Nail Art (14 designs) - Happy Birthday Angela!

Hello, Beautiful!

Today is my best friend's birthday! Happy Birthday Angela!!! She turns 28 today... we're such old ladies! Haha, just kidding! :)

ANGELA: Ever since elementary school we've known each other, but who would have thought that we'd grow into such great friends even after high school. There are only a handful of people I keep in touch with and I couldn't image not having you as my friend. We've been there for each other through everything and we even have kids just a year apart - almost to the exact day! You are such an incredibly amazing friend; supportive, kind, funny, understanding, roller-coaster loving, and just an all around good person. I am lucky and honored to be your friend. I hope you have an incredible birthday! I love ya!! xoxo!

Onto the nail art...
A few days ago I let Angela know I would dedicate a birthday mani for her on my blog. I told her to pick out what I would do to my nails. She came back with a few ideas, which were... the color orange, fall/leaves, Halloween, butterflies, blue & silver together, orange/fall stuff.  So I thought... okay, haha, how will I put all those ideas into one mani? Well I couldn't, and I ended up doing an entire nail wheel of designs for her (but 4 didn't make the cut). I know this isn't just one mani like I said I would do, but I think 14 designs is a great dedication too.

The designs are all inspired by my best friend, Angela, but I hope they can inspire everyone out there for some potential easy-to-do nail art manis! Enjoy!

Here are all 14 designs; for details on each one - including what polishes or methods were used - read through the details below.

   

   

   

 

First I'll show you the designs I created, which are NOT based on her suggestions:

BIRTHDAY CAKE

I started with two coats of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Polish in French White Creme. Using a paint brush, I created a light pink cake base using Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in Pink. I added the hot pink after the light pink was dry; the hot pink is Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in Panic Pink. For the blue candle I used Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in True Blue. For the purple candle I used Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in Purple. For the green candle I used Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in Apple Tart. For the white stripes on the candles I used Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in White. Then I used Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in Lemon Yellow to create a flame on each candle. Once dry, I painted on China Glaze polish in Midnight Kiss over top to make the flame more metallic gold and have some dimension. Everything was topped off with one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.



TWENTY-EIGHT

I started with two coats of e.l.f. Cosmetic's polish in Teal Blue. On top of that I used one coat of NK polish in Magical. Then this is where it gets tricky because I changed my '28' many times - which is why it's lop-sided. I started by making the '28' with Folk Art Artists Pigment Acrylic Paint in Pure Black. Once dry I applied Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in White. over top, leaving a small black outline. But then when I want to touch it up I messed it up and the outline became over exaggerated. I then decided to make the '28' silver; I used Revlon Top Speed polish in Metallic. Finally, one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.



BFF

I started with two coats of Butter London polish in Blagger. Then I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polish in Whirlwind White to stamp on a BFF design from the Born Pretty Store stamping plate m28. However, the stamp did not fully transfer because I could not properly roll it on the nail wheel. Only the tops of their heads, one side of one girls face, and the top of the heart transferred. Instead of ditching the nail all together I decided to free-hand generic cartoon people. For the brown hair I used Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in Brown. The faces and hands I used a mix of Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in White, Brown and Lemon Yellow. I used Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in Purple for the shirts, Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in White for the pants. I used Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in Red for the heart and Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in Pink for the bows. I used Folk Art Artists Pigment Acrylic Paint in Pure Black for the eyes and mouth. Finished this with one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.



ANGELA

I started with one coat of Wet n Wild Wild Shine polish in Black Creme. Then I applied two coats of NK polish in Magical. I used Nail Ritz nail art pen in White to write her nail. Topped it off with one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

Now I'll show you the nail art that was based on her suggestions:

HALLOWEEN GLITTER-TIP FRENCH 

I knew orange was a color I had to use more of because she had mentioned the color orange twice in her requests. For this nail, I started with two coats of Butter London's polish in Minger. I apply Hard Candy polish in Mischief to the tip. Then I used Folk Art Artists Pigment Acrylic Paint in Pure Black in a line just above the glitter tip. Topped it off with one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

 

 

 

FEATHER

I started with two coats of Butter London polish in Minger. Next I applied one coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri clear nail polish and immediately after applied a tiny blue spotted feather. I gently and lightly pressed it into place with a toothpick. I waited a minute or so, then applied one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat to seal it in. I know the feather wasn't on her list, but I figured from afar it could be a leaf and leaves were on her list - plus, it's blue, and blue is for sure on her list. Plus, the colors together look very fall-like.

 

 

 

 

ORANGE & SILVER LEOPARD

 

I love leopard print nails because they're quick, easy, and there are endless color and finish combinations to play around with. I don't know per say if Angela is really a leopard print type of gal, but I did use orange and silver - which were in her request list. For the ORANGE LEOPARD: I started with two coats of Butter London's polish in Minger. Then I painted on random silver dots using Revlon's Top Speed polish in Metallic. Using a paint brush and Wet n Wild Wild Shine polish in Black Creme I made the black lines and dots. Finished with one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. For the SILVER LEOPARD: I started with two coats of Revlon's Top Speed polish in Metallic. Then I applied random dots of orange using Butter London's polish in Minger. Using a paint brush and Wet n Wild Wild Shine polish in Black Creme I made the black lines and dots. Finished with one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

 

 

 

PUMPKIN ON GLITTER

I wanted to make sure I did at least one Halloween-ish themed nail for her (but I do plan to make a post in early October with a bunch of Halloween nail art designs). I started with two coats of Hard Candy's polish in Mischief. Then I used  Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint to make a pumpkin shape. Once dry, I used Butter London's Minger to paint orange over top the pumpkin shape and Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in Apple Tart over top the stem. Using Folk Art Artists Pigment Acrylic Paint in Pure Black, I painted the outline and face on the pumpkin. Finished with one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

 

 

 

SILVER CIRCLES

Angela had mentioned she likes blue and silver together. I immediately thought to do a dots design because it's super simple but still looks great. I started with two coats of OPI polish in Swimsuit...Nailed It! Then, using a dotting tool I applied silver dots to the nail using Revlon's Top Speed polish in Metallic. Using a smaller dotting tool, I applied OPI polish in Swimsuit...Nailed It! (which is the base color) to the inside of the silver circles - which give it that open-circle look. I topped it off with one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

 

 

 

SILVER BLUE LEOPARD

Keeping with the blue and silver theme I decided another leopard print design was needed. I started with two coats of OPI polish in Crown Me Already! I then applied random dots of shimmery blue using OPI polish in Swimsuit... Nailed It! Using a paint brush and Wet n Wild Wild Shine polish in Black Creme I made the black lines and dots. Finished with one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

 

 

 

DOTS SUNBURST

Next I wanted to change up the colors slightly by using a fall color I'm in love with right now - a teal - but still use orange (and silver). I started with two coats of Butter London polish in Bluey. Next I used a dotting tool to apply a dots sunburst design using Relvon's Top Speed polish in Metallic. Using a smaller end of the dotting tool I put orange dots in the middle of the silver circles using Butter London polish in Minger. To complete I used one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

 

 

 

TEAL LEOPARD

Using that same teal again, I created another leopard print (can you tell I was in a leopard print mood? haha!). This design was based on my Fall Leopard Print NOTD. I started with two coats of Butter London polish in Bluey. I applied random gold dots using China Glaze polish in Midnight Kiss. Using a paint brush and Wet n Wild Wild Shine polish in Black Creme I made the black lines and dots. Finished with one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

 

 

 

BUTTERFLIES

Of course I had to remember to include butterflies!! However, I cannot free-hand a butterfly all that well. Instead, I used fimo clay slices of butterflies. I have to say, this design started much different. It was an orange/bronze shimmery color as the base (which you can actually see a small strip off at the tip of the nail); however, it didn't look right so I painted over it with Folk Art Artists Pigment Acrylic Paint in Pure Black. Then I still didn't know what to do with it and thought the design was a fail, but then I started to make branches using Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in Brown. For the leaves I used Jo-Ann Craft Essentials Gloss Acrylic Paint in Apple Tart. I topped it off with one thick coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

 

 

 

So there they are! Angela, I hope you like the nail art that you inspired! The next time I'm in Pennsylvania we'll have to plan a time for me to do your nails. And don't hesitate to come to Virgnia to visit my in-home "nail salon", haha.

 

And one more time: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELA!!!