Blue Mondays

Yes, I know it's Tuesday. I was exhausted from a looooong Monday of paperwork and when I got home I curled up and took a nap. So I never got around to posting my pretty manicure, even though I took the time to head outside at lunch hour to take advantage of the brief spot of sunshine to get pictures! Also, have you ever had a manicure that is pretty, but just...not what you were hoping for? I can't label it a "fail", because really, it is pretty, but I had higher hopes for it.

I can't point to a single blogger who inspired me for this one, because I've seen so many stained glass manicures and I like bits and pieces of them all. But I've been planning to do one for a while, and Sunday night, after putting water marble transfers on V's nails, this is just what I felt like doing. The pictures are all direct sunshine, no flash.

I started with a base of China Glaze Sea Spray, drew random black lines to make straight sections on my nails, and filled them in semi-randomly with Pure Ice Splash, Pure Ice Strapless, Sinful Colors Cinderella, and China Glaze Frostbite. Then I went back over the black lines with Sinful Colors Secret Admirer.

I think there are two things that really made this nail art less than I wanted it to be. First, I realized after the fact that I hadn't used my smallest brush, which meant no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get the lines as thin as I wanted. Second, I should have used a flat creme black rather than the shimmer of Secret Admirer. I'm a sucker for always going for the bling, honestly. If there's a single artistic thing I need to learn, it's that less is more.

Also I needed a second creme blue color. The only flat color in this "stained glass" is the base color of Sea Spray. I should have either used all sparkle or at least two flat colors. There are a few spots where I mixed Frostbite with Pure Ice Splash to make a more medium blue, but even the Frostbite by itself has a light shimmer. Sea Spray was the only creme, and it just looks off in the middle of all that bling. So yeah, it's pretty. So I didn't take it off (though I will tonight, because I chipped it today. Paperwork is hell on nails, have you noticed?) But it's not as good as I could have done, which to me is a failure.