Shattered Triangles

I have to preface this post by saying that this design is one of my favourites to date.  I was inspired by these nails a friend showed me on Pinterest (thanks Leanne!).  For this design, I started with a base of "Blanc" by Essie.  For the triangles, I used "Goldeneye" by OPI and "Up the Ante", "Winning Streak", and "Full House" by Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy.

Instead of hand painting each triangle, I made my own nail stickers.  You can see a great tutorial here.  Basically you paint thick swatches of polish onto a plastic baggy.  Let the polish dry completely (I let mine dry overnight) and then peel the swatches off the bag.  Use scissors to cut triangles of all different sizes.  While your nails are still tacky, use tweezers to place the triangles on your nails.  Finally, seal with a top coat and voila!

 I like how it kind of looks like stained glass or like something was dropped on the floor and it shattered.  I'm also really happy with the colours that I chose.

 I hope you all like this design as much as I do!!

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate xo

Purple Ikat

I think it's safe to say that Ikat is one of my favourite designs! I love the fact that you don't have to worry about having a perfectly steady hand.  I've now done ikat designs using nail polish, permanent markers, and acrylic paints and they all turned out.  The options are endless!

I've recently become a huge fan of Revlon's Colorstay Gel Envy.  It goes on well and is much less likely to chip.  There are also some great colours! For this design I used "Up the Ante" and for the ikat design I used white acrylic paint.

I highly recommend going out and purchasing a bottle of Colorstay Gel Envy.  The colour lasts and yet still comes off easily with regular nail polish remover.  Go ahead and give it a try!

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate

Ikat Dress Inspiration

 Two posts in two days!

I wore a new dress to a bridal shower today and used it as an excuse to paint my nails to match my outfit.  I got this adorable hi-low dress last weekend and it's perfect for summer.  I fell in love with the combination of floral and ikat patterns.  I just knew that I had to use it as some nail inspiration.

For this design, I started with a base of "Blanc" by Essie.  I used "Cute as a Button" by Essie, "Fedora" by Sally Hansen, and a brown Bic permanent marker for the design.  To create the floral design, I thinned the coral and brown using acetone.  I then used a paint brush to apply the thinned polishes in a random "flower" design.  To create the ombre effect on the rest of my nails, I used a paint brush (not the brush from the polish) to paint the coral shade onto half of my nail.  I made sure to drag out the edges to create an ikat look.  Once my nails were dry, I used a Bic permanent marker to draw the brown shapes.  Finally, I slowly dragged my top coat over top to make the colours bleed. 

I'm so happy with how these turned out! You can bet that you will see a full floral design in the near future.

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate xo

Bras for the Cause

I'm back!! The last couple months of school are always busy.  Well this year was extra busy and my nails were definitely put on the back burner.  Now that summer has arrived, I can finally get back into nail design and it feels great!

Last night, my mom and I attended a Bras for the Cause event.  The idea is that you all decorate a bra and wear it on top of your clothes, all while raising money for breast cancer awareness.  Of course, I had to make sure that my nails matched my bra.

I started with a base of "Blanc" by Essie.  I then used Bic permanent markers to create my design.  I recently bought the pack of 36 Bic markers instead of the Sharpies because there was a greater variety of colours.  I created a "firework" design using pink, blue, green, orange, and yellow.  I created an accent nail by placing the breast cancer ribbon on my ring finger.  The result is a super easy, colourful, and fun design that I will definitely be recreating in the future.

Oh, I can't forget to include a shot of our bras!  You'll notice the "firework" design on the bands of the bras.

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate xo