Dear readers,

Yesterday was way too hot for nail art - and even today the polish is bubbling like nobody's business. But I've had my mind set on this design for weeks. I read a lot of comic books, but Calvin and Hobbes have a special place in my heart. Funny, cute and philosophical, this duo can lift my mood anytime. 

I used Essie Marshmallow for the background, LynBDesigns Quoth the Raven, L'Oreal Lush Tangerine and p2 sunshine yellow for the art and painted a slight gradient on the other nails in LynBDesigns Oobleck. It doesn't show as well in the pictures as in real life - it's a very pretty light blue-tinged green with turquoise sparkles. I figured since Calvin loves the book Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie so much, he'd probably appreciate Bartholomew and the Oobleck as well!

Do you like Calvin and Hobbes? What's your favourite comic book character?

Check out the other designs here, such cute ones today!

30. Favourite Comic Book (or Character) :


Grab your best friend and go on an adventure!
The nail newbie 

Dear readers,

After yesterday's trip back in time to day 8, we're back on track with day 28 of the OMD Rather Awesome challenge, which is TV shows. With a preamble like this one, I really should have a Doctor Who mani for you, and that was the original plan. But then I was playing around with two LynBDesigns polishes  from her Baker Street collection for separate posts and this happened. 

This is a three-for-one, actually, because I started with a full mani of Lost Without My Blogger on the left hand (because John is left-handed and he's the heart, while Sherlock is the mind - though I've been reliably informed he does have a heart).

Lost Without My Blogger consists of silver hexagons of varying sizes, some shreds, light and dark green circles and square green mini-glitters in a greenish milky base. I was so focused on the art that I didn't take notes, but I think I'm wearing three coats on the pointer, middle finger and pinky. The holo polish on the ring finger and thumb is Literary Lacquers Green Gables. The later pictures show Lost Without My Blogger over one layer each of Literaray Lacquers Green Gables and Lake of Shining Waters on the thumb - undies definitely help with the making it seem more green without sacrificing too much depth. All jellies in this post are topped with a matte top coat (which bubbled on the right hand), the holos have no top coat.

Initially I was just going to do the number for John's blog's post count, which has some significance in the show (massive spoilers here, only click if you've already seen both seasons: John's blog) but then on a whim I decided to sketch John using LynBDesigns Quoth the Raven (see yesterday's post for a review of that).

On the right hand I did a Mind Palace mani - I think that's two coats on the pinky, middle finger and pointer, three coats over Purple Polish of Sex on the thumb, and two coats of Purple Polish of Sex on the ring finger. This is chock full of glitter! We have large white diamonds, black, white, silver and purple hexagons, and tons of little blue squares in a slightly purple-tinged, mostly translucent base.

Now when you look at these next pictures, keep in mind I did this with my non-dominant hand and my right-hand nails are very short. First I tried doing Sherlock in black, to match John, but it didn't show very well over the rich, dark, sexy purple. So then I decided to use Eloquent Dust, another one from the Baker Street collection. That didn't go so well either. 

Finally I realised why Sherlock wasn't cooperating: He wanted to be with John! How could I have made the mistake of separating one of literature's greatest couples?

I removed all but John from the left hand and gave Sherlock a purple holo background to match John's green: ILNP Amanda Hugginkiss. It's a gorgeous light purple both in the shade and the sun, and as soon as I get round to posting non-challenge manis I've made in the last month (read: hopefully sometime this year) it'll get its own post. 

Don't they look much happier now? Well, Sherlock's raising his sarcastic eyebrow and John's got his usual look of restrained annoyance and exasperation, but that's just their way of saying they love one another. 

I like how their expressions seem to change ever so subtly depending on how the light hits the holo.

blushing Sherlock, smiling John

disgruntled Sherlock, mischievous John

To complete the look, I added Mind Palace over Purple Shirt of Sex next to Sherlock and Lost Without My Blogger next to John.

I can wholeheartedly recommend all of these polishes. Mind Palace requires some patience (which is basically the same as in the show) since you have to dab it carefully to achieve a smooth finish, Lost Without Your Blogger was easier for me to use. Both are well worth it though! The holos are all made of awesome. You can get Lake of Shining Waters and Green Gables here, Amanda Hugginkiss here (it's even currently in stock!), and all the rest here at LynBDesigns, who currently has a 50% sale until the 1st. 

The shipping options shown are only for the US but she does ship internationally, just contact her via etsy. I've ordered three times from her now and she is very nice and pleasant to communicate with. Shipping to Europe is quite fast and the polishes have arrived safe and sound packaged individually in bubblewrap.

Just one more fangirly remark: Do you see the background of the polish labels? That's the wallpaper at 221b Baker Street. Her Doctor Who polishes have a TARDIS on the label. Such a cute detail!

Check out today's other TV show-inspired manis here:

28. Inspired by a TV Show :

The nail newbie (deducing that you like nail polish)


Note: Any links to external blogs or stores are pure link love - no advertising or affiliate linking going on here. I paid for everything and it's all fine.

Dear readers,

Time is all out of wonk here at casa de nail newbie! Just yesterday, we had day 26 of the OMD challenge - and now it's day 8? Timey wimey much? I guess that explains the blue police box I saw in my kitchen earlier. Also, my custard is gone.

Right. All readers who aren't Doctor Who fans, I apologise. A bit. I have reasons! It's Saturday and I'm feeling fine, I've got time to drink coffee at my leasure, my vacation starts next week and I'm going to see Leonard Cohen tonight. So forgive me if I seem excessively bouncy. I promise you my mani won't be.

So back on topic: Because I'm still wearing yesterday's underwater mani and can't bring myself to remove it even for the Leonard Cohen nail art I'd planned, I'm skipping today's jewelry theme on the OMD challenge and posting something for matte day instead, which I missed.

I've sung the praises of LynBDesigns Quoth the Raven (Bro You Cray Cray) before, but it really deserved to get its own post, given my fondness of Poe and ravens in general. I'll just go ahead and quote myself on the description of the polish:

This is deliciously thick and dark like the blood of some monster from Poe's imagination, black like the deepest night and a witch's cat. It's perfect for nail art - not too thick, not too liquid. On it's own, it's a two-coater. You might manage with one thick coat but why get one longer-drying coat when you can do it in two thinner and faster-drying ones? This polish dries to a semi-matte finish.

I made it fully matte for this nail art and then painted ravens on the thumb and ring finger with a glossy top coat. I like the one in flight better, the one on the thumb has a bit of a puffin beak, but I didn't notice that at the time. I then decided to add something to the other nails too and chose a design heavily inspired by this gorgeous mani by Copy That, Copy Cat.

It was really hot that day so I've got bubbles - but that's caused by the matte top coat, not Quoth the Raven, as you can see in the bubble-free picture of the polish on its own. I had some difficulty applying the polish evenly, but I'm not sure whether that's the polish or operator error. I know I've seen lots of very smooth swatches of it. It's definitely a polish I'd buy again!

Click here to see the collection of matte manicures:

8. Matte :

The nail newbie (nothing else matte-rs)

Note: Any links to external blogs or stores are pure link love - no advertising or affiliate linking going on here. I paid for everything and I'll regret it nevermore.

Dear readers,

Today's theme on the OMD Rather Awesome challenge is 'inspired by your favourite holiday/vacation'.
My favourite vacation is always the one I'm going on next, and this one starts next week so I love it even more than usually. I mentioned yesterday that I'm going to the seaside - what I didn't tell you is that it will be my first time snorkeling! Granted, the underwater world in the Mediterranean probably won't be as colourful as this, but I'm insanely excited nevertheless.

Hallo ihr Lieben,

wenn ich diesen Post schon auf Deutsch angekündigt hab, muss ich ihn eigentlich auch zumindest teilweise auf Deutsch schreiben... das heutige Thema der OMD-Challenge ist unser Lieblingsurlaub und das ist bei mir immer der, der grade bevorsteht. Nächste Woche fahr ich ans Mittelmeer und werd zum ersten Mal in meinem Leben schnorcheln! Ich bezweifle zwar, dass die Unterwasserwelt dort gar so prächtig ist wie auf meinen Nägeln, aber ich freu mich schon riesig!

The background is two layers of nail pattern boldness Slow Invasion (yes, a Doctor Who-themed polish!) over two layers of Lucky 13 Lacquers A Leaf on the Wind.

I layered because it takes a while for Slow Invasion to build up to opacity and, while pretty, that's a bit squishy if you're going to do nail art on it. It has another benefit too: The tiny golden glitters are visible through Slow Invasion and look like bubbles rising to the surface. (Much better than the other kind of nail polish bubbles ;) )

A Leaf on the Wind, two layers. This is one of the surprise ones from Kyoti and I need to wear it on its own very soon!

Slow Invasion (shown in matte on the right hand). It may look like the largest squares require fishing (hah - pun not really intended but I'll keep it) but I actually put some back because I preferred smaller 'fish'.

Anemones and corals

I love how it looks like it's full of fish even though I didn't draw a single one!Can't wait to go snorkeling!

See today's other manis here:

26. Inspired by your favourite Holiday/Vacation :

The nail newbie (going swimming)

Hallo ihr Lieben,

heute gibt's endlich mal wieder einen Post auf Deutsch. Es tut mir leid, dass ich in letzter Zeit nur auf Englisch gepostet hab, aber mit so einer täglichen Challenge mitzuhalten ist ganz schön anstrengend und dann auch noch zweisprachig zu posten dauert doppelt so lang. Bei anderen Arten von Posts (Beautyboxen und TV und so) werd ich weiterhin auch auf Deutsch posten - aber wenn ihr gerne mehr auf Deutsch lesen würdet, sagt mir doch bitte Bescheid! 

Dear readers,

It's another double post day today and for the first time in quite a while I'm posting in German and English again. It's twice the work and I've been hard pressed to get my daily posts up in just one language during the OMD 31 day challenge, but I figure when things slow down a bit (there's no way I'll be able to keep up the daily posting pace) I'll have more bilingual posts again - especially posts that are about subscription boxes and TV shows and other things that are of specific interest to my Austrian and German readers.

So, jetzt aber zum Thema meines ersten heutigen Posts (nachher kommt noch einer für die OMD challenge mit einer Mani, auf die ich ganz besonders stolz bin). Dies ist ein Beitrag zum 2. Bloggeburtstag von Faralalia von Feel the beauty inside. Das eigentliche Jubiläum war schon im Winter, aber jetzt holt sie es mit einem Gewinnspiel nach. Neben einem Kommentarpreis gibt es auch zwei Kreativpreise. Klar, dass ich mich für das Nageldesign entschieden habe!

Falls ihr noch mitmachen wollt, habt ihr bis Sonntag Zeit - Faralalia würde sich besonders über Kreativteilnahmen freuen.

This first post (which will be followed by one of my favourite OMD designs) is my entry for the blogiversary contest of Faralalia of Feel the beauty inside. The actual blogiversary was a while back but she's now running a contest for her readers. There is one random draw prize for comments but more importantly, there's two creative challenges. You probably won't be surprised to hear I picked the nail design challenge.

Die Aufgabe war, eines ihrer monatlichen Nageldesigns (aus dem Studio) nachzumachen. Ich hab mich für dieses Design von November 2011 entschieden. Es war eine ganz schöne Herausforderung für mich, weil ich keine so ruhige Hand habe wie die Expertinnen im Nagelstudio (und das Design wahrscheinlich mit Acrylfarben gemacht wurde), aber ich finde, es ist hübsch geworden. Was meint ihr?

The challenge was to recreate one of her monthly manicures (which she gets done at a studio). I chose this design from November 2011. It was quite a challenge because my hand isn't as steady as that of a professional nail artist (and the original was probably done with acrylics), but I think it came out quite pretty. How do you like it?

Auf zwei sehr dünne Schichten Essie Marshmallow trug ich zunächst an den Spitzen a-England Merlin auf.

I started with two very thin layers of Essie Marshmallow and dabbed a bit of a-England Merlin on the tips.

 

Dann kamen die blauen Wellenlinien in Different Dimension Just keep swimming, die einen Rand aus LOOK nail tattoo liner white bekamen. Die Punkte habe ich mit einem Dotting Tool gemacht (sonst ist alles mit Pinseln gemacht).

Next I painted the blue wavy shapes in Different Dimension Just keep swimming and framed them with LOOK nail tattoo liner white. I used a dotting tool for the dots, the rest is all done with brushes.

Für die Blumen mischte ich Essie und Look zu einem fast deckenden Weiß, das seidig wie Blütenblätter aussieht. Schließlich fügte ich einen Tropfen Blau zur weißen Mischung hinzu und setzte ein paar Tupfer in die Mitte der Blumen.

For the flowers, I mixed the Essie and Look polishes to achieve a nearly opaque white that had the silky sheen of petals. Finally I added a drop of blue to the white mixture and dabbed it in the centre of the flowers.

Just keep swimming ist ein Holo-Lack - an der Seite des Daumens sieht man das ganz gut, leider sonst nicht so stark, da braucht man wohl größere Flächen. Ich hab ihn aber vor allem deshalb gewählt, weil er auch ohne Sonne so toll aussieht (was bei Hololacken ja nicht immer der Fall ist).

Just keep swimming is holographic. You can see it on the side of the thumb, but I guess you need larger areas for the holo to show properly. The main reason I picked it was that it's such a gorgeous bright blue even in the shade (which isn't very common in holos). 


Ich hoffe, euch gefällt dieses Design! Alles Liebe,
das Nagelnewbie

I hope you like this look! Yours,
the nail newbie