52wkCrumpet8: books and brown

This is week eight of Crumpet's 52 week challenge! The "rules" are very flexible and you have all week to accomplish the mani. As always, must be done on your own nails, using the colours suggested (or parts thereof).
This week's prompt: books and brown (either each alone or combined). I combined. I was convinced a lot of girls would be doing the newspaper transfer mani so I decided to paint bookshelves and be different. And then I noticed lots of girls did bookshelves, so I wasn't so clever after all!

The base is two coats of Essie Sable Collar. I have had this colour for-ever it seems. I bought it in the wrong time of year, then forgot about it in winter. I like the silkiness of the colour but I am still not a fan of Essie. I find their polishes way too thin. I would have needed a third coat to wear this on its own but settled on two as I knew I was painting on top. There must be a reason why I only have four Essie polishes!

I hand-painted all the bookshelves and books – and my wee cat Harvey sitting on top of one shelf – using acrylic paints and thin brushes. Top coat sealed the deal and brought it all together. There are a couple of reasons why I only did my left hand: 1) lazy! 2) too many nail studio clients and I needed my dominant hand to remove their polish and 3) was almost dinnertime.

left side more in the shade

So on my right hand I applied the beautiful – and very, very similar shade to Essie – Fake Tan from Gelicious. This is a rich shimmering coffee brown colour. I kept it pure, so I have lopsided hands this week! But people will think it is on purpose! And I have removed numerous polishes (with non-acetone remover) and the mani still looks top!

That's me for this week! And now I am wondering what Crumpie means with "brush stroke".

An InLinkz Link-up

Starburst flowers on Essie Sable Collar

Hi girls! I had intended to do a last gel mani for the whole week but that did not want to do what I wanted. I need to tweak that polish and try again and then I will write about that experience. Do want to give the colour a second chance before I call up the relationship doctor! So, I decided to do an acrylic mani on a hardly used beautiful brown.

Now, I am also totally behind in posting this (waaaay too much jewellery to make this week - but I guess that's a good thing) and I had heaps of film marketing to do as well. I am right now on my fourth day with this and it still looks totally fab - NO chips! I just gave it a new top coat to be shiny for tomorrow and there are zero chippos. I wonder...... I decided to use my old tried and true China Glaze Strong Adhesive base coat this time. Over the past months I have been using Seche Clear, mainly because I bought a jumbo refill size. It never as felt as good as the CG. And here is the proof as this mani is still rockin'! That usually doesn't happen with SC.

I started with two coats of Essie Sable Collar, a warm rich chocolate brown with a shimmer. A velvety brown. I think this is a beautiful winter tone and it covers very well in two coats. Then I got out the acrylics and a small flat brush. I wanted to create overlapping starbursts.

First, I mixed yellow and white (and water) and applied all the yellow flowers. Such a simple design, just dip the end of the flat brush in the colour and then apply in a wheel spoke type pattern. I keep cleaning off the brush by wiping and squeezing it together with my fingers to keep the tip thin and tight. Then, using orange and white and water, I did the same with the next colour. And again with a very very peachy light. I added some white dots in the middle of the flower and wherever else I thought they should be!

right hand

Top coat really brought it all together and smoothed out the acrylics. I waited a bit before applying so that I wouldn't smear any of the paint. Acrylics dry fairly quickly, though. and if you hover over the nail with the top coat (vs really applying it with force) you usually don't touch the art.

So.... like I said, have been a busy bee. I thought of this new pendant design, called Cosmic Dandelion. I haven't put it on etsy or anything. Well, I just finished it and tomorrow is the market. Maybe I'll sell it. And if not, we are away soon on holiday so why bother with etsy for the time being. I really like it (duh...) and think it would be a great larger painting.

cosmic dandelion

I don't know how everyone artsy is out there but not everything I make I like super duper 100%. I like everything, but see room for improvement, or not even - just didn't jell. Then there are objects I really really like, it all came together and just pops. I usually price these higher so that I can stare at them longer. And if someone buys it, then at least I got a good price for it. Then there is all the bread-and-butter stuff that always sells and I keep making. My wee bracelets for instance. I don't even put those on etsy; just little hand drawn hearts in a delicate charm. Wish me luck for tomorrow - last market for a bit. Really going to miss it!

Essie Resort Fling with sponged yellow tips

There has been a massive amount of nail mail coming through the door lately. I finally received my past Xmas, birthday and M-day gifts as Europe wouldn't allow anyone to send them to me with the post. Had to wait until someone actually flew to my country! So heaps of polish there. Then I invested in two new Essies from CandyGirl as they looked just too good to pass up. Up till now I have not been a fan of Essie. In the meantime, I have read up on them and, well, maybe I got a bad bottle.

This is Resort Fling from their 2014 Resort Fling collection. 'Tis a coral, but has an orange tinge to it. Not pinky coral like Selena from NOPI. A warm coral. Or soft orange. Now I read that Essie goes on streaky but the formula is supposedly so a-m-a-z-i-n-g that it all evens out as it dries. The only bottle I have is their Raise Awareness that gets a lot of use with my little old ladies. And I was never impressed with that.

True to form, the polish applied streaky and looked like it didn't cover. But I waited a tad before applying the second coat and yes! Coverage was absolutely there. A really pretty colour - great for spring and summer.... and holidays! This is two coats of Resort Fling.

I had another idea for this mani as I thought the colour was a jelly = sheerer. I wanted to do a sandwich with flowers, etc. But that did not work out as the second coat totally covered all the flowers! So, I jazzed up the tips a bit by sponging in gradient piCture pOlish Mellow Yellow and CG Foie Gras. From a distance the mani looks great, up close my nails look dirty!!! Ha! Note to self: brown on your tips is not always a safe choice.

This is late in posting as well. Seems I have a massive to-do list. Am trying to stay really positive but things are just crumbling around me it seems. We thought we had an offer in on the business, but that has yet to materialize, all so up-in-the-air. I owe so many notes and eMails, have been applying for jobs, and almost forgot my doctor's appt yesterday! Plan on doing my nails tonight, though. Oh, and packing up a pendant for Hollywood!