Monthly Mani Favs

The One With the February Monthly Mani Favs

9:00:00 AM

Hey all!  How are you all doing today?  I'm actually quite excited because I'm going to be sharing with you all a new feature for The Little Canvas.  For the past few years I've been doing the Nail Artist of the Month feature.  This year I decided to retire it.  After two months without that post, I've decided my blog was missing a little something.  I was missing that break from editing my own photos and writing about my own manicures.  So I went to the drawing table and started to think of different ideas.

Then it hit me, a round up post!  Each month I am now going to "round up" my favorite manicures of the month, along my favorites of other bloggers!  Sounds kind of furn, right?!  I think so.  We shall see how it goes.

So, February, not really my all time favorite month mainly because of Valentine's Day.  Seriously, it's the worst holiday.  Shockingly, one of my favorites of this month is one of my Valentine's Day designs.

Let's take a look at my favorites for February!


  • The One With the Mix and Match Mani for Twinsie Tuesday - I loved this kitchen sink manicure I did for Twinsie Tuesday using Harbour Island and Missed Calls by I Love Nail Polish.  The thumb was the cutest, so you probably should head over to that post and check it out.
  • The One With ILNP Paige - The only Valentine's Day manicure I really enjoyed.  The reason for that - ILNP Paige.  Such a gorgeous holo.  I went back and forth when it came to purchasing this one, but I'm super happy that I did!  Also, I think this is the first time I actually successfully did a striped tape manicure.
  • The One With FingerPaints The Mural of the Story - Mint, gradient, splatter....need I say more!?  I MUST do more manicures like this.
  • The One with the Studs or Embellishments Twinsie Tuesday Theme - OPI Show Us Your Tips! is my new favorite polish.  I need to go purchase a back up bottle ASAP.  Everything about that manicure is perfection...don't you think?
If I had to pick an all time favorite though of the month, it would have to be the last one.  They're all amazing, but that last one just really seems to blend together perfectly.  And that floral design...just love.

Now onto my favorite by other bloggers.  Since I told Sarah from 25_SweetPeas and Amanda from FashionFooting about this new idea for a post, I went through their Instagrams and found my favorites!

Let's take a look! 



  • Takko Lacquer Florals by 25_SweetPea - how gorgeous is this vintage floral design?  Something about that color combo always speaks to me.  I rarely use it too which is weird since it's one of my favorites.
  • Happy Pineapple by 25_SweetPea - Isn't this the cutest??  The other night Sarah and I were chatting and she showed me this beach towel she got from Target.  It had an adorable happy pineapple on it and she decided to re-create the design on her nails.  She seriously nailed it.
  • Cupcake Polish Swatches by FashionFooting - I know you are thinking "You're a nail art blogger, why is this your favorite?"  Well, DO YOU SEE THESE SWATCHES!?  I seriously was mesmerized by them when they showed up on my feed this month.  I really need to get them.
  • Fair Maiden Neon Gradient - Isn't that rainbow neon gradient so pretty?  And with the holo!?  Just awesomeness.  Another one I couldn't stop staring at.
So what do you all think?  Anything here stick out as your favorites?  Would you have picked anything differently?  Think you're going to like this monthly feature??

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post and can't wait to do it again next month!!  I think it's going to be difficult to narrow down my favorites next month with St. Patrick's Day and Easter.  There are going to be some amazing manicures, I already know it!  

Until next time ,<3.

China Glaze

The One With the Teal and Grey Flowers

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  Happy Friday!!!  This has been the longest week ever and I am looking forward to the weekend!  Sleeping, nail painting, shopping, church, and complete relaxation.  Nothing is better than the weekend.  I actually don't mind the weekdays because I enjoy my job.  Not many places let you have crazy manicures while working in a professional setting. I'm a lucky girl.

Today's manicure is something bright and cheerful.  After getting some real winter weather, I was itching for something bright.  I grabbed my brightest neon, China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle, and started painting.

I wasn't really sure what I was going to do when I started this manicure, but I like the end result.  Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze -- Too Yacht to Handle
  • INM - Granite
  • Orly - White Tips
  • Black Acrylic
Too Yacht to Handle is beyond gorgeous.  There have always been mixed reviews regarding this polish.  Some say the formula stinks, it's too sheer, streaky, etc.  The formula can be a bit tricky, but I've dealt with worse.  I can get full coverage with two coats, but sometimes have to use three to even out some patchy marks.  Bright teal perfection.  I need to grab more back ups of this.



I was going to accent this manicure with black, but I decided to go with grey instead.  I always forget about my grey polishes and it's quite a shame that I do.  I think it goes well quite nicely with Too Yacht to Handle.  Plus, INM Granite is a perfect formula for a grey polish.  Two coats, pretty perfection.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Think it's a cool looking floral??

Until next time, <3.

Flowers

The One with the Studs or Embellishments Twinsie Tuesday Theme

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today??  It's Tuesday which means it is time for another Twinsie Tuesday!  I apologize for missing last week, but it was a tough week at work and I was a bit under the weather.  Everyone has been getting this dumb cold with a cough and I ended up with it.  Oh and not to mention that last Tuesday we had a major snow storm which dumped 2 feet of snow in one day.

Well here we are a week later, the snow is melted, my cold is gone, and I'm painting my nails and posting with the Twinsie's again!  This week our theme is Studs or Embellishments.  I loathe studs, rhinestones, or any type of 3d embellishment on my nail.  I own studs, I just never use them because I think it's weird and awkward to have something sticking off your nail like that.  If they don't fall off, then I just end up picking them off.

I searched the internet for some sort of cute stud design and found quite a few.  One that stuck out was a pretty floral design by Bad Girl Nails on Instagram.  I tried it, failed with the studs, so I did my own take on it.

Let's take a look.




Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Dahila
  • OPI - Show Us Your Tips
  • Orly - French White
  • Black Acrylic
Despite the fact that I have studs on the pointer and pinkie finger, I love this manicure like no other.  It's so pretty!  The color, the design, the accent.  What's there not to love!?  OPI Show Us Your Tips! (fun name) is from the New Orleans collection which was just released.  It's a gorgeous perwinkle shade with an amazing shimmer.  Usually I don't gravitate towards polishes with this finish, but I couldn't resist purchasing it.  On the first coat I was nervous because it was crazy sheer.  I applied a second coat and seriously it had full coverage.  I don't know how OPI did it, but it's the best formula ever.



For my rose design, I used a nail art brush and black acrylic paint.  I love how it looks next to the black rhinestones and Zoya Dahlia.  Dahlia was one of the original formula Pixies that my collection was lacking so I purchased it during the Zoya New Years promo.  It's a must have.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Something you would do??

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie's posts!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amanda at Fashion Footing
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Claire at Kerruticles
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Savannah at Addicted to Polish

And just so you know, within 24 hours, I picked the studs off and replaced them with a black dot.  Life is good with zero 3d pieces on my nails!  

Until next time, <3.

FingerPaints

The One With FingerPaints The Mural of the Story

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  Happy Saturday!  It's been a crazy busy week for me.  Work, life, snow storms....just crazy!  I'm so happy the weekend is here so I can finally rest, and hopefully not get sick with something from being so run down.

Today I have a super fun manicure to share with you all!  It's been forever since I've done a gradient or splatter manicure, so I thought it would be kind of neat to mix the two together.  I searched to see if there were any manicures like this on Pinterest, and sure enough other bloggers beat me to it and there were dozens of neat manicures!  I knew I had to try it.

So I started to look through some of my new polishes and I found The Mural of the Story by FingerPaints.  I thought this color would look awesome using this technique, and I was right!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • FingerPaints - Paper Mache
  • FingerPaints - Patent Black
  • FingerPaints - The Mural of the Story
Amazing, right!?  I think this is one of my all time favorite manicures.  So much so that I'm really not wanting to take it off.  I started off with a base coat of white polish on all my nails.  Then came the fun part.  I taped off all my nails because I don't own any liquid latex, and I'm really not planning on buying any.  Tape works just as well and I think takes as much time to apply as it does for Liquid Latex to be applied and dry and peel off.  Plus, I found when I use tape, I have zero clean up, and I've noticed that some bloggers are left with a mess after using the liquid latex.

Anywho, I'm getting off topic.  Once my nails were all taped up, with a make up sponge I did the gradient with The Mural of the Story or Patent Black.  Before removing the tape, I added the splatter design.  To do this, I use the small, brown coffee stirrer straws.  I then removed the tape, added top coat, and admired my manicure.



The Mural of the Story is a gorgeous mint polish.  It is one of FingerPaints new colors for 2016 and it does not disappoint.  It was described as a neon polish, but I don't think it's neon what so ever, even when you put it over white like I did here with the gradient.  Regardless, it's a gorgeous polish with a rich saturated color.  I was nervous that the splatter wouldn't show up over the black, but as you can see it did!

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Think I should do it in every color?!

I just love it so much!

FingerPaints new polishes are available now at Sally Beauty!  Head on over to pick up your bottles today!

Until next time, <3.