My 2013 Christmas Design - Foggy Night

So, I know I've been MIA lately... but that doesn't mean I haven't been doing my nails! I have a lot to catch up on, but I thought I'd start with what I did for the recent holidays first. Last year, I did strings of lights as well as some themed designs including a New Mexico Christmas. My inspiration this year was actually a Christmas card my future sister-in-law sent to me, which was a snowy, foggy gray night with a winding fence and a few lamp posts down the path in the snow.

After my base coat, I did a light coat of Sinful Colors in Snow Me White. To do the design, I used a make-up sponge to do the gradient. I go into the technique more in my Snow Day post. At the tip of the sponge, I put a thick strip of Sinful Colors in Slate, and then a thick strip of Sinful Colors in Snow Me White. I then put a strip of Sinful Colors in Out Of This World in the middle, where the two other colors meet. 

At this time, I want to share a trick I recently learned about! When doing a messy technique like this, I usually end up forgetting to put tape around my nail and wind up with polish all over the place and needing to go back with remover and a qtip to clean it up. This time, I used Elmer's Glue. As a kid, did you ever put Elmer's Glue all over your hand, wait for it to dry, and then peel it off in a big layer? Same principle! Put the glue on your skin around your nail, but be careful not to get any on the nail itself or it will take the polish off your nail in that spot also. Wait for the glue to dry (which took some time but I was waiting for the coat of polish to dry too, so it was no biggie), and then continue with your messy tricks! After you're done, just peel the glue off and it's nice and clean!

To make the lamp posts, I used Finger Paints in Ch-Art-Coal Black with a thin striping brush and after wiping off most of the polish. I used a dotting tool with Orly in Glitz at the top and then a little detail of black on top to finish the lamp posts. Once everything was dry, I did a coat of China Glaze in Fairy Dust to give it some sparkle and the impression of a light snow.