Absent..Apologies..And I Miss This Space of Mine

Hi everyone..
So sorry I've been out of circulation for a while now. My laptop absolutely crashed leaving me absolutely gutted so for now I post pictures directly to Instagram pending when it gets fixed or I get lucky and acquire a new one. I miss sharing my work and I look forward to posting again soon. I hope you have been well and all is fine. Miss you all..and see you soon.

Follow on Instagram and Twitter @dotunnails. Thanks.

Checkmate!!

*huge sigh*

Someday i'll just flog myself for all these constant absences. Partly my fault and partly not my fault. Been a lot busy lately and also discovered a  sudden love for sending my work to Instagram directly. I will however try to be consistent.

Hello Everyone!

My post today is  to show my first attempt ever at a chessboard pattern. Ever see something that just stuck in your mind and refused to go away? Well, that was how this chessboard pattern came to be. It refused to go away from my mind so i actually had to sit down and do something about it..lol.

This is the finished result of what was over an hour of work. Some nail designs require the patience of Job and i smudged this lot real well before i calmed down and did it properly.

Here is how i arrived at this lovely chessboard pattern..

First off started with base coat and white lacquer on my nails. Never mind the rough look initially, clean up is always the fun part

white lacquer as starting base

 

Next, using black paint, i used my thin nail art striper brush to draw a series of vertical lines from the base of the nail to the tips. I really wish the lines would have been smaller but that requires a steadier hand than i possessed at the time of making this particular pattern. Mea culpa again..

vertical lines from base to tip using black lacquer

After that, i drew a series of horizontal lines right over the original verticals, running from left to right. This gave me a nice lot of empty white boxes with black edges. At this point these were a lovely pattern on their own and my laziness should have kicked in so i could leave it alone but this chessboard in my mind refused to go away so i continued..phew!

horizontal lines above vertical.

To create the chessboard, i simply filled in one box with black lacquer and proceeded to alternate the filling of the boxes all the way down. You do know what a chessboard looks like so that's how i filled in. All boxes filled in and i got the lovely pattern i was after, never mind a few smudges here and there. I'm gonna repeat it again and will have something lovelier to show off.

They came out so well!

perfect in time but this came out a lot better than i expected.

thumbs but not tidied yet.

checkmate!!!

Hope you like these. I appreciate comments, suggestions and feedbacks. Do remember to follow me on the following platforms

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

I look forward to hearing from you and hope to have something more pleasant for your pleasure. cheers and stay blessed.

World Cup Countries: Group A

Hello darlings,
      this post is long overdue shey? E ma binu si mi eyin temi, i've really missed you all. Been so busy and so occupied with so much i was almost afraid i wasn't gonna keep my word to do this but i'm finally glad to be able to keep my word. TGIF!!

          Thia is my small tribute to the countries attending the world cup, never mind that some heavyweights are already kicked out of the competition. Stuff gets real brutal in this fair game but thankfully we are all being entertained globally. So refreshing to see teams from the non-traditionally football nations really making huge impacts on the big teams, i must confess it is utterly interesting.

Okay!

 Group A Nail Art Key
 Thumb: Brazil
 Forefinger: Croatia
Middle Finger: Mexico
Ring Finger: Cameroon
Little Finger: On Vacation for the duration of the series so just random blank colours.
*laughter*

First Glimpses

World Cup hosts Brazil get pride of place on my thumb. Impatience did not allow me wait to do their flag properly so i simply used the element colours and layered (more like mashed..lol) them on top of each other. You still get the general idea.

Remotes are too useful for taking pictures sha!..lol

I feel almost guilty leaving the little finger bare but *shrugs*.. ran out of brain juice at that point.

Croatia, Mexico and Cameroon front to back

 Ignore that bit of dark splotchy thingie on the Mexican Flag. Apparently there is an Eagle where that splotch is and apparently i'm in need of a stamping plate with an eagle engraving i could have used. Don't ask what it is, i'll show you what them plates are. Utterly delicious to work with i tell you.. For now, please see that black blot as an Eagle. Heehehee!!

Group A assembled..lol

The Cameroon flag star is 5-pointed but any port in a storm eh? Mine looks waaaaay better! *kidding*

I smeared the host country..sorry Brazil..lol

Once again thanks for stopping by. Group B will follow soon i promise. Still have till July to do them all anyways but that is no excuse to be lazy, consistency is key.

Don't forget to hang with me on my social media pages
Like my Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Follow me also on Instagram

Can't wait to see you all again, share, share and more shares darling ones. Hugs till we meet again.

Dual Eminent Personalities!

Hello everyone,
   shey u see i'm trying to keep my promise of being consistent though i kinda feel one post or so each day is a tad much. Is it? It is to tide y'all for the long days ahead when i may not readily be available. Hehehe!! Joking a bit.. Okay, let's get moving!..

Teaser..*wink, wink*..

  My post tonight is inspired by two gentlemen whom i personally had the pleasure to attend University with though our courses differed. It's a special post because i was immediately struck by a very wonderful picture they uploaded to Facebook yesterday. It was so thrilling i couldn't help but draw inspiration from it for this post. Let me introduce them to you..

They are twins..special surprise!!

Ladies and Gents, meet Seyi and Seye Ajayi, both of whom were fondly referred to as "SeyiSeye" by us their classmates when we had trouble telling them apart..*laughs*

SeyiSeye noni!

I guess by now the inspiration part of my post is self-explanatory. I took it from their polo shirts, one of which had a white stripe and the other black with red being the common colour. I immediately adored it and recreated the colours on my nails through stripe art. Did my bit and here they are...

half-and-half of red stripes

thumb with the black

You may have noticed that the middle finger has both black and white stripes working between the red. I used that to represent the dual nature of both colours, kinda like a ying-yang thing. With them being twins and all, it seemed so fitting..lol.

Contrast and compare..lol

partner-in-crime..lol

From my understanding the picture was to celebrate their successful finish from my school's medical campus so i am pleased to call them both "The Ajayi Doctors". SeyiSeye, thank you so much for providing me with inspiration for tonight's post. I wish you both the very best as you proceed on your further forays into the medical world, i know i will surely be proud to announce someday that i schooled with a couple of fine gentlemen like you both. Stay blessed guys.

  Everyone else, you know the drill. Comment, like and share.I did something cool today and in the next few weeks will announce something important. Stay glued, drop your thoughts and imma see y'all again soon. Shalom!

Truly The First!

Hello dears,
    okay, okay, i'll admit this post is me going overboard with my new-found love for my newest bank, First Bank of Nigeria (FBN). No be say person no dey use bank before but for me to decide to create a nail art post about it, nna mehn i don dey love up be dat. In my own words, this is a "famzus attempticus hilaricus" meaning  a hilarious attempt to famz my bank (if na you nko?!)..lol

   120 years of existence is not a joke. A couple of months back i got fed up with my regular bank after a particularly nasty complaint session that had me leaving declaring i wouldn't come back (wash, i still dey maintain that account in the unnamed bank. What can i say? Loyalty..lol).. However my mood required me to shift allegiance nah nah nah. Did my research and finally walked into a First Bank branch in my town after a couple of days stewing inside my head. Lord! Best decision til date. I opened an account under an hour, got my card and the courtesy throughout was unbelievable. Out of curiousity, i have been to like 8 branches in different places to see if i could catch one of their staff in a rotten mood and thus be justified to say it was a one-time courtesy thing because i was a new customer. Never happened!. Every single branch i walked into had people smiling at me anyhow like say i win lottery for dia hand. wowzz!.. Surprising i tell you. Till now i sometimes walk inside a First Bank branch just to cool off (AC tinz nooni), to transact and smile at the lovely people behind the counter.. Kudos to the staff who i believe were fed some special feel-good food during their training that makes it hard for me to stay away. All that goodwill just flows to their customers. No wonder they keep winning the award for Best Bank in Nigeria, think for the 3rd or 4th time running now. The only thing i think i can complain about is long queues but who in their right senses does not expect that on mondays and fridays?..lol (i like mid-week visits, less stress)

   For some time i ruminated about doing a nail art post using the element colours of their new logo (they just rebranded and made changes to the old one). Rummaged through my work box and found lacquer colours closest to it. Some moron somewhere says the saffron yellow on the new logo is gold. How could it be gold? U no dey see??..
   Pictures down below..enjoy!

Newest First Bank Logo celebrating 120 years of banking

The old logo of First Bank, Nigeria

I did this post immediately after cleaning the last one because i was afraid if i didn't do it immediately, it probably would never get done. Maybe that's why the cuticle area looks like a Shakespearian disaster. Love it anyway.

Blue, Yellow and White

my trusty photography companion came in handy again..pin intended

Don't even ask why i didn't attempt the elephant. Two reasons: 1.) No time. 2.) I'm thinking of doing that at a later date. Need to create the stencil to transfer it and like the first excuse, no time just yet. sowiee!

Photo mashup of three pics

The Logo and I.. Catchy innit?..lol

Frankly those higgedly-piggedly white stripes was me paying a li'l tribute to the old logo and not wanting to use the yellow on my thumb, uniformity can be so boring sometimes. They look crooked because, once again, i was distracted by an ongoing episode of Ben-10 on Cartoon Network.. (Dotun, you will never learn sha, cartoon-junkie-of-life!..lol)

Most crooked lines i ever drew til date..laughing at myself..lol

Okay i done said a lotta good things about my bank and i surely hope the day will not come when i will lodge my first complaint..lol. So far so good, all is going great. Make i no just catch anyone slipping up, i would not even attempt to gauge my mood at that moment. Let's just hope we all remain good friends. On that note, in the immortal words of their security doors, "Welcome To First Bank!!)

 Thanks for stopping by guys, say hi once in a while and let me know what you think. Cheers!!

Minnie Me!!

Oh Lawd!!

*crashes through blog ceiling...coughs..stands up..dusts plaster off self..spits out dust...clears throat and smiles*...

Hello dears, did you all miss me? Please don't be angry, l know i broke my promise a couple of weeks back and i'm here now to make up for it. Welcome back to my blog again darlings, missed you all.

    Okay! My nail art tonight is inspired by one of my favourite cartoon characters from childhood, Minnie Mouse. (do not stick your tongue out at me oooo, i'm a hopeless Disney cartoon addict..lol). I been kinda down lately mood-wise and was honestly looking for what or who to cheer me up seeing as how certain playmates of mine have been missing lately (*sobs*..i miss Kams)... Scrolling through cable channels and i jam the Disney Channel and lo, there she was smiling at me. Minnie!! Her outfit immediately struck a chord and i raced off to get my paints, nail art here they are..
Enjoy!

One of the most recognizable smiles in the world. Hi Minnie!!

My nail art tonight was inspired by Minnie's huge bow which is one of the most recognizable items about her. I rarely see Minnie pics minus the polka bow, it's an intrinsic part of her character and i love, love, love it!

Notice my index finger dots suffered a bit of a booboo. I broke  my own rule of waiting at least 15 minutes for my topcoat to dry and smudged it picking up a book to pass the time. Dots went south, i was dismayed and then pleased to see it made a funny pattern so i refrained from wiping it off. Turns out kinda nice, dontcha think?..

So i switched it up when i downloaded this pic. Apart from her normal white polka dots on red background, this pic had red/pinkish dots on a white background. Bet you already noticed that on my ring finger, it's my accent nail...dumdumdum!

Thanks for stopping by dear, please remember to drop your comments and criticisms, i do look forward to hearing from you. Once again forgive my long absence, i promise to behave in the coming weeks by not disappearing so often..lol
Until next time, Dotun saying "Stay Blessed!"

Stripes Day 3: Neutral Minds..

Hello dears,

 Continuing my stripe week today and i must say, i feel so happy now that it's midweek, so looking forward to the weekend, pretty sure you're looking forward to it too..bless your soul!

    Okay my stripe mani today is very simple. Woke up feeling lazy and decided to apply that laziness to my colours today. I picked the two neutrals, black and white. Black lacquer background and applied a white stripe using my tape (will show how i do this in later posts).. You like?

playing with neutrals

 A certain trick for the eye in the pic..look closer..lol

my beautiful black and white nubbies..lol

closer shot of my nubs.. just plain black and white

You probably noticed my small finger is not the same style as the other three. This is deliberate. I decided to do a negative space art on my thumb and small finger. That little bit peeking through the black and white is my natural nail hence the concept of negative space, you can check my photo album on my Facebook page Dotun for an idea of what i mean, think i posted a pic of a negative space nail though i used blue instead of black. Can be done with almost any colour but the main theme is that a bit of your nude nail must always show through which is why tape is soooo useful for creating stripe art.

negative space thumb in black and white

 

negative space thumb..closer

see them both..

Hey sorry if today's art seems a bit dull. I could have added colour but that would spoil my stripe effect and it would be dotted on anyways..so plain post just for viewing. Let me know what you feel. Thanks again for stopping by, really appreciate the time you spend here. I look forward to hearing from you. Cheers til next time. (*yawns*.. i suddenly feel very sleepy..)