Valentine's Day Heart Tutorial

I had quite a few requests for a tutorial of the heart on my middle finger in this mani. It's fairly simple in design, though the way I've done it requires a somewhat steady hand and perhaps a little bit of patience ;)

You're going to need 4 different colors for this, as well as a small brush capable of intricate detail work. You'll also want a surface to dap out your colors onto (your palette), as well as some acetone handy for easy brush cleaning. 

After applying your favorite base coat, start with with step 1. 

1. Apply your lightest color over your entire nail and wait (or use a fast dry top coat) for it to dry completely. 

2. Dab out your additional polishes onto your palette surface. Using the brush, create a box in one quarter of your nail with one of your colors (not the base color). 

3. Using the two final colors, create your final two boxes. 

4. Carefully fill in each box, making sure to keep your line work as straight as possible.

5. Apply your favorite top coat so that you have an even surface to work on for the next steps. 

6. Determine which box you're going to be working in first. In my case, I started in the red box. Using the color diagonal of your starting box color (in my case white) draw your first lines to create this section of the heart. 

7. Carefully and steadily create a small triangle in the corner of your first box. The first quarter of your heart is complete!

8. Moving to the right, determine the correct color to use and repeat steps 6 & 7. This is intricate work so take it slow. If your lines aren't perfect, don't sweat it. You can always go back later. 

9. To create the upper portion of the heart, select your color and carefully draw the arch of the heart. Make sure the lines match up as best as possible with the triangles you've already made. 

10. Fill in the outline of this section of the heart.

11. Complete steps 9 & 10 on the final square. 

12. Wait a few minutes (to avoid streaking) and add your favorite top coat. You can repeat these steps on your other nails, or mix things up with a simpler design or solid color. 

If you're not comfortable with freehand work and don't have a small brush for detail work, you can easily complete this using tape. This will take longer since you'll have to wait for each color to dry before you can move on, but it's definitely doable. 

And that's it! It may seem complicated, but if you sit down and give it a go, it's doable for any skill level  :) Let me know if you have questions or need clarification! I'd be happy to help! 

Happy Polishing :)

Valentine's Day mani...in January!

Valentine's Day is coming up soon and while my boyfriend and I will likely get something small for each other, for the most part, we don't make a huge deal out of the day...I mean, I'll totally be a fun person to be around if he doesn't get me flowers...so yeah...totally NOT sarcasm...

Anyway! I find all of the Valentine's Day products and themes to be adorable and I miss the days of making a "mailbox" for your desk in elementary school and seeing if maybe, just maybe, the boy(s) you secretly like gave you an extra special Valentine sometime during the day. 

I wanted to create something fun as Valentines got closer and since there are currently a few nail art challenges/contests going around on Reddit and Instagram that have a Valentine's Day and I couldn't resist coming up with something to enter in them. I really, really, REALLY love how this turned out! 

I've had a few requests for a tutorial on how to do the middle finger, so I might work on some way to show how I did it soon. Let me know if you'd be interested in seeing one as well!

Happy Polishing :) 

OPI's Liquid Sand Collection and a battery charger for me!

I have been a bad blogger this week. I've been so worn out this week or busy with other random aspects of my life that I haven't gotten around to posting what I've been working on. I'm changing that now! 

Last Tuesday I got the mini set of Mariah Carey's Liquid Sand Collection! I've been intrigued by these since they were announced and I'm glad I've finally got my hands on them. The mini set came with 4 colors, all matte and in this liquid sand texture. These all applied amazingly easy, though I wasn't used to the drying time they required since I'm usually able to apply a fast dry top coat. I'll have to look into a mattifying fast dry top coat...hmm...

The first is The Impossible, a fuchsia that allegedly has star confetti inside. I think the name of this because it was IMPOSSIBLE for me to get a darn star out of that mini bottle! So, alas, starless, here it is.  

Get Your Number is a lovely blue glitter that I was pleasantly surprised by. I wasn't sure if it would be too bright blue for me, but I think it's so unique and fun :)

Can't Let Go is a fun purple, though of this collection, I think it's the hardest color for me to wear. It's not quite dark enough or not quite light enough a purple for me. Nonetheless though, it's still a lovely color. 

Finally, my absolute favorite of this collection! Stay the Night is a lovely black with red glints mixed in. The texture of these polishes is so fun and I ended up keeping this one on for the next few days because I loved it so much. 

Happy Polishing :)

P.S. I finally got my batter charger so no more cellphone photos for me!!...though that doesn't guarantee an improvement in my photos ;)

Steampunk(?) Skullpture

Today, Teresa Reaver  presents us with, "A sculpture piece I completed in Mexico for De La Los Muertos this year."  It appears to me to be a combination of steampunk and stone.

Teresa's work is wonderful in many ways. She uses a lot of different elements in her work (stone, metal, glass, wood) and the details are astounding. Check out this thoughtful skeleton if you want to see more. Thanks for sharing your work, Teresa!

Correction Fluid Skulls

François, of Not Dead At All, Trash Art in France told us: "Here are some skulls that I made with correction fluid on a black painted wood! I really like the concept of the site, as I'm strangely a fan of
skulls too!"

Mistaken C says:

These pieces are very striking to me, I love the concept of using correction fluid on a black background.  It cause these pieces to have such a glow to them.  Thank you for sharing your work with us as well as the link to more of your art.  You have an amazing style that I could admire for hours.

[BONUS] Skeletube Snow Day

It's a snow day in the land of the Skeletubes, but it was too cold for me to document them for very long, so I have no idea what's going on here. Maybe you know? Add your caption suggestion as a comment below...

Want to have your own Skeletube adventures? You can get one HERE.

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Personalized Etched Skull Glass from Tatman Glass

This contest has ended. Thanks to all of you who entered and good luck in our future giveaways!

Don't forget that you only have until 11:59:59 Eastern Time on TONIGHT to get entered to win a FREE personalized etched glass from Tatman Glass.

This glass features the #149 Cocoa Skull Stencil and will also have the winner's name etched on the back using Skullphabet #1.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

Don't worry if you don't win, you can always feel like a winner with your own Official Skull-A-Day pint glass done by yours truly, Tatman Glass. Good Luck!