A special prize :D

This is about a month late, but I had to share this because I think it's just lovely and thoughtful.
An awesome YouTuber, Iva866 hosted a garden theme nail art contest. She allowed "Fantasy garden" entries so I just had to do some mushrooms.

I love to enter contests because they're fun and a great way of making new friends and being inspired by all the other entries. Even if I think I haven't a cat in hell's chance of winning I'll still enter because it's just a really fun thing to do :D And because it's a contest it makes you work hard with imagination to try and come up with something original.

I couldn't believe it when she announced me as the winner - I thought there were so many winning entries so I was gobsmacked, but really happy :)

Here are the amazing prizes Iva sent me:

One stroke brush, stripers and pink flowery cuticle oil

A variety of funky sticker things and dried flowers

SPARKLES!! The gold ones are SO shiny I can't stop shaking them around in the pot.

Some cool exclusive polishes. I love the gummi bear one it looks so cute!!

But what made me smile the most, Iva added a little extra - these wicked cool earrings: she actually made them especially - to match my colourful personality. And I absolutely LOVE them!!

And how weird is this, these are the socks I was wearing when I opened the package:

Talk about perfect match! How awesome. Couldn't have been more perfect if she tried :D
They are my new favourite earrings that co-ordinate with one of my fave pairs of socks. YAAAAY!

Here's the design I submitted for Iva's contest:

I had so much fun creating this design and I'm glad I entered a contest hosted by someone so nice :)

Don't forget to check her out. Her channel is filled with some of the most elegant designs I've ever seen. To say they're salon quality would be an understatement. I'm not just saying this because Iva sent me lovely prizes. I'm just always amazed by her nail art. You won't find anything else like it.
Well, I haven't yet, anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Iva866

^^ click link, be amazed.
Seriously... cos this is the end of the post now :)

THANK YOU SO MUCH, IVA!!
Unforgettable
xxxx

Cheese and Pickle!

So a while ago I hosted a contest, and the two video winners were Cajanails and JaeMarie2008

I liked the designs so much I just had to re-create them on my own nails. I don't think I "nailed it" quite as well as these lovely ladies, but anyway, here they are!

Make sure to check out their original designs too! Links below xxx



Camilla's Stealthy Cat mice and cheese




Jae's Mr and Mrs Pickle! [mine have had babies]

 These made a lot of people laugh. I'm really glad I painted them. I do think Mr and Mrs Pickle look a bit surprised... I forgot to give them eyelids...

Far out, man.

xXx

My First YouTube Collaboration

I don't know why I never proposed this to anyone, because it was so much fun!

A funky far out YouTuber, IndigoNova1 asked me if I wanted to join her in a collaboration - it was completely her idea and we decided to go with mint choc chip ice cream nails.

I absolutely couldn't say no cos I thought that it was perfect for the summer - and I love seeing other people's versions of the same theme. This all kind of happened while I was between computers - I managed to edit the video on my old one - Windows Movie Maker - which I'm so glad I did because the new movie maker I have is super complicated and it's gonna take a while to learn how to use it!

I used mainly acrylic paints, and made the scoops with a cigarette filter. I had no idea what it would turn out like, but I'm quite pleased with the result, and was amazed when she sent me the pic of hers.

We only uploaded yesterday [sunday] and the feedback we've received has been immense!!
Here's my version - and check out Indigonova1's version too - the link is in the video. She did a water marble, which is [in my opinion] a really hard technique to master.

We've made a lot of people hungry with our minty ice cream nails and that was my intention. Haha.

I'm so glad I agreed to do this collab. I think collabs are a great way of making friends, sharing art and leading people to the other awesome artist that they may not have discovered yet.

I'm not the sort of person to sub4sub, or spam people with my videos... or comment everywhere saying "check out my design...sub my channel..." to be honest that annoys the crap out of me. So this is like an honest, nice way to make new friends, gain views and subscribers without being cheap or annoying people. I'm recommending another artist to my subscribers, and so is she.. but for a good reason, not just for the sake of doing a random shoutout. I like to EARN. That way, when someone subscribes or compliments and rates one of my designs, I know it's genuine and not just because they feel they should.

I'd definitely do this again. With IndigoNova1 or any other funky nail artist. I believe I am still quite new to YouTubing nails, but out of all the designs I've painted so far, this one's been the most fun, and the most productive.

YAY!

xXx

View Count...

Okay, so I posted this about a week ago and it's been stuck on 302 views for about five days!

I'm not saying I'm super amazing and popular and should have a million views on this or anything. But I know that way more than 302 people have actually viewed it because I've had loads of comments and ratings SINCE the count stopped.

I know what it is. YouTube have some issues with their view count, they freeze views on some videos to make sure we're not employing bots or some sorta cheat to gain more views, and the actual genuine views are still counted. Videos from 11th to 18th July are not all correct and they're "working on fixing the problem" But it's still starting to piss me off.

Thumbs up if you're the 302nd viewer!
Hahaha.

I've learned a lot recently about legals and technicals on YouTube. But it's all getting a bit out of hand now... there's too many people in the world!!
Glad I'm one of them though ^_^

xxmwahxx

My Experience on YouTube so far...

So I've been into nail art since I was about nine years old, but only started taking it seriously about a year ago. I was on google randomly looking at nails, and clicked on a cute looking strawberry design.
This design happened to be the famous Strawberry Nail Art by the now super-famous cutepolish. After snooping around her channel for a while I noticed a lot of other girls were making nail art videos too. Some amateur, some professional. I was amazed by all their awesome designs and ideas so I re-created some of their designs on me and my friends and it was BRILLIANT fun!

I got a camera for Christmas 2010 and started fimling my own straight away. I didn't expect everyone to love it or subscribe a million times. I just painted from my imagination and then posted it to share with whoever wanted to watch.

I posted a few more after that and the response I got was amazing! It was so nice to hear everyone's feedback and compliments on my designs. I met loads of lovely nail art gurus - each and every one of them were lovely. The new beginners and the hardcore partners that had been doing it for years. That's one of the best things about painting nails on YouTube. The nail art community is full of friendly girls who are always sharing their designs, exchanging tips and advice, hosting contests... it's wonderful!
We all inspire and help each other out and I think it's the most beautiful thing ever!

Here's where it's at: www.youtube.com/professionalDQ

I've since made about 60 videos, some a LOT more popular than others. I've hosted a nail art contest, which was hard work, but so much fun. When I reach another milestone I will host another contest or giveaway. I feel I should do something every now and then, jut to say thanks to everyone for their support.

Haters...? I haven't really had any nasty haters yet, but I'm sure I will. I've had a couple of ridiculous comments from some people. But they're never intelligent enough to get remotely upset by. Things like "you're ugly" or "your nails are like stubs" - I know, what the fuck, right? But when I go to their channel to see how "great" they are, it's usually an empty channel with no videos or photos... and a lot of hate on their wall from other users who have had their videos trolled. And I usually laugh then. I wish them luck in their success on YouTube then politely block them :D

There are annoying factors that come with the awesomeness though. The messages from the "bots" usually titled "amazing videos" asking me to visit their "Sub4Sub" site. There's a lot of them. If you ever get one, BLOCK! The sites they send you are not safe!! And it kind of annoys me a bit that they insult my intelligence.
I always make it REALLY clear that I don't sub4sub. I think it's completely pointless because it's the views that count, and sub4subbers don't usually watch your videos.
Okay I guess you'd probably get more views with 2000 subs than with like, 50. But I want people to subscribe because THEY want to! I don't even go asking people to check me out. I know loads of people do and thats fine. But I like to just say hi, post a video and see what happens. At least this way I know all the love I receive is genuine.

When people write "sub me back??" on my wall, I usually ignore them. I know that might sound a bit bitchy and rude, but I actually read people's channels when I visit. I have written in capitals that I don't do it so when someone asks me regardless, that means they have taken no interest in my channel, or have ignored my request.

I subscribe to channels that I LIKE TO WATCH!
Ok, rant over :D

Since I've been YouTubing my nails, I've learned so much and made friends with some unforgettable people! The possibilities are endless with nail art and I have so much more to share.

I'm new to this blogging stuff, so just to make the post look colourful and exciting, I was going to post some pictures of my most recent designs, but for some reason this blog gives me the option to do so, then when I go to upload, it does nothing.... WTF?!!

So if anyone knows how to help me with this problem before I throw my computer across the room in frustration, your advice or knowledge would be received with much love and appreciation :D

xXx