GelaNails: February 2012

Monday, February 27, 2012

The Dotting Tool Pollock painting

My Entry for the Dotting Tool contest, that Chalkboard Nails is hosting, was inspired by this Jackson Pollock painting called Full Fathom Five:

Here are the polishes I used, L-R: Sally Hansen white tip, Santee Black, Zoya Cynthia, Zoya Dove, Sally Hansen Blue-Away & Santee Neon Orange.

The finished design...

For my base coat I used Sache Vite ridge filling base coat & for my top coat I used Sache Vite fast dry top coat. First I applied the base coat, followed by 1 coat of white, then I painted some random swipes of blue-away using the brush that came with the bottle. Next, using my dotting tool I dragged & pulled the various other colors so as to look like the dripping technique mastered by Pollock. For the finishing touch I topped it off with my Sache Vite top coat, here are pictures of the art step by step:

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Mom's English Roses

Inspired by my Mom

Roses were my Mom's favorite flower. Every time I smell one it reminds me of her. Painting roses makes me feel nostalgic, wishful & romantic. I had been wanting a dark green polish for so long & I finally found a beautiful one from Wet n Wild, unfortunately named Morbid. It only seemed right to make something that sounds like a depressing color into something romantic & beautiful. The color is just divine, & you will see, the roses turned out simply perfect & display the green beautifully.

English rose teacup inspiration

First I started with my CND sticky base coat that I've been using recently & really love, then I painted 2 coats of Wet n Wild Morbid & let dry for about 5min. I used FOLK ART metallic acrylic paints to paint the roses, leaves & dots, you can see in the picture bellow L-R: 493 Metallic Bright Red, 2484 Champagne, 2480 Royal Gold & 671 Metallic Peridot:

I also used a little finishing touch on the leaves with the Wet n Wild Morbid, to add a little more depth to the leaves, waited about 5min & finished with INM Out the Door top coat. Bellow is the finished look, I took a few different pictures to try & capture the color in different lights. (video tutorial coming as soon as I figure out how to edit, lol!)

As close to the "true color" as I could get

Hope ya'll have a lovely day, think of someone you love & smile!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentines Day!

When my nail snagged I had to come up with an alternate design as I had to cut all my nails short to match. Although disappointed at first I have done my nails many times before when they were this short & so thought it's kinda good that I can show my readers that even though you may have small nails you can still do something cute & pretty at any length. Anyways, I chose to do a simple polka dot heart using E.L.F. passion pink nail polish & some black & white acrylic paint that you can find in any art store. I like using acrylic paint especially when I'm in a hurry as it dries really fast & you don't have to wait before putting the top coat on so you can get out the door fast. This time I was in a bit of a hurry as I did this design in the morning before I went to work so it was really helpful using the paint & I was done in about 20min. I actually get most of my paint from walmart for about $2 for a 2 oz. bottle. The brand they carry is called FOLK ART, I used Wicker White & a black called Licorice. For the base coat I used CND Sticky base coat & INM Out the Door top coat. Here is the finished result....

Hope you are all having a lovely Valentines day, be happy & enjoy your special someone, or whomever it is that lights up your day today!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Did anyone see the grammy's last night? Well, in short Adele pretty much "cleaned house", she was so funny when she kept going up on stage to receive her awards, I think she was just so overwhelmed by all the love she was getting. But what really caught my eyes was her version of the Christian Louboutin nail design she was sporting...

What you couldn't see, was that she had matched her nails to her Louboutin Fifi crystal embellished pumps.

As soon as my nails grow out again, I'm going to try this style out, I think it's just so fashion forward, I've see it before but usually with black on top.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Snagged it...

...I'm so upset, my nails were so nice & long; but one nail got caught on a loose string while I was putting on my jeans this morning & snagged really low so now it's super short, like when I used to have super short nails...whaaa, i'm so bummed & right before Valentines too. I was so looking forward to try out this design I was envy'ing from Simply Rins blog @ http://www.rina-alcantara.com/ , I'll still do it, but it won't look quite the same as I pictured (insert tears here) oh poo!!! Of course, being as picky as I am, I had to cut all my nails short so they match otherwise I'll absolutely loose it.

Look how sad my nail looks...awwww!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Coming soon...

...a peek into my nail polish collection, nail art tutorial step-by-step, make-up tips, favorite beauty products, pet antics, news & views & so much more.

STAY TUNED!!!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Mavala miracle products saved my nails....

So back in the day, after I finally stopped biting my nails, I still had problems with actually growing them out. They would chip, split, top layers would peel off, they were soft & bendable, just so much trouble & I tried so many things. Some products sorta worked, others would fix one issue & cause another, some were just a bit of a hassle overall. Then I stumbled on a video on YouTube, I don't remember her channel right now, but I had watched her nail art tutorials many times but this time she was sharing how she got her nails so long & strong, the secret...Mavala Scientifique nail hardener. Immediately I had to try it, so I searched on eBay (I'm an ebay-aholic) WOW, this stuff was AMAZING!!! Saw results after 1 week, you only have to apply twice a week at the beginning of your usage & once a week after your nails have gotten better. Truly a miracle product that I would recommend to everybody. They also have a really good cuticle remover, cuticle growth cream & hand cream that I have already tried & loved, as well as other beauty products that I'm sure are very good. They got it right & if you have problems like I've mentioned above you should definitely get this!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Cats & Dogs & Hubby's, oh my...

Husband tag! This is my dear Hubby who puts up with my craziness every day, Thank you baby!

Maria, aka. Pumpkin

Marco

Marco & Maria, born in my house on Cinco de Maio, therefore the Latin names. Their mom was hit by a car while pregnant with them, luckily she survived & had these little angels, but being feral she eventually ran away. Since I was very involved with them since birth they think I am their mommy. Maria waits for me to come home every day & doesn't leave my side when I am home. Marco reserves a spot on my chest every night for bed time, Maria at my feet.

This is Hobbes, we rescued him from BARC. He is a "crazy psycho jungle cat". He loves to play fetch & tag with his Daddy, he thinks he's one of the dogs. BIG Daddy's boy!

Meet Bella le Poof. Our pretty mini princess, also a rescue from BARC, she's so tiny but don't let her size fool you, she can hang with the big boys any day.

PUMA, aka: the Fluffmeister, all cuddles & play makes this kitty ok...unless you are a dog, sorry, he just doesn't like dogs. But we're working on it.

Our Russian Blue: Manny, aka. CHUNK, aka. "Grey Feather". Wish I had a better picture that showed his beautiful green eyes, but he is always sleeping or barely awake. He loves to lay on your belly, but he's quite a big cat, that's why we gave him the Indian name "Grey Feather" cause he thinks he's light as a feather, lol.

Abigail, aka. ABBY: Daddy found her running in the middle of the freeway on his way to Austin, she was so tired & dirty. She is such an athlete, she can clear a 6 ft. fence, so we had to build an 8 ft. one. Don't even pretend there's a squirrel, she'll be half way up the tree looking for it. If you want to calm her down though, all you gotta do is rub the chest...what a sweetheart.

And last, but definitely not least if she has anything to say about it, we have "I'm so cute, I'm so pretty" ALLY. Somebody dumped her in the alley behind our house, some jerk's loss was our gain because she is just the sweetest thing. Always the center of attention, so sensitive & a big Daddy's girl.

Well, that's all I got for today...more to come soon!

Have a blessed day!

Nail art, old & new:

Hello people,

this is my very first post on my very first blog, I was never very good at keeping a diary but after much practice with Facebook I think I can keep this up...so lets see!

Today I'm going to share with you some pictures of my nail art over the last couple years, some is really old & some are newer, some are on friends hands & some are on mine, but just wanted to post some pictures so I can get used to how this blog works, lol. So bear with me here as I post some pics & excuse the quality as some of them were taken on my phone (an original iPhone that takes, not so good, pictures) Oh well, crossing fingers to get the new 4S soon!

My first attempt at an artsy floral, one that didn't include the simple 5 dot technique!

Second floral, it's supposed to be a Pansy.

"Movie/Nail" night with my friends.

4th of July

Abstract

teal & gold

Ok, i know, it's very fuzzy & faded, but if you look closely you can see a little pink ribbon, I called this design "Aware"

back when my nails were always so short

then they grew long & strong...this is my favorite Halloween, I copied from Misschevious on YouTube.

blue tips

one of my favorite things to do with different colors is one cheeta nail

1st crackle (see all the oil on my fingers, my fingers were a mess from biting...TG that is over!)

Little daisies

dark, standard 5 dot flowers

Happy Easter! I went to a company party & all the little girls were so jealous of my nails, reminded me of when I was a kid & jealous of all the pretty ladies nails.