Tree Seasons-Advanced

This is one of the hardest designs I have done yet. There is some crazy intricate work going on here and because of this, there are extra photos in this DIY to show you the many layers of the artwork. Also, after doing this one, I realized I had covered too much of the nail with leaves for my liking, so feel free to do less if you'd like! So, If you're up for the challenge, please continue reading! Here's what you'll need:

*brown polish
*cream or pink manicure polish
*dark green polish
*light green polish
*red polish
*orange polish
 *white polish
* optional: gold glitter polish
*top coat polish
*base coat polish
*note card
*stylus
*patience and a firm hand


Phew! that list is a little long.

Okay, so first we start by putting down the base coat and letting it dry.

Next, apply a thin layer of your cream/pink manicure polish. Let dry.

Now is the challenging part.

Using your brown polish, dab some onto your notecard. Get some, but not a lot, on the end of the stylus. Lightly and carefully draw a straight line, starting from your cuticle bed to about 2/3 of the way up your nail. I drew my line more along the side of my nail rather than dead center. Note: you may have to re dip the stylus a couple times to get enough polish onto the nail.

Add branches using the same technique. Remember to "branch out" and not just draw straight lines coming out of the middle trunk. *See thumb* Let dry. (It will take a longer than normal) Wipe off your stylus when done; you dont want to mix colors!

 

Here comes the fun part!

Dab dark green polish onto your note card. Use your stylus to apply small dots (leaves) around the small branches of the trees. Do this on as many nails as you'd prefer.

The same process goes for the red polish, on a different tree(s). Let dry.

Now, using your lighter green polish, dab it onto the note card and apply a second layer of dots onto the tree with the stylus. Don't put as many as you did the first time.

The same process goes for the orange, which should go on top of the red 'leaves'.

If you want to do an intermediate phase, such as fall leaves changing, put the greens and red together. Be cautious and limit the amounts of each when doing this, otherwise your tree will just look like blob with a trunk.

For the winter tree, use white polish and your stylus to carefully outline the 'ground' and certain branches. vwa-la! snow!

LET DRY.

 Next you will need to get that orange polish out and put some on a note card also. Use your stylus's bigger end to make a larger dot near the base of your nail, for the pumpkin(s). 

To add the little pumpkin leaf, use the stylus's small end with green polish and lightly draw a small line.

Adding the glitter is done the same way as pretty much everything else on here! dab/note card/ stylus/ dots 

:]

Wait til you can wait no longer for it to dry. Because there are so many layers, this design can take quite a while to dry if you didnt wait in between steps!!

When all is done, add your top coat and dont touch anything for a while. The top coat can remoisturize the polish and make it easy to smudge your design, and you really wouldnt want that after all this hard work!

So, after waiting an eternity, you can now give yourself a pat on the back.

whoo!