It's time for another Flashback Friday!! These nails are from March of 2011 and despite the fact that they are obviously awesome (since they are Pokeballs!), they are a tragedy!!  In 2011 I really wasn't blogging for people, it was more of a way for myself to keep track of my designs and I normally snapped pics directly after I had finished the artwork. Hence the messy cleanup. On top of I wasn't very steady with my hands and I didn't have any legitimate art tools so I was using all the wrong things to make designs. I REALLY love Pokemon so I wanted to do something for the release of Black and White and balls seemed the easiest. I remember at the time I didn't have many colors so a lot of these were mixed to create the different shades. These took an hour from start to finish. AN HOUR. I recall that the net ball (second pic, middle finger) was my favorite at the end and I was WAY too proud of that little "M" on my Masterball.  So...naturally they recently released Pokemon X and Y and I thought, what better time than to recreate these nails?  So here we go:

Biggest difference here (other than the cleanup and neatness!) is the shape of my nails!  I recently rounded them off and it never lasts but I really want to try to keep them rounded for a bit so I'm trying to do things that really work on round nails that might not as well on square ones. This is a great example. Pokeballs just look better round!  I realized after the fact that I also did these on opposite hands this time. Originally I tried to keep the easy ones for my dominant  hand so I wouldn't have to worry about fiddling as much with the difficulty of the design. But this round it didn't even cross my mind. I used my new Born Pretty brush set and also my dotters for these. Also used a Models Own striper for the black lines so that made it a lot easier to do. Additionally, I didn't have to mix any colors because my stash has increased times a thousand!

Here's another pic with the thumb included! For reference, from thumb to pinky we have the Masterball, Ultra Ball, Great Ball, Dusk Ball, and standard Pokeball. I really love how these turned out! And don't think I forgot about the other hand because I surely didn't!

My Luxury ball is still a little "meh" but my pinky nail here is my favorite of the bunch! Also realized this go round that my Dive ball should have had TWO shades of blue and not one so I made sure it was corrected this time. I was also able to use all cremes this time so that everything looked much more uniform. I think it made the Luxury ball look a little more luxe since it has the metallic finish throughout. It also made the little closes on the balls a little more noticeable.

From thumb to pinky we have the Repeat Ball, Dive Ball, Net Ball, Luxury Ball and Net Ball. Which is your favorite? Do you think they look better now or before?

I used primary colors this time since they're more pop art than neons. I still had a decal but it looks kind of spongy now! I don't mind it though cause it reminds me of how my brush art sometimes looks when I don't want to be heavy handed.  I freehanded my dots this go round as well although they're not as uniform as I'd like so I almost wish I'd stuck to stamping! All in all though, I prefer the new look! Which is your favorite?

And don't forget to check out my fellow dozeners art below!!

It's time for another Flashback Friday!! It's been awhile since I did my last one and it took me a little bit to decide what to recreate! I think this one is a good one because it's a combination of French manicure, moon manicure, and freehand vs. stamp.  It's from March of 2011 so almost two years ago. See when I first started doing nail art I wasn't part of any nail groups online.  I hadn't done much research and I wasn't really that great at doing much more than some dots.  So I invested in some stamps and for my first BIG challenge I did THESE nails....warning: they are a HOT. MESS.

I started this blog, as I'm sure most of you know, because I was sharing my nail art all over my Facebook page and texting it to my friends and family and I wanted a place where I could just put it up once and everyone could see it.  It was also intended to be sort of a personal journal of my art. So naturally, clean-up, photography and other blogger no-no's weren't really a concern of mine.  I polished. I took a quick pic. I uploaded it with a color list. I was done.  Originally, I used a stamp to do the leopard print and now, I'm able to freehand it.  I really prefer the freehand version too because the print is a bit bigger and it makes the design less busy.  Originally I used a tip guide to do the pink tips.  For the second version I free handed them.  I've always been fairly decent at free handing tips so I don't know if that's really an improvement BUT for the original I stamped and then had to figure a way to color OVER the stamp so I did white and then pink and ended up with super thick tips.  For the new version I used a cotton swab in acetone to remove the gold from the tips and then filled it back in with the hot pink.  For the original version I used a guide for the moon and for the new version I free handed it.  For the original I stamped a white bow and then tried to fill it over with a pink. For the new version I used a white/color single stamp technique to do it all at once.    I think of all the mani's I've done this one probably shows the MOST progression. I love it both ways though!  It was based on some Betsey Johnson earrings I got from my husband. :)  I used two of the same colors for the new one: Orly Luxe and Prince Charming.  For the black I used Zoya Raven for the new one and since I don't have the pink anymore either I used butter London Primrose Hill Picnic for the new version.  Which version do you prefer?  How much do you think you've improved since you started?

So I'm starting this new thing called Flashback Friday.  It's not going to happen EVERY Friday but here and there I'll be recreating nail art from my early days!  There are a lot of mani's that I really wanted to come out differently than they ended up and I just didn't have the skill level to take them there.  So I'm going to start re-doing them and hoping that now I have the skillset to do them properly!  It's also a bit of a chance for you, as my readers, as well as myself to see how not only my art skills have improved, but also my photography skills.  So this is the first of my flashbacks.  The original art work: Sew DC, was done in March of 2011 so it's been nearly a year and a half since they were first done.  They were based on a pair of DC shoes that I have which I still have and still absolutely love!  Here's the original picture:

The main problem with the original is the photography skills.  My nails didn't take up nearly enough of the frame, it was taken in bad artificial lighting and it's way too dark.  There's also a severe lack of cleanup and unfortunately, I couldn't get away with zero clean-up at that time!  Originally I used five coats of Essie Like Linen and then waited an inordinate amount of time before stamping the flowers on using Essie Sew Psyched, Orly Prince Charming, and Revlon Fuschia Fever.  This time I used three coats of the Essie Like Linen, since I realize now that the base doesn't need to be completely opaque when you're using stamps to cover the entire surface.  Then I used a coat of Seche Vite and about 20 minutes later I was able to start stamping.  I was a bit less random with the stamping this go round and since I no longer have Revlon Fuschia Fever, I subbed Max Factor Disco Pink.  Both are hot pink creme's but it turns out that the Max Factor is a bit less sheer when stamped.  Overall I think I like the new version better.  I used less stamps to let the base show through more and I like the pop of pink.  These are still some of my most favorite nails I've done!!  Which version do you prefer?