My Peculiar Pumpkins

The theme this month for The Nail Challenge Collaborative is Halloween and with all the other challenges, I have put it off till the end, so it will be Halloween in abundance over the next several days.

I had been mulling this design over in my mind for awhile.  Usually that means that I end up a bit disappointed, but not this time.

Artificial Light

With Flash

This started with three coats of Sinful Shine Patent Pleasure.  I used three coats to get the depth for this technique, but it was completely opaque in two.  I found this delightful orange in a Hot for Shine tabletop display at my local Walgreens last week.  It was pretty picked over and I didn't find this color in their main Sinful Shine display, so I don't know if is a Limited Edition or not.  Whether it is or isn't LE made no difference to me, as soon as I saw it I had to have it!  It is the perfect shade of orange filled with a duochrome shimmer that shifts gold/green that my camera refused to capture.  So much to love in this cheap little bottle.  I will admit I am not a huge Sinful Colors fan, but they have been coming out with some unique and pretty colors recently, some of which will be swatched here soon.

 
Next I topped this with Seche Vite and waited for it to almost completely dry.  I then used an orange stick to press the lines into the polish.  This technique took a little experimenting.  You don't want to drag the orange stick through the polish because it will "rip" the dry top coat and will not be as pleasing.  I found pressing the flat end into the polish worked best.  Also, you really do want to wait until it is almost completely dry, otherwise the lines just fill back up when the pressure is released.  It took me a few times going over the lines in the same nail until they held and then I knew I could do the rest without messing with them too much.

Finally I added some leaves to the tops of my pumpkins with Sinful Shine Man Hunt, another new lovely from the shine line.  Who doesn't love a military green with a silver shimmer?  This flash pic isn't very aesthetically pleasing, but it shows off that glorious shimmer.

 I really loved how these turned out!  It reminds me of those candy pumpkins you find alongside the candy corn during this season and I have to admit, they looked good enough to eat!

So, dear Reader, my question for you is this:  Have you seen this technique before?  I haven't!  Have I reached one of my nail art goals and created something that no one has seen before?  Please let me know in the comments!

Thanks for looking!