Kurosuke Soot Nails Did

Who doesn't love the Kurosuke Soot Balls from Totoro and Spirited Away? THEY'RE SO CUTE!

I recently re-watched some of Miyazaki's films and was kinda of mad at myself for not ever doing homage to his characters in nail art form! So basically look for more of these designs to come LOL. One of my favorite characters from Studio Ghibli are the Soot - I even have a plush one that rattles when you pull a string!

So for the base I used China Glaze Recycle, then for the black balls - Orly Matte Vinyl. To get the "fuzzy" edges I used a fan brush and dipped it in polish to sweep on the polish. For the white eyes I used a nail art pen.

Koi Nails Did

So my french mani lasted about a day - which is another reason why I'm not a fan of them! They chip soooooo easily!!! So I thought I'd do something a little bit fresh using my friend Nikki's idea of Koi fish. I used Orly Snowcone as a base with a bunch of nail art pens in white, black, orange, red, dark green, and light green. See - two mani's in two days, I must be back in the swing of things :D

My left hand

And as a rare treat, my RIGHT hand! It actually came out pretty well :)

Sumo Nails Did

It was around this time last year that I was traveling from Kyoto to Tokyo and buying tickets for my first ever Sumo match. It was AWESOME despite the fact that I had no idea what the commentators were saying! lol. So, because I cant be at another match right now, I thought I'd do them on my nails to relive the memory!


I used OPI Thrill in Brazil for the base and then frankened a skin tone with Thrill in Brazil, Sally Hansen French White, China Glaze Solar Power and Nubar Forest. I used various nail art pens for the rest!

Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter my Birthday Bling giveaway for some goodies! If you'd like to enter click here!!


And here are some pics from the Sumo tournament from last year. MAN I miss it :)

Nail Challenge Tag - Memoirs of a Geisha Spring Nails Did

Lacquermanic came up with this great idea to do a challenge tag and I'm honored to be the first participant!

Here are the rules:

1) Make a swatch, tightly connected to a favourite film, book, music or painting. No rules what so ever. You describe what film/book etc. is, and why it means so much to you.

2) At the end of the post, you challenge another nail blogger. Let her know that she’s challenged, and leave the opportunity to turn down the challenge or accept it.

Pretty simple right!?

Okay, so I chose one of my favorite books AND movies - Memoirs of a Geisha.

I cant tell you how much I love the cinematic value of this movie. The scenes and costumes are breathtaking as are the backdrop of Japan that it's set against. I remember being in Gion in Kyoto and all I could think of was this movie and how it must have been in its prime back before WWII. I even used the main theme of the movie as my walking down the aisle music! Even though the story line is a bit creepy - HOW old is the Chairman??? Sayuri is like..9. Its one of those movies that I can watch over and over and always find something new in it.

So I did Sayuri's spring kimono (or...close to it LOL). It turned out looking a bit like Easter but I like it!

I used China Glaze White on White for the base and then layered For Audrey on top, leaving a "V" shape. Then I took Orly Snowcone (my new fav sky blue) and with a small brush drew the fabric lines.

The Obi is made of Joe Fresh Coral, OPI's Curry Up Don't be Late, and China Glaze 2030. I also used dots of a pink nail art pen and Orly Fantasea.

So to continue the tag I challenge:

Scandalous 

from Scandalously Polished

Do you accept? :D

GODZILLAAAH! Nails Did

I was totally set out to do something completely different today but then this popped into my head. I've always loved the idea of a big 'ol lizard destroying a big city willy nilly! I saw the remake movie before I ever saw the original and I remember bursting out laughing in the middle of the scene where they all notice Godzilla and start running away screaming. Awesome. So, originally it was supposed to be Godzilla vs. Mothra...but to be completely honest - I just got wicked lazy LOL. I really like how these turned out though despite the fact there is no epic battle between two large monsters.

For the base I used China Glaze Solar Power and for the grey tips that are the street I mixed a grey (still don't have CG Recycle *cries*) from Sally Hansen French White and Wet and Wild black. The buildings are also mixes of the same white and black only in different proportions. Then I used nail art pens for Godzilla in dark green, mint, black, red and white, and also red and orange for the fiery buildings.

Seriously these nails make me laugh!


Oh, and if you haven't seen this GEM of a trailer, behold Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus!!!

Awesome.

Momiji Kimono Nails Did

I discovered Momiji dolls when I was visiting Holli and Will in Winnipeg about 3 years ago. I'm pretty obsessed with anything Japanese or Asian related (my husband is just a coincidence I swear!) and when I saw these cute dolls I immediately fell in love with them...which pretty much translates into I HAD TO HAVE THEM ALL! Despite the fact that they look just like Japanese Kokeshi dolls, these are actually made in the UK.

They're pretty hard to find in Toronto, only about 2 stores in the city gets them and when they do you have to be there on the arrival date or be willing to duke it out with other collectors. So I thought that for inspiration for my next mani that I would use one of my favorite Momiji dolls - Soul.

Soul has such a pretty green kimono with trees on it I couldn't resist. On her box it says: "Your soul is a good one, I know when it shines in your eyes. I like dexy's midnight runners." Each Momiji doll also comes with a secret message that someone can write to you and put inside the doll like a little love note. Ben wrote me something...but I cant seem to get the note out so just believe me its probably smoopy. :P

I used OPI's Thrill in Brazil for the red base then put Nubar's Green Tea on top of that leaving a "v" shape at the top. Then with a clean striper brush and my dotter tool I used China Glaze Re-Freshmint for the light kimono overlap and the light trees. Nubar Forest is the darker kimono overlap and the dark green trees. Topped it off with Seche (that stuff is like sweet sweet crack).

Hope you like it! And here is my modest Momiji Doll collection - THEY'RE SO CUTE!!

This one called Little Star is currently on my I WANT IT SO BAD list:

Sushi Nom Nom Nails Did

me at a sushi bar in Japan

If you know me you know I love sushi SO MUCH!!! When Ben and I were in Japan recently we should have eaten more dammit! But its so expensive there (I know right, you would think you could buy it outta vending machines but nooo. Underwear however...).

Anyway so I decided to do a homage to one of my favorite foods (since my favorite food is sweedish meatballs and they would be kinda uninteresting on my nails...and I'd probably chew my fingers off - let's be honest).

As the dark base on every other nail I used Opi's Linkin Park After Dark. For the white base I used China Glaze White on White. Then I used a whole bunch of nail art pens for the sushi, wasabi and the chopsticks on my pinky.

By the way, does anyone know how to get those pesky nail art pen necks unclogged?? I use the stupid pin thingy and for half of them they don't even go in because they're pre-clogged. Go figure.

Anyway, looking at them is making me hungry. So I'm going to stare at Ben until he gets me some sushi...but he won't...jerk.

Oh - AND GO HOCKEY TEAM CANADA!! 5 to 5 in OT? Awesome, and I don't even like hockey.

EDIT: dammit we lost.