Summer Fun Challenge--Day 8 (last day)

Lindsey at the Neverland Nail Blog is so incredibly creative.  I love her blog so very much and about 3 weeks ago she announced The Summer Fun Challenge.

Sadly this is the LAST day of the Summer Fun Challenge:(  What will inspire me to do crazy things to my nails???  I guess I'll have to wait until I come across a new doable, fun, inspiring challenge.  Alas, here is the final challenge-inspired manicure...


Day 6: Fun in the Sun!
Lindsey describes "Fun in the sun!" as follows, " bust out those bright colors and crazy patterns, anything goes today!"  So I thought, why not do a pretty, elegant, classic pattern but juxtaposed in bright, neon, summery colors?  I took this idea and ran with it to create...

 (nearly) NEON lace!

This fun manicure was created by painting my nails with Zoya Purity after they were appropriately prepped with a base coat.  Then I did a variation of my hand-painted lace pattern (tutorial here) to make it  have a scalloped edge.  The lace was painted using a fine paintbrush and Zoya Paz.  I really love this.  While I was painting I decided to leave my ring finger as an accent nail to create a little balance and to prevent an overwhelming manicure.  


There you have it.  Last one, and among my favorites.  My favorite manicures I created were... 

Grill Master

Pool Party

Are We There Yet?

The Big Blue

and today's manicure.

Check out what some other polish lovers created: 

Summer Fun Challenge--Day 7

Lindsey at the Neverland Nail Blog is so incredibly creative.  I love her blog so very much and about 3 weeks ago she announced The Summer Fun Challenge.

Day 6: Summer Stylin'
Everyone knows that neon was a HUGE trend this summer.  I love to use neon accessories, in moderation of course.  What do you get when you cross a classic nude flat, a touch of neon, and the vintage appeal of cap toe shoes?  My favorite summer flats: Ann Taylor Elizabeth Pointy flats in Shocking Pink!

My manicure to match was simple, a nude nail with a bright, nearly neon french tip.  Here it is...

These colors actually resemble the Kate Spade cap toe flats more than my Ann Taylor flats.  This manicure was created using a base of Zoya Minka and Zoya Ali for the tips.

Check out more awesome summer style inspired manicures:

Summer Fun Challenge--Day 6

Lindsey at the Neverland Nail Blog is so incredibly creative.  I love her blog so very much and about 3 weeks ago she announced The Summer Fun Challenge.

Day 6: The Big Blue
I had all intentions of creating a manicure based on Finding Nemo.  Those intentions fell to the wayside based on the amount of time I had to dedicate to this manicure.  Instead I opted for a turquoise and dark cobalt gradient slathered with glitter:) Very ocean-like yet simple.

This manicure was created by painting all nails with Diamond Cosmetics Don't Teal My Heart Away.  Next I sponged Barielle Berry Blue on the tips followed by a generous coat of Sinful Colors Nail Junkie.  There you have it!


Take a peek at the other lovelies:

Summer Fun Challenge--Day 5

Lindsey at the Neverland Nail Blog is so incredibly creative.  I love her blog so very much and about 3 weeks ago she announced The Summer Fun Challenge.

Day 5: ARE WE THERE YET?

I have been traveling quite a bit this summer so this phrase hits rather close to home.  I'm actually at the point that I'm sick of traveling & all I want is to stay at home.  Unfortunately that is not going to happen...yet.  So to celebrate this mantra what could be better than MAPS:)  First you should be impressed that I even own an atlas, even if it is an old German atlas:)  

 I'm rather directionally challenged so my husband thought it was hilarious that I painted maps on my nails.  I always have some sort of GPS in my car at all times!
This manicure began as a base of some Sally Hansen white polish.  The beige looking squiggles (mountain tops) were actually created with OPI Skull & Glossbones, but my brush was a little dirty for some reason from a crazy pigmented red and made it look a tad pink.  The green parks/forests were made with OPI Stranger Tides.  Then I squiggled Barielle Berry Blue for rivers & lakes, made dots for cities out of Sinful Colors Black on Black, and finally connected the cities with Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby roads.


I like how this turned out, especially since it was created while I had a migraine.  Yay for maps!

Take a peek at the other Are We There Yet? manicures:

Summer Fun Challenge--Day 4

Lindsey at the Neverland Nail Blog is so incredibly creative.  I love her blog so very much and about 3 weeks ago she announced The Summer Fun Challenge.

Day 4: WE LIKE IT HOT, HOT, HOT!

I thought about taking out some of my nearly neon nail polishes for this one, but decided on a glittery/jelly gradient instead.  Summer of course reminds us of the squelching heat.  I was instantly drawn to use Essie Fear or Desire so I painted all of my nails wit this beauty.  Then I sat there admiring my small polish collection, waiting for inspiration to strike.  I decided that Sinful Colors I Miss Yuo could make a beautiful gradient because of its purple jelly base and holographic glitter.  I think this turned out pretty well, even if it isn't as great of a gradient as I had hoped (another thing I need to work on).

Other HOT manicures:

Summer Fun Challenge--Day 3

Lindsey at the Neverland Nail Blog is so incredibly creative.  I love her blog so very much and about 3 weeks ago she announced The Summer Fun Challenge.

Day 3: PooL ParTy!

 While brainstorming for this manicure, all I could only think of beach towels, beach balls, inflatable pool toys, splashing, and sunscreen.  I was not very motivated to go down that road, so I started thinking of swimwear and immediately "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" by Brian Hyland popped into my head!  This song adequately reflects my feelings about wearing a swimsuit for the first time each year.

Disclaimer: I am actually afraid of yellow nail polish, so this was a more golden polka dot bikini;)  I created this manicure using 3 coats of China Glaze Champagne Bubbles with 3 coats of Zoya Purity as an accent nail.  The golden yellow rhinestones are from an AL Cosmetics Mix Styles Glitter Rhinestone Wheel #5.

For a look at other Pool Party manicures click on the pictures below...

Summer Fun Challenge--Days 1 & 2

Lindsey at the Neverland Nail Blog is so incredibly creative.  I love her blog so very much and about 3 weeks ago she announced a fun summer challenge.

I was immediately thrilled to participate and I actually went to work right away trying to create manicures for the 8 themes.  Unfortunately I lost my camera's USB cord so I could not upload, which meant I couldn't pre-plan the posts despite the preparation I put in:-\  Anyway...I found my camera's USB cord on Sunday.  Therefore I am a little late to the party, but I will continue to add 2 posts per week that follow the themes.  

Here's a little catching up...

Day 1: GRILL MASTER

 I took this literally.  I was not crazy about putting meat or veggies on my nails, it kind of weirded me out. I decided to create a grill on my fingernails.  I really loved this.  I used a base of Sinful Colors Black on Black then I carefully sponged Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby and Dr. Remedy Tranquil Tangerine to create flames.  This glowed, a lot!  For the grate I used Barielle Granite Glitter and a nail art brush.

Because I was too late to the party & unable to add my link, check out the other Grill Master inspired nails here or here:


Day 2: Summer Lovin'

All I could think of is Grease.  I was stuck & without ideas.  So I recalled one of my favorite summers, the summer my husband proposed.  We were at the beach (but I really didn't want to do beach nails) and there were beautiful clear skies all week.  My father-in-law was really sweet to take pictures of the whole thing from a distance (so I wouldn't know it was happening, so I wouldn't get frazzled, etc.).  So this was my inspiration.  I used Essie Barefoot in Blue for the background then I sponged Zoya Purity to make clouds (and a heart-shaped cloud too!).  The rest of the details (including polaroid style pictures & silhouettes) were created using Zoya Purity, Sinful Colors Black on Black, and  Barielle Granite Glitter.  I'm not thrilled about how this turned out, but my other attempt at a Summer Lovin' manicure was worse.

Check out the other Summer Lovin' manicures here or below.