Howdy, all! I'm less than excited about my ABC post this week, but I'm putting it up anyway. I own approximately 500 bottles of nail polish and not a single one starts with a 'Q'! Not a one! Somehow, this letter kind of snuck up on me (even though I do, in fact, know the alphabet) and I didn't have time to track down a new polish with a 'Q' so I'm hoping some of the other ladies come up with some good ones.
Anyway, I decided to take a whack at quilted nails. I've seen a few folks do some really cute ones and it didn't look too complicated so I thought, "what the heck!". "Heck", indeed! There are a couple of ways to do the quilted look. The first involves striping tape, of which I have none, so I decided to try the second. Basically, you apply your polish in 2 or more coats, what for it to set but not dry completely and then press diagonal lines into it. You're left with dents (on purpose for once) that form a quilting grid on your nails. You can then add your studs or dots or whatever you like where the lines cross.
Here's how mine looked:
I used 2 coats of Orly Blue Suede, a "leather" finish polish in navy. To press the lines in, I just used a piece of stringing floss from my jewelry stash. In hindsight, using something that has a texture on it to press straight lines probably wasn't the best idea. My lines look really messy and uneven. For the studs, I used some little silver bits I got in one of Cina's holiday gem wheels.
I think the technique has promise, I just don't like this particular manicure. Blue Suede just glopped things up, so maybe a different polish would work better. With 'Q' being such a problem letter, I'm interested to see if anyone else does quilted nails. I'm sure theirs will look light-years better than mine!
Please take a few minutes to check out the other gals in the ABC Challenge, you can find them via the thumbnails below. Thanks for reading!
I don't know why you say they don't look nice...they look very pretty!!
ReplyDeleteI guess I should say that they don't look how I pictured them in my head...I get frustrated when that happens lol Thank you!
DeleteYep I know exactly what you mean! But seriously they look like black leather...nice!
DeleteThese look great! I must give this technique a try. I love your beading too.
ReplyDeleteI was in the same boat as you with the Q polish but I managed to find one at the eleventh hour, lucky cos I had no idea what Q nail art I would have done hehe :)
I tell ya what, I'll be better prepared for 'X' after this business! No way am I letting another letter sneak up on me lol Thanks!
DeleteI just received my X polish in the mail from Ebay Haha!!
DeleteClever girl! ;)
DeleteThis looks cool - and I really like Blue Suede.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Liz!
DeleteHmmm maybe the suede finish was not the best for this! But the suede color alone looks amazing, and the studs are nice too! Not everything can come okay at first try! I hope to see another quilted mani in here soon :D
ReplyDeleteYeah, I had thought it might work since most of the tutorials I saw called for a matte coat in there somewhere. I figured, BS already had a matte-ish finish, so I could skip a step...that's what I get for being lazy lol Thanks!
DeleteOo I think they actually turned out pretty nice! And I love that polish color!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI love this!! And I didn't even think of quilt!! Great work!! And I think we should confront the nail polish companies and ask for more polishes that begin with Q!! And X!!!
ReplyDeleteI intend to write several strongly worded emails on that subject! lol Just kidding, the indies do such a good job, I can't fault them for no 'Q's Thanks, Dionne!
DeleteI have 630+ bottles and I have only a Q in my stash! :D
ReplyDeleteI suppose I will have to cheat in a future ABC Challenge! ^^
Anyway, I love your manicure, Blue Suede is such a beautiful polish!
Thanks, Cristina! These nail polish makers have got to start naming some with 'Q'!
DeleteI think they turned out very pretty! I've tried this type of mani before and it's hard to do. Great job!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was much harder than I thought it would be, so I'm glad you agree :)
DeleteI think these look great!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Meredith!
DeleteI don't see a fail here! I love your quilted mani!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Simona!
DeleteI does look quilted! I thought about a quilted mani, but I wasn't going to even go there b/c I am not good at it! Good job!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you're no good at it, with the way you can freehand french manicure lines! Thanks :)
DeleteTotes what to try this! I think your textured lines make the whole look more textured! I was too chicken to try this so I'm glad yoi did it and did it so well! Virtual high five!
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those techniques that takes a little patience, which I'm just too short on in general lol Thanks, Nicole!
DeleteI love what you did here, Natalie! Sorry to hear the polish was goopy and all, but your photographed results are absolutely lovely.
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed with the creative use of quilting that you and others in our group pulled off this week.
Gorgeous, gorgeous work.
:)
There were a lot of great quilts this week, I was also impressed with everyone's work. I love this group, I'm going to miss these challenges after we're done with 'Z'. I hope we'll all be able to find another challenge to do together!
DeleteI actually really like the rough looking prints. They give this manicure a certain rockstar feeling :D Good job!
ReplyDelete