Summer Challenge Day 20 - Parrots + a new technique

Hi Goddesses

Phew, let's get back to the nail art shall we, and today's pitstop on the Summer Challenge was either jungle or parrots.   I hadn't totally decided what to do for this one, and when I was on holiday (and doing lots of experimenting) I created this, and quite liked it.

What is it ?  Well, it's a base of Nails Inc Albert Place, the perfect summer blue, with a bright pink (Borghese Belissima Rose) brushed over it using a fan tail brush.  I've seen people use fantail brushes before, and that's why I tried this.  What I didn't bank on was that being a lazy Crumpet (who had forgotten to clean up her fantail brush last time she used it) I ended up with a much rougher effect, and one I liked much more as a result.

And that's how the parrot nails began - literally by experimenting and layering colours on top of each other (it was also the week I did the Acid Wash nails, so you know I was in a playful mood).

This is soooo simple, and so plain yet different, that I've done it a couple more times since.  It's so easy to do, and if you get the colour mix right, it's very ooooh la la.

All you need to do is blob a couple of drops of polish near the cuticle, and then swathe them down the nail in rough strokes.

My colour mix is a little wrong here for 2 reasons.  After the pink, I wanted a lime green so chose Barry M's .. er, Lime Green .... and it was just too sheer, and doesn't make enough of a statement of its own.   I then layered it with orange, forgetting that a dark base turns orange quite rusty, so overall, these are a little murkier than I would have liked.  The pink and purple version I did was MUCH better - you can see that on July 11th.

I turned the contrast WAAAAAAY up on this one to try and show you the polish mix better - I think a more opaque green or even a yellow would have been a much better choice.

Finally, this is what my brush looks like - can you see how old polish has clogged it?  THAT'S what gets you the rough pattern.  If you'd prefer something smoother, do what Crumpet never does - Clean Up lol.

Right, lots to do.  There's 1 more week of Celebration 500 left.  That's 7 more Guest Posts .....  5 more stash / haul posts ......  4 Best of posts ....  2 rare and lusted after polishes ..... and that's as well as the summer challenge, Superheroes v Villains, Stamping Sunday, Lazy Sunday and the usual malarkey!   Oh, and a Very British Giveaway, did I mention that ??

Enjoy, and don't forget to check out the other Fairies :) 

Neivys - http://maquiclubgirl.blogspot.com/

Jo @ Northern Nails - http://therockchicksrambles.blogspot.co.uk/

arlene @ http://euzefelus27-nailart.blogspot.com/

Helena - http://nailwish.blogspot.com.es/

Cuti-CLUE-les - http://cuti-clue-les.blogspot.com/

Katee - http://www.agirlandherpolish.com 

Alyssa at Fancy Phalanges - http://fancyphalanges.blogspot.com/

Sarah - http://www.ynails.blogspot.co.uk/

bec - http://lacquerdreams.blogspot.com.au/

Misha - www.enigmatic-rambles.blogspot.com

Sharon - http://whatcolorismycoat.blogspot.com/

Melissa - http://www.misadventuresofawannabemartha.com/

Laurie http://dressedupdigits.blogspot.com/

Lucie @ Lucy's Stash www.lucysstash.com

Emma @  http://manicurity.blogspot.com/

Caitlin - www.caitlinscreativecorner.blogspot.com

Jane- http://absolutevarnish.blogspot.com/

Amber www.nevernakednails.blogspot.com

Vic @ Glowstars http://glowstars.net

Jackie- http://memasmanis-jackie.blogspot.com/

Rychelle @ Colorsplash Nails- http://colorsplashnails.blogspot.com/

Stella - http://mywetnails.blogspot.com

Missy @ http://missysmanis.blogspot.co.uk/

Kim @ http://apolishedaddiction.blogspot.com/

Christine @ http://lost-in-my-reverie.blogspot.com

Angie @ http://ourpaintedworld.wordpress.com

Bazzia @  http://polishmymind.blogspot.se/

Missy the Manicured Maniac @ http://melissahenderson95.blogspot.com/

Michelle @ http://lacquerorleaveher.blogspot.com/

Nikki @ http://www.lilgreenheart.blogspot.com/

Elizabeth @ http://nailpolishismycrack.blogspot.com/

Ana Cris @ http://www.estacerradaladrogueria.blogspot.com.es/

Shayleen @ http://simplyhandyallyear.blogspot.com/ 

Dina @ http://secretarysnailart.blogspot.no/

Nayade @ Toxic Vanity http://www.toxicvanity.com

Karen @ http://nailsbykaybel.blogspot.com

Acid Wash Nails

Hi Goddesses

I promised you a few special posts for Celebration 500 Month, and this is the first - Acid Nails.  I used being off last week as an opportunity to try both things I hadn't tried, things I'd wanted to do for ages and also a couple of "oooh I wonder what happens if ...." type things :)

Acid Nails is achieved using acetone and layers of nail varnish.  You might think all the layering makes it take ages, but actually, no, I didn't think it was too bad.  We're going to talk next week about Recycled Nails and this is a GREAT Day 2 mani.

So, I'm going to go into instruction mode :)   Your first step is a normal mani - so, base coat, 2 coats of a polish, and top coat.   For my base I used Albert Place from Nails Inc, a great intense baby blue that I'm using a lot at the mo (mainly cos it's opaque in 1 coat).

Once your mani has dried, you can then start applying layers of polish.  I'd suggest you want at least 3, but you can have more.   As this was my first try, I learnt lots on this mani, like who knew orange over even pale blue would create such an amazing rust colour?  I loved the colour, but it over-dominates this mani.   

Also, there's a red polish in there too.  Pardon ?  You can't see it?  No, me either, and that's because I put it on top of the orange - once I started doing acetone magic, they were just too close in colour to be distinguishable.   Finally, I did a coat of Orly Charged Up on the top.  I only used 1 layer of each of the colours that went on over the top coat - I know people who have used more than 1 layer, and I think there are times when it would be a good idea.  It's all about experimentation.

So, once your polish is dry, you start playing.  I just want to point out at this stage, that the only top coat you should have put on is the one over the first colour - no more after that!  The reason is that TC is a barrier.  You need to preserve the bottom colour (unless you want to eat through all the colours and show some nail), but using it in between the other colours will make your next job impossible.

Now the fun part.  Take a cotton bud, dip it in acetone, and swipe, press, whoosh all over your nails.  More pressure will eat through more layers of polish, less pressure will eat through fewer.   Make sure tho that you don't put acetone all over your nail as you'll have no top colour left!

I went for random patterns, and I like what I ended up with.  Partly this looks quite Aztec to me, but it also reminds me of oxidised copper due to that rusty orange and the pale blue.  I love the distressed look it gives off.

There is one however .... now that I've experimented, next time I'd vary my technique and use "implements" of differing thicknesses - so a thin brush, a medium brush, maybe even a dotting tool or cocktail stick ....

So there you go.  Next week I'll have another version for you  that's appearing as a guest post on another blog.

Til then, enjoy xx :)