birdfriend

polished nails

I'll admit it, I am kind of obsessed with my nails. I can't stand to see them chipped or dull. But of all forms of OCD, I think this is the best! I've worn bright and crazy colors for years--my grandmother was once concerend about my health after seeing blue nails. But starting this summer I've craved something more and have been experimenting with patterns ever since!

Here is a sampling of what I've been up to, including the sources of my inspiration! Click on photos to follow links.

A cute variation of the French manicure with a sea green background.

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Gold polish, with glittery gold tips, inspired by the post below. I think my version was a bit too gold-fabulous, but I really like the idea overall!!

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Rainbow marbled nails! As you can see, my version failed miserably compared to what it was supposed to look like. I really don't know what I did wrong... the nail polish turned into a gross, solid mess instead of swirling on my fingers! If anyone has any suggestions, I would be very happy to learn.

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One of my new favorite styles: the half-moon manicure. I did mine free-hand, but here's a good tutorial that uses notebook paper reinforcers!

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And here we have a little bit of a childish but cheerful sky with sun and clouds. It's silly but when I got this light blue nail polish, I couldn't resist!!

dyeing and bunting

So, this semester I'm taking Textiles I at IU, which is definitely my favorite class ever. The technique we're learning right now are shibori (traditional Japanese tie-dye) using fiber-reactive dyes on cotton fabric. We had to make 8 samples using different shibori techniques and dyeing them different colors. Then we cut each in half to make 16 squares, half of which we dyed again. This created a really colorful, layered look. Of course I just had to take pictures of them to share! After a long epic journey to acquire clothespins, I decorated this tree in the courtyard of Collins at IU:

Here are a couple of detail shots:

And here is some colorful bunting that I knitted not long ago. I'm going to decorate my dorm with it. I should be posting a tutorial on it soon-- so simple!!

birdfriend