It's been a while since I've posted a nail pic, but...

It's been a while since I've posted a nail pic, but here are my first spring nails.

Overlook my nail shape; I'm in the midst of making sure my sidewalls are even, so I haven't been shaping them as pointy as usual.

The base is a blue speckled gel polish by Born Pretty. I used the bunny/spring plate made by Pretty Fingers by Robin.

I'm not thrilled with my detail on the bunny. He looks chocolate rather than real, but it's fine. It goes with the season either way. 😂😂😂

Research items

These are the nails I did...

These are the nails I did after seeing a new layering technique on the 'Gram. The bottom layer is a sheer purple, then over that is a silver cat-eye magnetic, then it's topped with a chrome powder, and finally sealed with topcoat. The product of that layering reminded me of a summer sunset, so I added the dandelions blowing in the wind for good measure.

I played with this technique on Shaun's nails over the weekend and found some really pretty combinations. I'll bother him for a photo (or video!) at some point soon.

Encore Solid Gel Polish and Magnetic Super Cat Eye Gel by Vettsy;

Mermaid Nail Powder Dawn-04 by Vettsy;

Harunouta plate L034

Stamping technique;

Magnetized

Video

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Encore Solid Gel Polish and Magnetic Super Cat Eye Gel by Vettsy;

Mermaid Nail Powder Dawn-04;

Harunouta plate L034

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

I did my nails twice recently.

I did my nails twice recently.  One time, I had high hopes but hated the way it turned out.  The second time (pictured) I was just going to wear a polish but Shaun told me I should stamp purple on it, so this is the result.  I actually really like how it came out.  Sometimes less is more, I suppose.

Humbled by Tonic;
Harunouta plate L034;
Stamping technique

I am feeling a bit better today.

I am feeling a bit better today.  I've got a list of things to do before school starts back.  One thing on the list was posting the nails I did over SPRING BREAK.  🤣🤣🤣  I have been behind on life.  I haven't done anything fancy since these, although I've wanted to.  It just takes effort.

These were inspired by my succulents, obviously.  The multichrome polishes are by Tonic Nail Polish and the stamping plates are from Maniology.

Research polish and plates;
Stamping and Stamping Decal techniques

It's late so probably no one will see these...

It's late so probably no one will see these, but that is kind of ok.  🤣🤣🤣  I like them because I like puke colors and nature, but I know that is not everyone's cup of tea.  😜  Anyway, I've decided that these are leaf cells.  If you look closely you can see some mitosis happening.  Yay for biology!  And spring!  😄😄😄  (This totally counts as a spring mani, right?  😆)

Gradients look SO NICE, but I've never been that great at them.  The sponge method doesn't work well for me because my C-curve is so strong that the edges of my nails usually don't get coated in polish.  🙁  There is a new stamping plate out - Make Your Mark 03 by Lina Nail Art Supplies - that has a blank rectangle in it.  The first time I saw the plate was on Instagram and a girl was putting stripes of polish in it and then swiping a couple of times to mix them to create a gradient.  It turned out GREAT.  Needless to say I had to have it.

So my left hand (my practice hand) doesn't look quite as nice as this one, but I gotta say that this method is pretty effective for gradients.  The polish that gets picked up on the stamper is super thin so doing a few layers builds it nicely.

Weirdly, the only thing I ended up painting on these was topcoat.  I did three thin layers of white, and then 2 - 3 of my yellow / green mix, and then the pattern, ALL WITH THE STAMPER.  😳  If you don't like the feel of thick polish then maybe you would like this, but you'd need liquid latex or tape or something to keep from having to drench your skin / nails in acetone trying to clean up the mess (which is what I did - woohoo for not planning!)

I tend to like thicker layers on my nails because they are thin and I clean a lot because of all of my ani-pals, so thicker coats protect my nails and stay on longer.  My nails feel almost naked right now and I'm not down with it.  I keep also feeling like this whole mani is gonna flake right off so I decided to get a pic and post it before I destroyed them.

Anyway, what do you guys think?  Too fugly for spring?  😜😆🤣

Research polishes;
Lina Nail Art Supplies plate Make Your Mark 03 and MagnoNails plate D;
Gradient and 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

This was a great way to spend the morning.

This was a great way to spend the morning. I needed some nail time with a friend!

Research polishes;
Research plates;
Stamping and Stamping Decal techniques

I feel like I found my creativity, thankfully...

I feel like I found my creativity, thankfully, but just in time to go back to work and be too tired to put something like this together again.  🙁  Boo!

So I know this is totally spring and not summer, but I don't care.  I felt inspired by a plate and I went with it.  I'm happier with these nails than I've been with any of them over the last few months, but with as much other stuff as I have to do I guess I should be glad I have time to paint my nails at all.  Putting the same design on every finger can look really nice, but it's just not me.  Unfortunately, having so many options can be overwhelming, so it usually takes longer for me to decide what to do than to actually do it.  😕

Anyway, I did this the other day and it was ok, but I had stamped the caterpillar down in just black outlines and I really ended up being disappointed that I didn't do a decal instead.  SO... I took that finger off and started again.  😛  Originally I was going to make the caterpillar a cute little pink one, but, well... it made her look kind of phallic, so Shaun picked a blue and we went with that instead.  She's got green leaves and vines around her, as well as pink bow on her head and a yellow flower beside her.  That is much better than trying to discern what you're looking at with no color definition at all!

The background for all of the nails was done using plastic wrap - it's a lime green base with two other greens dabbed on top for texture (probably most visible on my thumb).  If you don't remember what I'm talking about since it's been so long since I've done it, you just crumple up some plastic wrap, dab it in some polish, and then lightly dab your nails until it looks how you want.  Super easy!  It's great for getting a marbled appearance and things like that.

The rest of the nails I explain on Polish All the Things if anyone is interested.  I wasn't planning to make a long post about these nails, but it looks like I did it twice.  LOL  Oh well.  My brain feels all swimmy from lack of sleep.  I think I am rambling.  Ok, done.

Any questions on methods or products, let me know!  ❤❤❤

Various polishes;
Research plates;
Embellishments from BornPretty;
Stamping Decal, Stamping, and Taping Techniques

Tried something new this weekend.

Tried something new this weekend. Instead of water marbling and dipping each finger I made one design, let it dry on the water, carefully took it out, and then cut it up and used them like decals. I don't know if I would always be able to make that work, but my nails are so short and nubby right now that it went just fine. I liked doing it that way because you USUALLY waste less polish, and it's USUALLY much less messy.

However, this time it was a huge mess. I spilled not only hot water on myself, but 3 open bottles of nail polish. EPIC FAIL. I was sitting there saying to Shadow (in an attempt to elicit help from him) "HOT WATER! NAIL POLISH!" Those are about all the words I could manage for a minute because I could not believe what I'd just done. He just looked at me like I was crazy until I screamed for him to get a towel.

I'm usually much more calm and prepared when doing my nails, but I had a "dying vole on my porch" type of situation to handle so I found myself suddenly chatting with Wild Mammal Care in the middle of my nail-doing. They asked me if she'd moved and when I got up to check I spilled everything everywhere because I am awesome. Also, my little porch vole didn't make it. 🙁 I'm not super surprised, though, because you don't see them out usually unless something is wrong.

So yeah. Nubs for now. That is what happens when I go a month without polish. My new nail / cuticle oil is doing a great job on keeping my nails from peeling, but having some layers of polish on is really what protects mine from breaking.

Also, pardon all the bubbles in my topcoat. It was getting too thick, but I gave my polish thinner to a friend so I just had to deal with it. LOL I gotta put thinner on my list of things to buy ASAP. Those bubbles drive me crazy!

Embellishments from BornPretty;
Watermarble technique

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.  🙂

Members Only by L'Oréal, Explosion of Fun by Orly;
Born Pretty plate BP-54;
Stamping Decal technique

The kitty cat nails didn't last long.

The kitty cat nails didn't last long.  The collar glequins and bowtie started coming off so then of course I started picking at them and just had to take all the polish off so that I didn't do actual damage to my nails from picking at them.  I'm the worst about picking.  Once I start it's all over with, so they just had to go.

So I did these last night.  I showed them to my guy today and he was like, "What made you do that?"  He looked truly baffled.   😂  Honestly, I saw something very similar in a blog and I liked the way it looked, so there you go.  They used totally different colors and no stones, but as you know I can't just leave well enough alone.  😁

I imagine that I will have the same problem with these as the kitty cat nails because of the stones, but that's ok.  I don't mind doing one last awesome mani before spring break ends.  😃

Research polish;
Research plate;
Embellishment from BornPretty;
Stamping technique

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

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.

Music Box by ILNP;
unbranded plate QA40;
Stamping Decal technique

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! ❤

Research polishes;
Red Angel plate RA-103;
Stamping Decal technique

Painted my nails earlier this week.

Painted my nails earlier this week.  It's been MONTHS since I've taken care of them at all so of course they are nubs.  But that's ok!

This paint job was to celebrate spring.  Bugs and flowers and all that.  🙂

I haven't posted anything on my Happy Nails page in ages, but when I went to upload this photo I found that I have over 2000 followers there now.  😳  I am not sure how that happened, but it's SUPER COOL.  Here's hoping I'll have more time now that my schedule has changed to keep up with all this stuff.  🙂

Polishes:
Cheeky plate CH43, Fab UR Nails plate FUN 4;
Stamping and Freehanding techniques

It feels nice to have time to do my nails again. 🙂

It feels nice to have time to do my nails again. 🙂

For anyone interested:  This is a white base, and the coloring was done with OPI Sheer Tints. I just kind of smeared them on the white randomly and they sort of melded together. Then I stamped over it - because why not? LOL

The colors are really pale, but you can go over them to make them more intense. I was afraid I'd end up with just a big brown smudge if I did too much of that, so I left the tints as one coat only. I think it turned out nice, though.

Now... off to do some serious housework and yard work. I just wanted to photograph these before I jacked them up. 😃

OPI Sheer Tints over White;
MagnoNails plate A;
Stamping technique

I used tape and a sponge.

These are nails I did the other day.  I used tape and a sponge.  I think they look neat.  They turned out much brighter than I anticipated, but that's ok.  They are definitely springy!

Various polishes;
Taping and Sponging techniques