40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Geeks

As you can see, this is a late post. To be honest, I had almost thrown in the towel on blogging this week. I really thought I was done. I had even created a mani for The Digit-al Dozen Does Autumn Week, but I couldn't get it to turn out the way I wanted it to and so I became anxious and gave up. I told the DD ladies that I didn't know what to do anymore. 

But! I woke up this morning with an idea for a mani! A mani that fits both themes that I needed today! I needed a Digit-al Dozen Autumn mani and I needed 40 Great Nail Art Idea: Geeks mani.

And I did it! I did it! I can't believe I did it! Yay! (Hahahahahaha, I hope someone sung that song while reading that).

I am hoping you all can tell where I got my inspiration. (pssst, my own blog!) 

Owl and colors I used = Autumn. Steampunk and Owl = Geek (because that's me!). Boo-yah! I tried to match the colors as close as I could (thought I did a pretty fantabulous job). 

My blog designs were all created by a dear friend of mine Missy (from Gnarly Gnails) (girl, I wish you were still blogging!I miss your face!). Looking over the icons and avatar and header she created got me thinking about the past couple of years. I realized that though I myself haven't grown so much as an artist (I think this is as good as it gets) but I do know that I have grown as a person. You all have been there for me, complete strangers, and yet we are all connected. And that is why I love the nail polish community!

So I chose my own blog design because the prompt was Geeks and I am a big huge Geek (with a capital G)!

I used BarryM Chai for the base of three of my nails (actually, this mani was a full mani....yep, all ten! Woot woot!). My accent finger is Pretty & Polished In the Buff (a gorgeous dusty mustard! Yummy!). I stamped using BarryM Cancun and Barry M Mustard using Messy Mansion MM43 for the Steampunk aspect. I used Konad Black and Born Pretty BP-L019 for the owl (I think he looks a lot like my little tab avatar guy). I used HK Girl Top Coat.

Guess what. I did this mani in an hour. All ten fingers! All with first try stamping! I think the polish gods were smiling down on me. I think I should take this as a sign. ;)

This is the collage for last week's 40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Teal (+ a pattern). I love these collages!

Don't forget to check out the other DD Ladies and their Autumn manis!

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Also don't forget to check out the other Geeks among us! :)

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Re-Creation Week: The Terrific Twos - Cotton by Glowstars

Today is the final day of The Digit-al Dozen Does Re-Creation Week, and for my final day I chose to do a mani that was created during our second anniversary hence the use of cotton (traditional two year anniversary gift). Who's mani is it?

Why Vic from Glowstars! I had a really good chuckle when she created this mani that I knew I had to re-create it at some point. What better day than today! For me, Vic has always been and always will be the Queen of Bling. I really did think of just putting some honking huge jewels on my nails to represent Vic, but I knew I had to do an actually mani (wouldn't surprise me if she did have a mani with honking huge jewels, actually pretty sure she does!). Not only does Vic create a lot with bling but she also thinks a little outside the box and that's why her and I get along so well (among other things). One thing she is teased about in our group is having her DD manis completed way far in advance. If only, right?!

So I only used two items for this mani (shocker I know!): BarryM Plumpy Top Coat (still not sure about this top coat, it's......interesting) and a shredded cotton round. I also decided to do this cotton mani because I had mentioned to the DD ladies that I live where they grow a lot of cotton, a lot! It seems like it's always growing, that or corn. But being in Arizona you get growing seasons pretty much all year round. (thanks nature for the allergies with that!)

I hope you've had fun seeing all the manis that everyone has re-created. I know that we as a group have had a blast! Thank you to our wonderful readers and followers! Without you we'd be left to ourselves and well........you know, we're weird! >_< We love that you enjoy The Digit-al Dozen, crazy it's already been three years! 

Like I said in my post on Monday, we've had quite a few ladies who are no longer in our group and we hope all is well with them and love and miss them all! We've embraced many new ladies over the years and love how each of them bring a new twist or take on the themes. I wish I could have re-created more manis from all the ladies (Pffft! I'm not Lindsey! Yes, yes, she did re-create a mani from all the current DD ladies. See, crazy!) Hahahahaha! Perhaps I'll try and do that, dedicate a day for DD re-creations. Hmmm, I like that idea! I think there are a few other ladies who are planning on doing just that.

It was really nice to do a full DD week. It's been awhile, but I am hoping things are looking up. Though, I've said that before! :) I am still debating on introducing a few other things on my blog, we shall see. Have a fabulous and safe weekend!

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Re-Creations Week: Grey and Yellow Floral by Pointless Cafe

Day 4 of The Digit-al Dozen Does Re-Creations Week and today I have some actual free-hand nail art! For the win! I feel in love with the original version of this mani because of the colors and the simple yet complex overall idea. Who's mani is it?

Sheila from Pointless Cafe! She is so super creative and artistic in her manis and life. Oh and I totally want her amazing closet! :)

I used China Glaze Concrete Catwalk and acrylic paint for the yellow and black with Poshe Top Coat. Her dots are more nicely random (I can't do random dots, they always end up in rows, and then I fix them and then they are all crowded - nail polish problems). But I do absolutely love my first flower on my middle finger! I love the painterly quality to it! I channeled my inner Sheila for that! My second flower I made it to look like those thin nail art flowers that you can buy to glue on to manis. I wanted a bit of texture so I kept adding paint before it dried fully. I don't know, it was fun that's all! :)

I really love these colors together, really brightens the day! I love having Sheila in the group, she's a real hoot! She's all about the coffee! I love seeing her painting skills come to life on her canvases (nails and real canvases).

Thank you Sheila for your contribution to our DD family!

Don't forget to check out the other amazing ladies!

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Re-Creations Week: Black & White Day - Adipose Nail Art by Adventures in Acetone

Day 3 of The Digit-al Dozen Does Re-Creations Week and today I bring you some fat. Such cute little fatties! These are Adipose (little aliens made from fat) from Doctor Who! And who's absolutely fantastic mani do I re-create?

Jacki from Adventures in Acetone (just in case you didn't read the title!) Of course hers is free-hand with a tutorial. Mine, well, mine are a stamp because I had a feeling I would screw up their cute little faces........oh wait I still did! Hahahahahahaha!

Pretty basic on the polishes: BarryM Espresso (a matte polish) and Konad White. I used My Online Shop MJXII for the adipose. And I used my Clear Jelly Stamper for the first time. It was a bit finicky but finally I was able to work with it and love it! So nice to be able to see through the handle to where you are stamping!

I really love how each of my adipose have different personalities because of the stamping. We have (top to bottom): normal happy adipose, mean nasty adipose, girly feminine adipose (see her lashes, or she could be from the band KISS), and finally silly goofy adipose.

I love that Jacki adds Doctor Who references to her manis (like many of us DDs). And I have always loved her tutorials. She makes everything look so easy and effortless!

Thank you Jacki for your contribution to our DD family!

Don't forget to check out the other amazing ladies!

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Re-Creations Week: Dotting Week - My Dots by A Girl and Her Polish

Day 2 of The Digit-al Dozen Does Re-Creations (a celebration for our 3 year anniversary!). Today is probably a given on the mani I am re-creating (besides the obvious title, derp).

Katee from A Girl and Her Polish as been an inspiration since I first laid eyes on her famous dotticure. I "met" her through that dotticure as people were trying to steal it and put their names on it. A few of us commented on her blog post and told her what was happening. It was the start of a beautiful friendship. :) Katee references this dotticure in the DD post Dotting Week - My Dots that I chose to re-create.

I used all BarryM polishes (but of course I would, this is a Katee mani!). I used BarryM Lychee as my base with Sky Blue, Blueberry, and Chai for the dots. I topped it off with Poshe Top Coat.

I tried to totally re-create the design, but I realized I needed to use smaller dots. But I still love it a ton! And I will always love (insert music here) Katee's dots! (and her amazing layered stamping abilities).

Thank you Katee for your contribution to our DD family! (and for my obsession with BarryM Gelly and Matte polishes!)

Don't forget to check out the other amazing ladies of the DD!

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Re-Creations Week: The Emperor's New Clothes by The Dalai Lama's Nails

Welcome to a full week of The Digit-al Dozen! Yes you heard me right! All five days have already been completed and are set to post! Yay me! Don't know what I did different but I do know that when I created these manis for this week my anxiety levels actually dropped a bit (well, except for a bit of stamping issues). And I think this is one of my better DD weeks ever, granted they aren't my own designs, but I feel I did all the ladies I chose justice. I hope you enjoy!

First, a note about this week:

This week we are re-creating each other's manis from different Digit-al Dozen themes. We are doing this in honor of The Digit-al Dozen turning 3! (Crazy huh!) Although we've had some changes in faces and nails, we are still passionate about what we do and what we stand for. We love nail art and the nail art community! We love the family that we have found in each other and the friendships that will last a lifetime.

These past three years the ladies of The Digit-al Dozen have been my all. They have supported me when I had no one else to turn to. They have lifted me from my darkest of darks. They have shown me how to see the greatness that is within me. They have laughed and cried with me. All these ladies are technically strangers to me, as in I have never met any of them (ok, I have met Ashley from Ashley is Polish Addicted), but I do not consider them strangers at all. They have played such an important part in my life and I am a better person because of all the ladies (past, present, and future) of The Digit-al Dozen! I love you all! XOXO Mwuah!

Welcome to The Digit-al Dozen does Re-Creations Week! This week we are re-creating manis by other DD ladies. Today I have chosen this mani because I had wanted to do something similar to this during our Fairy Tales Week, but wasn't exactly sure on how to go about it.

But Hannah over at The Dalai Lama's Nails (click to see the original amazing version!) created such a fabulously perfect mani for The Emperor's New Clothes that I had to re-create it! So simple and yet it totally captures the story, in a PG sort of way. :)

I used OPI Unfor-Greta-Bly Blue, BarryM Foil Effects Gold, and OPI Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI all topped with Poshe Top Coat. 

I really loved how elegant this turned out. Sometimes it's nice to have a nice clean traditional-ish french tip mani.

Thank you Hannah for your contribution to our DD family!

Don't forget to check out the other amazing ladies of The Digit-al Dozen!

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Food...At The Diner... Pie!

So I know I have been missing this week for the Digit-al Dozen. It's monsoon season here in Arizona and that means my anxiety kicks into high gear. But I did get one mani out. It's a special mani, because the ladies at the Digit-al Dozen have created an amazing blog hop for you to partake!

Bon Appetite!

Welcome to the grand finale of Food Week here at the Digital Dozen. We had an idea do do something a little off the rails today for our big finish. So, Welcome to the Digital Dozen Diner. Please look through our menu and check out what our chef's have in store for you today!

As you can see, all our chef's have their own diner food specialty cooked up for today.

I have a special pie just for you! (well, not that kind of special, no magical brownies here!) When I decided to create a pie mani I thought no problem. Um, problem. Did you know that if you look on Pinterest for pie mani, or pie nails, or pie manicure, etc; you get barely anything. At one point I had no search results! I thought I'd broken Pinterest! :) 

But I did it! (I did it! I can't believe I did it! - thank you Dora) I decided to create an apple pie. But you know me, I can't just create any ol' apple pie...it's gotta be a geeky apple pie!

Hee-hee! You see what I did there? I used BarryM Green Berry and Konad Black with Cheeky CH16 for the formica diner countertop. I then whipped up an Apple logo using MoYou London Geek 07 and Konad White. Attempted a decal of Pi (muwahahahaha!) using Nailways Back to Basics 123 ABC with Konad White. And mixed in a bunch of different colors of BarryM polishes (Mocha, Caramel, and Lychee - whoa! Those are so real ingredients! Nailed it! Bah!) I added a little Orly Shinning Star for some cinnamon/pie filling glisten and a dollop of BarryM Coconut for the ice cream. This pie is a little over cooked, so it's a bit more brown but it still tastes fabulous! (I wouldn't recommend eating it, seriously though, don't. Do you see how 3D-ish the pie is? So many many layers of polish).

I hope you enjoyed your meal and remember to tip your waitress. Don't forget to follow the InLinkz below if you are still hungry and check out what the rest of our kitchen staff has cooked up. And don't forget to check out Instagram account @digitaldozen for a full run through later in the day!

Please Come Again,

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* thank you Amanda from Lady Maid Nails for the layout of this post!

The Digit-al Dozen Does Neon: Labels Make Handling Chemicals Safe

Final day for The Digit-al Dozen Does Neon and I finish with a little safety precaution for neon (while not actually using any neon colors!)

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Next time you need to transport or handle neon just look for this label. :)

I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls for thumb and little finger. I used Sally Hansen Blue Me Away, Zoya Sooki, and OPI Candlelight (not sure as it's a mini with no name). For all the writing I used acrylic paints.

I hoped you enjoyed my neon week because I had a lot of fun going against what everyone else had planned. :)

Don't forget to check out the other ladies and their final neon manis!

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Neon: A Noble Gas

Day 4 of Neon week in which I don't use any neon polishes....ever! :)

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Neon is considered a noble gas. That means that it is a stable gas on it's own, a stable single atom molecule at standard temperature and pressure. -source

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It is a monatomic gas, a single gas not bounded to another.

So with the previous two pictures I hope you can see where I got my inspiration. I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Barry M Cardamom and Barry M Olive to create the atoms. I stamped using Barry M Foil Effects Gold and MoYou Tourist 01 to create the noble aspect. I used Essie Matte About You to finish it off.

Don't forget to check out the other ladies and their neon manis!

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Neon: Neon(1+), carbonyl-

Day 3 of The Digit-al Dozen Does Neon week (and my personal neon week where I don't use a single neon polish). Today I give you: Neon(1+), carbonyl-

Huh!?

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So I bet my chemistry owlets out there know what this is. I actually searched and searched and only came up with Neon(1+), carbonyl- And I have no idea what it is, but thought it would make some cool nail art (all in the name of science nail art). Is is oxidized neon? But I don't think neon can be oxidized. I've only had a tiny bit of chemistry, so what do I know? Hahahahaha!

Nonetheless, I created it and was happy. :) Hopefully one of you can answer my question! I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and acrylic paint. Also topped it off with Essie Matte About You.

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Neon: The Electron Dot Diagram of Neon

Day 2 of The Digit-al Dozen Does Neon; and my personal neon week without actually using a neon (color). Today I give you the Electron Dot Diagram of Neon. 

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Ok, so I didn't do really well in chemistry so I am not too sure why it can be drawn like this but I figured it'd make great nail art! :) And what's wrong with that? Right? Anything for nail art! 

For this I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and acrylic paint for the rest of it. Do you like my first real attempt at 3D? Hahahahaha! I tried. But I kind of dig this pattern and even see a little face in it.

Don't forget to check out the other ladies and their neon manis!

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Neon: The Neon Symbol

Hello Owlets! I'm sorry that I haven't been around. I took a break to try and get my groove back.

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That time off really helped me to focus on myself and what I want to accomplish with my blog. So the break helped me get my groove back!

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And I mean really helped. This week for The Digit-al Dozen we are doing neon. Neon! When this was decided upon I had let it slip that I didn't own any neons in my polish collection. 

I'll pause here for the collective gasp that also happened in the group. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it, I'm weird. I just don't like neons. *Le gasp*

And now a whole week dedicated to neon. I shake my fist at those who chose it. I thought, well I could go buy some (I actually looked and I found one, ONE, neon hidden away in my collection) but I didn't want to buy them when I wouldn't use them again (wait, since when has that stopped any of us?).  :)

Well, that break helped me to get my thinking-out-of-the-box cap back on. So I present to you a week of neon without actually using any neon!  Boom baby!

Here is the symbol for Neon on the periodic table; granted I don't have all the info associated with the symbol, but come on, cut me some slack, my nails are only so big! ;)

I used Milani White on the Spot and black acrylic paint. Please excuse the bits of dryness. My skin is hating me at the moment.

It's a bit messy, but isn't chemistry messy? No? Oh well, I'm thinking beakers bubbling and pipettes and Bunsen burners......and I ran out of chemistry lingo. :) I took it in high school and bleh I hated it, for the most part. I remember we could have the periodic table with us for our tests and any notes that we wrote on there. My sheet was covered in microscopic writing in different colors that consisted of pretty much my entire class notes. :)

Don't forget to check out the other ladies and their neon manis!

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