape because the 31-Day Challenge starts on MONDAY! I did every single prompt on the right day last year. Let us hope I continue the streak this year!

Below is my watercolor base for the SIMPLES challenge this week. It also serves as my blue base for the MoYou London contest on Instagram. I know there are a range of opinions on the company right now but I like contests and I really like their plates. I just won’t “push the company forward” in my blog posts! Less work for me, right?

 

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I included the picture I uploaded to Instagram. I used Milani Black Swift to stamp on my left hand and Konad Special Polish Black on my right. Reasons below!

DSCF0690_fotorI used 2 coats of Sephora Formula X Thrilling as my base. I was not feeling stark white because of my swollen fingers. White makes my nails look shorter and exacerbates swelling in photographs. Maybe that is just me?

I “water-colored” with Milani Power Periwinkle, Pop Beauty Pacific Hoot, and Anise Neons Make Waves.

I stamped with MoYou London plate 09 (Suki Collection) and Milani Black Swift. I switched to my Konad polish for the left hand because there was a lot of clean up on the stamper and Milani dried too quickly. I loved stamping with my Milani polish but I was not working quickly enough to get a crisp image.

I topped everything with Seche Vite.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Tri-Polish Tuesday Challenge – August #4: Blue, Yellow, Red

26 Tuesday Aug 2014

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Check out the  sidebar for more information.

This month passed at a snail-pace. I’ve always had a problem with August but time really slowed down. I am thrilled there is only one week left.

Here is my manicure for this week’s TPC. I had to re-do all my nails except for the accent because they became cluttered. I started with a dotticure and added clouds. It was too much and looked horrendous. I could not even look at the pictures. I went back and just did clouds and it came out way better.

 

DSCF0614_fotorI used 2 coats of Color Club Almost Famous as my base.

I stamped with Milani Black Swift and MoYou London plate 06 (from the Mother Nature collection). On the stamper, I layered Wet n Wild I Red a Good Book, Anise Make Waves and a generous coat of Seche Vite to seal the design. After it dried, I applied it to the nail and added clouds with Julie G White Orchid.

I seal everything with Seche Vite.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

 

Don’t forget to check out the other TPC manicures this week!

 

Tri-Polish Tuesday Challenge – August #3: Blue, Yellow, Red

20 Wednesday Aug 2014

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I used 2 coats of Sinful Colors Chick, Chick and 1 coat of Seche Vite as my base.

I sugar-spun with Zoya Cheryl and Payton.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

The Crumpet’s Tri-Polish-Tuesday Challenge – August #2: Blue, Yellow, Red

13 Wednesday Aug 2014

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I did this manicure yesterday but by the time I took and edited the pictures it was 11:30 and I was too tired to write a corresponding post.

I wanted something quick and relatively RA-easy so I went with a simple dotticure. Unfortunately, as the Orencia fades, my fingers are getting more and more shaky and weak. Yay for non-uniform dots! #RAfriendlynailart.

I toyed with using the same polishes as last week since I like primary colors together but then I decided to go neon…of course.

It was not until way after finishing this manicure I got that nagging feeling telling me I had done this manicure before. Thankfully, I haven’t but I did do something similar for another TPT back in April! (linked here) I am not happy with that nail art and think today’s came out much better!

I hope you think so too!

 

DSCF0525_fotorI used 3 coats of American Apparel Neon Yellow as my base.

I dotted with American Apparel  Neon Red and Pop Beauty  Pacific Hoot.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

 

Check out the other tri-polish manicures below!

FingerFood Themes Buffet: Inspired by Holidays

10 Sunday Aug 2014

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I wanted to try my first sunset gradient/palm trees on the horizon manicure for the Theme Buffet but the SIMPLES challenge this week is “splodging” so I decided to incorporate both.

Check out the sidebar for information on both challenges.

Summer is fading faster than I anticipated so I am trying to fit in as many neon manicures as possible…not that the absence of summer stops me from wearing neons, of course, but I am itching to start my winter manicure circuit again!

I used similar colors to Debbie’s (The Crumpet) example manicure so I tried to go heavy on the purples. Regardless, I really love this manicure and it reminds me of sunsets which is part of the goal!

I used bigger chunks of sponge for this because my hands were super shaky, I could not pinch properly or manipulate the tweezers. In and of itself, sponging was not the most RA-friendly but eliminating the tweezers and using bigger pieces made this way easier!

I hope you like the final result!

 DSCF0517_fotorI used 2 coats of Julie G White Orchid as my base.

I detailed with small tweezers, bits of makeup sponge, China Glaze Sun Worshipper, Color Club Mrs. Robinson, Poptastic, Almost Famous and Wham! Pow!

I finished with a generous topping of Seche Vite.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

 

Check out the other manicures below!

GOT Challenge: Stripes

07 Thursday Aug 2014

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Check the sidebar for more information under The Crumpet’s Challenges

My first thought went to striping tape and I cried. Striping tape is a RA flare’s worst nightmare: shaky hands, small tweezers, straight lines. It all makes me want to crawl under a rock and stop painting my nails. Ok, that is a GROSS exaggeration but you get what I mean!

My second thought went to Winnie the Pooh and I gasped I had never attempted these characters. How is that possible? The Golden Oldies’ prompt this week is stripes so I immediately jumped to Tigger. I’ve seen some gorgeous Tigger manicures on Instagram and had the cartoon on my mind.

This was so much fun and it was only until after I finished I realized ALL the polishes I used were over a year old. I only meant for the base and stripes to fall under that category! While that is pretty cool, it probably means I do not buy enough nail polish!

Today’s manicure may have used old polishes but it featured a new technique: freehand decals! I grabbed a sandwich bag and set to work. Unfortunately, my decal smudged a little but I don’t mind. It kind of had a “artist’s sketch” vibe to it. This was definitely not a bad first attempt!

Now that I rambled on…

 

I hope you like it!

 

 

DSCF0504_fotorI used 2 coats of Color Club Wham! Pow! as my base.

I detailed with Wet n Wild Black Creme, Zoya Reece, and Urban Outfitters Westside.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

 

Don’t forget to check out the other manicures this week!