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. 💮💗

Sakura by Ethereal, Milky White gel by Beetles;
Bundle Monster plate BM-S326 and Apipila plate Our Power;
Stamping, Layered Stamping, Reverse Stamping techniques

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?

Faerie Wishes She Could Be Here by Poetry Cowgirl Nail Polish;
Sugar Bubbles plate SB 033;
Stamping, Layered Stamping, Reverse Stamping techniques

Ok, so it's a day later than I thought I was posting it but here it is:

Ok, so it's a day later than I thought I was posting it but here it is:  The paint job that I'm super happy with. 🙂 I guess that was my last big "Hurrah!" before school starts.

I took some time to throw down a watermark because a lot of my nail friends in groups and on Instagram keep telling me to. I would say that I'm not worried about people finding my photos and using them, but it's happened before. (I found my nails on eBay when I was shopping for nail stuff one day). LOL I was not upset, but I guess this way at least I could possible get some more traffic to my social media.

So I used another magnetic polish for this mani... actually, the same one from last time. I know it looks really different, but it's just layered over itself rather than black so that makes a difference. I did the flowers with a stamping plate from Bundle Monster and the (supposed to be) diagonal-ish lines with some cheap nail art tape I had.

Btw, these are not supposed to be French tips - I just wanted some color aside from the flowers. I used the magnetic polish again to add depth. I'm really digging that stuff! Also, I know these look spring and it's winter (so I SUPPOSEDLY should be doing snowflakes or whatever), but you guys should know by now that I do what I want. LOL

Anyway, that's it. Possibly for a while, but maybe not. I guess it depends on how this semester goes.

Tourmaline of Passion by Masura;
Bundle Monster plate BM-S183;
Reverse Stamping and Taping techniques

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!

Recycle by China Glaze and Various polishes;
Bundle Monster plate BM-S161 and unbranded plate Kst-22;
Glequin and Bow Embellishments from BornPretty;
Reverse Stamping and Layered Stamping techniques

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.

Demure Vixen by Essie and Various polishes;
unbranded plate BC-10 and konad plate m36;
Stone Embellishment from BornPretty;
Reverse Stamping and Layered Stamping techniques