Berlin Turns 775

 This year is Berlin's 775th anniversary so I decided to do Berlin nails. While the original concept was to have a variety of images from throughout the last few centuries, when I actually sat down to do them it ended up being largely centred on post-Second World War. On the left hand are images from the Berlin Wall. The middle finger had a black silhouette of the Brandenburg Gate so I chose not to do another image of it on the right hand. The thumb is the image of Brezhnev and Honecker (Soviet and East German leaders respectively).

On the right hand are the Ampelmännchen (the traffic light men), the middle finger (which is also in the process of breaking) is the crown from the coat of arms, and on the thumb part of a map of the Berlin city centre.The pinky is just the German flag with 775.

Bayern Plaid and Argyle

 Just as an interim nail design I did plaid and argyle in Bayern colours. Both my thumbs were cracked and the morning after painting these they finally broke off so it was nice that I didn't spend a ton of time doing a complex design on them. These photos are post-breakage.

Remembrance Day 2012

 Part of my yearly routine is attending the Remembrance Day ceremonies and painting my nails for the occasion. These were my Remembrance Day nails for this year. On the left hand were poppies on a green background. On the right was an evolution of the uniform from the red serge of the 1800s to modern day. These were in part based off the Canada Post stamps for the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.

Happy Halloween!

 I didn't start these as early as I planned, otherwise they would've been all eyes. But with Remembrance Day nails scheduled to be done within the next couple days I took a bit of a pass on the left hand, only including a Jack Skellington face (Nightmare Before Christmas) and doing the rest just with the orange tips.

Everything's Coming Up Milhouse!

 I find it a bit shocking it has taken me this long to do Simpsons nails. But they have finally come. On the left hand the family: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Maggie turned out more like the style we saw in the Tracey Ullman show shorts: crudely done. I'd like to say I'm hearkening back to the past but really it was just a small nail, a slightly unsteady hand and a lot of head points. 
On the right hand some notable Springfieldians. Mr Burns (my favourite), Milhouse, Jasper ("You shot who in the what now?"), Flanders and Skinner.

Twirling, twirling, twirling!

 I commented to someone the other day that I've been doing some type of design on my nails for so long I feel obligated to continue. As I pondered that and stared at my chipping Dali nails I decided as a protest to myself I would do a straight colour nail. No sooner had it dried than I thought "That's dull, it needs SOMETHING." So I just did some swirls, as per usual they turned out much nicer on the right hand. And the only thing going through my mind while doing them was that immortal quote from the Simpsons: "As a young boy, I dreamed of being a baseball. But tonight I say, we must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!"

Salvador Dali

 It came to my attention very recently that I haven't added any new photos lately and my first thought was, 'it's true, I changed them since the Dali ones and haven't uploaded photos.' That was followed by the realization that I never uploaded the Dali ones, so here they are! On the right hand the melting clocks. If I had my time back I would have done them all like the silver clock on the thumb. I didn't have the right shade for the gold ones to really show that they were melting over a ledge and the one hanging off the tree branch is much clearer. After one hand I was a bit tired of clocks so I did elements of his other works on the left hand.

 Butterflies and their shadows, roses, and on the thumb the giraffe on fire. The smoke rising off the giraffe did not turn out particularly well.

This is Jeopardy!

 One of the best shows, and certainly, in my opinion, the best game show: Jeopardy! with Alex Trebek! On the left hand the Jeopardy round board with the values 200-1000 and the bottom of the board in gold. On the pinkie is part of the set, seen between Alex's podium and the contestants. On the thumb, more set, with the floor and his podium. On the right hand "JEOPARDY!" in Jeopardy! style letters and Alex Trebek on the thumb. 

Summer is Watermelon

 I bought a watermelon a little while ago and thought "I love watermelon. I should put watermelon on my nails." This is the result of this thought. The thumb on the right hand has a bite out of it, all the other slices are intact. Just a yellow base, as if to say, "It's summer and there's sun, let's eat watermelon!"


Happy munching all!

Canada Day 2012

With Germany very (VERY) sadly out of the Euros, I made a change to proper Canada Day/Memorial Day nails. Just a simple design. On the fingers, white Maple leaf outlines. On the thumbs, forget-me-nots (the flower of remembrance for Newfoundlanders before they joined Canada and adopted the poppy, or so I've heard).

Euro 2012 Knock-out Rounds/Canada Day

The finals of Euro 2012 fall on Canada Day this year, so these nails serve a double purpose. On the thumbs is a mini-Canada tribute with 1¢ on the left thumb and the maple leaves and 1¢ on the right thumb. This is also a tribute to the penny, which is being phased out. In a rare shout-out to the nailpolish used, I've included a pre-design image of the thumb using "Magnetic Force" polish. The variations in colour are achieved by hovering a magnet over the wet polish. I thought it was pretty cool and turned out really interesting. 

The fingernails are stars in the German colours and little football player silhouettes also done in the German colours. Nothing too complex, but hopefully it'll be lucky for the knockout rounds. So far so good, with Germany moving on to the semi-finals.

UEFA Euro 2012 - Group Stages

 UEFA Euro 2012 nails.

Both thumbs have the Poland-Ukraine Euro logo with "EURO 2012". On the right hand, German eagles. On the left, the flags of all the group countries. Group A: Poland, Greece, Russia and Czech Republic. Group B: Netherlands, Denmark, GERMANY!!!, and Portugal. Group C: Spain, Italy, Republic of Ireland, and Croatia. Group D: Ukraine, Sweden, England, France.

Stanley Cup Final 2012

 These were actually done quite a while ago, apparently I forgot to upload them. Anyhoo, for the Stanley Cup final, LA Kings on the right hand and New Jersey Devils on the left. I have a bet riding on LA winning the Cup so while it's a shame they weren't able to sweep the series, I'm still confident they won't be only the second team in Cup final history to lose after starting the series with 3 wins.

2012 Champions League Final

 For the second time in three years, Munich has lost in the Champion's League final. These were the nails I did in the hope they'd win. Allianz Arena on the left, the Champion's League trophy over the crest on the thumb. On the right, a third attempt at a Phillip Lahm portrait, but I still don't think it turned out right. Maybe that was the unlucky part... On the fingers, the jerseys. Back to mourning for me... :'(

Purple Leopards

 My parents sent me a Sally Hansen nail pen in purple and between the FA Cup final and the Champions League final, I decided to try it out. I went with a simple leopard pattern. I don't think the polish was completely dry when I did the top coat, hence some fading/blue patches, but for this particular design I think it actually works in its favour. I may have to experiment with these pens a bit more often...

 In preparation for the FA Cup final on Saturday, Liverpool Nails. On the left hand is the top of the Liverpool crest (though I inadequately factored in the curve of my nails and the centre gets a bit lost). On the thumb is just YNWA.


On the right hand thumb is the FA Cup. On the first three fingers Liverbirds and "FA" on the pinkie.


C'mon you Reds!

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

 I forgot to upload these a week and a bit ago when I actually did them (sorry Mom!). For the anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, these nails were done. On the left hand, an outline of Canada and a maple leaf. On the right, Jean Chretien <3, Pierre Trudeau, and the Queen, circa 1982 (from the photo of her signing it into the constitution). On the thumbs, because Bayern Munich was in the semi-finals (and is now in the final!), a partial crest.