Today I recreated a design from another challenger.  There were so many ideas to choose some, but I ended up choosing a design from one of my new favourite nail art blogs, Polish Rainbow.  She only just started blogging but she has already created some awesome manis, plus she loves cats!

I didn't have all the same polishes, so I just recreated the idea using orange and purple polishes that I did have.  The vertical gradient was created using Kleancolor metallic purple and metallic orange, I then did the dots using Nubar Violet Sparkle and Fire Sparkle.  I feel my gradient didn't bring the purple up the sides enough, but I was still happy with the result.

Wow, so the challenge is over.  Is it too early to start thinking about doing a Christmas themed nail art challenge?

Ohh look, I did a gradient again, are you getting sick of seeing gradients?  I hope not cause I have another one tomorrow.

Here are my trick or treat candy nails.  I created the gradient using all Picture Polish shades. From the cuticle to the tip is Twinkle, Honey Dew, Mellow Yellow and Tango, all such perfect spring pastel shades and perfect for sweet lollies.  I only just got these polishes so I will show individual swatches soon.

Stamping was done using BM306 on the index finger and DRK-B plate for the cupcakes and lollies.  I wrote trick or treat using a sharpie permanent pen. When I applied top coat it dragged the ink a little, but I actually like the look of the dragged bleeding ink because it kind of goes with the whole Halloween theme.

We are in the home stretch now with the nail art challenge, only two more days to go.

I did a very simple graveyard look that really relies on the gradient background to provide the ambiance.  I struggled a bit thinking of something for this design, and when that happens I just jump onto google images and do so searches to see if anything catches my fancy.  That is exactly what happened with this image.

I created the gradient using Kleancolor Metallic Black, Picture Polish Kryptonite, Layla Ceramic Effects 61 and Kleancolor Metallic Green.  And finally, following quite a few requests over the last few months from you guys, I created a how-to video of how I create my gradients.  In fact I just filmed it while I was doing this exact manicure.

For the graveyard I hand painted a few tomb stones and stamped some curly trees from the pumpkin design on Bundle Monster plate BM224. This one is another easy peasy design.

Here is my how to create a gradient video.

I'm wearing my Trick or Treat mani today, so I will by changing my mani tonight and selecting my favourite design from another challenger. 

The theme for today in the 'This is Halloween Nail Art Challenge' is Witches, or in my case the singular - Witch.

Here she is leaving her house for the evening, the bats flying in the approaching dark sky.

I started with a base of Ulta3 Lily White, then did a gradient using OPI DS Fantasy, Kleancolor Metallic Sapphire and Ulta 3 Razzle.  I added the moon with a dot from the back of one of my nail art brushes and made it a little bigger with the brush.  

For the stamping, I used BM13 for the witch, BM305 for the house with little bats and BM213 for the other bats - wow I used a plate from each on the Bundle Monster sets for this mani. 

For the final little touch, I added some little gold highlights using Kleancolor Metallic Yellow to the house windows.

Which witch is which :)

Yay - it's Halloween Challenge day again.  I've really begun to look forward to these posts, and today's is no exception.

For today's gradient theme I chose to do a sunset colour combination with black silhouetted cats. 

I started with a base of Ulta3 Lily white to get a nice blank canvas to work with.  I then used Kleancolor polishes to create the gradient, Metallic Sapphire, Metallic Purple, Metallic Mango and Metallic Yellow.  

To create my gradients, I paint my polish directly onto the makeup sponge in small lines.  I then dab that on my nail and do two nails with the polish on the sponge.  I work my way through my nails doing two at at time.  When I do the second coat, I dab the sponge onto the second finger first and then back onto the first finger, that way they get an even amount of polish. 

I cheated for the cats and made some home made water decals. The black ink on my printer is a little transparent and I probably should have gone over the ink with a black marker to get it blacker, but never mind, I still love the effect and LOVE the kitties on my nails.

Here is what my gradient looked like before I added the black cats.

Bats - when we say bats at our house it means only one thing - these sorts of bats!  Did I nail the brief for today's challenge? (and yes, the pun was totally intended).

For my real Bat Halloween Challenge mani, I created a swarm of bats flying closer to you.

I used Kleancolor Metallic Orange for the base and then sponged on a black tip and ensured I left the spongey edge rough to give the effect of tiny bats.  I then used various sized bat stamps from the Bundle Monster plates. BM305 for the littlest ones and  BM213 for the larger ones, making the bats get bigger and bigger up the nail.

I based this design off a tutorial on YouTube, although her's are done completely free-hand where I have used stamps.

I was really happy with this design, although I'm not entirely sure why I chose to do an orange background again - I should have done some sort of night sky.  Sometimes its hard to get away from the traditional Halloween colours when doing nail art.

Gradient nails are up next, and while I love doing gradients, I have absolutely no idea what to create to make it halloween themed.

This was fun!

I spotted this image on google images and knew exactly what I wanted to do for todays theme in the challenge. Here are my zombie nails. 

I starting with cutting jaggered rough edges into my tips, then I used OPI Don't Pretzel my Buttons as the base. Using a nail art brush I painted on various lines and shading using Ulta3 Chocolate Cake.  The red is Ulta3 Firetruck and finished with a layer of Essie Matte About You. 

The matte top coat dried a little strange with some white dots, but for this mani I didn't mind at all, just it just ended up looking like some funky nail fungus or something.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, no these are not my real nails - these are falsies that I stuck on.

First up - grabbing my victims arm!

I love how creepy this shot is.  My lovely mum took on the role of victim for me, but I feel my fingers are posed a little too pretty. So it's not a scary zombie 'grab you' kind of feel, it's more of a creepy cold zombie hand touching you vibe!

Lastly - I just love these photos.  I never ever thought I would pose my nails with a raw piece of meat as my prop, but it just works so well.  Never say never ladies.

I'm really loving doing this Halloween Challenge, I love having something to inspire me each few days.

I did promise so freehand nail art this time around, and it doesn't get much simpler than this.

First I have to say, I love love love the Kleancolor metallic polishes.  This is one coat of Kleancolor Metallic Orange and I think it's such a perfect Halloween shade and it simply glows.

On top of my kleancolour metallic orange base, I grabbed a nail art brush and painted in the black background leaving the pumpkin shape in the middle.  I then added the faces and voila.  This took me all of about 10 minutes to do and I just loved the result.

And for today's dose of uber cuteness, here is my baby pumpkin.  We don't do trick or treating here, but I will take any excuse to dress her up. Jack-o-lantern nails means matching daughter!

I've already done my Zombie nails, and I'm really looking forward to showing you them on Monday.

Have a great weekend everyone.