Spongebob

So, I've been planning a Spongebob design for a while.
And in my head, it looked way better than this...

On the index finger I painted Spongebob's home sweet pineapple. On the middle finger, I attempted to paint Spongebob's face. (I am so bad at painting faces - see Mario and Ariel if you don't believe me! Ha!) So I messed up and just left the nail yellow. On the ring finger is a jellyfish and Gary is living on the pinkie finger. Finally, on the thumb, I painted a Krabby patty. 

This design is just awful but I decided to post anyways. I can't paint faces. Really.
And I should call the Krabby patty burnt because I don't have a light brown!! The only brown I have is so dark it looks black.. I have needed a light brown polish for YEARS and can never find the right one without glitter! So if you have one or find one, please let me know!!

FAIL.

Olympic Ending

The Olympics are over. 

I came up with this design for the top four countries. 

I painted each country's flag.

Index finger: USA 

YAY! We had the most medals!! 

We had 46 gold, 29 silver, and 29 bronze

 for 104 medals overall!

Middle finger: China 

China had 38 gold, 27 silver, and 23 bronze

 for 88 medals overall! 

Ring finger: Russia 

 Russia had 24 gold, 26 silver, and 32 bronze

 for 82 medals overall!

Pinkie finger: Great Britain

Great Britain had 29 gold, 17 silver, and 19 bronze 

for 65 medals overall!

Rhinestones

So, I don't use rhinestones that often. Mainly, because when I want to, I don't have many. The package of rhinestones I have came from Sally and they are Cina brand. It's a wheel of 250 stones that's $10.49! It looks like this:

Never again will I buy these rhinestones!! The plastic wheel doens't form a tight seal so eventually all the stones either fell out or were stuck under it. I went in Claire's the other day to get more of their 2-way nail art pens. Unfortunately, they were out of the color I wanted but the trip was a success anyways! I found their rhinestones and I bought them. I was super excited. It's a smaller wheel with 500 rhinestones for only $5.50!!!! Also, the Cina wheel only has round stones in a few colors. The one from Claire's had several different shapes in several different colors in addition to the round ones.

It looks like this:

 More stones! Smaller wheel! More shapes! Less money! YAY!
 

Super Mario

I have already painted Mario himself 

(with his face too big; click here if you haven't seen it) 

so I decided to do another Mario design including other things from the game.  

Far left: Question block
Left: Piranha plant. Yes, I forgot the white dots..
Center: Coins
Right: Mushroom
Far right: Goomba. Yes, I know he's supposed to be brown. I painted him with brown polish..I didn't realize it was a DARK brown polish :(
 

My brown polish dilemma strikes again!

Pac Man

 I bet everyone remembers playing PacMan at some point in their life. I know I do. 

But I wasn't a big fan; it made my heart race too much with those little things chasing me!

Left: PacMan himself.
Center/Right: those little ghost looking things that try to catch you!
Do they have a name? Anyone know what they're called? 

Big Bang Theory

Have you seen the Big Bang Theory? It's a show about two brilliant physicists, Leonard and Sheldon. None of that genius helps them interact with people, especially women. All this begins to change when a free-spirited beauty named Penny moves in next door. Also on the show is Leonard and Sheldon's two friends,  aerospace engineer Howard and astrophysicist Rajesh. 

I love this show and I have been trying to come up with a design for some time now. This is what I came up with. The lightning bolt seems a little off to me. This design is not one of my best.

VBS 2012

A few weeks ago, Aaron and I volunteered to help out at a local church during Vacation Bible School. The theme was "SKY: Everything is possible with God."  

Here is a picture of the logo.

This is what I came up with.  

Do You Know Your Nail Type?

I'm sure we have all had the frustration of spending time on our nails just for them to break or chip minutes after. Nails come in different types, just like skin and hair.. If you're not using products specific to your type, you could be damaging your nails instead of helping them. 

 

There are five nail types: dry, brittle, damaged, soft or normal.



*Dry Nails
Dry nails lack luster and look dull; plus, if you run your thumb over the nail, it will drag slightly instead of sliding cleanly across. The secret to treating dry nails is to rehydrate them – vitamin E is fantastic for this (just like it is on dry skin) so open vitamin capsule and rub it directly onto the nails morning and evening. It’ll also help if you always wear a moisturizing base coat to hydrate the nails 24/7 and prevent further drying by switching from soap to hand washes. Use a moisturizing acetone free nail polish remover. Finally, steer clear of pearly polish. The ingredients used to make them sparkly can be dehydrating.


*Brittle Nails
Gently press the sides of your nails together. Do they bend?

If your nail doesn’t bend, chances are you have brittle nails. These have no moisture left in them at all. Which also means they have no flexibility and shatter as soon as they bash on something. This causes most people to reach for the nail hardening products, but this is the worst thing you can do as it makes the nail even more rigid. It’s better to boost flexibility by oiling the nails nightly with almond oil instead. Use cuticle cream regularly! The shape of your nails will also add strength. The best is a squoval shape (where the sides of the nail are left straight and only the top is rounded), as this helps the nail absorb shocks better.


*Damaged Nails
Look closely at the surface of your nails. If your nails are flaking or splitting, you have damaged nails. These are most commonly caused by severe dehydration. Acrylic nails can be a culprit. Help them with a treatment base coat to heal the nail, but make sure that, as you apply it, you stipple it into any flaky spots (just like you would cover peeling paint). This will prevent air bubbles forming under the polish and stop flaking – which is important, as flaking polish takes nail cells with it, increasing damage. You also need to ensure that the cells that grow through next time are strong and healthy, so use cuticle oil twice daily; if the cuticle is supple, the new cells can push through more easily so they arrive at the nail bed in the best of health. Avoid having nails polished continuously; remove polish and leave it off occasionally to allow your nails to breathe. Drink more water.


*Soft Nails
If your nails bend at the slightest touch and rarely grow past your fingertip you’ve got soft nails. To get them back into shape, you need to harden them up. The simple way to do this is to apply a nail hardener. Certain base coats (and even some colored nail polish) contain hardeners  In fact, any oil will help strengthen soft nails as it keeps out their main enemy, water, which softens them even further. Always wear gloves when you’re washing dishes and cleaning and apply hand cream often.


*Normal Nails
If you have none of the above problems – your nails bend slightly when pressed, look pink and shiny and will grow easily – you’re lucky, you naturally have normal nails. Try to keep them that way by moisturizing them regularly with hand creams, and avoiding harsh detergents and overly hot water.

Chick Fil A

Chick Fil A founder recently announced his support fir traditional marriage and that Chick Fil A, as a family owned and operated company, doesn't support gay marriage. Mike Huckabee declared August 1st to be Chick Fil A Appreciation Day. I support Chick Fil A and everything they stand for. I think it's great that we have a company like Chick Fil A to take a stand/make a public statement for what they believe is right. I definitely went to Chick Fil A on August 1. It was packed!! From what I heard, the restaurant was packed all day long!

 Here is a picture of the blob of people crowded in front of the counter.

I painted this design in honor of Chick Fil A Appreciation Day. 

It's the Chick Fil A  logo and a cow print nail.

Eat More Chickin!

HOW TO: Give Yourself a Manicure

Have you ever wanted a manicure without dealing with a salon? I can show you how to give yourself a manicure at home, which is less hassle and cheaper than going to a salon.

You will need:

Nail polish remover

Cotton balls

Nail Clippers

Nail File
Big Bowl

Warm Water

Few drops of lemon juice or oil
Cuticle Cream

Orangewood Stick

Lotion

Base Coat

Nail Polish

Top Coat

*Clean

First, you must remove any  polish already on your nails. Even if you don't have any polish on your nails, give them a swipe with remover anyways to get rid of any oils that could be on your nails.

*Shape

Use nail clippers and a file to shape your nails. The best way is to cut straight across to the length you want and then use a file to shape the edges. Make sure not to file back and forth; move only in one direction.

*Soak

Fill a big bowl with warm water and add some drops of lemon juice. The citric acid will whiten your nails and the warm water will soften your cuticles. If you don't need whiter nails, instead of lemon juice, use a few drops of oil. For more info on how to whiten your nails, click here. Soak for about 5 minutes and then dry.

*Cuticle Cream/Oil

Massage cuticle cream or oil into each nail bed. If you don't have one, you can use olive oil or vaseline.

*Push Cuticles Back

Use the tip of an orange wood stick to gently push back all your cuticles. Your cuticles should be softened by now and will move easily. Don't cut them!! It's too easy to clip too much or too close, which can lead to pain, bleeding, and even infection! The orange wood stick is also great for cleaning under the nail.

*Lotion

Apply lotion all over your hands and wrists. Move in small circles to increase blood flow. 

*Base Coat

Wipe the lotion off the nail surface of each nail. If they still feel greasy or look shiny, you could wash them and give them a quick swipe of nail polish remover. Any oil or greasy spots will keep the polish from sticking to the nail and can lead to chipping sooner! Apply a base coat (not too thick!). A base coat will protect your nail from staining and create a smooth surface for your color polish, helping it last longer. In a pinch or if you don't have a base coat, you can use clear nail polish. My favorite is Beauty Secrets base coat. I also like using ones with nail hardeners. 

*Color

After base coat has fully dried (5-7 minutes) you're ready for color! Starting in the center of each nail, apply your color polish in a thin coat using three even strokes. After about three minutes, apply a second coat. Wait longer than that for thicker polish. Take care to wipe excess nail polish off of the brush to avoid an unfortunate ‘blob’ situation, and allow a full ten minutes or so for the paint to dry to avoid smudging. Don’t give in to the temptation to get up and start doing things with your hands. For some polishes, three coats may be needed to look opaque, drying completely between coats. If you get polish on your skin, dip the orange wood stick or a Q tip in remover to clean it up.   

*Top Coat

When your nails are fully dry to the touch, seal them nails with a top coat. This will help prevent chips and will make the color last longer. 

I hope this post has shown you that you don't have to go to a salon and pay to be pampered. It's easy to do at home and several of these things you probably already have around the house. If you don't, a quick trip to Walmart will fix that and it will be cheap too!

Angry Birds

Finally, the inevitable design.

I painted Angry Birds, perhaps the most downloaded app of all time. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you must live under a rock. Recently, society has exploded with Angry Birds merchandise. The whole point of the game is to dish out revenge on the green pigs who have taken the birds' eggs. Each bird does a different thing when launched. If you haven't played this game, I highly recommend it. Angry Birds is an all-around great game.

Summer Olympics 2012

The 2012 London Summer Olympics have begun!

I painted the Olympic torch.

I also painted a gold medal.with my favorite team.

On the other fingers, I painted the symbol for my three favorite sports to watch.

Far Left: Volleyball

Left: Torch

Center: Gymnastics

Right: Gold Medal and "USA" 

Far Right: Diving