Starry Night

A couple weeks ago a friend sent me a link to a video of a girl who had done Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night" on her nails and suggested that I try it out. It got a bit lost in the shuffle of Harry Potter and FC Bayern nails but when that latter one came off I figured if I didn't do it now, it might be quite a while. Not an ideal finished product but I'm thinking for my first attempt it went pretty well. I will probably try them again in a couple months and see if I can improve on the execution. This has also suggested the option of more masterpieces reproduced for nail-scale. Forefront in my mind is "The Scream". Anyway, I'm quite liking these and the bartender today enjoyed them as well so they'll stay on for a little while at least.

FC Bayern 2011-2012

I finished these nails a week ago in honour of the DFB-Pokal campaign beginning. And Bayern won, moving on to round 2. Not so fortunate today when the Bundesliga campaign kicked off with a 1 nil loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach. I did the toes as well this time round with the colours from the centre of Bayern's crest/the Coat of Arms of Bavaria.

Harry Potter

For the last movie, Harry Potter nails. I did these the Saturday after the movie release. On the pinkies are wands with some magic swirls... See movie poster for reference. On the rings is "HP", the middle fingers have the lightning bolts, the indexes the Gryffindor colours. On the right thumb is Harry in profile: on the left, Voldemort in profile. I don't actually like how these turned out but I've kept them on because I didn't want to take them off.

Summer in St. John's

From the request of a friend my nails got decked out for tourist season in St. John's. On the fingers some jellybean row nails based off the colourful houses of downtown St. John's. The left hand has some classic primary colours (and green) while the right incorporates some more modern shades such as the orange and purple houses... though there might not be an actual house that shade of purple. Yet. On the thumb of the right hand is Cabot Tower on Signal Hill with a Union Jack just for the fun of it. And former British Colony and all that. On the right is a puffin because they're pretty fun even though I've never seen one.

Canada Day/Memorial Day 2011

July 1st is Canada Day and for the past few years I've always done red and white nails with maple leafs - except last year because I had World Cup nails. It has also always been a bit difficult because I didn't have my nail polishes with little brushes and it's very difficult to work with either a normal sized polish brush or a toothpick. My first design with little brushes were actually maple leafs for the Olympics in 2010 but they turned out pretty badly. This year was my chance to go all out. On the right hand I have little RCMP officers in the red serge and two Canadian flags. On the left fingers I have the beginning notes for O Canada (the part that coincides with the singing of "O Canada".

July 1st is also the first day of the assault on the Somme in the Great War. For the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, this was one of their major contributions to the war and the Regiment was very nearly wiped out in that single action. For Newfoundlanders, July 1st is also Memorial Day. I payed a little homage to the RNR by including the bottom half of a soldier with blue puttees (Blue Puttees being the nickname for the first soldiers due to them having blue puttees...) on the left thumb.

Purple

The riot nails quickly passed from 'keeping up with recent events' to 'yesterday's news'. In the week or so before Canada Day I occupied the interim with somewhat basic nails. The base was "Cloud" by Revlon. The tips were done in a purple sparkle. This is the retirement design for that particular shade as the polish has reached the end of its usable life. On the seam between the tip and the main colour I did a band of silver with some purple dots that matched the tip colour. While taking photos of these the cat wanted to play so I incorporated her in one photo and she walked in front of the camera for the other.

Vancouver Riots 2011

Well, Vancouver lost in game 7 and the Cup went to Boston. Knowing that the Stanley Cup final nails would have to be removed, I was at a bit of a loss of what to do next. Until I received a suggestion to do riot nails. I must give the public what it asks for. So, to remember the riots that followed the game, we have the following. Police vests on the thumbs. A profile head of a riot cop (in helmet) on the index fingers. The bottom of an upturned car on fire on the middle fingers. Buildings with smoke rising (like the smoke rising from the centre of the city) on the ring fingers. On the left hand, the Bruins colours. On the right hand, the Vancouver colours. Good times. Not so much for Vancouverites.

Stanley Cup Finals

The finals of the Stanley Cup started on Wednesday and the nails were all ready to go. Vancouver (eventually) won game 1 with a 1:0 final scoreline with 18 seconds left in the 3rd. I decided that I'd give Don Cherry some representation this time around. The right hand was the Canucks hand. The old school hockey stick logo on the thumb (which is backwards... not really speaking to my ability to plan ahead). Don's semi-Canucks colour plaid suit on the index, Johnny Canuck on the middle, a Faberge egg style on the ring, and Sully and Force (the Green Men) on the pinky finger. Go Canucks!

I had to throw Boston in as well, but weighted the hand more towards Don. On the thumb is his pink floral suit. While all the other suits made a recent appearance on "Don We Now Our Gay Apparel", I just love the pink one and really believe it had to be included. On the index finger is the bear off Tim Thomas' mask, the middle finger is Don's classic black suit, green waistcoat and red polka dot tie, the ring is the Boston logo (I really have trouble with it, but I suppose it's because simple is never as simple as it seems). The pinkie is the blue and white check suit.

Go Canucks Go!

UEFA Champions League Final 2011

A quick turnaround of the playoff nails was necessary in order to show my support for FC Barcelona in the Champions League. It's the end of another season. Well, the seasons were already over, but now with no more club football to watch (minus friendlies and not including MLS) the emptiness is really noticeable. I went for Barca because I did not want Man U to win (thanks for obliging Spanish FCB with that 3:1 final scoreline). I don't have a Spanish team so there wasn't really a conflict of interest. But next year the German FCB will definitely win. Anyway... On the right hand I had mini Barca crests with "FCB" on the pinkie. On the left I incorporated elements from the crest. The St. George cross, the Catalan flag, the team colours and the old school football. They were completed Friday but were short lived only lasting until Tuesday (today). As I type my Stanley Cup Playoff Finals homage is drying. Go Canucks Go!

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Conference Finals

The Royal Wedding nails lasted a long time since it took a while to find out who would make it to the Conference Finals. Once that was established, these nails got done. On the left hand is the Western Conference. NHL, San Jose Sharks, "West", Vancouver Canucks and a shoutout to Montreal in 2012. The right is the Eastern with the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning.