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| Yes, those are MY nails with flowery lace in soft lilac! |
But for the wonderful gals who make up the Mani Swap Circle, I don't think I would ever have had these nails to show. As much as I protest, though, I really do like them. More photos and details coming up....and the answer to what the original nail-artist's nails looked like will be revealed.
OK - let's stick to tradition and show you the group's collage first -- Natasha and Angela did an amazing job once again wrangling all these folks' work within the deadline!!
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| Lots and lots of lilac nails!! |
I don't want to repeat myself for those of you who regularly read my posts, but I don't want to confuse any "tourists" either - everyone is welcome - so if you aren't familiar with the goings on of The Mani Swap Circle here's some quick info/links:
- My previous posts: Purple and Coral
- IG and social media hashtag: #maniswapcircle
- Hosts' IG accounts (best place for all the rules, etc.): @natasha_dauncey and @glacewing
So - did you have a guess at what the original design might have looked like? Let's see if you were right...
My assignee for this round was Ashema - known as @aaaratednails. She had sooo many fun and colorful, vibrant even, designs that my eyes were drawn to, of course. So what happened? Well....I really liked her "wedding nails" - they looked like something I wanted to try. (I was kind of forgetting that doing them in a color would change the look of them quite a bit....but I just kept repeating the word "Bridesmaids" in my head...) And, apparently, I like to really challenge myself with this group...
OK, here she is - all donned in pretty shimmery white lace -
The idea of doing a pond design, or in this case - a stamp-sandwich, where you put stamping between layers of sheer jelly polish was intriguing to me after the fun I had with this blue floral design.
So, I jumped in. Pun intended.
First thing's first...did I have a jelly polish in a lilac (or lavender) color? Yup. Phew. Proceed.
Did I have a pretty floral lace pattern in a stamp plate. Of course I did. Or .... so I thought ... right up until it was time to make these.
It turns out, the ONLY floral lace pattern (and just about the only lace pattern) I have is the one I used. Aside from it being a bit overpowering for the size/shape of my nails, it's pretty enough. But the image has the flower aligned with the corner, rather than in the middle like the one Ashema used.
Note to self: I tend not to buy plates with lace designs. Must fix that going forward...get at least one with variations. ;)
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| My nails weren't quite large enough for this lace pattern to get the whole effect... |
I also underestimated the impact of using a polish with a subtle shimmer like she did. Mine are pretty flat.
But, enough comparisons. That can be the death of creativity and a trap too easy to fall into if we let it. Suffice it to say, I find hers really pretty! And now, let's now look at mine for what they are, shall we?
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| Photo taken at the kitchen table with cell phone & flash -- while Mr. Kimett looks at me like "Really?" |
The photo above is my favorite one actually. Which is a hard pill to swallow - since I'm trying to improve on my photography with my DSLR cameras/lenses/lighting in my mock studio set-up. However, in this case, the reason has to do with a polish issue, not a photo one.
The top coat that I used did not "agree" with the lilac polish - by that I mean to say - I had immediate polish shrinking (where the top coat pulls back the polish underneath from the edges). So...hence my fervor to keep capturing pictures as soon as I could (ie. before eating that hot food in front of me), trying to salvage what was a really a fun design to make.
Darn top coats. They can be such heart breakers. But...moving on....
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| Taken outside after dinner in the "golden hour" of just before sunset (the colors are very warm), again with the cell phone. |
When I wasn't staring at these right up close to my face, I felt quite ladylike having these on my nails. I do think I will re-visit this idea again.
Design Details
- Lilac sheer jelly polish: lilac coolers by L'Oreal
- White stamping polish by Konad
- Stamping Plate: EJB-02 by Ejiubas - fantastic quality!!
To make this look, I began with a ridge-filling base coat. Then I applied 3 thin coats of the jelly polish. When that was dry, I stamped the image onto my nails in white and allowed that to dry. I then applied 2 thin coats of the jelly polish creating that color-wash look over the stamping. And, as already discussed, sadly it turns out, top-coated the design.
EDIT 8/7/16: I may have been a little too harsh in my assessment of top coats. It donned on me that I had recently used this same top coat without any problems. So, I started wondering what else could be causing the issue. I did a six side-by-side tests of this lilac polish with 5 different top coats (and left one uncovered).
What I found was less of a problem than I had the day I had created these - I am going to attribute that to humidity (it was extremely high the day I painted these). But I also found that the polish itself is inconsistent and pulls up at the edges. Huh. So - this one is going into the pile of "not for use with nails". Yeah....I can't quite purge them completely....hangs head...
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| Another late night in the bathroom using the cell phone...what's up with this routine? |
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| The daylight provided the needed softer lighting appropriate for this design. |
So there we have it folks. Again, no new flowers for today. This post is unusually light on the collages compared to those of late...but I think that it's OK to mix things up some. :)
Hope you're having a swell day - and THANK YOU for visiting!!
Till Next Time,
Kimett