GOT Polish - Barry M Yellow with dots

Hi Goddesses

I'm determined to do all of the GOT Polish challenge this time around, even if this week was the heinous YELLOW.  I probably only have 5 yellow polishes, all of them purchased purely for nail art.

Yellow manis really do make me shudder.  Don't get me wrong, on some skin tones (usually darker ones) they *can* look awesome, but I prefer yellow as an accent or as part of the whole.

So here we have one of my 2 staple yellows, Barry M Yellow (the other is OPI The It Color), dotted on a base of OPI MBSW and then matted.

And don't my nails look quite perfect and professional?  Yup, straight after this mani, I got a break lol.  Ya gotta laugh.  Back to nubsville :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Tri Polish Challenge - Red, Orange and Yellow - Splodged Dotticure!!

Hi Goddesses

I'm gutted that this is only my 2nd TPC this month as I had loads of ideas AND loved the colour combo.  Sadly, time has disappeared like sand through a sinkhole, and I've just not got round to it - I promise I'm going to come back to this theme though, the colours are just too juicy not to!

So, when I am asked what nail art I am particularly good at, if forced, I will say either dotticures or splodging.  Well, today's mani combines both of those elements!  It's also loosely inspired by Emily at The Lacquerologist.  Emily's go-to mani is a white background, some dabs of colour, and then something else on top.  Whilst this doesn't replicate any of her manis, she was definitely my starting point.

I started with a white base, and then lightly sponged on some ManGlaze Butt Taco.  Wow - this was so beautiful when applied thinly with the sponge.  I'd never seen it so thin before, and it was really mesmerising.  I know I say it a lot, but the complexity of some of the matte polishes out there is astounding.

I then added dots, firstly using piCture pOlish O'Hara.  I used a variety of dotters in different sizes.  You'll see I did a lot of dots in a round, rainbow arch shape.

After they were dry, I then went in with my yellow - Barry M - and again, added dots of differing sizes.

Overall, I LOVE this mani.  I love how bright it is, how it's a little in-you-face, and how it even looks like the print of some exotic animal.

However, I think it would have worked better with a different red and orange.   Although both polishes are gorgeous, they are both too close on the red-orange spectrum, and a brighter orange and a more ruby red would have probably produced a more dramatic mani.


Don't forget to check out everyone else! xx

Tri Polish Challenge - Rasta Nails

Hi Goddesses

I'd like to start with a massive, heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who left a comment on this blog or on Facebook last night.   Pumpkin was an amazing cat, and I am touched that so many of you shared your own stories and condolences.  Thank you.  It meant a lot to Beth too, and I am proud to know so many animal lovers :)

For some reason, today's nails make me absurdly happy.  Every time I look at them, I just grin :)

To be fair, this isn't my genius idea.  I was enraptured when I saw Jen from My Nail Polish Obsession post something very similar identical a few weeks ago, and just knew I had to give it a try.

The polishes are all Barry M - Blood Orange, Yellow and Emerald Green - and I smooshed them together in a gradient.

I love how I got a little bit of orange in places, and also how the shimmer bled into other parts of the mani.

My black and white glitter is Dollish Polish Putting On The Ritzzz.  I am forever in awe of how great these black and white glitters look over gradients.

So, happy nails for my happy-ish birthday (don't ask my age) - enjoy xx :)

Tri Polish Challenge - Roses

Hi Goddesses

I know, I know, enough with the roses lol.  Sorry.   It's Tri Polish time again, but as I broke my nail, I only got chance to do 2 manis.

I've used all Barry M polishes for these - Blood Orange, Yellow and Emerald Green - over a white w7 base.

The aim for these was to do 2 toned roses, specifically those pretty red and yellow ones.  Whilst not a *total* success, I do still like them, and they are a slightly different spin on the other ones I've done.

Tools were again a large dotting tool to get the rose shape, and then a fine art brush to do the petals and the leaves.

Enjoy xx :)

NEW31DC Day 30 - Your Favourite Nail Art Technique

Hi Goddesses

Oh I'm so sad that tomorrow's our last day!  I've really enjoyed this challenge and had so much fun with it, as well as being blown away by the manis the other ladies have posted.

I realised recently that splatter is probably my favourite art technique, as well as one of the ones I am best at.  It ALWAYS makes me smile and feel happy, and I also love the element of surprise it provides - you're never *quite* sure how it will turn out :)

This mani was born when I was prepping for Digit-al Dozen Art Week, and I was thinking of just using primary colours.  I'm not quite sure how that became a splatter, but this is undoubtedly one the most dramatic splatters I've ever created.

There's something about this mani that just POPS.  It's so bold and cheerful and brazen :)  wow it makes me happy just to look at it.

The base is my usual - OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls - and then I think I used Barry M red, blue and yellow for the primary colours.

Hope you like - tomorrow we go out in a blaze of - ooops! mustn't spoil the surprise!  xxx

NEW31DC - Inspired By A Game - Trivial Pursuit

Hi Goddesses

Today's mani is quite a complex one for me, and it's also the one that persuaded me that I needed to invest in some acrylic paints, but more on that later.

Inspired By A Game immediately made me think of 2 things - Twister, and Connect 4.   To be honest, they both seemed quite basic dotticures, and then quite by accident I thought of Trivial Pursuit.

I hit on the idea of doing each nail a different coloured cheese (where's the green? not here!) and then realised I was going to need to do chevrons.  I've done chevrons before.  I'm not awesome at them, but I'm ok.

But here lay the problem with this mani.  Ideally, you would want to do the cheese chevron on top of the blue base.  Except there is no way you would get your cheeses to pop colourwise.  So instead, I had to paint my nail the cheese colours (thanks Barry M) and then chevron (KIKO 335) around them - which as you can see, got a little messy.

I did these with nail tape and I am really annoyed I didn't remember til 2 days later that I had chevron shaped nail stickers which would have done a better job.  Grrrrrr.   So yes, I'm annoyed with the messy lines.  And this is what tipped me over the acrylics line - apparently they would have been opaque over the blue, so soon my lovely goddesses, we will have acrylic nail art adventures!

Green ?  Well, to be honest, green would have matched better thematically (and Barry M Spring Green would have been perfect) but when I play Triv, green is always the one I struggle with, so I thought the mani would be more real without the green, cos I rarely get that cheese ha ha.

On top, I did then some stamping courtesy of the marvellous MJ plates from Meann at My Online Shop.  They are full of quirky images.  Just to be clear, we have - 

- thumb - blue = geography = globe

- index - pink = entertainment = film (Superman)

- middle - orange = sport = checkered flag

- ring - yellow - history = leaning Tower of Pisa

- pinkie - brown = arts & literature = scroll and university hat thing

See, a lot of thought went into this !!!  Lol, tomorrow we have Inspired By Your Childhood and ANOTHER mani I ended up doing twice.

TTFN xx :)