Simple Nail Art for Newbies

Cartoon Nails

2013-04-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

CARTOON NAILS!!!

What I Used:

Sally Hansen Base and Top Coat
China Glaze: Pool Party (bright pink)
Opi: Onyx
Nail Art Striper: Black and White
Fine Nail Art Brush
Dotting Tool

After applying the base coat, paint all of your nails black. Remember to get as far to the edge as possible.
The black will be the outline for your nails.

Next, paint all of your nails pink. You will need a few coats to cover the black completely. Remember to leave the black outline along the edges. You want them to be the same width on all sides.

Another Angle.

Last, using a dotting tool and fine nail art brush, paint a white dot on the corner of your nails, then a thin white stripe leading up the dots...to give it that cartoon effect. Apply a top coat...and you're done!

Strawberry Gingham Nails for the Strawberry Festival in Plant City, Florida

2013-02-28T15:52:00.002-08:00

STRAWBERRY

GINGHAM NAILS!

What I Used: red, light pink, dark pink, green and white polish, Sally Hansen Double Duty Base and Top Coat, fine nail art brush and dotting tools

After applying your base coat, paint your tips white, like a french manicure.

Next, using a fine nail art brush, paint super thin lines with light pink polish.
Three vertical and two or three horizontal.

Using a dotting tool, add a rounded triangle in red polish for the strawberry.

Next, using a dotting tool, dot darker pink circles where the light pink lines cross. With a fine nail art brush and green polish, add tiny lines on the top of the strawberries, like above.

Last, add three tiny light pink dots to the inside of the strawberry to look like seeds.
Apply your top coat for shine and protection... and you're ready to look super cute!!

Baltimore Ravens Superbowl Nails

2013-01-30T15:09:00.000-08:00

GO RAVENS!!

What I Used:
Nail Art: White Canvas
China Glaze: Gothic Lolita
Opi: Black Onyx
Revlon: Vixen
Nail Art: Silver Lining
Super fine nail art brush

After applying your base coat, paint your thumb, index and pink-y fingers purple. Also, paint your middle and ring fingers black.

Next, using a fine nail art brush, carefully paint two curved purple lines on your middle fingers and one on your ring finger like the photo above. I had to use two coats to paint over the black.

Use red paint to add the half circle under the purple line on your ring finger and the top purple line on your middle finger. I needed to paint two coats of the red two.

Paint a tiny white line inside and towards the top of each of the Raven's red eyes. Also, some white on the inside of both nails. If you look at the Raven to the right of my nails, you can see they use white for the beak. That is what the white will represent.

Next, paint on a '52' for Ray Lewis on your thumbs. This was pretty hard. Just take your time. Use glitter sparkle polish for the index and pink-y nails. And...last, but not least, apply your clear top coat to protect your creation. Now you are ready for the Superbowl.
Whooo! GO RAVENS! :)

Santa Clause & Reindeer Christmas Nails

2012-12-18T15:03:00.001-08:00

Santa Clause

and his reindeer..

..Rudolph too!

What I Used:

Sally Hansen Double Duty Base and Top Coat

Opi: Black Onyx

Sally Hansen: Hard to Get (white)

Opi: The Thrill of Brazil (red)

Sally Hansen: Glass Slipper (glitter)

Fine nail art brush

Dotting tools

After applying your base coat, paint your thumbs red and a red triangle on your ring fingers.
You want the triangle to cover the tip of your nails.

Next, paint half circles using brown polish on your index fingers,
your middle fingers and your pinky fingers.

To finish the Santa hats, use a dotting tool and white paint to
add the cotton balls on top and on the bottom.
If you don't have a dotting tool, use the end of a ball point pen,
toothpick, whatever you can find around the house.
Also, using a dotting tool, add the black eyes to each of the reindeer, like above.

Use a fine nail art brush to draw the antlers on the reindeer.
Start with one straight, dark brown line and add two tiny lines to each side of the antlers coming from the head of the reindeer. Also, dot on the red nose to whichever reindeer you choose to be Rudolph.

Dot in the whites of the eyes of the reindeer.
Try to leave a small black circle around the edges of the eyes.

Next, add tiny, black dots for the pupils of the eyes.
Also, dot on a black nose for the other two reindeer.
The reindeer are done!

On the thumbs, paint a thick, white line through the middle.
Also add a thick, white line at the bottom, edge of your nail.
It should look like an upside-down 'T'.

Paint a thick, black line right through the middle of your nail. This will be Santa's belt.

Finally, paint a super thin yellow box in the middle of the black line...to look like a belt buckle.
If you have rhinestones, you can add one to Rudolph's nose for affect. ;)
If not, just apply your top coat, and you're done! Cute Christmas Nails for the holiday.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Starry Night (Van Gogh) Nails

2012-11-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,'

then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

- Vincent Van Gogh

What I Used:

Sally Hanson Base and Top Coat
China Glaze: Black Onyx
Milani: White Canvas
Pure Ice: Excuse Me (Gold)
China Glaze: Electric Beat
China Glaze: Boy Toy Blue
Fine nail art brushes
Dotting Tool

After applying your base coat, paint all of your nails blue.

On your thumb and ring fingers, paint this swirl with a duller, lighter blue than the background.

Add a large white dot in the middle of the swirl. I used a dotting tool for this.

Using a fine nail art brush, carefully brush strokes of white over the pale blue swirl.
You want the strokes to move outward from the center circle like above.
It may help to look at a picture of Starry Night, which I added at the bottom of this post.

Paint white oblong, blotchy looking shapes towards the very top of your nails using a brush.
These will be the stars.

Add a gold-ish yellow color to the white dots at the top to finish the stars.

Paint a black tip.

Last, paint three black lines towards the left side of your nail.
The first should be the smallest and should go over the large white circle about half way.
The second should be a little larger and the third the largest and as far left as you can paint.
Apply your top coat, and you are sporting a masterpiece!

Below is the work of art itself. "Starry Night"

Alice in Wonderland ~ Disney Nails

2012-10-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

Alice in Wonderland Nails! Inspired by Disney's Trippy Movie :)

Colors you need:

Black, white, yellow, red, light green, dark green, light purple, dark purple and blue.

What I Used:

Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat

China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

Opi Black Onyx

China Glaze Gothic Lolita

China Glaze Sweet Hook

China Glaze Boy Toy Blue

Milani White Canvas

China Glaze Kiwi Cool-Ada

All other colors I needed, I used acrylics for.

Dotting tools

Fine nail art brush

After applying your base coat, paint your thumb white, your index finger with a white tip, your middle finger with a light purple tip, your ring finger with a dark green tip and your pinky with a yellow tip.

Paint a thin light green line on top of your dark green tip, a white line on top of your yellow tip and a dark purple line on top of your light purple tip.

Next, paint a greater then sign with black polish and a fine nail brush...like the picture above. This will represent the mad hatter's hat. Also using black, paint diagonal lines on top of your yellow tip.

Next, fill in the black 'greater-than sign' with white. You can use a brush or a dotting tool to do this.

Paint each side of the white tipped index fingers with blue. This is to represent Alice's dress. Also, paint a number (I used 10) into the mad hatter's hat with black and a fine nail art brush.

Using red, paint two little hearts on your pinky fingers. This is for the Queen of Hearts. <3

Paint a thin black line on top of the blue and white tipped nails. Then two triangles opposite of each other to create Alice's black bow in her hair. On the middle fingers, paint the cheshire cat's big, wide 'ear to ear' smile. You will need to use a fine nail art brush, or the tip of a toothpick. This was the hardest part! Start with the black outline, and then fill in with white. Last, paint the thin black lines for the teeth.

On your thumbs, paint a half circle and the watch clicker using yellow. Add a little black arrow for the hour hand and black paws for the white rabbit's feet. You can creative and do what you want! :)

Apply your top coat and you're done! Enjoy! These are impressive when done!

'Jack Skellington' Nightmare Before Christmas ~ Halloween Nails

2012-10-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

A Nightmare Before Christmas 'Jack Skellington' Nails for Halloween!!

What I Used:

Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat
Opi Black Onyx
Milani White Canvas
Sally Hansen Diamond Glass Slipper
Fine Nail Art Brush
Dotting tool

After applying your base coat, paint all of your nails black.

Using a dotting tool, paint a white circle on your thumb and ring finger nails.

Using a fine nail art brush, paint two, black, upside-down tear drops for the eyes.
You can make him look happy or mean. >:)

Paint two small, black lines under the eyes for the nose.

Using a super thin nail art brush or a toothpick, paint on a thin, black smile.
It should be a very wide smile...from ear to ear. The thinner, the better!

Again, as thin as you can possibly make it, paint lines across the smile all the was across using black paint.

The spider web is pretty hard. You need a very thin nail art brush and some white polish. Paint a small white dot in the center of your finger where you want the web to begin.
Next, paint 5 straight lines coming out from the white dot...all the way out to the edge of your nail.
Last, paint curved lines connecting the 5 lines to give it to the web look.

Finally, paint the sparkly polish over all of your nails, apply your top coat to protect your painting...
...and you're done!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! >:)

Galaxy / Universe Nails

2012-09-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

All long time ago...

...in a galaxy far, far away...

What I Used:

Sally Hansen: Double Duty Base & Top Coat
Opi: Black Onyx
Sally Hansen: Hard to Get (white),
Sally Hansen: Glass Slipper (clear glitter)
China Glaze: Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini, Flip Flip Fantasy (pink), Electric Beat (blue)
Tiny pieces of Sponge
Dotting tools

After applying your base coat, paint all of your nails black.

Using small cut up pieces of sponge that you can find around the house, dip it in the white paint and carefully...

....dab patterns on to your nails like the above picture. Each should be different than the other. It may help to google 'universe' and look at a few pictures under google images.

Next, sponge on some yellow on top of the white.

Then add a little bit of the light pink on top of the yellow and white. You don't want to cover all of any color. Just subtly add more and more color to your galaxies.

Next, sponge on dark blue to the outsides of your galaxies to give it the effect that it is disappearing into the blackness of space. It will also give your galaxies more definition.

Using a dotting tool, add small and smaller white dots to the sides of your galaxies and randomly all of your nails. These will represent the stars. It looks better to have the tiniest of dots. The smaller, the better.

Last, paint on a coat of sparkly glitter polish, add a top coat to protect your masterpiece, and you're done! It's like having heaven on earth. :)

FSU Nails ~ GO NOLES!

2012-09-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

TO MY ALMA MATER,

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY.

THE BEST SCHOOL IN

THE WORLD! :) GO NOLES!

What I Used:

Sally Hansen: Wine Not (Garnet)

Pure Ice: Excuse Me (Gold)

Milani: White Canvas

Sally Hansen: Double Duty Base & Top Coat

Two gold stones

Fine nail art brush

After applying your base coat, paint your index, pointer and pink-y fingers gold
and paint your thumb and ring finger garnet.

I painted this more simple "FSU" on one of my thumbs using white polish and a fine nail art brush...

I painted my other thumb with this FSU insignia...also using white polish and a fine nail art brush. This was much harder. I knew I wouldn't be able to do this with my right hand, so I painted the easier 'FSU' on my other thumb. It helps to have a picture of it in front of you while you are painting. Also, acrylic paint may be easier to work with than polish.

On your ring finger, using white paint and a fine nail art brush, paint a triangle in the corner of your nail and fill it in. Next, paint a long line from the middle of the triangle, outward. Paint two very small lines on each side of the stem of the Seminole arrow.

Paint a french-like manicure on the three gold nails using garnet polish.

Paint thin white lines between the gold and garnet french. Add a gold stone to your arrow nail. Apply a double top coat and you're done! You're now a Super Seminoles Fan!

F-L-O-R-I-D-A
S-T-A-T-E

FLORIDA STATE!
FLORIDA STATE!
FLORIDA STATE!

WHOOO!

2012 Olympics - Team USA Nails

2012-08-06T17:19:00.002-07:00

What I Used:

Sally Hansen: White Canvas
Sally Hansen: Base and Top Coat
Red, Green, Blue, Black & Yellow Acrylics
Dotting tools
Fine nail art brush

After applying your base coat, paint all of your nails white.

Using a dotting tool, paint three circles towards the top of your nail (leaving room for the the other two circles and the '2012'). The left one should be light blue, the middle is black and the right circle is red.

Now paint a yellow circle and green circle. They should all be connected.

You can use a dotting tool or a paint brush to paint the '2012' in black. Don't shake! ;)

Start painting half circles on your index, middle and pinky fingers. Use whichever combination of colors that are in the Olympic symbol - green, red, blue, yellow and black.

Overlap the half circles like above.

More circles in different colors...

Your half circles will look like this...

Now for the flag. Paint a blue rectangle in the corner of your nail on your ring finger.

Using a fine nail art brush, paint red stripes.

Add white dots on to the blue with a dotting tool...apply a top coat...and you're done!
GO TEAM USA!!

Angry Birds Nails

2012-08-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

Those Pigs are so smug!

What I Used:

Red Acrylic Pain
Sally Hansen White - "Hard to Get"
Opi - "Black Onyx"
China Glaze - "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini"
Sally Hansen - Base and Top Coat
Fine Nail Art Brush
Dotting Tool

After applying your base coat, paint your pinky, middle and index fingers with a french manicure.

Next, paint a half-circle using red polish or acrylic paint on your thumb and ring fingers.

Add two red, curved lines on the top of the half-circle. One line should be longer than the other.
Also, paint a smaller white half-circle on top of the red half-circle.
You may need to paint a couple of coats of white to cover the red.
Make sure the red polish is completely dry before painting the white,
or else it'll bleed through and look messy.

Using a dotting tool, add two black dots for the eyes.
They should just barely connect to each other...and they should not touch the white polish.

Again using a dotting tool, add two white dots inside the black dots for the eyes.
You want the black to outline the whites of the eyes.

Using a fine nail art brush, add two lines for the angry eyebrows.

Add two very small dots to the inside corners of the eyes.
You want to connect the small, black dots to the eyebrows.

Last, add a yellow upside-down triangle for the beak of your angry bird...finish it off with a top coat to protect your masterpiece...and you're done! How cool are you now? Go get those smug pigs!

Hippie Tie-Dye Nails

2012-07-24T15:12:00.003-07:00

...groovy.

~~What I Used~~China Glaze: Boy Toy Blue, Kiwi Cool-Ada, Pool Party and Yellow Polka Dot Bikini~~Milani: Dreamy Creme ~~ Sally Hansen: Double Duty Base & Top Coat~~

The brighter the colors, the better this will turn out. Also, since you will use a lot of paint on each nail, fast-drying nail polish will work best. China Glaze is super fast-drying. :)

After applying your base coat, paint all of your nails with a thin coat of white. I used a pearly white.
This will allow the colors on top to dry brighter.

Add a thick drop of each color onto your nail.

Using a toothpick or dotting tool, quickly swirl the colors together making sure all of the white paint on your nail is covered. You may need to add more color to edges that aren't being filled in.
Play with the colors until you are happy with it, but paint drys fast so be swift! :)

Allow at least 10 minutes for your nails to dry before applying your top coat...and you're done! Far out!

Cookie Monster Nails

2012-07-11T15:38:00.002-07:00

ME WANT COOKIE!

What I Used -
China Glaze: Boy Toy Blue
Opi: Black Onyx
Sally Hansen: Hard to Get (white)
Sally Hansen: Honey Whip
Sally Hansen: Double Duty Base and Top Coat
Dark brown acrylic paint
Fine nail art brush
Dotting tools

After applying your base coat, paint the tips of your middle finger
and thumb nails 'cookie monster' blue.
Paint a half circle shape and make sure to cover all of the white part of your nails.

Using a dotting tool, add two large, black dots to represent the eyes.
The dots should slightly overlap each other...
and be half on top of the blue and half on top of your clear nail.

Add two white dots inside the black dots.
You want the black dots to outline the whites of the eyes.

Add two more small, black dots inside the white dots for the pupils.
They should not be straight.
Give your cookie monster wild-looking eyes.
Looking at a picture of him will help you see how his pupils are placed.

Next, draw a big, wide smile using a fine nail art brush and black polish or acrylic paint.
The smile should be wider than the eyes and should be in a half-circle shape.

On the other three nails, paint the tips the same as you did with the blue,
but with a tan color polish.
Make sure to cover all the white of your nails.

Last, using a dotting tool, add random dark brown dots to your cookies...
apply your top coat and you're done!
Nom, Nom, Nom....

Fourth of July Nails

2012-07-03T16:01:00.002-07:00

Happy Independence Day, USA!

What I Used:
China Glaze: Boy Toy Blue
Milani: White Canvas
Red Acrylic Paint
Dotting tools
Fine nail art brush

After applying your base coat, paint all of your nails white.

Paint two red stripes on each side of your nails.

Paint the tips of your nails blue.
You may want to use acrylic paint so the red doesn't bleed through.
If you don't have acrylic paint, re-paint the tips white, then paint the blue on top.

Using a dotting tool, add random white dots on top of the blue tips to represent the stars.
Apply your clear top coat...and you're done!

Cherry Blossom Nails (Arizona Tea-Inspired)

2012-06-23T11:55:00.002-07:00

What I Used:

Sally Hansen Double Duty Base and Top Coat
Opi: Black Onyx
China Glaze: Fuchsia Fanatic,
Dance Baby, Kinetic Candy
Fine nail art brush
Dotting tools

After allowing your base coat to dry, paint all of your nails with a light blue or green.
I used 'Kinetic Candy' from China Glaze.

Next, draw thin branches using black polish and a fine nail art brush.
Try to make each nail unique from the other.

Using a dotting tool, add 5 or 6 dark pink dots randomly on the branches.

Next, add 4 or 5 light pink dots to the branches.
You will want to overlap a couple of the dark pink dots with the light pink dots.

Last, add very small black lines (for the stamens) inside the light pink dots, apply your top coat and you're done!

Zipper Nails

2012-06-17T06:16:00.000-07:00

What I Used:

China Glaze: Gothic Lolita

and Sweet Hook

Milani: White Canvas

Sally Hanson: Double Duty

Base and Top Coat

Fine nail art brush

After applying your base coat, paint all of your nails light purple. You can use any light color you like.

Using a fine nail art brush and a darker color purple, paint thin lines in the shape of an acute triangle. Place them differently on each nail for effect.

Fill in the triangle and add two white dashes at the end of your triangle to begin the zipper.

Paint parallel white dashes all the way to the end of each side of the triangle.

Add a small, white, right-angle triangle between the two sides of the zipper, like above.

Last, add a rectangle connected to the small, white triangle.
Apply your top coat and you got zippers on your nails!

Pirate / Skull & Crossbone Nails

2012-06-14T16:21:00.003-07:00

What I Used:
Opi: Black Onyx
Milani: White Canvas

Red Acrylic Paint

(because the only polish color I

don't own happens to be the

most common nail polish color)

& a fine nail art brush

After applying your base coat, paint your thumb and ring finger black.

Paint the other three fingers using white nail polish. You will want to make jagged lines to look a lot like a cracked egg. Make sure you cover all of the white part of your nails with white polish.

On your two black fingernails, paint the head of the skull first with white polish. You can start by painting a circle and then add an oval to the bottom of the circle to represent the nose area. Next, paint a curved line under the head (without touching the head) to represent the jaw of your skull. Remember to allow as much space as possible to the bottom of your nail for the bones.

Paint two straight lines that intersect each other for the crossbones. Then add two small circles using a dotting tool to the ends of each line. You will want to overlap the two circles to get the bone-effect.

Using a dotting tool, add two black dots for the eyes and one smaller dot for the nose.

Now, back to the other three fingers. Using red polish or acrylic paint,
paint three red lines within the white you already painted on the tips of your nails.

Last (and this is the hardest part), outline the jagged edges with black for that clean look. Apply your clear top coat and you will have a great excuse to 'Arrrgh' all day at people. :)

Pink Floyd / Dark Side of the Moon Nails

2012-06-01T17:33:00.003-07:00

Far away across the field

The tolling of the iron bell

Calls the faithful to their knees

To hear the softly spoken magic spells.."

- Dark Side of the Moon

What I Used:

Very fine nail art brushes

Sally Hanson: Double Duty Top & Base Coat

Opi: Black Onyx

Milani: White Canvas

China Glaze: Fuchsia Fanatic, Sun Worshipper, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, Kiwi Cool-Ada, Kinetic Candy, Gothic Lolita

After applying your base coat, paint all of your nails black.

Paint a white triangle on your middle finger.

Next, paint a curved white line that moves towards your index finger.

On your index finger, paint a thin, white line with a slight downwards slant...towards your thumb.

In order to get the most out of the lighter colors in the rainbow, paint your nails white where you want the rainbow to be. You want them to look like they are connected (flowing together) as much as possible. You will need to do this on the middle, ring and pinky fingers (like the above picture). The white paint should increase in width from the triangle to the ring finger, to the pinky finger. It helps to look at the actual album cover to see how the rainbow gets wider the further it is from the triangle.

The hardest and most tedious part are the individual colors of the rainbow. You need the lines to be as thin and straight as possible. Practice on a piece of paper first. If you think you have a fine, nail art brush, you don't. It may help to cut some of the strands to make it even thinner. Start with red and work your way down the rainbow. Notice how the blue on the album cover is much lighter than the rest of the colors. ;) It makes a small difference.

After you get through rainbow hell, apply the top coat and you're finally done.
These nails are cool. Everyone will be impressed. :)

Panda Bear Nails

2012-05-25T14:40:00.001-07:00

"Panda nails are the coolest!"

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

What I Used:

Opi: Black Onyx

Milani: White Canvas

Dotting tools

These were super easy, because the dotting tools do all of the work. If you don't have dotting tools,

you can find things around the house to use

like a toothpick, the back of a pen...be creative. ;) If you would like to purchase a nice set, you only need to spend $5! You can find them at www.Amazon.com.

After applying your base coat, paint a half-circle on the tip of
your nails using white polish.

Using a big dotting tool, add two black dots where the white meets your natural colored nail. You don't want these to be too small.They will be the ears.

With the same dotting tool, add two black dots for the eyes...below the dots you made for the ears. They can almost be the same size,
but I think it looks better if the eyes are bigger than the ears.

With a smaller or thinner dotting tool, add one small, black dot for the nose...
below and in-between the eyes.

Next, add two small, white dots in the black eyes.

Add one more smaller dot to make the pupils of the eyes,
a top coat for shine, and that's it!
Make sure to practice dotting on a piece of paper before dotting your nails.
It'll save you a lot of frustration. Enjoy!

Watermelon Nails

2012-05-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the Summer!

What I Used:
Sally Hanson:
Double Duty Base and Top Coat
China Glaze:
Flip Flop Fantsy (pink)
Kiwi Cool-Ada (green)
Opi: Black Onyx
Milani: White Canvas
Fine nail art brush

After applying your base coat, paint all of your nails pink. I used three coats.
The brighter the color, the more coats you will need.

Next, paint the tips of your nails green.
For a brighter green, paint the tips white first, then green on top.

Using a fine nail art brush, paint a thin, white line between the pink and green.

Last, paint 3 or 4 small, black lines right below the white line to represent watermelon seeds.
Apply your top coat for shine and you're ready for the summer. ;)

These are very easy... Have fun!

Heart Garden Over Newspaper Nails

2012-05-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

~ <3 ~

What I Used:

Milani: Dreamy Creme (white)

China Glaze: Gothic Lolita (purple),

Fuschia Fanatic, Dance Baby (light pink)

Opi: Black Onyx

Rubbing Alcohol

Newspaper clippings

Fine Nail Art Brush

Before you begin, you will need to clip ten little pieces of newspaper that you want to use for your nails. Also, pour some rubbing

alcohol into a small glass.

After applying your base coat, paint all of your nails white. I used a white pearl color.
Make sure this coat is completely dry before continuing.

Dip your finger into the glass of alcohol for about 5-10 seconds.

Take a piece of newspaper clipping and press it hard onto your nail for about 10-15 seconds.
Make sure you press down on all sides and corners of your nail the best you can.

You will need to repeat this process for each nail.

Using some black polish and a very fine nail art brush,
paint long and short, curved lines ending at the edge of your nails.
The thinner they are, the better it looks.

I crossed some over for effect.

Using the purple and light pink polishes and a fine nail art brush,
paint very small hearts on your nails to represent the flowers on your stems.
I painted only two hearts on each finger and three on the thumbs.
I didn't want to hide the newspaper too much. :)

I added some darker pink in the middle of the light, pink hearts to make it pop out more.
Apply your final clear, top coat for shine and you're done! Enjoy! :)

Monarch Butterfly Nails

2012-05-03T08:56:00.004-07:00

MONARCH BUTTERFLY NAILS!

Give yourself wings!

What I Used:

China Glaze: Sun Worshiper (orange)

Opi: Black Onyx

Milan: White Canvas

Orly: Top Coat

Fine nail art brush

Dotting tool

After allowing your base coat to dry, paint all of your nails orange. I used three coats. The lighter and brighter the color, the more coats you will need.

Next, paint a slanted black tip at the bottom of your nails.

Use a fine nail art brush to paint on a black, curved line above the black slanted tip...as shown above.

Next, paint three thin lines from the curved line on top
to the black tip below it.
You will want to curve these three lines for the desired, wing affect.
Mistakes are okay. You can cover them up with wider, black lines later.

Outline the wing on the right side using black polish...
like the above thumb nail shows.
(Do not outline the left side of your nail. Only the right side.)
Also, on the bottom of those three lines, round the edges
where it meets the slanted, black tip.
You want them to look like the inside of a crescent moon.

Last, add white dots to the black slanted tip, using a dotting tool...
apply a top coat for shine...
and you've got beautiful, wing-tipped nails!

For weekly nail art designs, subscribe to my blog!

Converse Sneaker Nails

2012-04-30T15:27:00.000-07:00

An Ode to My

Purple Sneakers...

What I Used:

China Glaze:Gothic Lolita (purple)

Opi: Black Onyx

Sally Hansen: Pure Chrome

Milani Nail Art: White Canvas

Dotting tools

Fine paint brush

After allowing the base coat to dry, paint your whole nail with any dark color you choose.
You can paint them all different colors if you like.
I chose the traditional converse black and added some dark purple to match my shoes. ;)

Next, paint the tip of your nail with white.

Using a dotting tool and chrome polish, make six medium-sized dots on each nail.

This was the hardest part... Using a very fine nail art brush,
paint the shoe laces...connecting each dot.

Make small black dots inside the chrome dots with your dotting tool...
to give them a more detailed look.

Last, use that very fine nail art brush and black polish to paint a half-circle
connecting each side of the 'shoe' over the white-painted tip.
Apply your top coat and you're done. :) Sneaker Nails!

Black Cats on Pink French Nails

2012-04-21T12:49:00.001-07:00

This design is for all the cat-lovers. :)

I love them too!

These were definitely more difficult to do.. I plan to try painting the cats in a different way next time to make it more simple.

What I Used:

China Glaze-Dance Baby (Pink)
Milan-White
Opi- Onyx Black
Sally Hanson-Base & Top Coat
Acrylics-Light pink & Yellow
Fine nail art brush
Dotting tool

After applying your base coat, paint the tips of your nails pink - much like a french manicure. You can use any color you want, but try and keep it a lighter color so that the black cat will not be drowned out by the background.

Next, using a dotting tool and black paint,
add a large oval where the pink meets your natural nail.

Also using the dotting tool, add two small dots under the large oval to make the paws.

Use a fine nail art brush to add small, rounded triangles to the sides of the large oval,
which will become the cat's ears.

This is the hard part! Paint a black, squiggly tail between the two ears using a brush.
You can go over the edges with a dotting tool to
fix any mistakes and give it that smoother, clean look.

Paint two large, white dots for the eyes, a small dot underneath that for the nose
and dot a little bit of white in each ear.

Add two small dots for the pupils of the eyes.
The larger the pupils are, the cuter the cats look. :)

Paint a very light pink in the ears and some yellow for the nose.
Apply your top coat to make it look professional, and you're done!

(My cat tolerates me.) ;)

Daisy Nails

2012-04-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Spring is here and
the weather is gorgeous.

Time to show

off the season

with Spring Daisies!

What I used:

China Glaze Boy Toy Blue

Sally Hanson Base & Top Coat

White and mustard
yellow acrylics

Dotting tools

Fine nail art brush

You can use any color for the background of your flowers.

The fun part is putting your own twist on it. :)

After allowing your base coat to dry, paint all of your nails blue.
I used several coats.

Then, add medium size dots using a dotting tool and yellow acrylic paint. The dots will serve as the flower's center. I applied two dots to every nail except the pinky, where I only applied one.

Next, make four lines for the petals on each of the four sides of the
yellow circle using white acrylic paint and a fine nail art brush.
This will let you know how big your daisies will be.

Now paint more lines in between those four until you get the desired look.

Dot the middle again with the yellow acrylic paint and dotting tool,
so you get a clean-looking circle.

Last, add tiny dots randomly around the flowers,
apply your top coat and that's it!
Spring daisies at your fingertips. :) Enjoy!