Playing with Polish

I am in a bit of a nail polish phase right now. While I like to wear a classic red, pink, or neutral shade once in a while, I tend to gravitate toward the more unusual colors—gray, orange, blue... I wore a beautiful bright yellow a few months back without a protective base coat, and it stained my nails. They have been slowly growing back to normal, but I’ve been keeping my nails covered ever since. Not that I minded all that much. I just got to play with nail polish more often.

When it comes to mani/pedis, I’m a DIYer. I’ve gone to a parlor only once to get my nails done by a pro. It was fun, but not something I would do on a regular basis. I’ll leave that for special occasions. I have too much fun doing my own thing anyway.

I was fooling around with polish the other night and experimenting with different patterns and effects. This is some of what I came up with. Nothing really groundbreaking, but fun all the same. I tried to keep them simple since it can be hard to do anything too fancy when you’re painting your own nails. Depending on the amount of contrast and saturation in the shades you use, these methods can be as subtle and sophisticated or as funky and loud as you make them. If the idea of duplicating an effect on ten nails is too daunting, try creating just one or two accent nails.

Plaid

Materials:

-1 plain polish for the base color; This works best with a lighter shade. That way you can see your pattern.

-2 permanent markers, one thin tip, one thick

-clear polish

1. Apply 1 or 2 coats of a base color.

2. Once the polish has dried, draw a grid on the nail with the thin tip marker. Make sure there is enough space between the lines for the thick lines.

3. With the thick tip marker, draw another grid in between the thin lines.

4. Once everything has dried, finish off with a clear coat of polish.

Antiquing effect

Materials:

-1 plain polish for the base color; Darker shades work best, as this lets the top metallic shade stand out more.

-1 metallic polish

-cotton swab

-nail polish remover

-clear polish

1. Apply 1 or 2 coats of a base color.

2. Once the base coat has dried, apply a layer of the metallic polish. Let this dry.

3. Dip one end of the cotton swab into the nail polish remover. Rub this over the nail until some of the metallic polish starts to come off. Continue until you have the desired effect. Don’t rub in one spot for too long or the base coat will start to come off too.

4. Finish off with a clear coat of polish.

Polka Dots

Materials: -1 plain polish for the base color

-1 polish OR permanent marker in a contrasting color

-clear polish

1. Apply 1 or 2 coats of a base color.

2. Once the base coat has dried, create polka dots with the polish or marker. Polish tends to create larger, more irregular dots. A marker will make smaller, more precise dots. Alternatively, you could use a nail art pen if you have one.

3. Finish off with a clear coat of polish.

Stripes

Materials:

-1 plain polish for the base color

-polish OR permanent marker in contrasting color(s)

-clear polish

1. Apply 1 or 2 coats of a base color.

2. Once the base coat has dried, create stripes with contrasting polish or marker in however many colors you want. Alternatively, you could use a nail art pen if you have one. Again, as with the polka dots, using polish creates larger, more irregular stripes. A marker can create thinner, sharper lines.

3. Finish off with a clear coat of polish.

Bonus! Make your own nail polish colors!

Part I: Clear polish + makeup pigment

One day I thought, “I wonder if you can make your own nail polish?” and then I Googled “make your own nail polish” and found this ingenious idea. There are a number of articles, blogs, and YouTube videos that cover this same concept. Of course when I came across it, I just had to try it. I had been searching stores for a good navy blue, but could not find one, so I decided to try that first. I was pretty happy with the results.

This is a good way to use up old makeup you have lying around. Or just go buy some in the shades you want. I bought a cheap-o eye shadow palette on clearance with tons of colors to play with.

Materials:

-1 bottle of clear or light-colored polish

-makeup pigments, such as powdered blush or eyeshadow

1. Take the desired pigment(s) and, if it is not already, crush it into a powder.

2. Add some to the nail polish bottle. Start off with a little as you can always add more. Add more than one color pigment to create your own unique shade. You can create a simple funnel with a rolled up piece of scrap paper.

3. Shake the bottle until everything is well mixed.

4. Test the polish. Add more pigment until you reach the desired shade.

Part II: Mix Polishes

Take two different colors of nail polish and mix to your heart’s content.

Part III: Layering

Another way to create your own color without any mixing is by layering sheer colors over a base color. For instance, a top coat of pale pink (the same type usually used in French manicures) is a good way to mute down a bright or metallic color for a more sophisticated look.

There’s an App For That, Photography

I love technology and gadgets. While one of the great things about crafting is working with your hands, there are many great ways to incorporate technology, whether as a tool, for finding inspiration, or in new digital mediums.

I use a lot of Apple products. I’ve already explored a little bit of digital scrapbooking on my desktop computer (an iMac) using Adobe software. Back in March, I started using an iPhone. A few months later, I splurged on an iPad. Besides wasting countless hours with music, video, and gaming apps (Angry Birds, anyone?), I have been determined to find all the best apps for crafting and creativity. Here are some of the apps I like for my photos.

I love pictures. I love taking them, looking at them, playing with them. At family functions and other events, I am that person. The one with the camera that everyone hides from. The iPad is great for browsing photos. I’ve put my entire library onto mine. For a while, though, I didn’t do much with photos directly on my devices, but after discovering a few good apps, that has changed. Now I'm addicted to editing photos on my iPhone and iPad.

Snapseed (**my favorite photography app so far**)

Best used on: iPad

Cost: $4.99

What I like about Snapseed is that it has many of the features that are found in the other photography apps all in one place. There are basic photo editing features as well as filters and effects. The “center focus” is similar to the “tilt-shift” in Instagram. In addition, it allows you to shuffle the properties in some of the effects, such as texture, so that it doesn’t look the same in every picture you apply it to. I also really like the “compare” button, which allows you to see the photo before and after your adjustments.

Adobe Photoshop Express

Best used on: iPad

Cost: Free

This app is good for basic photo editing—cropping, straightening, contrast, saturation, etc. There are also a few filters, borders, and effects. Extra features are available to purchase within the app.

Pixlr-o-matic

Best used on: iPhone or iPod Touch

Cost: Free

Instagram

Best used on: iPhone or iPod Touch

Cost: Free

Pixlr-o-matic and Instagram are especially good for photos that are taken directly from the iPhone or iPad. Because of limited resolution and controls for cameraphones, pictures tend to be pretty poor. What I like about these apps are the filters. They enhance your blah cameraphone pictures, taking advantage of the low image quality to give pictures a “vintage” look.

Pixlr-o-matic also has different options for lighting effects and borders. Instagram is set up as a social network that automatically shares your photos in your own photo stream in your Instagram account. Instagram also has a cool and easy-to-use “tilt-shift” feature, which allows you to blur out the background and focus on the subject of the photo.

8mm Vintage Camera

Best used on: any

Cost: $1.99

8mm Vintage Camera is like the video version of these apps. The cool interface looks like a camera. You can choose between various lenses and films to create the look you want. There are also options for projector sound effects and random “jitters” to make a more authentic 8mm-like movie.

Pic Collage

Best used on: iPad

Cost: Free

This is a cute, simple app for creating quick collages with your photos on your device.

*Note: Though most of these apps will work on both the iPad and iPhone or iPod Touch, I have indicated which device with which I recommend using each. Generally speaking, some apps are better for iPhone because they were built to fit the smaller size, while others are better utilized on the iPad’s larger screen. Also note that some apps will not work on older generations of devices, and some apps have separate iPhone and iPad versions.

All photos © Nicole Jin Jones

Honeykuchen

I created this illustrated recipe for the wonderful website They Draw and Cook. (Click on the image for better view.) I made honeykuchen for the holidays last year and enjoyed it. It is a sweet and sticky bread. It is meant to get better the longer it sits. The low moisture and high honey/sugar content keeps it from spoiling. Below is a picture of the loaves I made this year.

New Etsy Shop and Free Pattern

I opened up a shop on etsy.com today. I've posted some sweaters for 11.5-inch dolls (I hope to post other types of items in the future). You can visit the shop here. These miniature sweaters were very fun to create. They are all designed and handknit by myself.

Most of the sweaters are knit using size 10 crochet thread and sock knitting needles. I like using the crochet thread because it is relatively inexpensive, comes in a wide array of colors, and is readily available from any store that sells craft supplies.

Here is a free pattern for a basic sweater, for those who would like to try making one yourself! Simply click on the image and save it to your computer (click and drag to your desktop or right click and select "Save Image As". I've also included a black and white version for easier printing.

**UPDATE** I've noticed that there is a mistake in my pattern. (SO sorry!) Apparently, I have trouble adding! Steps 3 and 6 of the Body instructions should say "Work in st st for 33 rows," not 31. The front and back should each have a total of 40 rows (6 edging rib + 33 even stockinette stitch + 1 row for neck opening). The diagram is still correct.

A Great Feast

Thanksgiving has come and gone once more. During the month of November, my sisters and I enjoy cooking up smaller festive meals in preparation for the big day. This way, not only do we get to enjoy Thanksgiving all month long, but we also have a chance to experiment with new recipes that we may or may not want to incorporate into our actual holiday meal.

This year, we tried something a little different and fun. The previous month, we vacationed down in Orlando and visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. We absolutely loved the restaurant there called The Three Broomsticks. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, and the food was delicious. The photos below show the dining room (top), a dinner of roast chicken (below left) and the butterbeer cart (below right) at the park.

We decided we wanted to recreate a typical meal served there. We called it our Great Feast. The menu included chicken, ribs, roasted potatoes and corn on the cob. This was our result:

We even whipped up our own version of butterbeer (cream soda + vanilla ice cream) and served it in the souvenir steins we brought home with us. For dessert, we poured homemade peanut butter sauce and strawberries over vanilla ice cream (not pictured). Mmmmm...

Cake

It seems like I've been decorating a lot of cakes recently, so I decided to post a compilation of some that I've done over the past few years. The bottom two rows in the picture above were all done in the latter part of this year. I've never taken a class or anything--just a lot of playing around. I generally like good ol' frosting; I'm not really a fan of fondant, though maybe that's something I'll eventually try out. I like to find different sprinkles, candies, and frostings to decorate with. Usually I try to match birthday candles with the decor of the cake. Sometimes I even try to coordinate the color of the cake, like I did with the pink strawberry cake shown in the two photos in the bottom right corner. Click on the photo for a larger view.

Illustration Friday - Paisley