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

For the first time in FAR TOO LONG...

For the first time in FAR TOO LONG I did my nails.  When school is in I'm lucky if I get to throw down a coat of something pretty, so I've been missing this.

It didn't take a ton of creative energy to do this or anything - it's a mermaid look I've been wanting to wear for a while.  The amazing blue base is Alfheim by Illyrian Polish.  It has these green flakies that you can see on my middle finger that in certain lighting has this mani looking more green / teal.  I thought it was perfect for a summer / beachy kind of theme.

I've missed this so, so much.  Maybe I can squeeze in another mani before school starts back next month.  A girl can dream!😍

Alfheim by Illyrian;
Research plate;
Stamping Decal technique

Neon nails!

Neon nails!

I think my camera just couldn't handle the neon yellow.  My skin looks dead and the neon doesn't quite pop.  I don't know what to do, but I have mid-terms coming up, so I can't edit on this photo all day.  😜

So even though it's been rainy here the inspiration for these was the sun!  The hot, blinding, Alabama sun.  ☀️🌞☀️🌞☀️

These are not colors I'd normally wear, but I had an idea and ran with it.  The base is an orange to yellow gradient, and then I've got some sparkle thrown on there, then topped with a metallic red stamped image.  I think they look interesting, but I'm not sure if I like them.  LOL  I will probably take them off and do something for Independence Day soon.  I feel like these hurt my eyeballs.  😂😂😂

Research polishes;
Research plates;

Sponge Gradient and Stamping techniques

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. 💅💅💅😁😁

Various polishes;
Lina plate Make Your Mark 03, Harunouta plate L045, Sugar Bubbles plate SB 033;
Gradient Stamping, Layered Stamping, and Stamping Decal 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 went through tons of nail pics...

I went through tons of nail pics over the last few days looking for inspiration.  I was like "Ooh, I'm on vacation.  I should do something crazy and elaborate!"  And then I realized that I wasn't having fun, so I quit putting pressure on myself.  I went with something goofy and colorful.  I recently got these neon dots in from the Born Pretty Store, so they were out on my nail art table and I just went for it.

I'm planning on playing in reptile dirt today and as cute as I think these are I hate wearing white nail polish.  It's more about the way it feels than anything.  Chalky or something.  So, my feelings won't be hurt if I mess these up.  LOL

This is a monster bag clip that a friend gave me.  I didn't have the best lighting setup today, so I needed something in my hand and a white bottle of polish wasn't cutting it.  Goofy all around!  PERFECTION!

White polish;
Embellishments from BornPretty

Did my nails last night.

Did my nails last night.  Again, not super creative, but with working so much and school I'm just throwing down something fast that doesn't require a super lot of thought and planning.  I'm not usually a neon kind of girl, but I bought this yellow for a specific reason (to do a thing that I don't yet have time to do) and thought "What the hell?"  So I put it on.

I tested a few stamping polishes over it and I liked the pink the best.  But it just wasn't sparkly enough, so I stamped over it with a holographic to give it some sparkle.  Holos aren't meant for stamping, but some will do it pretty well.  This one would have been kind of sheer without the pink stamping under it.  You can see where I didn't line the stamps up perfectly (I wasn't trying to - I wanted it to have a little depth), but I was more off than I wanted to be on my middle finger.  You can probably see it if you look close.  It wasn't bad enough that I felt the need to re-do the whole nail.  LOL  Who has time for that these days?!

Anyone interested in the polishes used?  Almost no one asks me, but most people write it out, anyway.  Here you go, just in case.  Not a bad habit to get into.  😛

• Base: China Glaze - Celtic Sun

• 1st Stamping: Born Pretty - Stamping Polish # 11

• 2nd Stamping: Color Club - Miss Bliss

Celtic Sun by China Glaze, Stamping Polish 11 by BornPretty, Miss Bliss by Color Club;
Bundle Monster plate BM-418?;
Layered Stamping technique

Neon nails for summer. I'm trying to keep up! 🙂

Neon nails for summer. I'm trying to keep up! 🙂

Research polishes;
Winstonia plate W204;
Stamping technique

I needed something quick and easy last night.

I needed something quick and easy last night.  It doesn't get much simpler than this, besides PLAIN.  And we all know I'm not going for that!  LOL

Research polishes;
Taping technique

I did these yesterday while I wasn't feeling super great.

I did these yesterday while I wasn't feeling super great.  I wanted to do something that would look neat, but not take a lot of time or brain-power.  LOL  So, DOTS!  Lots and lots of dots!  😛

I have dotting tools, but you can also make dots with things around the house, like the not-pointy ends of pins (not pens), and toothpicks, and pencil erasers...  Pretty easy, and they are fun.  I'll keep these on a few days, I guess.

Various polishes;
Dotting technique

Please pardon my dry and crusty cuticles.

Please pardon my dry and crusty cuticles.  I did moisturize before this photo, but they are obviously still pretty sad.  Between the yard work yesterday, and the ASS TON of acetone it took to clean up after sponging that gradient, I guess that's understandable.  Poor cuticles.  🙁

So... this paint job was a lot of fun to do, actually.  I've never been into free-handing anything, but I followed the tutorial linked below, so it was pretty easy.  Time-consuming - DEFINITELY.  But that's fine.  I enjoy painting nails and learning new things, and I had some free time, so why not?

I'm actually pretty proud of these.  Maybe I'll branch out and actually gain some painting skillz.  🙂

If anyone else tries these nails, I'd love to see photos!

https://www.chalkboardnails.com/2013/07/tutorial-beauty-and-beach-summer-nail.html

Various polishes;

Freehand technique

Wet, rainy day nails. 🙂

Wet, rainy day nails. 🙂 This is another polish that Janet sent me. I really like the color - it makes me think beach-y thoughts. I also thought that water droplets just kind of completed the theme and dressed it up a little. So, that's all. Nothing too fancy, but it's fun to look at. 🙂

Research polish;
embellishment