Happy Independence Day! Let's Have Some Nail Art!

I have to laugh... I was talking twitter last night (I know, I said that already, but I've been up all night. Give me a break!) and someone asked me how long I've been blogging. I went to check my history, thinking my one year blogaversary was coming up this month. Instead, I had a surprise...

My one year blogaversary was actually on June 23! I've been blogging over a year, and didn't even know it! So, let me just say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here! There's no way I'd have managed to keep this going without all of you reading and commenting. You make it worthwhile, and that's why you're getting two bits of bloggy goodness today!

So, let's look at some fourth of July nail art, shall we? I didn't do anything overly spectacular, but I did do designs I'd be happy to wear. I started out with something fun, something glittery...

Glitter Glory is a simple design using only three polishes. I chose a white base so that my colors would pop, and I wouldn't have to worry about painting a stripe later. Once my base color was dry, I put in diagonal sections of red glitter and blue glitter. A top coat of Seche Vite and we were done!

 Spangles and Stripes is a simple, almost nautical theme. Again, I started with a white base. This time, I painted a thick red horizontal stripe at the top of the nail and a thick blue stripe toward the base of the nail. In between I added a stripe of silver glitter, just because I really love glitter. Add top coat and it's done! This could be cute alternating the top color, as well!

 

Finally, I did a design inspired by all the fireworks that will be seen tonight. Normally I would have used a black base for this, but instead I chose to use a very deep blue shimmer polish for the background. It still feels like night without being utterly black. I then chose a central point on the nail and began pulling thin stripes of polish out in a star pattern. I alternated blue, reg, and silver glitter for this, hoping to mimic fireworks. I think I overworked it a bit too much, though. Ah well, they can't all be winners, right? 

To re-find my center point, I added a single white rhinestone in the center of the burst to signify the explosion at the center of a firework. It's not what I was hoping for, but it's still wearable, I think. What do you think?

And now that I've posted both my crackle experiences and my July 4th manicures, I think I'm going to curl up in my bed, try to get some sleep, and hope I can avoid the hottest part of the day. Currently it's 11:50am with a temperature of 90 and a heat index of 111. NO BUENO, people!!! NO BUENO!

Til next time, my lovelies!

Some polishes may have been provided by the manufacturer for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

The Fun of Frankening- Frankencrackle!

This entire entry shows what happens when I get to talking on Twitter. It started out simply enough- I was goofing off, working on photos while I talked to some friends online. Then someone mentioned wondering if she could mix regular shimmery nail polish into crackle polish, and I realized I'd been wondering about that myself. Could you actually franken your own crackle polish colors?

As I talked with my husband, he made a quick joke and I realized that not only would I do some research, I would have to make a mascot. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce my new frankening mascot- the Mysterious Mr. Frankencrackle!

 

Cute, isn't he? And yes, in the interest of full disclosure, the above image is a photo illustration based on nail art I did last night. You can see the original nail on my yfrog account. Since he's a mascot I may use again, I wanted  to make him a little cleaner, a little cuter.

So, the experiments. I wondered several things: 

• Can you thin crackle polish with regular nail polish thinner? 
• Can you mix colors of crackle polish together? 
• Can you mix regular nail polish into crackle polish?
• Can you mix pigments or glitter into crackle polish?

The results were interesting, but to spare you the long, very wordy description, I'll simply let the photos speak for themselves. :D

 So, to sum up:

• Can you thin crackle polish with regular nail polish thinner? 
• Yes! Regular nail polish thinner does thin crackle polish, but thinning it too much makes it look a bit odd. It still crackles nicely, though.
• Can you mix colors of crackle polish together? 
• Absolutely! It helps to add a drop or two of thinner to give it a bit more open time, before it dries out too much to apply.
• Can you mix regular nail polish into crackle polish?
• Absolutely NOT. It turns everything into a goopy, sludgy mess. NOT attractive at all!
• Can you mix pigments or glitter into crackle polish?
• Yes, you can! Pigments and glitter do mix nicely into crackle polish. However, you may need some thinner so you don't end up with a total gloppy mess that's too thick to apply!

Check back later today, I'm hoping to finally get my Fourth of July polishes up! I know they don't help much today, but hey, you still have time before tonight, right? :D

Crackle polishes were provided by the manufacturer for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.