Leopard Spots

Handpainted leopard spots and a leopard face. I rather love how this turned out!

Supplies:

OPI Alpine Snow

China Glaze Gold Fusion

Black Acrylic Paint

Black striping tape

Foil gel and gold foil

Gold studs

Day 15: All I Need to Know

 I was stuck on what I should do for the 'Book' theme until I remembered this cute little book. It was just too perfect to not try to recreate!

 I began with China Glaze White on White, then let it dry completely. I then used a small brush and red acrylic paint to put in the lettering for the title. I tried to copy the off-kilter style of the text as best I could! I thought about doing all of the title on just one nail but realized it would look cramped and probably illegible at any distance.

 I chose three of my favorite cartoony cat faces and used black acrylic paint to doodle them in. I then filled in the collars and flower with acrylic paint as well.

 I loaded up a brush with a touch of Sinful Colors Jolt and quite a bit of acetone to create the blue watercolor-like effect. I like this style a lot, it's so lighthearted and fun!

Colors Used:

China Glaze White on White

Sinful Colors Jolt

Three Little Kittens

 Time for some cute kittens! I decided to go all out and paint the cover to one of my childhood favorites, The Three Little Kittens.

 I started with a layer of Morgan Taylor Ahead of the Game over a coat of OPI Alpine Snow, since I didn't feel like doing three coats of yellow to get it bright. However, this yellow was surprisingly easy to work with!  My index and pinkie nails were then painted with Morgan Taylor Varsity Jacket Blues. I then started with the white cat on my middle nail. Her fur is OPI Alpine Snow, shaded with a combo of Varsity Jacket Blues and very watered down China Glaze Liquid Leather. Her dress was done with OPI Where Did Suzi's Man Go? and Sinful Colors Feel the Vibe. 

 The black cat was colored with more Liquid Leather tipped with Alpine Snow, and her dress was done in the slightly darker Morgan Taylor Doo Wop, shaded with watered down Sephora by OPI Metro Chic and with heart-shaped dots of the same color. Ears on all three cats were done using Where Did Suzi's Man Go mixed with Alpine Snow to make an orangey-pinky color.

The wash bucket between the white and black cats is a combination of Metro Chic and Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day, filled with bubbles in Alpine Snow and Varsity Jacket Blues. 

The tabby cat is a mix of Doo Wop, subtle touches of watered down Where Did Suzi's Man Go, Metro Chic, and Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day. He wears a shirt of SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality and pants of Liquid Leather.

On my index and pinkie nails, I used striping tape to cordon off a section, then filled it with Ahead of the Game. I then added mittens using Flower Good Bud-Dy, OPI Where Did Suzi's Man Go, and Spa Ritual Dreams Becoming Reality.

Colors Used:

Morgan Taylor Ahead of the Game

OPI Alpine Snow

Morgan Taylor Varsity Jacket Blues

OPI Where Did Suzi's Man Go?

Sinful Colors Feel the Vibe

Morgan Taylor Doo Wop

SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality

Flower Good Bud-Dy

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic

Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day

China Glaze Liquid Leather

Itty Bitty Kitties

 Well, I'm not the best at trying to make cute cartoons on my own - every time I try it never turns out as cutesy as I hope since my instincts run toward realism. Case in point, I think I did too much shading/texture on these and they lose some of the cartoony feel. They're not based on anything, just did some preliminary sketches until I had a layout I liked, and went from there! Of course I had to include an orange kitten to represent my Sam-kitty.

 Since I was going to be going crazy with colors I decided to try this on top of a neutral base. I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Stocking Nude. When that dried it was time to start doodling some kittens! I started with my thumb nail, which ended up being a black and white cat playing with a ball of yarn. I blocked out his general shape in Wet n Wild Black Creme. His muzzle, paws, and tail tip were done in Wet n Wild French White Creme. The yarn ball was a combination of China Glaze Life Preserver and Sinful Colors Poudre. That same color pair was used to give him his nose and his paw pads. I did his eyes with Color Club Twiggie and a touch of Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, and of course using the Wet n Wild black and white polishes for pupils and highlights.

 For my index finger I decided to do a siamese kitten. Her fur was an amalgamation of Nicole by OPI Others Pale by Kim-parison, Sinful Colors Coffee, and Sally Hansen Stocking Nude. Her eye was colored with NYC Blue Rush (and a touch of black and white).

My middle nail is a gray tabby. His fur is ORLY Mirror Mirror striped in more Wet n Wild Black Creme. His eyes are China Glaze Life Preserver.

Sam the orange fuzzy kitten got to sit on my ring nail. I repeated the use of China Glaze Life Preserver and Sinful Colors Poudre, with a hint of Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow for his fur. White muzzle and chest was added with Wet n Wild French White Creme. Hints of stripes were done in watered-down Sinful Colors Coffee.

Last but not least, the leaping calico kitten is a patchwork of polishes previously mentioned! She also has heterochromatic eyes, because it's cute.

 I then outlined each kitten with a thin line of white to help them pop out a bit more. And just because I think butterflies are cute with kitties, I added a blue sparkly butterfly to each nail. First, I roughed in the shape with black, then filled in with ORLY Sweet Peacock and dotted each wingtip with small white dots.

 For my dominant hand, I decided to be silly! I can't replicate the detailed kittens, but I can do minimalistic kittens. They're the same base color, with tips done in Wet n Wild French White Creme and lined with ORLY Sweet Peacock.

 I then used a small brush to rough in the shape of the butterflies, and then I worked in the general shape of the kittens. They're reeeeeally minimalistic, but it's fun in its own way.

 Colors Used:

Sally Hansen Stocking Nude

Wet n Wild Black Creme

Wet n Wild French White Creme

China Glaze Life Preserver  

Sinful Colors Poudre

 Color Club Twiggie

Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow

Nicole by OPI Others Pale by Kim-parison

Sinful Colors Coffee

NYC Blue Rush

ORLY Mirror Mirror

ORLY Sweet Peacock

Kit-Yin Yang

 So I decided to play with a yin-yang challenge by featuring a black and white cat curled together. It maybe isn't as clear as a yin yang symbol, but it was interesting to try to make it work! I thought about making a yin yang on each nail, but didn't want it to look too confusing. Instead, I kept the other fingers simple and fun!

 I started by painting my fingers semi-alternating in OPI Alpine Snow and Wet n Wild Black Creme. It's only 'semi' due to the ring nail being apart from the pattern. I then added on alternating tips in black and white to each nail. For this step I switched to ORLY White Tips as it's a little thicker and shows up over the black in one layer. Lastly, I topped each of those nails with Icing Milky Way, which is my favorite black and white splatter polish.

 For the kitties I used a thin brush and Wet n Wild Black Creme/ ORLY White Tips to draw in the kitty faces. Even my dominant hand turned out recognizable!

 Colors Used:

OPI Alpine Snow

Wet n Wild Black Creme

ORLY White Tips

Icing Milky Way

Paws and Pets

 Continuing with nails matching my scrubs! This time I chose scrubs with cute cartoon animals and tried to recreate them as best I could! Photo with scrubs is at the bottom of the page.

 I began with a base of Sinful Colors New Wave. Next, I used a black marker to sketch out the animals, then filled them in with two or three layers of OPI Alpine Snow. I used a dotting tool to add little pawprints in more Alpine Snow. I also included the folded leash on my pinkie and thumb. The leash was done with Sinful Colors Rain Storm, which is a slightly lighter shade, and outlined in black marker.

 After the polish was dry, I went back with the black marker to add the details to the little cartoon critters. At the very end, I mattified everything. It ended up matching nicely!

Colors Used:

Sinful Colors New Wave

OPI Alpine Snow

Sinful Colors Rain Storm

Witchy Wednesday

 Continuing with the challenges my friends and I set for ourselves, this week is all about witches! I wish I had time to do more nail art this month, but I think this turned out rather fun!

 I first put down a few coats of Sinful Colors Glow In the Dark. Yep, they glow! I could not get a good photo of the glow effect, but it's awesome in person. Next, I did my nail tips in alternating SpaRitual Shoot For the Stars and Spoiled Permission to Proceed.

 I then loosely drew on witch hats and the kitty using a Sally Hansen nail art pen in black. I filled in those sketches with a small brush and some Wet n Wild Black Creme. I added orange belts to the hats with Essie Fear or Desire. Belt buckles and the kitty's eyes were done with SpaRitual Enlightened Soul. I outlined the cat with Salon Perfect Nail Art Orange Flame. I love this nail art polish - the shorter detail brush is wonderful, and the lines are bright on the first application!

I used a dotting tool to add the bodies for the dangling spiders using Wet n Wild Black Creme, then drew their legs on with a toothpick and the same polish. I added dots of purple and green to each spider for some subtle matching. The spiderweb was added with KISS Nail Art Silver Glitter.

Colors Used:

Sinful Colors Glow In the Dark

Wet n Wild Black Creme

SpaRitual Shoot For the Stars

 Spoiled Permission to Proceed

 Essie Fear or Desire

SpaRitual Enlightened Soul

Salon Perfect Nail Art Orange Flame

KISS Nail Art Silver Glitter

Colorful Kitties

 I work at a veterinary clinic, and when I first started doing nail art I had fun trying to make nails matching the patterns of my work scrubs. Since it really has been about a year since I started doing nail art, I wanted to revisit that idea again! I actually did do matching nails to this same top before, but this time I wanted to do a more literal interpretation of the kitties.

 Rather than painting directly onto the nails, I wanted to rise to the challenge of trying to make decals. I also did this early in my nail polish experimentation to make some leaves last fall. I started by laying down two coats of LA Colors Basecoat/Topcoat in small blobs on a sandwich bag. I let that dry for about two hours. Then, using a variety of colors, I painted small stars and the kitties! I painted my nails with Sinful Colors Black on Black.

 The stars were done in Sinful Colors Jolt, Spoiled Correction Tape, and Color Club Twiggie. The cats were a full rainbow of colors!
Yellow cat: SpaRitual Enlightened Soul, tail and paws in Sally Hansen Orange Impulse, belly in Spoiled Correction Tape, stripes in Sinful Colors Black on Black.
Blue Cat: Wet n Wild Teal Slowly and See, Sinful Colors Jolt,  Spoiled Correction Tape.
Pink Cat: CQ Pink, Color Club Blushing Rose, and an unnamed magenta Color Zone polish
Purple Cat: Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac, Color Club Pucci-licious, Spoiled Correction Tape
Orange Cat: Sally Hansen Orange Impulse, Sinful Colors Gogo Girl, SpaRitual Enlightened Soul

Eyes were added using  my smallest dotting tool and Spoiled Correction tape. I then added noses in Sinful Colors Black on Black with the same tool, followed by adding pupils with the tip of a needle. After the decals were fully dry I peeled them off the sandwich bag and stuck them on my nails. One coat of Seche Vite later, and the edges of the decals aren't visible! Unfortunately, the shine made it really hard to take good photos. I mattified slightly with the Fantasy Makers Glow in the Dark polish to see if that would help.

Colors Used;

Sinful Colors Black on Black

 Spoiled Correction Tape

Sinful Colors Jolt

Color Club Twiggie

SpaRitual Enlightened Soul

Sally Hansen Orange Impulse

Wet n Wild Teal Slowly and See

CQ Pink

 Color Club Blushing Rose

  Color Zone Magenta

 Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac

 Color Club Pucci-licious

Sinful Colors Gogo Girl

 

Day 22: Inspired by a Pet - Sam's Shenanigans

 

You know, I need to stop doing nail art inspired by my cat Sam. But he keeps sneaking onto my nails again and again and again! Maybe it's because he's always trying to interrupt my nail painting. I only painted Sam on my left hand due to time, but I still had fun stringing up my right hand!

 I started out with a base of Barielle A Bouquet for Ava, which is a smidge more teal than my camera shows. It also apaprently stains nails slightly even through a basecoat, which I only discovered after the fact. I still love the color!

 I then painted Sam on my nails first in CQ Honey, followed by shading in Sinful Colors Anchors Away. His white muzzle and belly were done in Sinful Colors Snow Me White. Tabby markings were added with ColorMates Mudd.

 To add the thread, I first put on a coat of a slightly slower drying topcoat (Sally Hansen Ultimate Shield), and waited a few moments until it was only slightly tacky - just enough to stick and hold onto the thread. I didn't worry to much about fingerprints. Once that was mostly in place, I added a generous amount of Seche Vite.

Colors Used:

Barielle A Bouquet for Ava

 CQ Honey

 Sinful Colors Anchors Away

 Sinful Colors Snow Me White

 ColorMates Mudd