40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Film - 84, Charing Cross Road

Collaboration Polish

Today I have a bit of nail art for you, along with several other nail artists in the links below, and we're all doing manicures based on a film!

84, Charing Cross Road is one of my favorite books AND one of my favorite movies. I liked it so much I did a collaboration polish called 84, Charing Cross Road with Amy at Literary Lacquers!

84, Charing Cross Road

In the world of books, especially 40's era stories, which is where 84 Charing Cross Road begins, it's a sepia-toned world, much like the pages of the old tomes central to the story of Frank and Helene. The sparkling rainbow, subtle in the shade, bursts forth in the sun, like the characters of Frank and Helene bursting forth from the un-earmarked pages of 84 Charing Cross Road. For anyone who loves books, they already know this is true for all of the stories and characters and worlds that lie within the sepia-toned pages of those leather-bound treasures. The same can be said for a well made, well acted movie.

You can see more swatches of the polish by itself in my original post here.

If you haven't seen it and you love books, or Anthony Hopkins, I HIGHLY recommend you make a point to see it.  Likewise, if you don't have this polish, you definitely need it!


Please check the links below to see all the other great film-inspired nail art!

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An InLinkz Link-up

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40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Cartoons!

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Happy Saturday! Not only am I a day late posting my cartoon nails, I'm also a great big ol' CHEATER!  Because of Thanksgiving, because I'm Queen Procrastinator Extraordinaire, because I'm forgetful and lastly, because I have a migraine today, I didn't create a new nail art look for this week.

Instead, I'm going to show you 17 of the many "cartoonish" nails I've done in the past. You can head over to my Nail Art Pinterest Board for more manis and for links to the original blog posts. But first, check these out and all the great manis in the links below from the rest of our Crumpet's Crew!

More after the jump!

The Digit-al Dozen Does Autumn Day 4: Falling Leaves

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The Digital Dozen Does Autumn

Falling Leaves

Hi guys! Day 4 already? We just started! Today I have a sort of "abstracted" version of falling leaves done with simple dots.

I started with a simple gradient and as has been the issue all week, I really don't remember what I used. "Oh I don't need to write this down, I'll remember!" Um...yeah maybe when I was in my 20s. The base for sure is Elevation Polish Mount Ventoux and the tips are Zoya. Then I used acrylic paints to create the rest - just simple dots for the falling "leaves."

Be sure to check the links below for the other great Autumn manis!

An InLinkz Link-up

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Autumn: Autumnal Drybrush

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The Digital Dozen

Autumnal Drybrush

Happy Wednesday! It's day three of the Digit-al Dozen Autumn week and I have a really easy dry brush anyone can do!

Just pic 3 shades that say AUTUMN to you and have fun!

I honestly wish I hadn't gotten suddenly all cleany and organizy and stuff and, you know, put things back where they belonged. *faint* I'm not sure what got into me. But I honestly have no idea which polishes I used for this mani. I know the base and the green were both Zoyas and the black was Wet n Wild Wildshine Black Creme. Really though, this technique is so easy and will work with any shades you pick out.



A better look...

And you know I had to matte it. Because MATTE!

Be sure to check out what the other Digital Dozen members have for you today in the links below!

An InLinkz Link-up

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40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Hobbies - Art

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Happy Friday!

Today begins a new nail art challenge for me with Crumpet's Nail Tarts. Every other week I'll have a mani for you with a specific theme and so will AT LEAST 40 other nail artists! You will be able to check them all out in the links at the bottom. Need inspiration? We've gotcha covered!

Today's theme is Hobbies. I have a lot of hobbies but none has been more of a life-saver or sanity-saver than painting has been for me so that's the direction I took.

I used a base of Elevation Polish Mount Ventoux. Typically yellow hates me, but this is the best one I've found for my skin tone (it still doesn't love me but it doesn't give me zombie hands like most) and I've actually used it so much for nail art and various things that I've had to order my second bottle of it. The rest was done with acrylic paints. It's really not as bright as it's reading here - it's a soft, buttery yellow.

After I lost my husband to cancer I started painting to keep from losing my mind and it's done the job for me. A relaxing, creative outlet.

One of my favorite quotes is: "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." - Pablo Picasso

So I added it over one of my paintings as my everyday FB cover photo:

It's one of the few paintings I've done that's not more abstract. And Now that I have it uploaded here, I'm seeing that it's a really bad photo of it with all the glare.

Next hobby if I ever get the time? Photography because it's SO not my forté and I am quite interested. It just seems so complicated and overwhelming.

What are your hobbies? What keeps you sane?

Be sure to check out all the other manis in the links below - more will be added all throughout the day!

Happy Painting!

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Indie Inlinkz: Favorite Fall Color

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Indie Inlinkz

Favorite Fall Color

Hi all! Once a month several bloggers get together to show our support for indie polish makers, discuss our favorite colors, basically all topics. And at the bottom, you will see a link-up where you can click on all the participating bloggers' posts. Today we have for you our Favorite Fall Color.

As usual, I never have a definitive answer about anything aesthetic. If you tell me "pick one" I will have a reason to choose at least 2 and sometimes more.

Mostly, I'd say my favorite colors for Fall are browns. So I've done this "amended" freehand argyle for you.

Of course I applied a matte top coat. I rarely do that with plain polish, but I gravitate toward it for nail art and unless it's the glare when photographing it or it covers little mistakes, I have no idea why.

Here it is shiny...

But I suppose if you were asking about my favorite indie polish for Fall? It would probably be Elevation Polish The Arches 2. It's not red, it's not orange, it's not brown. It's just...well, FALL!

What is YOUR favorite shade for Fall?

Be sure and check the links below!

#indieinlinkz #supportindies

An InLinkz Link-up

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The Digital Dozen Does Re-Creations: Stormy Weather by Ashley

Nothing to Disclose

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The Digital Dozen Does Re-Creations!

Stormy Weather by Ashley

Today begins re-creations week at the Digit-al Dozen. We are re-creating manis from past Digit-al Dozen prompts that inspired us. My first one is Stormy Weather, inspired by Ashley over at Ashley is PolishAddicted! (Click the link to see her original post/mani!)

This mani is actually an Extend-a-Mani as well! For this mani I used Orly Decoded as my base -Because that's what I was already wearing. I did a quick gradient with Salon Perfect Sugar Cube and used acrylic paints for the lightning.

Even for re-creation manis I tend not to try to copy exactly but rather do my own take on it. I loved how it turned out!

Please check out all the other re-creation manis in the links below!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Digital Dozen Does Food: Always Take a Banana to a Party - Day 1

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The Digital Dozen Does Food

Always Take a Banana to a Party!

I've missed a few months of The Digit-al Dozen, my FAVORITE themes, too, which was a bummer. And I'll admit I was NOT excited about the food theme. So to make it fun, I'm starting out Day One with a "fandom" mani AND food. Cheating? I think not.

Okay, so I'm a bit out of practice. But still fun!

I used Zoya Ana from the Naturel Satin Collection as my base (sent to me for review) and acrylic paints for the lettering and the banana. The keyring is from First Sunday Handmade (purchased by me).

Please check the other great manis in the links below!

An InLinkz Link-up

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Nature: Day 5 Grey and Yellow Floral

Press Sample &

Purchased by Me

Day 5 brings my last Nature mani, a grey and yellow floral. This is also where I also show the ones that didn't make the cut for the week.

Grey and Yellow Floral

For this mani I used Barry M Grey #293 (purchased by me) and acrylic paints in just a random pattern with dots.

And the ones that didn't make the cut...

Gradient with Palms...

For this one I used Zoya Eden (for review) and Barry M Grey #293 (purchased by me) for the gradient and acrylic black paint for the palms.


And a really bad attempt at leopard!

Again, I used Zoya Eden (for review) and Barry M Grey #293 (purchased by me) and acrylic black paint. Can you guess which polishes were within my reach? Yeah I would have had to haul my lazy butt out of my chair to get others LOL!

Be sure and check out the other creations by the rest of the Digit-al Dozen gang in the links below and we will see you next month!

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An InLinkz Link-up

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Nature: Day 4 - Wood and Ivy Nail Art

Nothing to Disclose

Today is Day 4 of Nature Week here at The Digit-al Dozen and for today I have a wood and ivy mani for you.

For this one I used Elevation Polish Temperance and Tette (purchased by me) along with acrylics to create the wood and ivy look. I finished up with one coat of Zoya Matte Velvet Top Coat (purchased by me).

And the before-matte (and before clean-up) shot...

Check back every day this week for a new Nature mani and be sure to check the links below for all the other creations by the Digit-al Dozen gang!

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Nature - Day 1 Whale Tail Nail Art

Nothing to Disclose

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It's DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK again! The theme this time is "Nature" - which basically could be anything. I don't know about you, but when I'm "spoiled for choice" as they say, it almost seems harder to narrow things down.

I'm not sure why, but the first thing that popped into my head was a whale tail so I gave it a shot.

I used a base of Sinful Colors Snow Me White and acrylic paints for this one.

Check back every day this week for a new Nature mani and be sure to check the links below for all the other creations by the Digit-al Dozen gang!

♥

An InLinkz Link-up

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13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge:Something You've Never Tried - Negative Space Mosaic

Nothing to Disclose

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Today is the last day of the 13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge. It's just a shortened version of Crumpet's Nail Tarts January 31 Day Challenge for those of us too busy for the full one. I quite enjoyed posting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays throughout January instead of the more strenuous every single day posting.

13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge

The prompt for the last day is "Something You've Never Tried" so I went with Negative Space. I'm not a fan of them on myself because my nails are too yellow naturally. Add in the extra staining from swatching all the time and it ain't pretty.  They're less stained near my cuticle so that's where I've placed the "negative space."

I did lay down a base coat first, and then I used Kiko 339 for the blue and just free-handed the frame and "mosaic" lines. Probably not a technique I'll be trying again - I'll just admire them from afar. But I had fun with it!


Be sure to check out the other great manis from the other nail artists in the links below!

An InLinkz Link-up

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13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge: Recreate Your Old Mani - Simple Dotticure

Nothing to Disclose 

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Today we continue the 13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge. It's just a shortened version of Crumpet's Nail Tarts January 31 Day Challenge for those of us too busy for the full one. We will be posting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays throughout January.

 

13 DAYS OF JANUARY NAIL ART CHALLENGE

This prompt is "Recreate Your Old Mani" and since this simple dotticure is oddly one of my most popular manicures and since it's well...simple, I ran with it! I'm not sure why, after over 2 years it's still one of the most popular ones unless it's because it IS simple. And it's using 2 drugstore brands.

For this mani I used Sinful Colors 24/7 and Milani Hipster Plum. Without top coat above.

And with top coat below...

The original was my birthday mani from 2012 and I used Sinful Colors Neon Fusion, which I couldn't locate quickly, hence the 24/7. I even tried to use the same pose!

Side-by-side...

Be sure to check out the other great manis from the other nail artists in the links below!

♥

An InLinkz Link-up

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13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge: Complement and Contrast

Post contains items sent for review
and items purchased by me

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Today we continue the 13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge. It's just a shortened version of Crumpet's Nail Tarts January 31 Day Challenge for those of us too busy for the full one. We will be posting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays throughout January.

13 DAYS OF JANUARY NAIL ART CHALLENGE

This prompt is "Complement and Contrast." LOL I hope I interpreted this theme right. I chose two complementary colors, which naturally contrast anyway and then added further contrast with black and white.

For this I put down a plain white creme base, used Nail Vinyls Lightning Bolt vinyls (sent for review) and then did a gradient with Barry M Guava, Pipe Dream Polish VIP Pass and plain black creme.


Be sure to check out the other great manis from the other nail artists in the links below!

♥

An InLinkz Link-up

*Nail Vinyls Lightning Bolt vinyls were sent for review

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13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge: Blobbicure

Press Samples/Purchased Polishes

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It's me again, Margaret! Are you tired of me yet today?

Today we continue the 13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge. It's just a shortened version of Crumpet's Nail Tarts January 31 Day Challenge for those of us too busy for the full one. We will be posting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays throughout January.

13 DAYS OF JANUARY NAIL ART CHALLENGE

This prompt is Blobbicure. Okay so I will admit that I actually had NO idea what a blobbicure was. I actually got it mixed up with another of Debbie's "mani names" - "splodging" (which is what I call a sponge mani.)

So I did THIS first...

I used a plain white base with a variety of polishes and for the life of me I can't remember what all of them were. The ones I remember are Elevation Polish Mount Ventoux (yellow) (sent for review) and Pipe Dream Polish VIP Pass (violet purple) (purchased by me) - there are some acrylics mixed in and the blue was a Nails Inc. Polish. I used a triangular makeup sponge to create the effect.

And then I was informed that it is NOT a "blobbicure." Okay FINE. What is a blobbicure? So I was pointed toward a few examples and I gave it a shot.

Yeah I know. I wasn't happy with it either. I don't really care for them to start with and then not having an end result I can get behind made it worse.

For this one I used a base of Zoya Marney with Zoya Aubrey and Zoya Taylor (all sent for review.)


So I tried again using my favorite polish for 2014 (Fancy Gloss Frozen Berries - purchased by me) and Pipe Dream Polish VIP Pass, which I'm obsessed with (purchased by me)...

Still not thrilled with the result but certainly thrilled "blobbicure day" is OVER!

Be sure to check out the links below to see the other great manis! 

(And better examples of a "blobbicure.")

♥

An InLinkz Link-up

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13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge: Rainbow Nails!

Nothing to Disclose

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Today we continue the 13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge. It's just a shortened version of Crumpet's Nail Tarts January 31 Day Challenge for those of us too busy for the full one. We will be posting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays throughout January.

13 DAYS OF JANUARY NAIL ART CHALLENGE

This prompt is RAINBOW! So while I didn't do a traditional "rainbow" on my nails, I did stick with a pretty basic interpretation of it.

For this I stuck with all acrylic paints except for the holo top coat which is a no-named holo micro-glitter topper from Claire's.



Be sure to check out the other great manis from the other nail artists in the links below!

An InLinkz Link-up

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13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge: Green Base - Framed Mosaic

Press Sample 

*These products are Cruelty Free 

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Today we continue the 13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge. It's just a shortened version of Crumpet's Nail Tarts January 31 Day Challenge for those of us too busy for the full one. We will be posting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays throughout January.

This prompt is "Green Base" - talk about wide open prompt! So I just did a framed abstract/mosaic and called it done! You leave ANY room anywhere for me to be lazy and I'm all over it like stink on a road apple!

13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge

Green Base - Framed Mosaic

For this mani I used a base of KBShimmer Honey Dew List  (sent for review) - one of the few lighter greens that is bright enough for my pale skin. I framed it and did the mosaic nails with Wet n Wild WildShine Black Creme.


Be sure to check out the other great manis from the other nail artists in the links below!

An InLinkz Link-up

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