Ice Cream Soda Nails

Allo polish Pals!

Guys, just a warning.. There's a lot of change going on, I'll still be posting for now but my posts will be incredibly short and I wont be posting to all my socials from now, I will probably still post to Facebook and Instagram at the least.

Did you know that yesterday was 'ice cream soda day'? Apparently so! I on the other hand though.. seemed to paint ice cream sundae's rather than soda's!

3D Peach & Cream Nail Art - Say Something Nice Day

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you had a wonderful week so far. I can't say anything too interesting has happen to me so far but its been pleasant none the less.

Today's post is all about positivity. Can you ever have enough of it in our lives? Don't you think its incredible how your actions create reactions that in influence someone's day or even their mood which in turn creates new reactions in the people they come across... A little bit of kindness goes a long way as it travels down an ever winding chain.

Anyway. Did you know that June 1^st is actually 'Say something nice day'? True fact. Go and say something nice, put a smile one someone's face. Say something nice to yourself even.

My say something nice to you is.. There's only one you and you are wonderful just the way you are. The fact there is only one of you is incredible, keep rocking being you, keep loving yourself and remember not to be too hard on yourself sometimes.

3D & Freehand Sushi Nails

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you've been having a great week so far. I'm looking forward to this weekend as I worked last Saturday and bank holiday Monday meaning I missed out on all the delicious sun we were having – of course its just my luck that the weather seems to have changed.

All that said I've been having fun at work, I've had so many lovely customers and experiences.

I've been rather excited to show you today's nail art, I've been itching to post it sooner! Sushi is one of my all time favourite foods but its not so easy to get good sushi where I live...still, I found another way to enjoy it!

3D Hotdog Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you had an amazing weekend – what did you get up to?

On Saturday evening I went to my sisters for a cheeky Chinese and wine evening, I always love catching up with her. Don't get me wrong, its great spending time with my niece and nephew but sometimes its also nice to have proper grown up sister chats!

I've been painting (I'm well into the last week of June on my blog schedule!) and organising my blog posts out, I think switching my posts to twice a week will really take pressure off working and blogging. I feel like this way I can do what I love and work without any stress. I think I found the perfect balance!

Do you have a way to fit blogging in whilst balancing other aspects of you life? I'd love to know, I always find how people do their blog schedules so interesting.

Sweet Bakery Delights - Freehand Nail Art Design

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you had an amazing weekend! Let me know what you got up to or what was the highlight of your weekend.

I've set myself some goals for this week. I've not been as active as I was – the odd days at work really throw me off but I figure on the days when I am not working I've no excuse not to slip in a work out.

You guys might have noticed by now.. I kinda like painting food! I don't enjoy eating all the food I paint (in real life, not literally trying to eat the food I paint on my nails..hurhur.) but there are some foods that look so pretty! Today's nail art is a good example of pretty looking food I don't actually eat myself.

I really don't have a sweet tooth at all!

 

3D Pizza Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope everything is going great with you.

I feel like I've waited forever to share today's design with you, It has actually been over a month since I created it. One night when I was struggling to sleep I woke up at around 3am with an idea! An idea that wouldn't quit! I remembered my sister used to make things out of polymer clay..could I use polymer clay to create things for nail designs? Would it work? Could I paint it? Would it stick on my nails?

I finally got to try it and kept it a bit of a secret while I figured it out. But you know sometimes you just can't predict how things will go.. I thought I was on to something new. Sadly not, last week I saw someone else using it on nails.. I had no way of knowing, she had no way of knowing I'd been thinking on the same track. I decided to share my design (there are others!) anyway because I didn't want to waste my efforts.

Freehand Fruit & Vegetable Nails

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you all had a fantastic week?

This week has passed in a blur of cold, exercise and more job hunting. I'm applying for things and literally hearing nothing back from any of the companies. Its so frustrating, I feel like I don't have time to waste being unemployed and I miss being around people, being busy – Don't get me wrong, I am the sort of person who's always doing something but I need something other than home, if you know what I mean.

Today's nail art is one I can back, I grew up in a house were fruit and vegetables were staple and I've always enjoyed my vegetables in particular..so lets have some healthy nails (both from the fruit  & veg and the ORLY Breathable nail polish!)

Chocolate Valentines Day Nails

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all did-ling? I hope you had an awesome weekend, did you get up to anything fun? The weather here isn't permitting much outside fun but I had a cosy weekend, I've got stuck into a good book and I kind of can't put it down. Its a bit of a Bridget Jones type thing, very relatable!!

Since I'm not really into the whole Valentine's smoosh I decided to do another sort of.. anti Valentines day manicure. No glitter, no pinks and red and NOPE to heart shape chocolates..

I used my new camera for these pictures, she's taking some getting used to as well as my light backgrounds. I'm not too sure, what do you guys think? I hope they are crisp and sharp.. The focus situation is really odd.

Freehand Cupcake & Party Nail Art - Happy Birthday Tiny Canvas!

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing? I hope you've had a great week. Thank you to those of you who wished me good luck this week and my job interview.. I'm happy to say I had three interviews lined up and I actually got the first job I interviewed for, which is the one I wanted the most!

I should start this coming week and I am so excited. Its not full hours to start with which I think will be a nice way to settle into things. Did I say I am excited?!

Today's nail art is not one I am too happy with.. I had time pressure and made a few mistakes but I really wanted to share something as it was created for Tiny Canvases second birthday. What's Tiny Canvas? Its a beautiful nail group on Facebook – seriously, it is the best nail community I've come across, everyone is so kind, supportive and all the members encourage each other. I've been a moderator for quite a few months now and it is such a joy to be apart of. You can join Tiny Canvas right *here*

So here's my 'Happy Birthday' nails for the current prompt. I'm not sure if these are cupcakes or if there are little kittens under all that icing. Dang! Now I wish I had included ears!

Freehand Fish & Chips - Food Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you had an awesome week and have something fun lined up for this weekend?

You may or may not know that in England one of our classic takeaway indulgence's is fish and chips! I have many memories of having fish and chips on sea-side days out. These days I don't eat things like that very often, or take away food generally but every once in a while it is nice to have a treat.

This nail art was inspired by the last time I had fish and chips, it was cold and drizzling when me, my mother, sister and niece went to watch the town's annual carnival - Some of you joined me on my live Instagram! My mum didn't feel like cooking after standing around for so long we decided to have a cheeky chippy dinner!

Of course 'battered' fish wouldn't look that great for nail art so I had to 'cute it up' a little.

Just so you know there wont be any new nail art in my next post.. but it is my 5^th blogiversary! So I will have something else fun lined up for you all!

Freehand 3D Gel Cookie Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

I hope you all had an awesome weekend? Did you get up to anything fun?

Today's nail art comes with a little secret. While I've been working out hard and keeping up with all the healthy lifestyle changes I made recently.. sometimes while I am painting and working on blog post creations I take a little pause for coffee and biscuit time.

Its the perfect break when I am working on a really intricate and lengthy design. You gotta enjoy some things, right?

So today I have for you some 3D cookies on an equally dotty base! Funnily enough Maryland Cookie's started following me recently over on Twitter. I wonder if they'll approve of this nail art!

Freehand Fancy Summer Ice Cream Nail Art On Pastel's

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doo'dling? I hope you are having a fantastic week so far? I can hardly believe the summer holidays are almost over. I feel like a big kid having had the past two months to just settle in and adjust to life. It's almost like I've had a summer break too!

Today's nail art is perfectly summery, even if it doesn't fit the weather we've been having in England – did my return curse the weather? I always love how bright nails can make you feel summery even when the weather refuses to comply.

For those of you who are basking in the sun, help yourself to one of my summer treats!

Freehand Kawaii Cherry Pie & Half Moon Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you had a faaaaantastic weekend. Our was quiet but delightful – I'm waking up everyday at 6.30am, happy, content and ready to go. I'm still pretty OCD with my lists but I feel like its not ruling my life any more, it's more that I am ruling the lists and ticking things off with a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.

Anyway! Today's nail art must have been done just after my last visit home.. so sometime in April! This isn't the last one from April either but I had to keep pushing these posts back for reviews and such.

Here's my cherry pie nail art! 

Freehand Kawaii Bear Hamburger Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope the weather is being nice to you. It's been pretty lovely here in the south of Holland, the sun is shining and I love it!

Today's nail art is another prompted by the Tiny Canvas weekly challenge. This time we're creating burger nail art since burger day falls on the 28^th of May.

If you've been visiting here for a while you may remember my burger and fries nail art. Since I have already done hamburger nail art before I decided I needed to go in a different direction with this manicure... What better way to go than kawaaaaiii?

You know you want to eat this little bear-burger! (I had to be really careful not to type bear-bugger then..) I bet he would squeak as you go to take a bite. But I bet he tastes good...No! No... he's too cute!

I decided for this manicure that light pastels would be a complete contrast to my previous manicure and I think it works well for this manicure.

For this manicure I used only my OPI Nail Envy base coat, Barry M's 'White' which I completely covered with acrylic paint and my Pro-FX top coat. I eventually added my Barry M Matte top coat which finished off the look perfectly.

Go on, tell me honestly.. would you be tempted to eat him? I wont tell him :P

What do you think of this manicure, do you like kawaii style nail art? What kind of food nails have you worn in the past?

Have a beautiful day my friends, Thank you so much for visiting. I'll be back again on Saturday!

Love,

Ithi

Freehand Cadbury Cream Egg Nail Art With 3D Gel Drips & Spoon

Allo Polish Pals!

I hope you are having an awesome day! Do you have anything nice planned over the weekend? Are you celebrating Easter in any way, or is it just a normal Sunday for you?

Sometimes holidays can be hard to post as I hate the idea of upsetting people who may believe in different religions. I'm absolutely not religious but I hate the idea of offending people..

So today I am going down the chocolate route and actually giving myself a taste of nostalgia as I used to eat Cadbury Cream Eggs when I was a child, I would get so excited when the shops would start selling them. I can't really eat chocolate any more nor would I really enjoy eating it but I thought it would make a fun idea for nail art!

For this design I began by using my OPI 'Nail Envy' base coat. Next I applied two coats of Probelle's 'Textured Purple' polish to all my nails. I then used my brushes and acrylic paints to paint the freehand Cadbury cream eggs and ruffian in white and yellow around my cuticles.

I then took a little of my Bluesky gel polish to create some 3D drips to my middle and ring fingers, once this was cured under my lamp and wiped clean I painted them in white and yellow to look like the sugary yolk. I then used a small amount of top coat to attached the miniature 3D spoon (which actually came with a tiny pot of flocking powder I won – I'd wanted to use it for ages!)

I finished it all off by adding my Barry M 'Matte' top coat.

I'll tell you something – having your nails stuck together makes for really awkward hand poses! I was glad to free them after I'd taken pictures.

What do you think of these totally inconvenient nails? Have you done any egg nails before?

I hope you have a lovely weekend, whatever you have planned. I will see you again on Monday for some more nail art fun!

Love

Ithi

Cake Puff Water Decals & Hologrpahic Accent - Born Pretty Store Review

Allo polish Pals,

How are you all doing today? I hope everything is going well with you.

You may or may not know whats going on with me depending on where you follow me. I've been pretty vague here but I'll just be to the point, yesterday we had to say goodbye to Mr Bravo's Grandma. I've become really close to her in the past four years, it's been heart breaking on so many levels and seeing my Dutch family in pain.

I had these posts all prepared and written up.. so I am going to carry on posting because while there is nothing to do I need to keep busy, at the same time because all these posts were ready I can still be as available as I need to be for my family. Thank you for all the well wishes, you guys are just beautiful.

Today though we have some really fun decals to look at from The Born Pretty Store. These are '2 pattern/sheets Cake Puff Nail Art Water Decals' (Phew, and I even trimmed the name down a little) which I have paired with a left over holo nail sticker. I'm not sure the two look great together but it certainly makes me think birthday party! 

Freehand Cornucopia Happy Thanksgiving Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you've been having a great week so far!

Today I am bringing you some early Thanksgiving nails. I've never actually featured Thanksgiving nails on the blog before so I really wanted to do it this year. You may be wondering why I am posting this on the 23^rd instead of the 25^th.. well.. I have something planned for Friday. Opps.

So these are my early 'Happy Thanksgiving' nail art to all those of you who will be celebrating. I hope you have a wonderful time with your loved ones!

Incase you are wondering, what is Cornucopia? “The cornucopia is typically a hollow, horn-shaped wicker basket filled with various seasonal fruits and vegetables”.

Apologies for the state of my nails/skin.. Time to really slather on the hand cream for me.

For this manicure I began with my fave top coat, Mezmris Nail Lacquer (Btw, Sammi's gift sets are available for order until the 10^th December, the polishes are holotastic! It would make a great gift for any nail addict!) and once dry I applied my very sticky and old Barry M 'White' (literally on my last drops of decent white polish, ha.) On my thumb and pinky I added a little gold/copper foil to the tips by carefully scrunching it up and dabbing it on. I then sealed the foil with an old top coat. Next I moved onto my freehand design, using acrylic paints and my fave Pure Color brush in size 9.

I finished it all off with my Pro-FX top coat and eventually tried my Wet 'N' Wild matte top coat too.

What do you guys think of my Cornucopia nail art? Will you be celebrating, if you so do you have any traditions? I wish the writing looked better but in all honesty I didn't get the amount of time I would have liked to have dedicated to this manicure :(

Have a beautiful day guys, If you are celebrating tomorrow have fun and enjoy!

Thank you for visiting, I'll catch you again on Friday!

Love

Ithi

Happy First Birthday, Tiny Canvas - Birthday Cake/Candle Nail Art!

Allo polish Pals!

I hope you are all doing well today? Have you been upto anything exciting?

Today I have some freehand celebration nails for you! These come about because the community I enjoy being in most of all, Tiny Canvas turns one this month. I've been a member for just under a year and I've made so many friends, I enjoy taking part in the challenges and love seeing posts from all the members. It also have such a friendly community with members of all levels of skill, there is never any nastiness there! HUGE love to Dani and the admin team who really make it a fun place to be!

For this weeks challenge the prompt was birthday cake/candles so I decided to go for some cute 'lil slices!

I began this manicure with my usual base coat, Mezmris Nail Lacquer's 'Armor Up' and once dry applied three thin coats of Essie's 'Bride To Be'. I then added a thin coat of Pro-FX top coat and again allowed to dry. I then moved on to my freehand an started by creating a water colour look using a nude colour.. it kinda looked cool. Until I added a matte top coat but the cakes looked nicer with the matte..arh..

I've been having huge artist block lately and I really struggled to get these today. Even today I spent about four hours painting something different and had a terrible out come, argh! Please hope for me that the inspiration faeries come back soon for me.

What do you think of my cake slice nail art? Are you apart of a nail community you really enjoy?

Have a beautiful day, thank you so much for stopping by! I'll catch you again on Saturday!

Love

Ithi

International Food Collaboration - Freehand German Pretzel's!

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you are having an awesome start to your week :)

I'm doing pretty good, in fact I have actually just booked my tickets home! I'll be flying home on the 25^th of November and will get to spend some much needed time with my family as I wont be there for Christmas this year. I'm really excited to see everyone again but again it will be hard going without Mr Bravo.

Today I have some...unusual nails to show you. I was recently invited to take part in a international food collaboration, thanks, Dani! There were so many talented and skilled artists who took part in this collaboration. Once all the participants were selected we were each given a country at random and I drew Germany!

I just want to say.. I know there are so many amazing and wonderful dishes of Germany so I apologise for picking Pretzel's and not more of a main dish. At the time I was kind of lacking my painting mojo and battling with my lighting situation - which is still on going!

For this manicure I began with my usual Mezmris Nail Lacquer base coat (It's diminishing fast, argh!) and once dry applied three coats of Lady Venezia's #084 – A beautiful glossy and classy tomato shade. I then applied a thin coat of my Pro-FX top coat. I created my ring finger by blending acrylic paints together with my cruddy old bamboo brush and then proceeded to paint my Preztel's with my finer detailing brushes. I finished it al off by sealing it all in with another coat of Pro-FX.

I did try this manicure with a matte version too but I wasn't really feeling it, which do you prefer?

I'm not entirely happy with this manicure at all, it could have been so much better but I tried. Sometimes ya just get those painting slumps, this one was just badly timed. The collaboration picture will be up later on Instagram if you are interested in seeing what creations everyone else made!

What do you think of my Pretzel nail art? Have you done nails inspired by a country before?

Thank you for visiting, I'll be back again on Thursday for some more naily fun! Have a beautiful day.

Love

Ithi

Freehand Full English Breakfast Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you are having a fabulous week so far. I'll be celebrating three birthday's in two days!

Today I have yet another Tiny Canvas challenge manicure (Can you tell I am enjoying doing these?) The prompt for this challenge was food. Since I've done cakes, cheese burgers and fries.. ice creams, various fruit.. I decided to go home! With full English breakfast nail art!

If you are ready I'll take your order now. I'd also like to just say that we can make special diary amendments should like the vegan/vegetarian option, or require wheat or lactose substitutes ;) Its always good to have options!

This manicure began with a luscious coat of Mezmris base coat, Armor Up; This stuff dries SO fast that I was very quickly able to move on to my black base of Wet 'N' Wild's 'Crème Noire' which I applied in two thin coats. I then applied a thin coat of my Pro-FX top coat (I just like this habit) I used my fave brushes and acrylic paints to create all the food items. I finished it all off with Wet 'N' Wilds matte top coat because it sort of reminded me of a cafe chalk board.

So included we have Toast, fried eggs, bacon (I don't recommend it, looks a little undercooked..) sausages, fried tomato, baked beans (beans in tomato sauce) hash browns, mushrooms and dollops of tomato ketchup. I left out the black pudding (bllod sausage - gag) because... well.. I simply just don't like it and couldn't imagine any way of making it look pretty on my nails, ha!

This is a serious thing, whenever someone finds out I am British they always ask if I eat a full English breakfast everyday!! No, obviously not and I don't know anyone that does! Hah!

What do you think of my English Breakfast nail art? What food have you had on your nails before?

Have a beautiful day my fwends! Go do something wonderful and exciting! I'll catch you again Friday!

Love

Ithi