AIS New Years

Sorry I have been missing.  Not that I haven't been doing nail stuff, just no blogging.  Been making nail swatches.  But I have joined the Adventures in Stamping Facebook group in order to continue to challenge myself.  They "share" on Sundays, so I will be posting on Sunday's too.  Looking for other challenges/groups to join in order to keep my mojo flowing.

Today's theme is, of course, New Year.  Here is what I came up with.

Don't know why stars shout New Years to me, but they do.  And yes, this is matte.  And yes, my nails are shorter.  I broke 3 nails on my right hand on Christmas Eve (boo hoo) and felt silly with short nails on my right - long nails on left.  Here's how I did it.

•  2 coats Sinful Colors Black on Black
• Stamped with Sally Hansen Insta Dri Silver Sweep and Konad M5 
• Stamped with Bundle Monster BM21 dotted with both Essie Good as Gold and Revlon Copper Penny
• 1 coat of NYC Matte
• Attached some little silver studs I got in a Christmas embellishment wheel I got on clearance at Sally's Beauty with top coat (probably won't stay on long, but I like them anyway)

Here is a couple more pics.

Without Studs

Thumb with stud

This didn't turn out exactly how I envisioned.  I wish I used pink instead of the copper.  There just wasn't much delineation between the copper and the gold, but I still like it.  Hope you do too!

The Last Halloween in December

Just wanted to post a real quick last Halloween in December post.  They were inspired by Kayla at Nails by Kayla Shevonne HERE.  Go check it out!  There is even a step by step tutorial!  I can't even tell you what polishes I used, except to say that the eyes were done with a glow in the dark acrylic, so the eyes....what do you know....glowed in the dark!  These were Bria's nails and she just loved them!  Please forgive the nail wear, etc.  This was an early mani.  Hope your Christmas was wonderful!

Day 12 of 12 Santa

Before I show my Santa, I wanted to say thank you to Kristine from Pink & Polished for all her hard work to make this challenge available to all of us.  I learned a lot during this challenge, especially how sweet and supportive the nail community is.  Thanks for all my lovely new followers!  I also am so glad that my first challenge was a 12 day one instead of a 30 or 31 day challenge.  I learned that I don't like to just create nail art, I like to wear it.  It made me so sad sometimes when I could only wear my nails one day (sometimes less)!  So here is the last one.  I look forward to visiting all your blogs in the future to see all your lovely nails.

Here's how I did it:

• Two Coats of Nails Inc Gatwick.  This is a lovely matte red that reminds me of fabric...or at least that was the idea :)
• The coat/hat trim was done with Revlon Pure Pearl
• Santa's face was done with Avon Ballerina 
• The beard was done with OPI Peace Baby!, the off white shade that I have been searching for and actually found at CVS (aren't they not supposed to sell those?).  I let the first coat dry and then added some more with a small art brush to create "whiskers".
• The gold on the belt is a China Glaze Magnetic (I can't remember the name right off the top of my head)

I was sooo happy with my little Santa face.  I think it was the whiskers.  Of course he should have had white eyes with black dots, but oh well, it wouldn't one of my manicures if there wasn't some room for improvement (tee hee).













Well, now that my first challenge is over, I'm a little sad.  Of course it isn't over until you check out all the other Santas!

Day 11 of 12 Tinsel

I want to make this quick, but I took too many pictures!  Lets go by this step by step, because there were a lot of steps.

I started with Zoya Gemma.  Click on the pic to see it in all it's green with blue shimmer glory.  Although I love this color, the formula is thin.  This is three coats.  I got this through OF LIFE AND LACQUER'S BLOG SALE.  Go check it out!  She has so many lovely polishes available!  Anyways, I don't know how old this is, so I don't know if anything has changed with Zoya, but the brush on this is miniscule and stiff.  But in spite of all that, I still love this color!

Next I brushed on that unnamed green ELF polish.  I gotta show you this.  I am a firm believer in not spending money if I can improvise.  I have seen this brush technique done with fan brushes.  Well I don't have one so I made one from an old stippling brush I had on hand.  Check it out!

Now that I have got that off my chest (tee hee) here's what came next.

I brushed with China Glaze Agro.  What do you think?  Does it look like an evergreen tree?  And here is where I say that this was done late at night and I didn't do my normal check as to perspective, so this looks like an upside down tree to everyone but me.  Or at least one with the branches flailing up instead of hanging down LOL. The tinsel is upside down too.  Oh well, I had to take it off the next morning anyways!  Here it is from my perspective.

The tinsel was dotted on with Spoiled Cougar Attack and NOPI A Gold Winter's Night.  As soon as I saw that there was tinsel in this challenge, I knew I was going to use this NOPI.  And why not make it with one of my fave color combos, pink and brown.  I haven't really liked most of the NOPI's  and have only purchased a few, but I LOVE A Gold Winter's Night.  Want to see why?  Look at that pink and blue holo glittery goodness!

Told you it was pic heavy!  So check out all the other tinsel manis.

Day 10 of 12 Elves

As per usual, I couldn't just do a traditional elf mani.  My daughter has a beautiful book that has fairy elves in it and I thought about doing those, but just don't have the talent.  Then, as were sitting watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, inspirations struck.

So I used my lovely sis-in-law as a nail model as I was unready to take off my own mani.  Now that I am not in the middle of the design, I realize that I could have done so much more.  I wish I would have done at least one nail with a cute little coat instead of all hats.  Oh well, here it is!

See how the cuticles have that little "hook" of unpainted area.  This is because the brush on my base polish sucked!  If I had been doing it on myself, I would have filled it in with a little art brush, but I am always a little afraid of appearing way too anal when I do other peoples nails, so I just left it.  It wasn't noticeable in real life, just in that beloved/hated macro setting.  And here's how I did it.

• Base coat
• Two coats Maybelline Denim Dash 
• Striped with Revlon Copper Penny
• Stamped with China Glaze Poetic and Bundle Monster BM06

Now that you have seen my simple little mani, go check out all the other little elves!

Day 9 of 12 Wreaths

I can't believe it is only 4 days till Christmas!  Shopping done, most of the gifts wrapped, but still a few more challenges left to complete :)

I wasn't sure what I was going to do for day 9 - Wreaths.  Did some googling and didn't like the results, but I came up with something anyways!  Want to see?

What do you think?  I really liked how this turned out, so it may be a bit pic heavy ;)  If I were to do it over again,I would use a different base color, but there are very few "do overs" in my nails life.  Here's how I did it.

Butter All Hail the Queen

I started with two coats of Butter All Hail the Queen.  I really love this nude holo!  It was the first Butter I owned, and it will not be the last.  When I first started collecting polish I felt that this brand was out of my price range.  And really, could any polish be worth that price tag?  When Ulta had a "Buy 2 get 1 free" sale, I decided to splurge.  Are they worth it?  Yes, I say, YES.  The formula on this lives up to it's name, went on like Butter (tee hee).  And so fast drying too!  Maybe it seemed that way because the last polish I used for a base (Essence Jacobs Protection) took a bit longer to dry than I am used to, but I really think that this was up there with my Seche Vite as far as dry time goes.  Anyways, enough ranting about my LOVE for this polish line and on to the particulars.

I placed hole reinforcers (heretofore known as HRs) on the side of my two middle fingers as seen above, then stamped (several times) with Bundle Monster BM06 (as seen below:) and an unnamed green ELF polish I got at Target.  Really, it is unnamed!  I have searched that little bottle all over and cannot find anything, but it is my favorite green stamping polish.  Maybe I will get a pic of it here later.

When I peeled off the HRs, I was left with this cute little wreath.

This technique was sooo easy and could lend itself to all kinds of different stamps.  I have used the HRs for half moon and french tip manis before (it is all over the nail blogs), but never this way.  I see a half moon/stamping mani in my future!

I added a holly stamp from Bundle Monster  BM-302 on my pinky, index and thumb and dotted on the berries with China Glaze Ruby Pumps.  Next I dotted the wreath with OPI DS Indulgence (red), Sinful Colors All About You (Gold) and China Glaze Running in Circles (Green).  Can you tell that the red is different on the berries and the wreath?  I don't know that I can.  Want more pics?  Sure you do!

I can't believe I totally missed dotting the berries there on my pinky^.  Actually I can.  I finished this mani at about 11:30 at night.  There is a reason I call this blog Light of the Moon Nails (tee hee).

Here's that Green Elf I was talking about (tee hee).  The Gold "snakeskin" pattern used to cover the entire cap.  If anyone knows what it is called (if anything at all), let me know.

And now, what are you waiting for?  Go check out all the other lovely wreaths!

30 Followers and a Contest Fail

Whooo Hooo!  I have broken the 30 follower mark!  When I started this blog, it was for myself really, but every new follower warmed my heart and now I love seeing new followers!  Through my followers I have found lovely people and even lovelier blogs.  Thank you all!

Today I thought I would show you a mani that I have very mixed feelings about.  I made it for a skittlette contest held by Marta at CHIT CHAT NAILS (one of my all time favorite nail blogs).  With the Christmas Challenge and the Wacky Laki contest I was running behind for it and when I sent it at 12:50 am I must have done something wrong, because she didn't get it :(  Not that I thought I would ever win with all the great nails being submitted, but maybe I might have seen some more followers.  Oh well, maybe next time.  And the mixed feelings...well, I'm not really a skittlette person.  Don't get me wrong, I think they look stunning on others, but I am a little too OCD to like them on myself.  And then, because I did this mani so late at night I woke up with sheet marks the next morn.  So sad!  And I didn't have time to put anything else on my sad nails before work so I kinda burst the co-workers whole "you're so talented" bubble.  I did say I had mixed feelings so here's the positive....I liked the colors I used?  Anyways, here it is....

I started with Essence Jacobs Protection.  I have been obsessed with this polish recently.  You've seen it before in my gifts mani.

Essence Jacobs Protection

Look at that gorgeous black and blue glittery  loveliness!  There is nothing that I don't love about this polish!

Next I layered one coat of China Glaze Glistening Snow on my ring finger.  Finally I stamped with Sally Hansen InstaDri Silver Sweep and Bundle Monster BM12 on my middle finger.  Well, that's it.  Hope you like!  See you soon for Day 9 of 12 Days of Christmas Wreaths!  Still trying to figure out what I will do :)

Day 8 of 12 Ornaments

 

Bria was my nail model today as I had a couple other contests I wanted to enter with my own nails.  Can you see the ornaments?  No inspiration today, although I am sure someone else has thought that this stamp looked like ornaments.  Here's how I did it.

• Base coat :)
• Two coats of China Glaze Winter Holly.  Love this polish!  It is a dark evergreen micro glitter with holo glitter thrown in.  Perfect for trees!
• Stamed with Essie Good as Gold and Bundle Monster BM-206 (see below)
• Painted stripes with 2 coats China Glaze Ruby Pumps.  Did two coats because it was to pink with one coat.
• Dotted with China Glaze Angel Wings, another favorite from the 2012 Holiday collection.  Gold holo micro glitter goodness!
• Top Coat!

Bundle Monster BM-206

Bria's nails are small enough that I is hard to tell that these are "ornaments" from a distance, but I like the effect.  What do you think?  Don't forget to check out all the other lovely ornament manis.

Valentine Kisses Giveaway

Check out Valentine Kisses awesome mega Holiday giveaway HERE.  It expires 12/25/12

Halloween in December Part 2

Day 8 of the 12 Days of Christmas is tomorrow, but I thought I would fill my blog with another Halloween mani.  This was the first nail art I ever did on Bria's nails!  It was early on, so forgive the cuticle flooding, poor picture quality and general nail newbie quality.  I actually think this was my first gradient also.  Interesting fact, Bria loves looking at her nails, but loves sharing them with others also, so when I do accent nails for her, I always make the thumb facing her and her ring finger facing away, that way everyone gets a "right up" look!  Here's a close up of her thumb.

Since this was such an early mani, I don't have all the colors I used, etc.  But I can tell you that I got this inspiration from IndigoNova1's awesome youtube tutorial found HERE.  See you tomorrow!

Day 7 of 12 Snowflakes

I just can't stay away from the dark colors!  Snow at midnight?  I started with Sephora by OPI 212-Sephora.  I love this color!  I can count on one hand the number of polishes I have purchased at full price and this is one of them.  I couldn't resist it.  Want to see what it looks like on his own?  Here goes.

Look at all that darkness with copper and holo flaky goodness!  I am in love.  Copper is one of my favorite colors and the copper flakes in this are to die for.  Plus, add holo in there and I have a polish worth the full price.

I stamped with several different Bundle Monster snowflake patterns with Essie Good as Gold and Revlon Copper Penny.  Finally I added one coat of Revlon Moon Candy Universe (a lovely flaky).  Here's a pic without flash for more detail.

And here's a little extra :)  I did my sis-in-laws nails in a lovely blue (Essence Jacobs Protection) and silver and teal snowflakes.

Once again, snow at "Twilight"....get it?  Anyway, check out all the other lovely snowflakes!

Inspired by Fashion

Alright all, this is going to be a long post!  I recently entered a contest held by Anutka from Wacky Laki with the theme "Inspired by Fashion".  Find it HERE.  She does the most gorgeous nail art based on fashion and I figured I would try my hand at it.   My inspiration was this gorgeous Vera Wang purse.

Yessss...I own this lovely and it makes me very happy, especially considering that it was on sale and I ended up spending only $7 for it (the rest was Kohls cash).  This is what I came up with.

What do you think?  I love it!  Just like the purse.   Wanna see how I did it?  It's long....it's detailed...but I'm showin it to ya anyways (at least on 2 nails)!

I started with two coats of Orly Wild Wisteria.

 Next I added a coat of China Glaze Crackle in Latticed Lilac.  This gave me a random dark purple in the background.  I am not good with random, so this was perfect.

Next I stamped with Konad Special Black and Bundle Monster BM-209

 Then I stamped with Layla Hologram Ultra Violet and BM-215 (the snake scale pattern)

 Next I stamped with Loreal The Mystic's Fortune and BM-215 (again).

 And then I stamped with Layla Hologram Flash Black and BM-215 (again)!  I know it maybe feels like overkill, but I think it gave it a lot of depth. 

After cleanup I added two black stripes with my striper brush.  Now, I was looking for the perfect thing to use for the silver rivets.  I knew none of the gems I have fit and I don't have any studs yet, so I improvised.  I used my small eyelet hole "maker" to cut little dots out of some thin "spongy" material I had left over from some scrapbooking projects then painted them silver.  Here's how it turned out.

What do you think?  If you like it, go vote for me HERE.  Thanks!  See you tomorrow for day 7 of the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge Ornaments!

Day 6 of 12 Gifts

There is so much I want to say about this mani, but here's the truth is, I don't like it so I don't know how much I'm going to say about it :)  I've been suffering with an infected tooth/jaw and the antibiotics are making me nauseous so I am not on top of my game.  Oh well, here goes.

I went with traditional non traditional Christmas colors, blue and silver.  You can see my wonky nail patch, the stamping is sloppy and this was my 3rd attempt so I just gave up and posted it.  We can't all have good nail days I guess.

I started with 3 coats of Essie Demure Vixen.  I got this from a blog sale by Cynthia at Of Life And Lacquer.  Check it out HERE, she has tons of great stuff for sale and right now if you subscribe to her blog through email, she gives 25% off!  I really love this color, although I wish it wasn't so sheer.  This is 3 coats.

Next I added Essence Jacobs Protection to the tips and full nail on thumb and ring finger.  Finally added silver "ribbon" with Sally Hanson Insta-Dry Silver Sweep and stamped with  Bundle Monster BM-317 and BM-212.  So I didn't like it, but watch for my next post, when I will show you what I consider one of my best manis ever!  And go check out all the other gifts from the talented people below!