Warning: this post is jam-packed! Go ahead, apply your cuticle oil/cream, sit-back, and enjoy!
Top 10 Kimett Kolor Favorites of 2014
OK - so there are a number of ways to pull a list like this together. I could have used the posts that the got most views or comments. But, I chose to go with my favorites and you can tell me in the comments if you agree and/or if I missed some of your favorites.
Although I had a light year in the quantity of posts compared to most, it was still hard to narrow the list down to 10. And, since I haven't quite finished my Theme of the Month Birthday designs yet (but I hope to very soon) - I kept those designs out of my list as I plan to show those all together when I finish.
Oh yeah - these are in chronological order - I couldn't chose any further, picking the favorites of my favorites would have just been too much! LOL! And, if you want to go back to the original posts - the titles and pictures are links available for clicking.
Alrighty - enough jibber jabber...here we go!
| No. 1: Winter Pastels in Water Play |  |
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As you may relate, a girl's first water-marble always has a special place in her heart. Before the start of last year, I had finished roughly half of the design prompts of the 31DC2013 challenge. Plunging my fingers into polish swirled water was incredibly satisfying and the anxiety of this prompt was quickly quelled. Even though I produced a wonky skittle, I was proud and many of you liked the looks of these minty colors. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to be happy with the little successes!! | |
| No. 2: Love is...Green? |  |
| Inspired by a song from the movie Shrek Forever After called Darling I Do, this design of Shrek and Fiona makes me smile from ear to ear every darn time I see these photos. Not only do the lyrics of the song remind me of my love for Mr. Kimett, but they are playful in nature - so I thought of putting my ogres in a giant mud pool, each up to their noses in it. I drew out a rough sketch and - BAM, I did it! I actually painted things that look like things on my nails! Up till this point, I had been pretty abstract or stuck to stamping pre-made images. And, I've always loved green... | |
| No. 3: Four Squares For Fashion |  |
| OK - so I think I'm the only person that liked this nail design. But I worked very hard on them, learning a ton along the way. Just like for everyone (unless struck by a giant lucky lightning bolt), making stamping decals the first time is definitely trial and error - heavy on the errors. So, when I finally had these decals adhered to my nails - I took the pictures quick & called it done! I enjoyed the color combination and the closeness to my fashion accessory inspiration (a crocheted scarf). And it's because of all of this that these made it to my top 10 list. | |
| No. 4: Abstract Watercolor Painting - On My Nails! |  |
| It was truly a blast using watercolor paints on my nails. Wearing the art canvas is quite fun! Even though I did chicken-out and not outline the shapes in thin black lines as an originally planned last step, I think these still came out pretty artsy-fartsy anyway. It was a little tough to get good photos of these, but in real life the colors just seemed to float right around and mesmerize. | |
| No. 5: Flagged As... |  |
| Probably another surprise to be in the list as it was not popular; not surprising because as a nail design it is awkward and messy. However it is a favorite of mine because it was one that came out better than I had imagined in my head (often times it is quite the opposite). I enjoyed the research I did for the design based on the Gadsden Flag. And - well, it's yellow - my favorite color! | |
| No. 6: Final Challenge Design: Honoring Nails of Oooh, Shinies! |  |
| As if completing the challenge isn't memorable enough, having Bregje see and comment on my design & post in her honor is very memorable indeed. I loved showcasing her knack for knowing which stamp patterns go with which polish combinations and I did at least a decent job of imitating her original post. I wish I had had better nail shape at the time - but otherwise, I have good feelings when I see these again. | |
| No. 7: Kimett's 50th Post! Readers' Choice: Multicolored Stamping |  |
| Of course, these had to be on the list!! You voted for them and I had an absolute blast trying out the Lead Lighting technique. It's no secret that I love colors and get especially giddy at combining them. These were quite popular too - so I thank you for all of your praise! | |
| No. 8: Turtles & Sea Foam for World Turtle Day |  |
| What can be more fun than turtles? Well, I guess there could be something....but making these nails in honor of World Turtle Day was pretty darn delightful. And, they came out fairly good (compared to what I had initially envisioned). Instead of making the base more of a blue ocean water color, I used green as it was the color encouraged for everyone to wear to celebrate the occasion. Again...I've always loved green.... | |
| No. 9: Glitter Colored Nails With Stamping |  |
| I almost feel guilty for including this design in my top ten - as it was purely by imitating a design by another blogger. But, it was a day when everything came into place - my nails were in good shape, my photos came out good, my polishing skills were decent enough for the black nails, etc. So - I have good thoughts about this design for those reasons and it was an overall look that I really liked. It was also very popular - which, I'll also guiltily admit makes me feel good when it happens. | |
| No. 10: How Do You Like Them Apples! | .jpg) |
| Another popular design and one that truly came together out of a calamity of errors. Those are two great reasons for it to make the list, but also I was happy with the look of them too. I don't usually like all five fingers to have the same focal image, but the irregularity of the watermarble base seemed to help. And, apples are happy - right?! | |
So, there you have it. My favorites from last year (excluding the Theme of the Month Birthday designs as I mentioned). Did I pick well? And, for anyone new or in case you missed any posts - I hope you clicked on some to get the details as well as enjoy hearing about my happy mistakes.
And, if this post isn't long enough....
In case I was a bit selfish about musing over past work and designs that you've already seen, it might be fun to show you some photos of designs that didn't make the blog before. I've learned not to call designs that I don't feel worthy - "nail fails" (you guys have been a huge wave of encouragement). But, sometimes I just couldn't bring myself to look at the photos of these long enough to blog about them. Or, sometimes, I couldn't finish a design and have photos of just a pretty polish - that also didn't make it to the blog.
Cutting Room Floor Collages
I chose to make collages, because the photos don't really need to be shown in large format like I would usually...and well, I didn't have to spend as much time processing the photos (softening out dust spots, etc.). And, fair warning, I'm going to get the worst one out of the way - and prove to you that I'm brave enough to show it to you as well. It is a bit scary - I take no responsibility for any frightening or sickening effects it may have....got your finger on the scroll button?
Valentine's Flesh Eating Disease....
I had this brilliant idea to make a jelly-glitter sandwich and top it with some heart shaped DIY decals. What could possibly go wrong...well, the polish I chose was really a crelly and one that does not flatter my skin at all. And, the glitter polish I used--just made the coloring worse. To top that off, I couldn't seem to get enough top coat on it to keep it from looking like my nails were growing a flesh eating bacteria. Total zombie-esque nails!!! Eiw!! I persevered and applied the hearts anyway - just for the practice of it. Using a metallic polish can make the photo sessions more challenging, but I had lost the enthusiasm necessary for it by then. So, you never saw my Valentine's Day design....until now. (I hope you're laughing and not totally cringing....)
China Glaze - Wicked Style
This is one of my favorite polishes I own by China Glaze. I don't remember right now what I had planned to do with this gorgeous pink base...but, I'm glad I took some pictures as it's a beauty all on its own. China Glaze is known for their great color offerings - this one is not just an ordinary pink.
Fireworks...With Zero Color...
I didn't have the greatest luck with holiday designs last year. Once again, I completed this design even though it wasn't coming along as planned. I had been wanting to try out glow-in-the-dark polishes and thought it would be a great way to play with one of the awesome Vivid Lacquer stamping plates. These plates are amazing - even with the negative images like this with so much polish to pick up with the stamper, they work great. I just wished I had used a more sturdy surface to rest my hand on in the dark for the glow pictures. And, finally the design just lacked too much. While the polish glowed very brightly...I realized after that using just one color glow wasn't realistic for fireworks.
A Lovely Polish Gift: Liquid Sky Lacquer - Fuchsia Illusion
I shared a quick look of this beauty on Instagram, but I'm glad to show it here too. Thanks to a wonderful friend, I was pleasantly surprised by a random nail-mail as a "cheering" up present. I had never tried a thermal polish before - and having long nails makes it even that much more awesome! These pictures are taken as the polish looked naturally (no cold or hot water). The polish goes on as a dark purple and then the warmth of my fingers turns the nail beds pink. It's got pretty holographic particles that makes the graduation of color that much more lovely. The polish matches my blooming Christmas cactus right now!!
Neons Fan-brushed Into Mud
This is a classic example of how I can take a lovely bunch of very pretty polishes, but combine them and they create a weird muddy neon mess. I did re-do this design style with a different combination of colors - and it came out nicely. (You may recall the Fan-tasy Stripes post.) Sometimes the polish choices just don't work on our nails - even when we test them out before on other surfaces and they looked OK then. "Oh well. Polish and learn...." :)
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OK, time to wrap up this very long post and say the most important things:
The sentiments I shared in my prior post for New Year's Eve are as heartfelt as ever! Thank you for being such great readers, commenters, encourage-rs, and basically wonderful people that have supported me through my little blogging adventure. I appreciate every comment here and on the social media forums too. THANK YOU!!! (And especially, if you read all the way to the end of this post -- you are the BEST!!)
Looking forward to 2015!!
Till next time,
Kimett