Retro Bowling Bag Inspired Nail Art Design

This is turning out to be my week of vintage and retro design.  As I mentioned in a previous post earlier  this week a wonderful Instagram @jay_jay_bee is having a giveaway to celebrate accomplishing 1k followers.  For each retro design we submit we earn an extra entry.  I love retro designs so this has really encouraged and inspired me to do some designs I've been wanting to try and also look for other vintage inspirations.

One of the things that comes to mind when I think of retro stuff is bowling.  I was actually going to try to do a bowling shirt design but while perusing the Internet for color inspiration I came across this picture of a bowling ball bag…

I couldn't help recreate  this design on my nails.

I started off with 2 coats of OPI 'You're so Vain‐illa'

I drew a wide stripe vertically down the middle of my nail using OPI 'Ice‐bergers & Fries' and a striping brush.

I then formed a curved triangular shape  on the bottom of the stripe at the tip of my nail.

I used OPI 'Can't Afjord Not To' and the same striping brush to create the curved lines on either side of the center line.  Following the curve of the center triangular shape.

After a little clean up and an application of a nice shiny top coat and there you have a funky fun retro design.  Normally, I would not have done a color combo like this but I think they are pretty close to those on the bowling bag.  I think this design would look really neat with a black,white, and red combination.  What do you think?

This is a great design for a night of bowling or if you like retro design.  You can change the colors to match a team shirt or whatever outfit your wearing.  Checkout @jay_jay_bee on Instagram, while your there be sure to like and follow her, and don't forget about me @polish_plebe.  You can also like and follow me by click the 'Join this Site' icon on the top right hand side of the screen, or through Google+, Facebook, Bloglovin, and/or Pinterest.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

Harlequin Print Nail Art Design

It is the middle of the week, and you know what that means...it's time for this weeks installment of 'What are you wearing Wednesday?'  For this #whatruwearingwed  I decided to create another retro/vintage inspired design.

This design was inspired by pinupgirlclothing.com and all their harlequin print clothing pieces.  It was not difficult to create but a little time consuming.

Materials
Base and top coat
Black and white polish
Your choice of colored polishes
Striping brush
Small brush

I started my design with two coats of OPI 'Alpine Snow' and topped it off with one coat of OPI 'I Juggle...Men'.  This topper is very pretty but unfortunately my lighting is not picking up the iridescent sparkles (I'm still working on improving my lighting).

I then used a black nail art striper to create a diamond-shaped grid pattern.  I did this freehand but I kind of wish I had used tape.  However, I did not have the patience to tape out this design.

I then used the same black nail polish and filled in some of the diamonds.  I filled them in by row.

I then used various colors to fill in most of the white spaces that remained.  I used all OPI polishes to fill in the white.

Pink - 'Chicago Champagne Toast'
Blue - 'Yodel Me on My Cell'
Purple - 'Kermit Me to Speak'
Burgundy - 'Thank Glogg it's Friday'
Green - 'Green on the Runway'

I performed a little clean up magic, added another coat of OPI 'I Juggle...Men' and a quick drying top coat and voila! A harlequin vintage inspired print.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks #whatruwearingwed and I hope you'll share what you're wearing.  You can either post it on my Facebook page. Or you can post it on Instagram with the previously mention hashtag and tag @polish_plebe in the comments so that I can find it easily.  Be sure to like and follow me while your there.  You can also keep track of me by clicking the 'Join this site' icon on the top right hand side of the screen or through Google+, Bloglovin, and/or Pinterest.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

Ikat Tips

This weeks Nail Polish Queens challenge was to create Ikat nail art designs. I have seen this nail art designs before but never knew what it was called. This is my first attempt at an Ikat design.

Materials
Base and top coat
2‐3 colors of polish
White and or black acrylic paint or polish
Brushes and/or toothpick

I started this design by applying a clean 2 coats of Nabi 'Teal II'.

I then used white acrylic paint and painted triangle‐ish shapes on the tips of my nails. These shapes do not need to be crisp clean or uniform.  Ikat design are generally misshapen and vary slightly from one piece to another.

I then used China Glaze's 'Passion for Petals' and drew triangles inside the white triangles. Leaving enough space that the white to show.

I then used a toothpick and black acrylic paint to create little hash marks along the edge of each triangle and to create a little black triangle in the middle of the pink triangle.   Some prefer to use a brush for this portion of the design but I didn't have a brush thin enough to create the desired look, that is why I used a toothpick.  Like always add your favorite top coat and there you have an Ikat design.

This is a great nail art design for beginners because it doesn't require perfection to look good, so please try it out.  I hope you enjoyed this nail art design. Thanks for stopping by, see you all next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,