29 July 2013

piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013: Art Deco Stained Glass Nails + Tutorial

Hi everyone! I'm so happy to be participating in this year's piCture pOlish Blog Fest!! I'm sure you have already seen other posts today, but basically Blog Fest is where a bunch of nail polish bloggers (over 130!) around the world put together a post featuring polishes from the Australian brand piCture pOlish. The event is organized by piCture pOlish and they provided the polishes and the instructions. I've seen piCture pOlish Blog Fest posts from previous years by bloggers much more established than me, so I'm extremely honoured to have been chosen for this.



The theme for this year's Blog Fest is "Year of the Blogger", and it's about celebrating what bloggers do. We were instructed to make our most amazing nail art ever and to create a step-by-step tutorial of our design. Even though it seems like a lot of pressure, for me it was the perfect opportunity to challenge myself and to create a design that would push my abilities.




About This Design

I was given three polishes from the Metallic Shades collection: Bombshell (a vibrant blue metallic with shimmer), Goddess (a copper metallic), and Metallic Mush (a pale gold metallic foil). I've been wanting to do intricate stained glass nails for some time now, and these three polishes really suggested the Art Deco era. Art Deco design was influenced by the machine age, and it's known for it's streamlined aesthetic and geometric patterns and shapes. The designs on each nail were taken from Art Deco stained glass designs that I found online. My thumb is a duplicate for my middle finger.



Keep reading for a step-by-step tutorial on how to do stained glass nails. While this design took quite some time, six hours in fact (yikes!), you can use these instructions to do simplified stained glass nails.


Art Deco Stained Glass Tutorial


Here's what you'll need:
  • black nail polish
  • a detail nail art brush
  • various coloured polishes to fill in the design - shimmery polishes look best for that stained-glass look
  • nail polish thinner
  • lots of patience!

Step #1

Step #1: Apply base coat and let dry. Using black polish thinned with nail polish thinner, draw your outlines on your nails. At this point, use a very light touch and go slowly, but don't worry if you make a mistake, you can fix those later.
Optional: Apply a base colour - perhaps white or nude, but nothing too dark - after your base coat. If your coloured polishes are very sheer or you're worried you won't be able to cover the whole nail, having a base colour will help hide those imperfections.


Step #2

Step #2: Reinforce your lines by going over them a second time. You want to make them darker but also you can fix any mistakes made in Step #1. You don't want your lines to be too light or it will be hard to see them when you apply your colours.
Tip: Use a bit of nail polish remover and a detail brush to "erase" any mistakes made. You're going to be covering over any mistakes with the coloured polishes so you don't necessarily need to do this, however, if having an incorrect line is going to mess you up in future steps, it might be good to try and take it out.


Step #3

Step #3: Start filling in the shapes with your coloured polishes. I started with Metallic Mush and filled in all the intended spaces on each nail before moving to the next colour. However, you can complete each nail before moving on to the next.
Reminder: Since you will be moving your hand around a lot to get into small spaces, be careful not to smudge the work that you have done on your other nails! I'm talking from experience here. :)


Step #4

Step #4: Fill in all the shapes with your colours, making sure to paint up to the cuticle (leave a tiny gap!) and on the edges of your nail. You will probably need two coats for good coverage.


Step #5

Step #5: Go over the black lines again, the same as you did in Step #2. Fix any mistakes with touch-ups.


Step #6

Step #6: Clean up your edges with a fine eyeliner brush dipped in acetone. Seal with top coat and you're done! I used KBShimmer Clearly On Top, I love it because it doesn't smear your nail art!


Tips and Tricks:



Tip #1: When doing any complex or intricate nail art, make sure to do a sketch first, preferably with some of the polishes you'll be using. Here's a look at my sketches along with my mock-up of the final design. I played around with the designs I wanted on each nail. When that was settled I drew my final design and filled it in with the colours I intended to use. This acted as my blueprint when I was working on my nails.


Nail art brushes: liner brush (top) and detail brush (bottom)

Tip #2: When doing fine lines like this, use nail polish thinner to make the polish more fluid. This will also prevent it from drying out right away. Also, work very slowly. I find it helps to paint a very light line - using more thinner - then go over it again to darken the line - using less thinner - rather than trying to do the line all in one go.

Tip #3: For painting straight lines, I find that it works best to pull the brush towards me. Also, I tend to move my hand around and try painting at different angles in order to get the best angle and brush direction for the line I'm trying to make.

I hope these instructions were helpful. I went into a lot of detail because I wanted to cover as much as possible. Unless you are working with a very intricate design, or wanting to get very fine lines, stained glass nails are not very hard to do.


The piCture pOlish Blog Fest Awards

This year there will also be Blog Fest Awards. Here's the details from piCture pOlish:

There is 3 (only) awards that will be voted and chosen as follows via our special Pinterest Blog Fest 2013 board:
  • 1 x Award - as voted by PP friends and fans
  • 1 x Award - as voted by all (you) participants of Blog Fest 2013
  • 1 x Award - as voted by Jules & Megs of piCture pOlish
The winners will get to work with piCture pOlish to make a collaboration shade, so it would be very awesome if you took the time to vote. It doesn't have to be for me, but if you do want to throw your vote my way, that would be greatly appreciated. :)

I believe the special Pinterest Board is HERE. If that changes, I'll update this post.

Voting is on the piCture pOlish website, there you will also find a link to the Pinterest board. Link is HERE.



About piCture pOlish

You can follow piCture pOlish through the following links:

Facebook    
Twitter    
Pinterest    

For ordering from piCture pOlish check out their Shipping, Network and Everyday Deals pages.

What do you think of this design? Have you been checking out other designs for piCture pOlish Blog Fest?

*Polishes were provided by piCture pOlish for Blog Fest. See my disclosure policy for more details.*

64 comments:

  1. wow you did a great job!! I'm not sure I would have been able to come up with something. these shades are difficult to pair!

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    1. Thanks so much Nailderella! I totally know what you mean, that was my reaction when they first told me what shades I was going to get. :P

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks Victoria! <3 *goes off to stalk your blog...*

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  3. This is incredible o.O your freehand skills are out of this world!!!! So gorgeous!

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    1. Thanks so much!!! It was totally time consuming but very worth it! :)

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  4. Wow these really look like stained glass and must have taken so much patience!

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    1. Thank you so much Emily! And yes, lots of patience and snack foods to keep me going, lol! ;)

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  5. WOW! This is superb, the detail of your design is amazing, well done!!

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  6. you got some really tough colors and totally blew it out of the water! this is one of the best ones i've seen so far!

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    Replies
    1. Wow! Thank you so much! That means a lot to me given all the talent that was involved in Blog Fest.

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  7. Oh my gosh this is absolutely stunning. I am definitely going to vote for you.

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    1. Thanks so much Kelli, and thanks for your vote!! That means a lot to me. :)

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  8. Replies
    1. Hehe! Hopefully those are good wows?! ;)

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  9. This mani is crazy good. Nice work!

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    1. Thank you JFC, and thanks for the comment. :)

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  10. Jaw dropper. This is insanely awesome. Wow Your freehand work rocks!!

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    1. Awww.... thanks so much Rooseate! I really enjoy doing freehand work so I'm happy that others enjoy it as well. :D

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  11. This is AMAZING. So impressed with the detail and time you took on this. WELL DONE!

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    1. Julia, thanks so much! Yes, it took a lot of time, but in the end it was worth it to me, and glad you agree! :)

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  12. Wow! That is amazing! Love the nail art! Great job! :D

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    1. Thanks so much! And it was good to see your work in Blog Fest as well!!

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  13. I'm assuming these are the ones you spent 6 hours on?! Regardless, these are so fantastic!! I love the colors you got as well! So beautiful!!

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    1. Haha! Yes, these are the infamous 6 hour nails! ;) Thanks so much Lindsey!

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  14. Wow. This is stunning work! Loving the tutorial too. Thanks!

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    1. Thanks so much Zara, and I hope the tutorial is helpful. :)

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  15. Wow that was amazing and a great tutorial that I might be able to execute :) !!! Thank you so much.

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    1. Thank you Myztic, and I'm happy to hear that the tutorial was helpful, I wasn't sure if it would be. :) Definitely do try the technique, but maybe just steer away from the detail at first. ;)

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  16. I must say I've seen many pp designs today but I'm impressed by yours so far...Well done! And where did you get those brushes from?? Thanks

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    1. That would be my question too ;D Looove the art you did! Much luck for the contest!

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    2. Thank you so much @Rianne and @NohohonFTW!! The brushes I bought from this woman on Instagram: http://instagram.com/stylishnailart

      The liner is called Pure Color #9 and the detail Pure Color #10. I found the prices reasonable as well as the shipping.

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    3. Thank U love and u definitly got my vote...Good luck :)

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    4. Thank you, they look fantastic! :)

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  17. This looks amazing..almost a cross between art deco and stain glass window. So pretty :)

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    1. That's exactly what it is, or at least what I was going for! ;) Thanks so much Jas!

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  18. Woooow! I'm speechless! Your design is amazing! I will defenitely try your tutorial one day (when I have 6 hours, lol) :)

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    1. Haha! Glad to hear that you enjoyed the design!! And believe me, you could do something easier in less than 6 hours, I'm also just very slow!! :D

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  19. I voted for you!! Here's what I wrote:
    Wow, what an amazing group of entrants!! I had a fairly hard time picking just 1 to vote for so I narrowed it down to all my favorites then I started looking closely at their mani and the tutorial. As I understand it, the point of this whole thing is to increase exposure of all your lovely polishes and create interest in your colors. The reason I chose Will Paint Nails for Food as my vote is that she showcased each color in a very detailed way but the manicure was also uncomplicated (you could see exactly what each color looks like on it's own). There were others that did this well also, but her tutorial was very well written, detailed, and easy to follow and understand.
    Good luck, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! :)

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    1. Wow!! I'm very touched, thank you Stacy!! Thanks for your vote, and thank you for the feedback, this is very helpful to hear.

      I'm crossing my fingers too, a PP collaboration shade would be *awesome*!! ;)

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  20. Wow this mani is absolutely perfect. I love the inspiration and your attention to detail. Incredible <3

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    1. Thank you Polished Prescription, and thanks for the feedback. :)

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  21. I think you're my favorite mani ! there are great others but you're just stunning, I'm speechless... I'm ashamed of my Blogfest mani lol^^
    Congrats I LOVE IT <3

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    1. Thanks so much! But don't be ashamed of your mani, I really enjoyed it so much!! :)

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  22. WOWZA these are seriously insane!!! I'm simply in awe!!! Amazing work :)

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  23. Replies
    1. Once again, thank you Q, you are so sweet! :) Next year, hopefully we'll be seeing your nails at Blog Fest!

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  24. These turned out really spectacular! Great job!

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  25. Everytime I see a design of yours I'm sure if my favorite, you do another I love EVEN MORE! I love these nails so hard, they remind me of Roycroft designs, which a town I grew up near is famous for :-D
    I also LOVE the colors--Blue & Orange can be classy!

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    1. Thank you Shelby!! I'm not familiar with Roycroft designs but I'll have to research it, I'm curious now! :)

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  26. These are sooo impressive - I really love what you did with your shades. Also, I feel a lot better about being such a slow painter having read that you spent six hours on these. I'm so glad someone else asked about your brushes, they look fab!

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    1. Kirstie, thank you so much! Yes, I find if I go slower, it takes longer yes, but I don't make as many mistakes. I wouldn't want to have to redo any nails because I was going too quickly. Most of the time I don't spend that long though. :)

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  27. Now your site or Blogger is not working - it would not post my comment and yet I did not put any ill words and no URLs - it said I was trying to reply and could not do that...I did not use a reply link to someone else's post..what I am trying to let you know other than I love what you did here is I cannot find anywhere to go to vote on the PP web site...your update post blog you gave does not lead to anywhere good on PP web site to vote...and PP had no links to any kind of a contest they are running..where do I go???? I am so lost and I am very web and computer savvy this should not be hard or folks who really don't know how to do much on the web will never find their way if it's confusing.

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    1. I was just updating my site and changing my template, so it's possible that you were trying to comment at the exact time that I was making changes. I'm done now, so if you still have problems with commenting please let me know.

      As for the link to voting - voting ended about 12 hours ago, it was only for a 24 hour period, so that is why the webpage is no longer available. I'm sorry that you missed it. But I really appreciate you taking the time to vote. :) Let me know if you have any other questions or problems.

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  28. Lindíssimo e muito original! Parabéns!

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