Art Deco Sunburst

Closing this year with a big bang, on the nails. :-) Like my last post this mani features elements from Art Deco, a style introduced to me by my father. It took me a while to like it, as I was so in love with and used to the curvy and organic lines of its predecessor Art Nouveau, but now I can't get enough of both. ♥ Deco has these slick and stylized shapes, making it look so grand! It just keeps wowing me everytime.

For the nail art I used the explosion design and a gold striper to freehand the little chevrons. All this on top of two coats of the blue Never On Sunday from Only You (house brand of Ici Paris XL).

Heading off to family to celebrate New Year's Eve now. I wish you all a happy and healthy new year!

Art Deco Line Work

Merry Christmas, dear readers! Here's how my mani looks like this year. Not very Christmassy per se, but liking it anyway. :-) The gold in my hands is Essence A Piece Of Forever from the Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 collection. I was only swatching it, but ended up wearing it after liking it so much with the improvised line work, for which I used my trusty striper Ink from China Glaze. Since I'm not confident enough to make such detailed work with my non-dominant hand, I kept my right hand plain black. But it actually looks nicer like this, more balanced  I believe.

Until next time then! Have a great time with your loved ones. :-)

Tutorial: Holly Leaf

Hello, creative person! Welcome to my holly leaf tutorial. Like the design it is inspired by, the freehand cloud, it's quick and simple to make, even with the small additions. What I like about this design (apart from being very Christmassy ^_^), is that it combines the use of different tools, it's a great way to practice both freehand and dotting skills. But once again, it's fairly simple. I hope you'll give it a try!

Start with a green basecolor for the holly and let it dry. Use a basecoat underneath if your polish tends to stain.

Then use a contrasting color to paint a few vertical strokes next to each other, making each one shorter as you near the other side of the nail (like shown more detailed over here). Start each stroke by placing the tip of the brush on the surface and wait till enough polish has dripped off, forming a round starting point. Try to leave enough polish on the brush to do this, but make sure it's not too much either to prevent having a thick, lumpy layer that will take forever to dry.
Tip: If your polish comes with a (big) flat brush, just twist it 90° and use the side. It's easier to make those round edges this way. :-)

Now we're going to give the leaf some veins, using a dark colored striper polish. Start with one main vein across the length of the holly, to which you then add a few smaller veins.
It's likely to use a green polish for this task, as the leaf is green. But if you don't own any, a black, brown or blue will work too.

A true Christmas holly isn't complete without its berries! So finish the design by adding a couple of red dots with a dotting tool. Or place a few big glitters or rhinestones instead, for that extra bit of oomph!

At last a layer of topcoat, et voilà.

I would absolutely love to see your attempt on my design, so feel free to leave a link to your creation in the comment section!

The polishes I used in this post are OPI Jade Is The New Black, Color Club Artsy Crafty, Janet striper polish #119 and P2 Fever.