Wednesday 7 August 2013

Hot Summer Sky Gradient with 'PVA Cleanup'

Greetings All!

This is the last in the little series of gradients I did. I might have to do some more! I don't like to do the same thing over and over again, in case I get bored (erm, apart from stamping lol. I do THAT all the time!) but I do love a good gradient.

Again, this was another one loosely based on the evening sky - it's a bit vivid, maybe a tropical sky? I'm not really sure. It's another one I'm quite proud of though!







For the gradient I used Sally Hansen Yellow Kitty, and Barry M Gellys in Mango, Grapefruit and Plum. I keep using Plum, but it isn't actually all that great to gradient with - it's a little too pigmented, and it tends to get everywhere! I should stick to stamping with it really. The Barry Ms are pretty good generally though - the thin brush makes it easier to get four colours on the sponge. I had to cover up the plummy staining with something, so I chose Maybelline Chalk Dust. I thought black and white might look pretty striking over such bright colours. I think I'm right!

I also thought I'd show you a quick pic of my cleanup. Recently I've been using PVA glue round my nails so I don't have to spend hours getting rid of all the polish on my skin. I'm a bit of a mucky pup so there's a lot of cleanup! I forgot to take a pic of the the 'putting the glue on' bit, but basically I use a paintbrush to paint a thickish layer all around my cuticles, being careful not to get it on my nails (else you remove part of the gradient!). I let that dry fully, then gradient as normal. Here's what it looks like post-sponging.


See? I'm very messy! Especially trying to fit four colours on my nails. Look at all that purple skin! That would take ages to cleanup, and Plum can be quite stainy.

This is after removing the glue (I use tweezers, an orange stick, or just my fingers!)


It isn't perfect - I do still have to cleanup a bit around the cuticles, and I didn't paint the glue quite far enough up my fingers, but it's removed the vast majority of polish from my skin and saved me loads of time! I love this little trick! It would also work for other messy techniques - splatter nails, for example. I don't think it would work for watermarbling, as it's a water based glue, although it's a possibility as you wouldn't have your fingers in the water for long, and the glue would get covered by polish. I'm not brave enough to try though!

10 comments:

  1. Such a pretty gradient, love the colours!

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    1. Thank you!

      I'm pretty happy with the colours, especially the orange for some weird reason!

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  2. I love this so much! I still haven't used the glue for a gradient but I am going to! I usually do my gradients with acrylic paint. I am a bit lazy so I can just wash my hands but I want to try a holographic gradient so I will have to use polish. Thank you so much for giving me this tip!

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    1. Lol acrylic paint does sound a lot easier! I'm lazy too which is why I hate spending ages cleaning up!

      I must try a holographic gradient too!

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  3. This time a year ago I used to use PVA but in the end pure acetone seemed quicker (I ended up damaging my freshly done nails whenI couldn't resist picking!) But it does work realllllllly well for water marblig. You have to remember to paint the top of your finger, behind the nail. Sorry for dropping a blog link, it is for post so you can see how it works

    http://emslittlecorner.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/pva-watermarble.html

    Being waterbased means the PVA more or less wipes off with kitchen roll, it is a dream. I am still crap at water marbling though!

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  4. Yay! Part of me thought it would work! But will I be brave enough to try it? lol

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  5. I love that gradient - it looks really fab! The glue trick looks really nifty, I must try that as I always make a terrible mess all over my fingers when I do a gradient, lol!

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    1. Thank you!

      As you can see, I'm VERY messy lol. I always seem to pick stainy colours too (blues, reds, purples)so the cleanup takes forever. But not any more!

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  6. My favorite gradient combo! I must try it out :D x

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