Winstonia Brushes review - Sofa King Bueno Girl

*Products provided in exchange for an honest review. Please see my disclosure policy for more info.* 

Today I've got a review of a brush set from the Winstonia store! So far I have used the brushes and dotting tools from this set and I can not say enough good things about the quality of these brushes for the price. After doing a few manis with these brushes and tools, I knew I wanted to do something detail oriented to see just how far these brushes could go. I can safely say I was not disappointed! 

This weekend while visiting home, I had a fabulous wine from a local winery, Chronic Cellars...and I fell truly, madly, deeply in love with their labels! I don't know what it is about the skeleton girl on this label, but I knew I needed to recreate her on my nails and it was a perfect opportunity to do this review. 

The quality of the brushes is surprising considering the $9 price tag for every thing in this set - from the brush hairs to the handles, these just feel good. I used the #00 and #000 brushes for this look and both of them were great. Very little struggling with the hairs to do what I wanted. I did make one small alteration to these brushes as I worked with them a bit - I trimmed 1-2 long hairs off the end - and then they were perfect. They create a fine tip and allow for more detail than you would ever expect. 

The dotting tools are also great. I used them randomly throughout this mani but also in several others over the past few days. They are pretty much your standard dotting tools, but I really like how small the smallest tool goes. I have a few other dotting tools and I can easily say these are the best ones. The kit also comes with a nail buffer that I haven't had a need for yet, but the fact that it is included in this kit is just another plus. On the whole, this kit is an excellent deal for the money. I'm still shocked at the amount of detail these brushes produced! 

If you'd like to grab one of these kits yourself, use the code WONDROUSLY at checkout to receive 10% off this item :) If you don't yet have a set of nail art brushes, I'd say this is an excellent starter set (or normal set!). 

What do you think of this mani? Do you like the wine label or is it not your thing? Would you find nail art brushes like these useful? 

Happy Polishing :)

Science Skeleton

Peter Istenik from Slovakia, created this artwork from Black granite. I love the anatomical design of this skull and hand. The shading made by using a hand engraver, is delicate and works well with the multi-tonal shiny granite. This particular granite reminds me of outer space, for which the science theme seems appropriate. To see a time lapse video of this piece being engraved, head to the bottom of this post.

Here is the time lapse video of this engraving being created.

Skeleton Earrings

J L Tunnell made this "pair of earrings I made a few years ago. The head/skull of each was a natural gold nugget and the skeletons were made with 14K gold wire. Each earring is about 1-1/2 inches tall."

I rarely get to see great skeleton jewelry. I'm particularly fond of skeletons that have movable joints. The skeletons dance around when someone wears them. These have a creative use of materials and great proportion. Perhaps I'll have to make my own dancing skeleton jewelry.

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Tinysaur Skeleton Models Prizepack from Everything Tiny

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time Friday, July, 19, 2013, to enter the the current giveaway.  Everything Tiny is giving away a Tinysaur Hominosaur (human skeleton) model and four alternate heads. You can find the original contest post by clicking the side bar ad, or this link.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Tinysaur Skeleton Models Prizepack from Everything Tiny

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time Friday, July, 19, 2013, to enter the the current giveaway.  Everything Tiny is giving away a Tinysaur Hominosaur (human skeleton) model and four alternate heads. You can find the original contest post by clicking the side bar ad, or this link.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

[CONTEST] Win a Tinysaur Skeleton Models Prizepack from Everything Tiny

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!

We know you all love skeletons, but what about tiny skeleton models? Everything Tiny has created a line of tiny skeleton models called Tinysaurs, including dinosaurs, a woolly mammoth, a butterfly, a hominosaur (tiny human). Their newest Tinysaur, the Hominosaur, is being launched through Kickstarter. To share the skeleton love, they are giving away one Hominosaur with a Four Alternate Heads kit.

What the Hominosaur looks like with the various heads.

Alternate Heads kit

PRIZE INFO: One Hominosaur (human skeleton) with a Four Alternate Heads kit. The alternate heads are: T-Rex, Woolly Mammoth, Pterodactyl, Triceratops, and a bonus devil horn add-on for the stock human skull. A tiny human skeleton kit assembles into a 2" tall hominosaur. Tinysaur Kits assemble into tiny dinosaurs from a postage stamp sized laser cut pattern. Assembly generally takes 20-30 minutes.

HOW TO ENTER: Since Tinysaur makes a variety of skeleton models, to enter this contest, comment below with an answer to this question. What is your favorite skeleton(s) to see? For example, I love seeing pterodactyls and bats. I'm fascinated with their wings.

CONTACT INFO: The winner, chosen at random, will be contacted via email by one of the Skull-A-Day editors within 7 days of the end of the contest. If that winner doesn't respond, another winner will be chosen. With your comment, please INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!!! Entries are only valid with this information.

WHERE TO ENTER: All entries must be made on this blog post, on Skull-A-Day.com. You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

CONTEST CLOSES: 11:59:59 PM Eastern USA Time Friday, July 19, 2013.

NUMBER OF WINNERS: Three

PRIZE SHIPS: This contest is open to all skull lovers around the world.

IF YOU DON'T WIN: Don't fret, Everything Tiny has several of their Tinysaur skeletons available for purchase in their shop. To get one of the Hominosaur (human skeleton), support the Kickstarter! There are several neat things you can get for different pledge amounts. Follow them on Facebook to keep up with Tinysaur creations!

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Brian Christopher Mighty Wallet from Dynomighty

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time Friday, June 7, 2013, to enter the the current giveaway. Dynomighty is giving away a Mightywallet with artwork by Brian Christopher. You can find the original contest post by clicking the side bar ad, or this link.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Brian Christopher Mighty Wallet from Dynomighty

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time Friday, June 7, 2013, to enter the the current giveaway. Dynomighty is giving away a Mightywallet with artwork by Brian Christopher. You can find the original contest post by clicking the side bar ad, or this link.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

[CONTEST] Win a Brian Christopher Mighty Wallet from Dynomighty

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!

Dynomighty Design is a Brooklyn-based company dedicated to empowering personal expression through their products. It is home of the Original Mighty Wallet. A few years ago, a homeless veteran, Brian Christopher, returned a lost wallet to a police station. This honest act made the news. Dynomighty found out that Brian is an artist and invited him to design a wallet. You can see a video of that design process here. Brian likes to use photographs of people and use them as a guide to create skeletal drawings. Since Dynomighty knows you all love skeletons, they are giving away one of Brian Christopher's Mighty Wallets to one lucky Skull-A-Day fan!

PRIZE INFO: One (1) Might Wallet from Dynomighty with artwork by Brian Christopher. The wallet has 2 large pockets for cash and receipts, 2 credit card pockets that expand to hold multiple cards, and 2 quick access business card pockets. Open, the wallet measures 8" wide by 3.25" high by .125" deep.

HOW TO ENTER: Wallets tend to hold a lot of normal things in them like money, IDs and credit cards. However many of them have something odd stashed in them. To enter this contest, comment below telling us what odd thing(s) you carry in your wallet. For example, in my wallet is a drawing from when my daughter was a toddler, some old paper fortunes, and some movie ticket stubs.

CONTACT INFO: The winner, chosen at random, will be contacted via email by one of the Skull-A-Day editors within 7 days of the end of the contest. If that winner doesn't respond, another winner will be chosen. With your comment, please INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!!! Entries are only valid with this information.

WHERE TO ENTER: All entries must be made on this blog post, on Skull-A-Day.com. You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

CONTEST CLOSES: 11:59:59 PM Eastern USA Time Friday, June 7, 2013.

NUMBER OF WINNERS: One

PRIZE SHIPS: This contest is open to all skull lovers around the world.

IF YOU DON'T WIN: Don't fret, Brian Christopher's Dynomighty wallet is available of sale in their shop. Half of the proceeds from sale of this wallet design go to Brian, and another portion go to a homeless veteran's center.

Painted Wedding Skeletons

Kristina Chavez said "My father, Henry Chavez, of Brownsville Texas, painted this picture for my husband and I for our wedding in October of 2012. He knows how much I love skeletons. He took a wedding photo and turned us into our own Dios de Los Muertos."

I love personalized handmade gifts. This one was truly made with love. Kristina is a lucky lady to have such a talented father, that turned the couple into calaveras. Weddings are full of memories, and this is a great way to memorialize that day.

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win A Skeletube from Noah Scalin

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating.

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time TONIGHT to make an entry comment to win a Skeletube from Noah Scalin. You can find the original contest post by clicking the side bar ad, or this link.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

If you don't win, you can find these hand painted little guys in various models in Noah's Skeletube Shop.

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win A Skeletube from Noah Scalin

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating.

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time on Friday, February 1, 2013 to make an entry comment to win a Skeletube from Noah Scalin. You can find the original contest post by clicking the side bar ad, or this link.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

If you don't win, you can find these hand painted little guys in various models in Noah's Skeletube Shop.

[CONTEST] Win A Skeletube from Noah Scalin

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating.

Noah Scalin is of course the creator of Skull-A-Day. He's made hundreds of different skulls with various mediums over the years (366 in the 1st year of the project). Last year, Noah combined his love for skeletons and vacuum tubes, to create Skeletubes. He's painted so many of these little guys that he's made a Skeletube army. Since so many people love these fun creations, Noah is giving away one Skeletube to one lucky Skull-A-Day fan!

Occasionally these little guys like to get together and go on adventures. So far they've escaped to a mountain and had a snow day.

PRIZE INFO: One Model B bagged and tagged Skeletube. It is a hand painted skeleton vacuum tube that is packaged as shown.

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment below telling us what adventures your skeletube would have if you had one? For example, I might take mine to the beach to dig for lost treasure or to a cemetery to find old friends.

CONTACT INFO: If you win, we need to contact you. With your comment, please INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!!! Entries are only valid with this information.

WHERE TO ENTER: All entries must be made on this blog post, on Skull-A-Day.com. You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

CONTEST CLOSES: 11:59:59 PM Eastern USA Time Friday, February 1, 2012.

NUMBER OF WINNERS: One

PRIZE SHIPS: This contest is open to all skull lovers around the world.

IF YOU DON'T WIN: Don't fret. These hand painted little guys are available in various models in Noah's Skeletube Shop.

[BONUS] 407. Skeleton Damask

I was recently offered a chance to create a temporary mural installation in the Loo Gallery at the wonderful Lamplighter Roasting Company here in Richmond, Virginia.

The Loo Gallery is actually their bathroom and each installation is painted over when the next artist creates their piece!

I decided to create a new wallpaper damask style pattern using only the bones of the human skeleton. I had previously created a smaller wallpaper pattern as part of my original Skull-A-Day project, but I had never done something so complex.

Since the end result was so large and complicated it required two 18" x 24" stencils to create one complete section of the pattern.

I had my friends at BIG SECRET laser cut two sets of the stencils out of thick, flexible mylar and I worked with them in rotation, since they would quickly start dripping from the layers and layers of metallic spray paint I was putting on them.

The installation took three days – or rather nights, since I was coming in after hours to give the toxic fumes a chance to air our before customers would arrive in the morning – to complete. Of course I wore a Bane-style ventilation mask the entire time so that I wasn't breathing in the fumes either...

The piece will be up for the next month or so, so if you're in the Richmond, Virginia area please stop by Lamplighter and check it out in person!

And who knows, maybe this will get turned into actual wallpaper one day, like my Ornamental Skull wallpaper at Designer Wall Coverings & Fabrics.

Lovely Bones

Malcolm Fisher from Sheffield, England, created this illustration "Lovely Bones" with the words "I Will Follow You Into the Dark".

If you are familiar with the band Death Cab for Cutie, then you will recognize the phrase as the name of a song of theirs. It's actually one of my favorites about love and death. There are stories of couples that die short of each other. It's said the last one to die had a broken heart. While some my die of a broken heart, there are many that live on even if their heart is broken. If you believe in the afterlife, your mate, family, and friends will be there to great you when ever your time is up.

Coronation of the Skeletons

Wolfgang Sangmeister from Hamburg is back. He created "this painting is 140 x 100 cm acrylics on canvas after the oil painting from Velázques."

I wasn't familiar with the painting inspiration, so I searched for it. It is "The Coronation of the Virgin" by Diego Velázques. If you are familiar with Christian iconography, you will probably recognize Mary in the center, with God to the right, and Jesus to the left. The little skulls at the bottom are the cherubs in the original. I'm not big on religious paintings, so of course I prefer the skull version. It's remarkable how similar the two paintings are. Wolfgang's version is simply beautiful.

Recycled Cardboard Skeletons

Barry Baxter "made a bunch of recycled cardboard skeletons. Then left them in public places so people could take them home."

The 1st thing that popped into my head when I saw this was gingerbread people! Granted they aren't, but since they resemble the festive cookies, I thought it was best to share them on Christmas Eve. Thought, they are great for any Winter holiday celebration. My family always starts the holiday celebrations on Christmas Eve. We plan on decorating gingerbread people and houses tonight while dinner is cooking. I hope you all have a fantastic time at any of your end of the year celebrations. Perhaps fit making a skull into the celebration.

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Set of Occult Christmas Cards

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thanks to everyone who participated.

Don't forget that you have until 11:59:59 PM Eastern Time TONIGHT to enter our latest giveaway contest for a set of 5 Occult Christmas Cards from Sean Tidy.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

Of course, Sean's Occult Christmas cards are available for purchase in his store. The are available in sets of 5 and 10, or sold individually. Don't miss out!

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Set of Occult Christmas Cards

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thanks to everyone who participated.

Don't forget that you have until 11:59:59 PM Eastern Time Saturday, December 22nd to enter our latest giveaway contest for a set of 5 Occult Christmas Cards from Sean Tidy.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

Of course, Sean's Occult Christmas cards are available for purchase in his store. The are available in sets of 5 and 10, or sold individually. Don't miss out!

Skeleton Makeup

Sheleen McElhinney from Feasterville, PA took this photo of herself on Halloween.

The angle of this photo makes the lovely skeleton makeup look sultry. Thought each skull makeup I see is unique, it's the style of the photo that draws me in. Oddly the angle of the photo and the style of makeup also make it feel natural, as if Sheleen always looks like this. Of course, she doesn't, but it's fun to pretend.