It's been such a long time since I've done any nail art for myself.

It's been such a long time since I've done any nail art for myself.  As lame as it may sound my one and only goal for this weekend was to do nail art on ME.  Before this the most I could manage was to put on a pretty color (there is a reason for that).  It's nice to have a pretty color to look at, but it's not the same a being able to flex my creativity.

Since the polish color I used (Sakura by Ethereal) was kind of sheer I decided to put down a couple of layers of a milky white gel polish by Beetles.  Then I painted my pinky, pointer, and thumb with Sakura.  I used stamping plates to get the outline of the floral shapes onto a stamper head.  I let it dry, then took a super tiny brush and filled in the colors of the flowers.  After that dried, I put a clear coat on it to make it into a decal and let that dry.  After THAT, I put down the same clear coat on my nails, let it dry just until it was tacky, then placed the decals onto my nail using the stamper.  I cleaned my edges and topcoated, and this was the final result!  I am pleased with how it turned out!

There are so many other techniques I want to play with and try, but since I'd already spent basically all day on my nails (removing hard gel and putting down polygel) I decided to keep it simple.  This nail art was (obviously) inspired by spring.  I'm so into the flowers and plants right now.  Everyone is showing out and I love it, so this is my tribute to spring. 💮💗

This is really super not my style...

This is really super not my style, but I try with holidays sometimes because my stamping plates often have holiday images and when else am I going to use them?  😂

The candy hearts were a stamping plate image and usually they would be all one color, but I used the image several times with several different polishes, top-coated them while they were on my stamper, then painstakingly cut them apart and applied them to my nails.  Totally kicking myself after the fact for not using a pink, but it's too late now.  😕

I really need to make a collage of my Valentine's Day nail photos.

Nail pic! Woohoo! 😃

Nail pic! Woohoo! 😃

So this may not look that spectacular, but I tried a new nail art technique and unlike my nail fail the other day it turned out great. This is something that I've wanted to try for ages, but due to my packed schedule and never really feeling like I had time to "play" I just didn't get to it. I guess I'll go ahead and clue you guys in: The thing I wanted to try was gradient stamping!

The background image is stamped, but with 3 different polish colors (ranging from blue to green). It's done like regular stamping except that you put your chosen colors down in whatever pattern you want (as opposed to just one color covering the image) and then you scrape the excess polish off. I found that I needed to use a light hand so I could mix the colors during the scrape. Stamping polish notoriously dries fast (meaning that if you aren't quick, you can't pick it up on your stamping head - and even if you can, it might be too dry to stick to your nail), so you've gotta be quick. I scraped over each of these backgrounds about 3 times to get a nice gradient.

I tried this over white because I wanted to be able to see just how good of a job I did (or didn't) do. I'm not usually a fan of wearing white polish, but it's summer and these are bright so that's ok. I ALMOST decided to wear just the gradient, but by later in the afternoon I was like "Nah. Where's the fun in that?" 🤣🤣🤣

It feels kind of like a cop-out that I chose to wear another unicorn so soon, but I feel like this background was screaming for her. The plate was sitting on my table from being used previously and when I saw her little happy self - I just knew. 🦄🦄🦄 After that it was easy enough to paint in some stars for color variety.

Anyway, that's my mani for the week. I have no idea if / when I'll get to paint again, but I'm hoping that I will have time at least every weekend. It is such a stress relief and I don't really have any other creative outlets at the moment so I need this in my life. 💅💅💅😁😁

Nail pic time! 😃😃😃

Nail pic time!  😃😃😃

I have been waiting all semester to do something fun with my nails.  Then I had to decompress enough to feel creative.  Blegh, finally!

I feel like over the last year or two I've become more of a polish hoarder / collector than someone who does nail art.  It's really sad.  But on the bright side there are some beautiful polishes out there that I am more than happy to have come and live with me so I guess it's not all bad.  🙂

Since this is an indie polish I feel like I just need to say that Poetry Cowgirl Nail Polish did a great job on this one.  It's called "Faerie Wishes She Could Be Here."  It's an Indie Shop Limited Edition so I'm not sure if it's still available, but if you like it go and find out.

I love muted colors so this was a win by being grayish / lavender to begin with, but then it has these things (what I tend to call "opals" because they are not quite the same as glitter) that flash red.  THEN, ON TOP OF THAT AWESOMENESS it also has this crazy shimmer.  You can see the teal on my pinky and the lavender on my pointer finger.  I will also upload a blurry thumb pic of the pink.  It's SO PRETTY.

Anyway, I stamped with holographic polish because WHY NOT?  Then, I picked up a unicorn on my stamper and filled him in with a tiny paintbrush because that was obviously what needed to happen here.  😁🦄🦄🦄  I thought about adding stones and doing more stuff, but then I didn't.  The week began and I'm working and blegh.  Life force officially zapped.

So... I feel happy with this as a comeback.  I was planning to do something quite a bit easier, but then I went all out.  What do you think?

I've been trying for several days...

I've been trying for several days to get a photograph of these to put up.  This is not the original manicure - I had more stones and one more finger full of hearts, but because I took so long to get pics a few fingers were starting to look crappy.  I decided to take them off and accent them in other ways since I don't have time to make more decals at the moment.  It's really ok with me - I'm digging these.  I usually have have pretty predictable "accent finger" patterns, but this time I think it's harder to tell what's an accent or not.  Maybe they all are!  Woohoo!  😂

Now I'm off to study.  Probably can't do nails again until after finals on Tuesday, but then I'm gonna go nuts!  THE END OF THE SEMESTER IS IN SIGHT!  😃

This pink / purple / red glitter...

So I've been studying super hard for tests lately and two of them were yesterday.  When I got home from class - late though it was - I painted my freaking nails BECAUSE I DESERVED A TREAT!

This pink / purple / red glitter is a polish I bought on clearance from Sally's.  It's an Orly called "Explosion of Fun."  It's layered over some kind of bright pink L'Oreal that I will go look at and write the name of if anyone actually cares.  😛

Since I was so tired last night I used whatever was at hand.  The new Orly was within reach (as was my box of pinks), so I went with it.  I thought it looked kind of bright and tropical so I went with flowers as decoration.  I filled them in with white because it, too, was close at hand.  I probably could have been more creative with colors if my brain hadn't been fried from both a Biology and Trigonometry test in the same day, but it is what it is and I'm ok with how it turned out.  🙂

I was in the mood for something silly and fun

Ok, I guess I was in the mood for something silly and fun.  And also big because my nails are long enough to accommodate these big old kitty stamps (but just barely, as you can see from my ring finger).

I wanted a background that wasn't too crazy since I wanted the kitties to pop so I went with pale blue stamping over gray.  I used a few different cat-themed plates for that.  There are various paw print patterns, etc, and the middle finger says things like "Meow" and "Hiss."

All I really knew when I got started is that I was wearing these damn cats one way or the other.  😂  I had no plans for collars and bow-ties, but it just wasn't done until I added those touches.  How's that for spring?  They look quite dressed up for some reason!  Maybe they have a date!  😃

PSA Time:  Everyone make sure to spay and neuter your Ms. and Mr. Kitties because too many animals are killed in shelters.  It's a totally preventable problem - so don't be part of it.  There is no excuse.  Help is out there!

Spring and Butterflies

I felt like I deserved it so I treated myself last night.  I painted my nails!  Woohoo!  😃

I didn't go with the whole "butterfly on each finger" thing.  I just can't.  It feels so wrong to try to match my nails.  And when I inevitably fail it will look dumb, too because they won't be perfect, so... there's that.  😂

I wish this lighting would have captured the beauty of my base coat, Demure Vixen by Essie.  I know it's not the best match to my skin, but I love the pink / lavender undertone.

I also meant for one of my butterflies to turn out blue (the one on the thumb), but the way I layered the colors it didn't work out that way.  Oh well.  At least it is somewhat different than the green and purple on the ring finger.

Anyway.  I did it.  And I like it.  But I wish I could take it off already and paint something else now.  😂  I'm terrible.

Just a test decal I started.

Just a test decal I started. I saw the idea of a butterfly over lace on a YouTube video. The person was using a different method, but I think I can make it work in decal form. All of the previous decals I made only required stamping once, but doing it this way will require stamping twice. 

Biggest mistake? Not using holo pink and purple on the butterfly because holo makes everything better. 😃 The polishes I used on the butterfly were actually too sheer, but that's the purpose of a test. I'll know better when I actually start making these for real. I think it will look nice over a nude pink. 

You can see a glimpse of my new mat and ever-messy work space. Also, check out the rainbows on my thumb - even in indoor lighting. Woo! 😃

I am not even about to admit how late I stayed up doing my nails...

So this is definitely not my most fabulous photo.  I know that you aren't really supposed to take pics in full sunlight, BUT THE RAINBOWS.  😳

I am not even about to admit how late I stayed up doing my nails, but I was having a lot of fun.  I finally ended up getting the nail art mat I wanted so I was dying to play with it.  The holo swirls are actually more stamping decals, but instead of being made on a stamper - they were made WITH a stamper - ON the mat.  Which for me, (since I don't have quite a thousandy stampers yet), meant that I could make enough decals for all of my fingers at one time.  And I did.

So why only 3 on this hand?  Well, the time was getting ridiculou, and since it was my first go at making them not all of them turned out perfect... and that's just not gonna cut it.  😂  On my best days I have perfectionist tendencies, but in times of stress it gets worse.  MUCH worse.  I have a ton of homework this weekend so I couldn't be using some ugly, janky decals on my right hand.  😂

So my left hand is fully adorned in decals, but mostly because I was making sure I was doing a great job at getting them put down without messing them up.  These were a little thicker because you had to start with two coats of clear, (unlike the ones made on the stamper where you start with the stamp only).  I used some of the less-great ones on that hand (because it's the test hand!  😂), but it's ok.  Lefty is allowed to be janky for some reason.  I can't explain it.

Anyway.  I used 8 different holo polishes to fill in the swirls and I love how in the sunlight the holo-ness sometimes makes them blend - like you can't tell where one color starts and the next stops.  Might be a thing that only happens in person, but dang - I'm really happy with these.

So the stars?  Yeah, I can't even fathom the idea of having all matching nails. I can't.  I just can't.  I mean, with all of the choices of things you can do it almost seems wrong to make them all the same.

Finally got around to putting on my other stamping decal...

Finally got around to putting on my other stamping decal.  This isn't the one you saw before - it's actually rather crooked on the ring finger of my left hand.  😛  I put it on my left hand because I had to clear it to soften it back up since it had been sitting for so many days.  That actually worked for this even though it didn't for the glitter decal.  Maybe that's the difference.  Anyway.  Since I cleared it rather than top-coated it (topcoat makes it tougher), I accidentally smudged the kitten so I banished it to my left hand, which often looks like crap and weirdness in comparison to the right.  😂😂😂

Anyway.  Crap-tastic, rainy, cloudy day - not great for wearing a beautiful holo polish that makes rainbows in the sunlight, but I didn't check the weather before doing my nails the other day. Oh well.  It's still pretty and though I normally hate wearing white polish this was ok.  It's probably coming off soon, though.  😂  There is only so much I can take.

Confession Time:

Confession Time:  Shaun had to damage my scale nail before I could bring myself to take it off.  😂  I had all of my other nails naked and ready to be painted - EXCEPT FOR THAT ONE.  I guess I was making a big deal about it so he said "Let me see it." and then proceeded to dig a chunk of it off me with his big, hard, man nails.  😳  I mean, I guess that was an effective way to make it easier to take off... at least I didn't have to murder it with polish remover for no reason.  😂

Anyway.  I wanted to use my succulent decal before it dried out since it was more work to make than the cat.  If I had waited any longer I would have missed my chance.  It was already very brittle and the application of it did not go smoothly.  😕

First of all, I had to apply a clear polish to the back of it to soften it up.  Secondly, I dropped it on a fuzzy blanket right after applying the clear polish.  THEN, when I was trying to shape it to my nail, it cracked.  Thankfully, I had the good sense to use the same base color as the background of the decal; otherwise, you'd probably be able to spot the crack.  It was almost a huge nail fail.  🙁  But lots of patience, acetone, and topcoat saved it.  🙂

Overall I think it looks nice, but I'm not as in love with it as I was with the scales.  I'm glad I could make it work, but I'm bummed that my decals aren't storing so great.  I knew they wouldn't last forever, but I didn't even get a solid week out of that.  I guess I can't make them too far in advance for now.  I read that one polish blogger stored hers inside sheet protectors for 10 days.  I was thinking that surely a closed-off stamper would be more air tight, but I guess not.  😕

For anyone who's interested - my pointer finger is FingerPaints Nail Color Ink-Cognito, my middle finger is China Glaze Nail Lacquer Below Deck, and my pinky is the lovely Barry M. in Dusky Mauve.  I wanted that polish for ages before I finally bought it.  I know that the shimmer isn't showing in that one on the nail in photos like it is in the bottle, but I promise you it's there.  It is SO pretty and I'm so happy to finally call it my own.

This will be the third picture that I've posted of this ONE FREAKING NAIL...

This will be the third picture that I've posted of this ONE FREAKING NAIL, but seriously JUST LOOK AT IT.  😳  I finally got her in a sunbeam!  LOOK AT THE RAINBOWS!  I guess it's no secret that I am a HOLOSEXUAL!  (<--  If you don't get that reference then you're not watching the best nail art channel on YouTube right now.)

So my beautiful scales are coming off today because I've had to re-paint all the rest of my nails save for her and the pinky.  I don't know if it's just that the decal is, (for some reason), very tough or what, but it's lasted all week.  It would probably last a few more days, too, but if I'm having to re-paint the rest of my nails anyway then I really want to put on another one of my decals - if they haven't dried out too much by now.  I have no idea.

Anyway, I made a 92 on my history test so I deserve a treat.  Off to paint my nails!  I have to spend most of my weekend studying and doing Trig homework so I might as well have fun now if I can.  

(I don't even know if I can because I really don't want to melt this prettiness off me.  /sad)

I made a couple of more decals last night.

I made a couple of more decals last night. I just really really wanted to - and like I said - it relaxes me, which I need x1000 lately.

Since I never have time to do super cool things to my nails during the week I'll use these decals when my current polish starts chipping in few days... assuming they hold up. We'll see if they do. I hope so. 

There is a really cool nail art mat that I want SO BAD that would allow me to make more decals at a time instead of storing them on my stampers, but I'm not buying it yet. For one I don't actually have extra money for now and two it's not like I have a ton of time to devote to this right now anyway. But one day... 🙂

Thankfully, these two awesome clear stampers were SUPER CHEAP and came with lids that protect the sticky heads from lint, etc, so they are great for storing the decals for now. They keep them safe from being damaged and also stop them from drying out. Unfortunately I only have two, but I have other stampers I can use for nail-doing for a while.

Anyway. I guess I'm off to do Trig homework. Can't play all weekend, unfortunately. 😕

I know this is yet again not my best photo...

I know this is yet again not my best photo (yay for cloudy days and crappy house lighting!), but check out my freaking decal.  I made it by myself with only nail polish and stamping plates.  I don't know if every stamping plate would allow me to make a decal this well, but I'm betting that most of them would work - meaning that I have a binder full of images just waiting to be filled in and worn in a whole new way.  😳

I'm really missing this thing called "free time" right now because I want to do this about a thousandy more times.  😂  The filling in of something so tiny is really tedious, but I think it's kind of meditative for me.  And right about now I think that's something I need.

Anyway, I read that decals can be stored for about 10 days before becoming too brittle to use so IN THEORY I could make decals for you guys if I have something on any of my stamping plates that you'd like to wear.  Best of all you could probably stick these down yourselves because that was the easy part.  🙂

To stick it down I put down a clear polish on top of my base color, let it dry a little, then stuck the decal down.  I trimmed as much of it down as I could with cuticle scissors, then buffed it off the tip of the nail, then used a thin brush dipped in acetone to clean the edges and seal the sides down.  Threw on a nice topcoat after that and I was good to go!  (I know that might sound like a lot, but there was really nothing to it.)

Anyway.  I felt like that was pretty freaking neat.  Jamberry ain't got nothing on me!  😃

Sally's was having a great sale, but my heart just wasn't in it.

As I'm sure most of you know by now it's been a very tough week, but I'm finally starting to feel a sense of "normal" creeping back in.  Not "normal" enough to buy nail polish today, but normal enough to look at it.  😂  Sally's was having a great sale, but my heart just wasn't in it.  Shaun ended up buying me 3 polishes - he got one for himself.  There was a BOGO on FingerPaints Nail Color so that was pretty awesome.  🙂

I used one of my new polishes called Ink-Ognito on my middle finger and also on the decal that is on my ring finger.  I haven't had time this past year with work and school to really try this before, but I've wanted so badly to successfully make my own nail decals using my stamper and just nail polish.

As much of a mess as this might appear to be it actually turned out pretty amazing after clean-up and topcoat.  I'll post a nice photo tomorrow when I get into better lighting with a real camera.  I just thought this looked kind of neat and I was really happy that I was up for taking a few hours to just do something for myself - for no other reason than that I wanted to.  I feel like that's a sign that my stress levels are starting to drop.

Anyway.  Goodnight, all.  Or good morning.  In any case - see you whenever I wake up!

Finally uploading my nail pic from last week. 🙂

Finally uploading my nail pic from last week. 🙂

My accent nail was not so easy. Using a stamper I created a decal by painting on the back of the stamped image while it was still on the stamper. They are SUPPOSED to transfer pretty easily to the nail, but my nails are very curved so you can see the distortion near the top at my cuticle. I think I need more practice with this technique! I liked the way it looked so I'll definitely be trying it again. When I can find the time, that is. 😕

P. S. I see that I have an ass-ton of notifications, but I can't jump into that right now. I have SO MUCH HOMEWORK. I'll try to make time later this evening. Thank you to everyone who has written me! ❤