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

Spring Ikat Chevron

My ikat chevron nails (see here) have surpassed 400 repins on Pinterest!! So in celebration, I have recreated the design just in time for Spring. 

For this design I used "Blanc" by Essie, "Appletini" by Covergirl, and "Stand by Your Manny" by Nicole by OPI.  Remember, the key to this design is the slooowly applied top coat which results in the perfect smeared look.

 Ikat chevron is definitely one of my favourite looks.  I'll be experimenting with more ikat looks in the not to distant future!

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate xo

Black and White Chevron

So my plans to do a second Halloween design went out the window because on Oct. 30 I became an aunt!! Baby Bailey had us all wrapped around her finger from the moment she was born.  You can guarantee that her auntie will be doing her nails when she is old enough ;)

For my nails this week, I was kind of inspired by the Ikat Chevron nails I did a while ago.  Within the last few days, they have been re-pinned several times on Pinterest and it reminded me of how much I liked them.

For this design, I used "Blanc" by Essie, "Black Satin" by Rimmel,  and "Black" by Kiss.  I started with a base of "Black Satin" with "Blanc" on my accent nail (ring finger).  

I then used the fine brush from my Kiss polish to make the design.  I found that I made my stripes too far apart so I filled in the space with white dots.  Here is the final product!

It would be a fun design to try with different colours.  The original Ikat Chevron I did is still my favourite. :)

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate xo

Ikat Chevron

As you can tell from the background on my blog, I'm a HUGE fan of chevron patterns.  I've been wanting to do a chevron design on my nails for a while but I didn't want to take the time to tape off each line.  I knew I wouldn't be happy with the lines if I did it free hand (I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my nails).  I was watching The Marilyn Dennis Show the other day and they were creating their own Ikat pillows.  Ikat is a fabric dying technique which results in a pattern that looks like the dye has bled through the fabric.  I started looking at Ikat patterns in google and came across my inspiration.

 

I remembered coming across a tutorial on Pinterest.  Concrete and Nail Polish created a great, easy to follow tutorial.

I started with a base of "White On" by Sally Hansen.

 I then used a small polish brush that comes in the Kiss Nail Paint bottles to begin creating my design.  I love the grey and yellow look so I chose "Grey Matter" by Rimmel and "Hit the Lights" by Nicole by OPI.

Here is the final product! I'm so happy with it.

 This design could easily be changed for any season or holiday:

• pastels for Easter/Spring
• red, white, and green for Christmas
• blues and silvers for Winter

The possibilities are endless!  Not just with this design, but Ikat in general.  Here is an Ikat design I did before I started blogging.

Happy Painting!

Love, Kate xo