New 31DC: Watercolor

So, first an explanation for my missing challenge yesterday, then today's challenge. Yesterday's theme was stamping, which I am terrible at. Like, to an embarrassing degree. I haven't put a ton of time into it yet, but I was not in the mood to fail. I try to be open and do not edit my photos at all (if I get handy with some editing tools, I'll let you know when they are cleaned up pictures). I try to be real about my shortcomings. Sometimes, though, I need to be a little gentle with myself. I'm not super stoked on my life situation right now, and polish (and this blog) are a little refuge for me. I may not be perfect, but I am becoming more and more happy with my polish skills and the way that my nails look. They are one of the very few things I feel I am moderately good at and they make me happy. When they don't, when they feel like a chore or a bummer, I need to stop. This is something to lift me up and give me some joy, not bring me down or frustrate me. That is not to say that I don't want to try new things that I may not be great at, but I don't want to set out to bring myself down with something as trivial, and yet therapeutic, as painting my nails and writing about it. Yesterday was the breaking point--I had done enough sketchy challenge days and was just tired of feeling like a failure, so I didn't do that to myself. I little part of me felt bad, and I may try some stamped nails later this month, but for now I'm okay with the fact that I was kind to me yesterday and I hope that you are too!

So, onto my first watercolor attempt. If you've never tried watercolor nails before, the idea is to use acetone to dilute the pigment. You start with a base and a couple of coats of top coat, then dab on color and use a brush dipped in acetone to dab over the color to wash it out and blend it together. I was having a hard time coming up with inspiration, so I went with different shades of blue.

 

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*2 coats Sinful Colors Snow Me White
*2 coats Out The Door
*Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Co-Bolt Blue
*Sinful Colors Why Not
*Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau
*1 coat Sinful Colors Pearl Harbor
*1 coats Out The Door

I started with a clean white base.  Then, with very little direction for application, I went with my darkest color first--Co-Bolt Blue.  I love this navy, shimmery blue (which you already know if you've seen any other post I made with blue in it) and it's wonderfully opaque.  I dabbed it on and then, with a small paint brush dipped in acetone, dabbed some more!

Next I used Why not, with the same technique and (lack of) precision.  This cream is a medium blue, much lighter than I realized when it was diluted with acetone.  I'll also draw your attention to my index finger and the missing polish near the tip.  The point of using 2 layers of top coat before the water color effect is to protect your base from the acetone.  However, if, like me, you decide to add more polish or are overenthusiastic with your dabbing, you might just see your nail make an appearance...  Lesson learned.

I added a coat of Pearl Harbor, an iridescent blue glitter, to draw it all together.  This last picture was under a lamp, without flash, and I added it because the color is much truer here.  Overall, I'm not super-thrilled with this look.  I think part of the problem is the monochromatic choice, which I'll remember.  I think this look is interesting and I may very well try it again with better color choices.  Have you done a watercolor mani before?  What did you find worked well?  Do you have any good tips?

"You'll go down in history!"

I've been having a Christmas movie marathon for my "weekend" because I miss most of them while I'm working.  I LOVE Christmas movies!  Except Frosty--that one is really weird.  Anyway, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of my favorites, so here is my little homage to his story:

I love this movie!  Hermie's quitting makes me a little too eager to leave my job.  Yukon makes me laugh.  I love his dogs.  I want to cuddle the little dolly.  I even look past Clarice's "There's Always Tomorrow" and Santa being kind of a tool. 

 *2 coats Wet 'n Wild Blue Wants To Be A Millionaire?
*Sinful Colors Why Not
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out

Don't you just hate macro shots sometimes?  When I see those darn smudges in photos that aren't visible in real life it kills me!  This picture is really not color-true, either, but photo editing is a big world I'm not quite ready to dive into yet.  Why Not is a darker, dustier blue than this shows.  I used these cute yellow umbrellas that Holy Manicures painted (and their base) as my inspiration.  These little guys brought all of the misfit toys to children once Rudolph returned to Santa!

*3 coats China Glaze The Ten Man
*1 coat China Glaze Fairy Dust
*1 coat China Glaze Angel Wings

Good ol' Yukon Cornelius!  "Silver and gold, silver and gold,/ Mean so much more when I see/ Silver and gold decorations/ On ev'ry Christmas tree..."  Always looking for his silver and gold!  So, I gave him both here!  I used The Ten Man as my base, a gorgeous silver polish with micro glitter in it.  I added Fairy Dust for a little more sparkle and then taped off half of my nail and added Angel Wings.  This amazing gold holo glitter is part of their new Holiday line and so pretty! 

*2 coats Zoya Ginessa

*OPI Wooden Shoe Like to Know?

*China Glaze Mahogany Magic

*China Glaze Ruby Pumps

*Sinful Color Snow Me White

*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out

 

"Do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?"  There are a number of really cute Rudolph manis floating around blogs and Pinterest.  I used Wooden Shoe for Rudy's face and Ruby Pumps for his nose to add sparkle.  Next time I'd leave a little more room for the antlers, but my nails are pretty short right now, so they're a little stubby.  I love that little red nose!



 

 

*1 coat Sinful Colors Why Not

*Sinful Colors Pink Cream

"We've a special job each year/ We don't like to brag..."  This is another shot of Why Not where the flash just makes it too light and bright.  I'm a little bummed about that because this is for Hermie and the elves.  This blue could be a one-coater with special attention.  I knew I was going to go over the tip, so I didn't add a second.  When I was little I thought those girl elves in their pink dresses and hats were so pretty!

*2 coats Zoya Ginessa
*OPI Danke-shiny Red

"We're on the island of misfit toys/ Here we don't want to stay!"  This nail took a lot of debate.  One of the things that makes the movie so magical and nostalgic is the coloring and quality of the stop motion.  I cannot tell, after a LOT of searching and watching, if the elephant's dots are red or pink.  I went with red.  I am second-guessing myself as I type.  ANYWAY, this is for the little polka-dotted elephant, Charlie, and all the other misfit toys who only want a child to love them.  Because I do!