Clouds and Ducks - Abstract Sky

Allo polish Pals!

How're you all doing today, I hope things are going well for you all? I'm just in my bubble, fending off my cold and looking for work – there still seems to be little going and I know there are talks that a lot of the high street shops are struggling. Until then I continue to paint and keep my spirits up! 

Also these pictures are still with the old camera, I've been having fun with the new one, getting to learn it and I've changed my dark background.. In terms of picture quality improving I'm really not sure but they certainly don't seem to be worse which is good!

Today's nail art features a nail polish I was given by my mum and Christmas. If I am entirely honest I had no nail ideas for this shade but I wanted to use it so badly that I ended up creating something rather weird. I can't say I am 100% happy with this manicure but painting is always fun.

 

Festive Feels - Christmas Tree Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you had an awesome weekend! 14 days until Christmas, how many of you are ready? I'm sat here with Deezer's Christmas play list on!

I'm 90% through with hand painting my third card, 10% through my final fourth Christmas card, I've begun present wrapping and I feel very well prepared. I'm not the kind of person to leaves things to the last minute (can't take the stress and panic!)

Talking of Christmas today I'm kickin' off the festive nail art, I know you guys have been concerned that I hadn't posted any yet but don't worry, I got this. Later in the post I also have a little story to tell you, an experience from work last week.

Freehand Abstract Nail Art With 3D Elements

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? Can you believe we all climbed to the top of the week and now we're all sliding down the weekend slide?! Wahoooo. I hope you all have something fun planned.

After a week of feeling a little up and down and banging my head against the wall I *may* have found a college course for nails! It seems perfect, 1 night a week for 16 weeks to get a lvl 2 certificate. Wahoo, I hope luck is on my side and it is possible!

This month in Tiny Canvas the weekly challenges are all thought of my moi, I had fun coming up with themes I thought everyone would enjoy. I tried hard to think of themes that everyone would feel comfortable in taking part in. I love it when lots of members join in, its fun to see everyone's designs.

The first prompt I thought of was abstract & 3D elements. I told them to all go nuts, there's no wrong or right in abstract art!

Freehand 'French-Doodle' Doodle Tipped Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all do'odling today? (That'll make sense if you continue reading this post!)

I hope you are all having great mid-week feelings, there's so much to smile about!

Today's manicure comes straight from my brain and onto my nails! I didn't know if this idea existed so I wanted to give it a go. I'm calling it... ”The French-Doodle”.. or the Froodle??!

What is it, I hear you asking. Well its a typical looking French manicure transformed by the whimsical and artistic touch of doodles! Tada! Hashtag #TRENDING - Probably not but isn't it an unusual design?

For this manicure I used only my OPI Nail Envy base coat, Catrice's 'Karl Says Tres Chic' pink nail polish and my acrylic paints. This one was so fun to do, I didn't have any plans for the doodle part of the design. In hindsight I wish I had added a whole arrange of items into the doodles but hey... I can do that another time!

What do you think of the 'French-Doodle'? Have you seen doodle tips before, does this already have a name?

Have a beautiful day my friends, thank you SO much for visiting. I'll catch you again on Saturday!

Love,

Ithi

Cute Animal Rectangular Stamping Plate - Born Pretty Store Review

*This post contains an item(s) that was provided for reviewing purposes however I will as always give my full and honest opinion.

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you are having a great week so far? My days are SO mixed up, Monday was a national holiday here in Holland so Monday felt like a Sunday and every day since feels 'off'. Do you ever get that?

Today I have another review for you.. I feel like you guys might not like seeing my review posts as much so I am going to try and be really selective on what I show you from now on; I know seeing similar products can get a bit brain-nulling and while I blog for my own happies I also of course really care what you guys think!

Today I have 'CuteAnimals Rectangular Stamping Plate / BP-L063' from the Born PrettyStore to show you; We all know how great my 'stamping' skills are.. ha.. I tried my first ever reverse stamping! Close your eyes, its a sight for sore eyes! 

 Hats, bra's and toupee's off to you, ya genius stampers out there! I have always enjoyed seeing well stamped manicures and hold so much admiration for those who can make such beautifully neat designs. I am not a natural stamper.. and it does not come easy for me, even pairing images and colours I struggle with... so I truly admire your skills!! 

You'll notice on my middle finger I sort of cut out the 'bad dog, police dept' on the decal.. I'm not sure what happened to it.. but it went bye-bye's :'(

The polishes I used this time were Born Pretty Stores 'Together Forever' holographic polish, Born Pretty Store's Black stamping polish and Essie's 'Splash of Grenadine'.

Lets move onto the plate, shall we? This plate has some beautiful full animal patterns which is what really drew me to it, my favourite has to be the dog pattern I used and also the elephants, cats, dolphins.. Actually MOST of them. I also like that this plate comes with some singular smaller animals which is probably ideal for the stamping geniuses of the world who can mix and match patterns and designs together (I am not even going to attempt that!)

I also liked that there was a few of these designs which work really well with reverse stamping an

d that was what I wanted to try most. Overall I think this plate is a great addition to a stamping addicts collection.

What do you guys think of my first ever reverse stamping nail art? Do you own any animal nail stamping plates?

Have a beautiful day, my friends! I will catch YOU again on Saturday! Take care and thank you for dropping bye!

Love,

Ithi

12 Colours Nail Art Glitter Powder (& Freehand Pattern) - Born Pretty Store Review.

*This post contains an item(s) that was provided for reviewing purposes however I will as always give my full and honest opinion.

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope your week is going well so far?

I've got exciting news! My painting corner is getting a huge upgrade.

If you didn't know, the way I paint is a little precarious. Its a bunch of plastic boxes (containing my nail polishes) stacked up in two towers and a plank of wood in the middle! I was truly grateful when my boyfriend first created it as prior to that I had a cardboard box as a table and I'd sit on the bed which is incredibly soft so there was little support. I am now looking forward to a proper desk - as is my back!

I'll photograph it in the three stages once its been put together! where and how do you guys like to paint?

Anyway..! Today I am going to share with you '12 Colors Nail Art Glitter Power, Acrylic UvGel' from the Born Pretty Store.

Purple Monochrome Freehand Mountains & Planets

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you have been having a great weekend?

Its been a bit of an odd one here, you know when nothing happens quite as it should, the time goes too fast, then it drags..

I don't know if I told you guys yet but you may have heard me talk fondly of a Facebook community by my good friend, Dani. Its called Tiny Canvas and I often enjoy taking part in the weekly challenges – the themes give me new ideas and inspiration, but I've been promoted to a moderator! Its quite fun so far!

This weeks challenge was 'Monochromatic Nails' – I had no idea what to do when I started this so I don't know how I ended up with mountains and planets!!

This nail art was actually really fun to do because I really had to think about what shades of purple to use, I don't have hundreds of purple acrylic shades so I had to mix and match as best as I could. I think the effect is really interesting and I will probably try it again in the future. Of course I had to see this in its matte version, which do you like best?

Would you like to see me do full free hand again in monochrome but another colour?

Have you ever had monochrome nails? How does this nail art make you feel? - don't forget to have your say!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, my friends! I'll catch you again on Tuesday for some more freehand fun!

Love

Ithi

Freehand Acrylic Rainbows With Teeny Stars!

Allo polish Pals!

Happy New Year from this side! (I said it before the new year.. so I get to say it again, right?!)

Did you have a quiet New Years Eve at home or did you celebrate with a bang? It was pretty quiet here for us but we stayed up until midnight, the fireworks in the streets were insane. It was actually the first noise I heard in the morning and it carried on even the day after! There is so much rubbish  laying around outside, tsk..

This manicure comes from 2016... I kept pushing it back for some reason.

You may remember sometime ago last year I made a rainbow prism manicure. I basically put a pizza slice of each colour of the rainbow on my nail and painstakingly blended them all together. I liked the result but it was incredibly time consuming. It didn't stop me from trying it again though! I added something simple to it, but I like it!

I think you'll agree that it is a simple addition, in all honesty I didn't want to go covering up too much of the rainbow because..well.. rainbow!!

For this manicure I began with my fave base coat, Mezmris Nail Lacquer's 'Armor Up' which was dry within the blink of an eye. I then applied two coats of very old gloopy Barry M 'White'. I added a thin coat of Pro-FX top coat to create a nice smooth barrier to paint on. As I mentioned earlier, I created this by painting solid triangles of each rainbow colour, it looked like some kind of maths chart! I then blended each of the colours to blend them into their neighbouring colour. I finished off by adding a thin black board and a little star in the center of each nail for an unusual look.

I seal it all in with my Mezmris Nail Lacquer top coat, Armor. Finally, not because I had to..but just for fun I had a look at what this looks like matte. I think I prefer it!

What do you guys think, do you like these sorts of manicures? Do you prefer the glossy or matte version?

I hope you all have a wonderful day! let me know in the comments what you are up to!

Thank you for visiting, I'll see you again on Wednesday.

Love

Ithi

Freehand Abstract Nail Art With Gradients

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope your week is off to a good start?

Today's manicure came from a random evening of painting. I wanted to do something freehand but I didn't have the energy to do something big, so I decided to just doodle... I wanted to have a lot of colour gradients going on through the different shapes but I think it all looks muddled. Also my gold paint looks really lumpy – I also added two coats of tinted matte polish which gave it an even weirder look!

For this manicure I began with Mezmris Nail Lacquer's Armor Up base coat and once dry applied two coats of Barry M's White. I then mixed some light grey acrylic paint and created random lines and shapes. I then proceeded to fill these shapes in all different colours and did some acrylic-gradients too. I applied Mezmris Nail Lacquer Armor top coat but was really unhappy with how the manicure was looking – It was just so uneven and weird looking so I added Catrice's 'Matte & More' top coat which seemed to give it a vintage-like look.. so I went ahead and applied another coat.... When all else fails.. blag it!

I considered outlining the different shapes but in all honestly I just wanted to crawl into bed and I also thought it might dominate the manicure if I have much ore black.

What do you think of this abstract manicure? Have you done doodle type nails before?

Have a beautiful day my friends, I'll catch you again on Thursday, I'll be showing you some delightful new polishes from a brand that is new to me - I'm excited to share them with you!

Love

Ithi

Freehand Tropical Planet With Acrylic-Gradient Sky!

Allo polish Pals!

How are we all doing today? I hope you had an amazing weekend?

I feel like my brain is exploding from far too many nail art ideas! I'm trying to keep up with them all before they get stale and foggy in my brain! I mostly had a relaxing weekend since I am still under the weather. I feel like taking a nap after everything I do..! Tell me, are you for against napping?!
I've also been having fun playing around with one stroke lately, the Bundle Monster brushes I got a while ago contain some very small square brushes which are perfect for it! I might not have perfected the technique but I feel like I am learning.

Today's manicure was made quite some time ago, I kept pushing it back because I had other posts! This came from... pretty much nowhere! I like it when that happens. Its quite a surreal manicure, I guess but that's fine. I like a bit of weird :)

For this manicure I began with my usual base coat of OPI's 'Nail Envy' and then applied two coats of Barry M's 'White' (While I still had it, boohoo. :'( ) I then applied my Pro-FX top coat, not really sure why. I just feel like it dries it faster and give a nice smooth surface. I created everything else with acrylic paints and finished off with Barry M's matte top coat (again, another boohoo.)

I really enjoyed painting the palm trees, how random. I can see more more more palm tree's for summer nail art. Yup. I'm going to make it happen!

What do you think of my surreal nail art? Do you like silhouette's in nail art?

Have a beautiful day, I'll see you again on Thursday! :)

Love

Ithi

Freehand Acrylic-Gradient Rainbow Swirls!

Allo polish Pals!

How are we all doing today? Happy Tuesday to you!  Have you been up to anything exciting so far this week? I've had some more bike adventures, finding new places and exploring more than I was able to previously. Me and Doris-Rosita are getting a long just great! I've also been playing with more Nicole Diary water decals and combining stamping with other techniques! FUN!

Today I am showing you a manicure that was created a few weeks ago, I really had fun with this, taking pictures of it in its many stages. It may look pretty simple but I can assure you a lot of hard work went into this one. I tried to get proper gradients through all the colours inside the swirls, not an easy job with such little room. There are a few places where the colours don't blend seamlessly but I'd say its a pretty fine effort considering! 

For this manicure I began with my usual base coat, OPI's 'Nail Envy' and from there applied two coats of Essence's 'Rebel At heart' and once dry I created some circles randomly along my nails with white acrylic paint. I began to fill these in with 'slices' of colour, adding red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink and purple slices to each circle. Next came the time consuming task of trying to blend each of the colours together to create a coloured wheel. I then outlined my coloured balls and added a swirl to the center of each one. I finished up by adding some random lines here and there, applying my Pro-FX top coat to seal it all in and finally.. just because I can – added a matte top coat (I desperately need a new one, argh!)

To your left you can see how this started out, step one looks kinda like pizza..or sushi, baha. I added a trianlge of each colour to the circles, in the next picture you can see I tried to blend all those colours together in a sort of 'prism' rainbowy way.


So I really like how this turned out, its.. different; I know I seem to have an obsession with rainbows lately, I'm not sure what's happened but they seem to come easy!

What do you think of my rainbow swirls? Are you a fan of rainbow nails?

Have a wonderful day, come stop by on Thursday for more nail art fun!

Love

Ithi

Retro-Looking Water Colour Peace Doodles

Allo polish Pals,

You guys doing alright? I hope your week is going well. I'm behind on my commenting.. I seem to be reliving that cold/flu! What is going on with my immune system... I just can't seem to shake things off -  hope you are all in good health!

Today I have a really simple manicure, I feel like this is one of those real minimal effort ones..

Its a water colour background with white doodling on top but I feel like it has a really 70's 'hippy' vibe to it!

The doodles didn't look as neat as I had hoped, I was on borrowed time and I think my base was probably still a little too wet for the white paint doodles.

For this manicure I began with my Barry M's 'White' and once dry I then created some light pink, blue and purple shades with my acrylic paint and began to lay down a water colour background. Once that was dry I then took my white paint and created a freehand doodle, or something to that effect.

There's not that much else to really say about this manicure. Its not wonderful but I think it does have a kinda soft faded and hippy look to it!

What do you think of this manicure? Do you like doodle-art nails?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Love

Ithi

Abstract Glittery Freehand Cat Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!
We made it! It's Friday! How about a virtual high five?! *palm to palm smack*

Today I have three little abstract kitties to show you! This nail art was inspired by a beautiful Pin I found on Pinterest which you can see here. I loved this picture and knew I wanted to recreate it. Sadly I was too scared about having enough room on my nails to have their tails at the bottom so I had to curl them around!

Up, down, all around. Who cares as long as there are tails, right? :)

As usual I began by applying my favorite base coat, OPI's 'Nail Envy' and once dry I painted on two coats of Barry M's 'White'. I then moved onto one coat of OPI's 'Make Light Of The Situation' which is a beautiful mixed size holographic glitter topper (Not that my camera would ever let you believe that!) I then created everything else using my black and white acrylic paint and two trusty all time  favorite brushes. I finished by adding some beautiful pearly tear drop studs which can be found at the *here* at the Born Pretty Store and that I previously reviewed here.

What do you think of my arty doodle cats? Do you like creating abstract nail art?

Have a beautiful day, I'll see you on Sunday!

Love

Ithi

Cut Up Triangles

Allo polish Pals!

How are you doing today? I have a slightly odd looking manicure to share with you today... This is all made up of nail polish (apart from the studs). Let me explain... I had some nail polish which I left to try and peeled off like you would with DIY decals, I then used my craft knife to create triangles of all different sizes and began to stick them on in various ways. It has a 3D look to it but it didn't feel thick to wear.

I began with two coats of Barry M's 'Black' nail polish and and began to stick on my pieces of dried polish. The triangles were made with Barry M's 'Heather' (Purple) Claire's 'Splash' (..Blue) and Barry M's 'White'. The studs were sent to me a long, long time ago to review – which I did but I just thought they would be a cute touch for this manicure.

In hindsight... I should have maybe filed down the edges of my nails to stop any odd bits sticking off the nail – I did use cuticle clippers to trim them, but still.

What do you guys think of these cut up nails? Do you like this purple and blue together?

Have a great day!

Love

Ithi

Freehand Water Colour & Eye Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you guys doin'? Are you doing anything fun this weekend? Something is happening here tomorrow... I don't actually know too much (And I'm the kind of girl who needs to know everything!)... I dunno. I'm sure it will be fun :)  Sunday I am going to work on my 3rd Halloween manicure (I am doing Halloween nails even if I am not posting them all month long - I just can't! Don't make me! :'( ) 

Anyway, today I have a manicure I created while I was in England.

I wanted this to be super artsy, colourful and down right awesome! Check, check, ehmm..Not sure about the awesome part! If you havn't already please don't forget to share and enter my two giveaways, one for nail art items and another for a $15 Born Pretty Store voucher.

For this manicure I used only one nail polish, my beloved and irreplaceable (unless actually replaced by another bottle...which has happened many a time.) Barry M 'White' which is my favourite white base for nail art (two coats of good coverage and great price) The rest was created with acrylic paints and my bamboo brush. On my thumb and pinkie I added a water colour effect.

I do wish the eye was better, I love doodling eyes when I'm bored but painting across a few a nails was harder then I expected. I should have rounded off the bottom of the eye as it looks too straight - or goes upwards at the sides of the nail which doesn't create the rounded shape I wanted, and perhaps over two nails would have been enough.

Ah well, apparently art is... art. There's no right or wrong because it's the artists perception or whatever, basically when something sucks to high levels I play the art card and act like it was supposed to look that way... Wink wink.

What do you think of this manicure? Have you tried a water colour mani before?

Have a great day!

Love

Ithi

Freehand Nail Polish Bottle Abstract Design

Allo polish Pals!

How are you today? What are you doing on this fine Tuesday?

Do you have any particular polishes you find yourself reaching for just too much? I really do, this is my second bottle of this colour already. I keep wanting to use Barry M's 'Coconut' for so much nail art. I must stop this! I must put it away and play with other polishes! It just makes such a nice base colour for things without being stark white.

I wanted to create something really bright and fun..and hopefully draw some really awesome bottles of nail polish but alas... It was not meant to be, It didn't turn out how I expected it to in anyway, but I guess its still kinda interesting to look at? I dunno.. Apparently I can not make straight lines to make a star, haha.

As you may have guessed already, I used Barry M's 'Coconut' for the base ;). Everything else was created freehand with my acrylic paints and bamboo brush. I can't really say much more than that, its just one of those manicures that is what it is.

What do you think of my 'bit of everything' manicure? Do you like random/abstract designs on nails?

Have a beautiful day!

Love

Ithi