Today is a Bria Day!

Before I start this post, I want to acknowledge the events of the day.  My prayers go out to those in Boston and to my country.  Although my heart is heavy, the manis must go on.

Today is Monday, which means another Monkey See Monkey Do challenge run by The Crumpet Nail Tarts.

Today's mani is another one on Bria's nails.  It was inspired by Missy from Gnarly Gnails.  You can find the post HERE.  I have always like the look of a quilted mani, but hated the work it took.  I have a love/hate relationship with striping tape and all those lines...my perfectionism made getting it "right" a total pain!  Missy used a business card to to make the lines in almost dry polish.  Genius, right!?!?  Here is what I did.

 
I started with two, totally dry coats of Zoya PixieDust NYX.  This seems like a simple color, but in actuality, it is very complex.  Sometimes it looks grey, others it looks pale blue.  The color differences don't seem to be effected by lighting, but more what surrounds it.  Don't quite know how to describe it, but just Google it and see what I mean.  And of course, this is Pixie Dust, so it has an awesome texture.

After the first two coats were dry, I added a third coat and let it dry a bit, then used a business card to make the lines.  I found that if I didn't rotate the card a bit and use a different portion on each nail, the polish would build up a tiny bit on the card and make the lines a little thicker.  It took me a couple of tries to get it to a place that I liked it.  I think it would have been better if I had waited a bit, or added a quick dry topcoat so it would be a bit tackier.  Maybe it was the finish on this polish, but my card kept slipping. 

Finally I added some rhinestones.  I really wish I had some of those microbeads that Missy used.  Just another thing to add to my list of wants.  Finally I added my thinnest topcoat, OPI, to secure the rhinestones while still trying to preserve the texture of the polish.  As always, the inspiree did much better than the inspired, but I will definitely try this again.

Once again, thanks for looking!  And don't forget to check out the other inspired manis.
Tina