Thursday, March 29, 2012

Water Marbling Nails!

Hey there! I'm going to attempt my first tutorial on how to water marble nails! I plan to have a lot more tutorials in the future but I decided my first one should be on something I know how to do well just so that I can get the basic format for one down. So here is Water Marbling Nails!

What You Need:
- Nail Polish Remover
- Q-tips
- toothpicks
- paper towels
- disposable cup filled with water
- at least two different colors of nail polish
- a white or light color for a base coat
- a top coat of some sort
- Vasaline or Scotch tape if you don't like the mess

Step 1:

Remove any old Nail Polish - Simple enough

Step 2:

Apply white or light colored base coat - don't be concerned about keeping the edges of it clean or making it a thick coat. This is meant to just be one quick - thin coat of nail polish - it's going to get a bit messy anyways
*If the top coat is too dark you will not be able to see the swirls when you dip you nails*

Step 3:
 Make sure the tops are all completely loose on the colors you want to use so you can just lift the cap off later without having to unscrew it which takes too much time
Also try and make sure that your nail polish drips freely from the brush. Older nail polish will be much thicker and won't drip and nail polish that is almost empty won't drip well either because not enough nail polish will cling to the brush when you pull it out.
* This is an important step because you want to be able to drip the nail polish fast so it doesn't dry*

Step 4:
 Let the nail polish drip onto the surface of the water
*do not hold the brush too high from the surface because then the drop of nail polish will break through the surface and sink to the bottom of the cup. Do not worry if this happens, though, just drip the nail polish again closer to the surface.*
 This simply shows what the nail polish will look like as it spreads out across the surface of the water. The farther it spreads, the quicker it spreads
Try to keep dripping the colors so it begins to form a bulls-eye in the cup 
*Remember do this fast or it will dry*
This is an example of what will happen if you let it dry. Sometimes a film will also develop between dips, all you need to do is take a toothpick to the surface of the water to remove the film
Step 5:
use a toothpick to 'swirl' the colors together. Don't take a whole lot of time to do this - the nail polish will dry
(I ended up changing my mind from gold to silver nail polish)
Step 6:
When you go to dip your finger in, bend it so that the nail faces the water and gets a good spot of nail polish on the nail. Push your finger all the way through the water and pull it straight out.
Don't be surprised when you have nail polish around the nail and on the knuckle. If you want to prevent this, use vasaline around your finger nail or scotch tape around your nail. I don't use either because it seems to be just as much trouble if not more than cleaning your finger off afterwards.
Step 7:
Don't forget your top coat! 
Step 8:
Don't be scared of the mess! :)
I usually put some nail polish remover in the cap from the nail polish remover bottle and use the Q-tips to clean off the nail polish around the nail. You won't get all of it off but you will get a majority. The rest will come off after your nails completely dry and you shower.

All done!

Hope you liked my first tutorial!
*Sam*

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

A Little About Myself

Hello there! My name is Samantha and this is my first blog! I'm hoping to make this a fairly regular thing for me as it'll help get out what I need to say whether or not people actually read it. A majority of things I plan to post about are Animals, Crafts, Art, School, and whatever happens to be on my mind on any given day. So I'm going to start off by introducing myself and give you a little story about me and where I am today.
 I'm 19 and coming to the end of my first year at college. My Major is Veterinary Science and I have a full intention of going to graduate school after I get my bachelor degree to get my DVM. (Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine) I absolute love my school and my classes and i'm starting my first internship this summer at a small but wonderful clinic in my hometown. I've been a competitive Alpine Ski Racer for about eight years. Unfortunately I wasn't able to do much racing last winter because of a series of rather unfortunate events and my busy school schedule. Hobbies I enjoy are Art of all sorts, crafting, and writing. I dream about getting a couple books published someday but I'm only in the beginning stages of writing. But hey, you have to start somewhere. I don't have much experience with art classes outside of high school but I almost went to school for art when I was accepted into MassArt but I made the decision that I wanted to be a veterinarian as a career. I cherish the therapeutic qualities of art and crafting so I didn't want to turn it into a job that I would grow to dislike. At the bottom of this post will be a couple examples of pieces i'm working on or have finished. I just want to throw out there that anyone with pets of any sort should send me a picture if they'd like! I want to draw a series of animal pictures and they can be of dogs, cats, guinea pigs, whatever as long as it's a clear shot of the animal's face and you own the rights to the picture. What I'll do with them is after a bit I'd like to have a post and feature some if not all of the pictures and pick a few that catch my eye to draw. I would post a copy of the artwork and perhaps try to send the owner a full-size copy of the original artwork as well. (that all depends on my budget and what I can afford.) So that's a little about me and what I want to talk about in my posts and here are some examples of my work.


Anymore questions about me or my work or anything for that matter can either be in the form of a comment or an email to sagooch.2011@mymail.becker.edu 
I do not use the google email so don't be hurt if you send it to the google email and I never respond. 
Thank you for reading and I hope you stop by again when I have something a little more interesting to write about! :)
*Sam*