Happy Saturday, all! So Sorry I've been delayed in my Digital Dozen posting. I've had family visiting since Thursday and I haven't been able to get away to do a mani until today. I'm hoping to have my day 5 post done soon as well so I'll be able to finish the challenge.
My younger sister is visiting and we're pretty exciting when we're together. We've been watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy since yesterday while doing counted cross-stitch. Yes. We're probably the coolest cats around. Try to control your jealousy ;) In all seriousness, it's been pretty fun. We're catching up and just letting our minds relax and it's just been very enjoyable. But hours of actual cross-stitching wasn't enough for, so I figured I'd try it out on my nails and create this retro floral cross-stitch mani.
For those who may not know, cross-stitch is a variation of embroidery, where you use thread in stitched into x's to create a design. You stitch into fabric that is made up of tons of tiny squares that create a grid and help create uniform stitches. Because you're limited to squares, you end up with something that looks a bit pixelated from close up.
Cross-stitching has been around for a very long time and fluctuates in popularity so I think it definitely fits with the vintage theme. I think I've also chosen a retro flower pattern that helps make it seem even more vintage. Maybe?
Usually I enjoy doing small detailed work like this, but this took FOREVER. After the first 2 nails I wanted to stop. I started on my middle finger and was still trying to figure out the best way to create the flower shape using only squares so it's the guinea pig of this mani...and hence a little bit wonky compared to the rest of the nails. It was really difficult to paint these without the help of a grid to keep my lines and x's even and straight so I think you can see me sort of figuring it out as I go on each nail.
I started out with a base coat of OPI's My Boyfriend Scales walls and then used Zoya's Louis (brown) to paint the stem with a line of x's. I used Zoya's Hunter and China Glaze's Def Defying to create the leaves and Zoya's Blu and OPI's Keeping Suzi at Bay for the petals. The center is a single x of American Apparel's Manila. To help give the flowers more definition, I used black acrylic paint to outline the shapes and really make them look like raster image flowers.
So what do you think of these? Have any of you cross-stitched before? I feel like a old lady when I do it, but it's quite enjoyable.
Happy Polishing :)