Puzzles

So for this week we have something which looks really cool and complected but in fact is very easy. Its rather fun but still looks somewhat adult. We have puzzle pieces!

So a general note about choosing colors for this. Of course any colors can be used however both must be able to show up on top of the other. What this means is: if you use a really dark color and a lighter color, the light polish you use but be easily seen if painted on over a dried dark coat. If you want to do black and a color which does not show up on it, I would recommend using white instead of the color (Like mine) and then simply painting the color over once you are done.

So for starters I used my lighter color (white) as a base coat. You have to be sure that you let this coat dry completely because you will be putting tape on it. If it is not drying fast enough I suggest dipping your hand in an ice bath or cold water, or spraying it will a cooking spray.

Next I cut out strips of post-it notes about a 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch in size. Of course any kind of tape or sticky thing can be used, I just like the nice clean edges of post-it notes, and that they are colored and easy to see. I then placed them so that one quarter of the nail was covered by each, making sure that their corners only just touched. Be really sure that you push the tape/post-it all the way down to the nail everywhere it touches it. Otherwise you will be left with places for the polish to spill through and go underneath.

Now will all the post-its in place I simply painted over with my black. It tends to work best if you pull your brush away from the post-its so as to prevent any paint from getting underneath  Again be sure to wait until the black is completely dry before moving on.

Next I took the post-its off leaving my nail with four distinct sections. When taking of the tape try and pull in a straight line, and ideally end with the tape just on the edge of the paint, and then pull straight up. Do not pull it from the side or in a rolling motion as sometimes the edge of the paint will be pulled with it, and then your line is not as clean.

For a last touch I took a straight pin and covered the head in black polish. Then using the pin made two dots on each nail, one in each white section connected to a black section, giving a puzzle piece shape. Next I covered the pin in the white polish and again made dots on the black connected to the white, giving a puzzle piece shape to the white sections.

Thats it! I hope you enjoy the nails and be sure to leave any suggestions/comments/questions.

PAC-MAN

So for this week I decided I would do something really fun and more intricate, so this week my nails were inspired by the beloved arcade game, PAC-MAN!

Now I chose to do my nails so that they would go across left to right, making one nail a pac-man, others ghosts or fruit and some just dots. Any way of mixing and matching the various nails however looks really cool. I would over all suggest doing things that worked towards your strengths. For example if you have a very clear distinction between your left and right hands choose some of the simpler designs (probably the ones that use tape) for your dominant hand.

So for starters I did a base coat of black and let it dry completely  This is really important, usually you can paint over top of semi-dry base coats but for this don't  Allowing the black to dry completely allows the colors on top to show up better, and prevents any black from mixing in. Also this is an essential step if you are using tape, as that can pull up the base coat if it is not fully dry. A tip for helping with drying is to after few minutes dip your fingers in some room temperature water for a few seconds, this tends to help most polishes stop being tacky. Also note that if your having a hard time getting a color to show over the black, try other brands (if you have them in that color) or doing multiple layers once one coat of color is dry. If you really are having problems then do the shape in white first and after it dries use the color. I have issues doing that without it looking messy, but if you can do it then that should work as well.

Now on top of the black any of the following can be done:

Pac-man:

I found this one to be the easiest to do. I took a sticky note (though any kind of tape would do) and cut of the corner giving me a nice right angle. After this I placed the sticky note on my nail so that the point was were I wanted the mouth to be.
Be really sure to press it down firmly so that no polish can get between it and the nail. Then I simply took some yellow paint and painted on a circle. Dont worry about the tape at all, just go over it and make a nice even circle. This can be done using a small brush, a pen, a pin head, or a simple drop from any normal sized brush. Now before peeling off the tape be sure the yellow is 100% dry, otherwise this might not work. If all goes well you should be left with a simple pac-man shape.




Ghost:

Similar to the pac-man this one uses tape. In fact I found the cutting out of the tape to be the hardest part. Cut out triangles from tape leaving a zig zag side which will be put on the nail. In general I found that I could never get my triangles small enough, so just be aware of how small or large they really need to be, and use a small scissors if you have them.
 Now placing the tape on the nail bed, be sure to push it all the way down and then paint on a square over it. Try and round the top part of the square. I found this to be pretty easy even with a full sized brush. Now using a small brush, pen or a sewing pin make two medium sized white dots with a small black dot in each for the two eyes. Be sure to wait for the polish to dry fully before taking off the tape (seriously wait the whole time otherwise the zig-zag doesnt happen).

Cherry:
For the cherry I used  the head of a sewing pin to get two even dots with the red polish. I then took a thin green brush I had and drew in the two lines which can up and met for the stems. Two more small lines on the side for leaves and the cherry is done.







Banana:
I started the banana using a thin yellow brush, and made a simple arc shape, like a very wide U. Then using green I added a small dot to the top of the U for the stem of the banana. Now to make the lines on the banana, before it dried I took a pin (the pointed end) and dipped it in black paint (not very thick) and drew two lines along the yellow for the black lines on the banana. To be honest I think the black comes from the base coat underneath  and the pin is in face just pushing the yellow aside. However I still think it helps to dip the pin in black to get a clearer line.

Dots:
The dots were quite simply done using the head of a sewing pin and white polish. For the larger on, I just put a lot of polish on the pin and it created a pretty large dot.

So have fun with all the different pac-man inspired nails. Mix and match how you wish and in whatever order you think looks good and works with the dexterity of particular hands. Also if you want as a finishing touch you might choose to to a thin blue line along the edge of the nail, however I did not. As always suggestions/comment/questions are always appreciated. Enjoy!