Roses, Owls, Forests

   One of the things I've learned it that I really, really like sculpting with acrylics. It is just so fun to make 3D things that I could never do with polish. Granted, I could never wear the sculpts because I'd catch it on things and pick at it, but they sure do look cool!
   A fellow student had a wedding this weekend, so she commissioned me to make her some roses for the occasion. I've really been wanting to learn how to make the roses that are really 3D and just pop out of the nail. They look really pretty. I haven't quite perfected the method to make them quite how I want, but we were both satisfied for the moment!

   For me, it worked easiest to make a few individual petals at a time (starting from the inside), attach them, then make a few more, attach them, and so forth until I had the look and size I wanted. I still haven't figured out how to curl the edges, but I'll get there....

   The one on the left was my first one. It was huge! Way to big for a nail. We were joking saying that she could make it into an earring. And then I got to thinking that maybe I needed some new products in my shop.....


   Last week, the same girl had me paint this cute fall mani on her nails. She fell in love this neat forest design by narmai on Instagram. She also wanted an owl accent, and to make it not so spooky and halloween-ish, we left out the eyes and made the sky more normal.

   To make the sky, I used the same ombre method as The Nailasaurus. I made the trees with my black striper. To make the owls, I started with a base of China Glaze Oxygen. Then using a dark brown, Saslly Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Branch Out, I painted two half moon shapes and filled in the space between them. A small one on the cuticle end of the nail, and a more dramatically curved one on the other end. I used OPI ??? to make the belly feathers and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed for the beak. The eyes were made with black and white paint, applied with a dotter.

  Have a great week!