Delicate Drifts

It might be a little early in the cold weather season for my mitts to be looking quite so chapped, but the condition of my hands, as well as the inspiration for these nails, is perfectly in keeping with the crazy (and crazy cold) weather we’ve had lately.  Drifting snow, freezing rain, bitterly cold temperatures, maybe a bit of hail – we’ve had it all, and somehow all at once. It’s a horrible weather miracle!

I think this manicure is really pretty, particularly the flakes on my index and pinkie fingers, which I created using the pond manicure technique, which is when you free-hand a nail art design between layers of a super sheer jelly polish.  It a cool technique that makes everything look soft and diffuse, perfect for designs of fluffy, sparkly snow gently piling up on the windowsill.

Care Bears: A Then and Now Post

So it would seem that the third week of November is apparently the time when a nail blogger’s thoughts turn to Care Bears, because the last time I did a Care Bears manicure – just a few months after launching this blog – it was the third week of November immediately after the year’s first snowstorm, and oh look!  Here we are again.  So much snow and cold today, icicles have already formed on my balcony.  What. the. frig?

There are approximately 3,000 different Care Bears, once you start factoring in Cousins, friends and casual acquaintances, but for this updated manicure of an earlier design, I went with four of the originals, Grumpy Bear, Love-a-Lot Bear, Good Luck Bear and Funshine Bear, the Care Bear I was pretending to be when I inadvertently got my tongue stuck to a frozen metal well cover when I was a kid (and I know I’ve mentioned this incident before, but getting your tongue stuck to a dirty old metal well cover – face down in the snow, you guys – tends to be one of those formative life experiences, you know?!)  Silly old Bear.

PlayStation

Don’t tell anyone, but one of the things I love most about Mr. Finger Candy is that he is an unabashed Sony fanboy.  This is a man I once watched break into a delighted happy dance in the middle of Best Buy because they had an unexpected shipment of impossible-to-find PS3s.  Our 3D TV is a Sony.  Our sound system is Sony. You can count the number of PlayStations and Vitas and PSPs (a whoozit?) we’ve owned in plurals.  I respect brand loyalty, and my husband’s got that in spades.

The flip-side to that devotion, of course, is that those consoles – today a PS3 and a PS4 – have very nearly achieved “other woman” status; they monopolize a lot of time and brain cells (his AND mine; I love my video games, too, although let’s not kid ourselves – the consoles are his.  I’m more of a PC gamer.)

Although these pink, framed-in PlayStation nails are clearly all about me, because I’m the one with the frosted pink controller.  His is red.  And white.  And blue, and about five in basic black (GTA is murder on the old thumb toggles.  And any innocent pedestrians standing around if I’m behind the virtual wheel.)

I’ve Been Framed! (31DC2015)

So it would seem that despite my deeply held personal objections to what I call “holiday creep” (ahem, every craft store ever that seems to feel it’s fine to put out their Christmas merchandise in September) I’m engaging in precisely that with these very Halloweeny, orange and black holo nails. But the orange part of the equation is not exactly my doing – I’m just following orders, specifically those of day two’s theme of orange in the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge.

To that end, the orange polish I chose for these simple, framed nails is KB Shimmer’s Rust No One, a favourite coral-to-pumpkin-leaning holographic that flashes a gorgeous shimmery fuchsia. I had initially thought a polka dot or ticking stripe design would fit the bill, but Rust No One is beautiful enough on its own that I barely needed to add any embellishments, save a strong, black holo frame to contain all that rainbow-speckled goodness. I really like this manicure – it looks quite sleek and grown up, as opposed to my usual “Are those donkeys on your nails?” approach to nail art. Something a little bit different from my usual, which is precisely the point in following along with this challenge!

Space Mountain (31DC2014)

Today’s theme in the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge is galaxies, and what better (Disneyfied) way to approach that theme than by honouring the grand dame of Disney roller coasters herself, Space Mountain? Space Mountain is a kickass ride, an indoor, in-the-dark roller coaster that’s been blasting Magic Kingdom guests into near-pitch-black orbit since 1975. On a visit with my parents when I was in university, my parents, admitted roller coaster wussies, and I all grabbed Fast Passes for Space Mountain (the “pass Go, collect $100” of Disney rides) and I rode it solo four times in a row, one walk-directly-on ride after another. Space Mountain acts tougher than it actually is (being in the dark amplifies all your other senses, which are telling you that you’re going about 60 miles an hour, although it’s probably closer to 20), but after four runs, I was feelin’ wobbly.

Here I tried to capture Space Mountain’s iconic silhouette, along with the celestially-sprinkled ceiling, blue gradient walls and neon blue guide rail framing of the waiting area. I’m particularly proud of the blue framing, which is thin and even and 99% the doing of my new detail brushes, which are so tiny and delightful! You could even say they’ve opened up a whole new out of this world of nail art design possibilities? Eh, eh?! (*groan*) Don’t worry, I didn’t laugh at that either. 😉

Frame It

Filed under “better late than never,” these nails represent my fourth, and final, submission in the January N.A.I.L. Challenge. And yes, I realize it’s now February, which makes this tardy manicure quite apropos – I was sick for the majority of January and every single thing I did was ever so slightly behind schedule, so this mani should prove to be no exception. That the challenge is now closed is besides the point – I’m just glad to get these finished and finally complete something I set about to do this month (right, last month)!

The theme for the final week was border manis (highlighting the edges of your nails.) I chose to go with a framed look, a technique I haven’t done that often and which continues to vex me so. In fact, this is an exact re-do on a manicure I did many months ago and didn’t post out of embarrassment. But I’m pleased to see that these turned out better than expected and certainly better than their predecessors, so up on the blog they go!

Here I bordered my nails with my favourite black, China Glaze’s Liquid Leather, over top of China Glaze’s white-based rainbow glitter bomb, It’s a Trap-eze! Between the solid black outlining and the shimmery, multi-coloured glitter, I think they look quite cartoony.