April is in full swing, the weather is getting warmer, plant and animals are coming alive, and manicures are getting lighter and brighter. Well, for those of use that stick with seasonal colors anyways. But what designs and patterns should we paint? If you need some inspiration or a little challenge, join with me in these two Instagram nail art challenges.
First up is the #nailthattechnique challenge. I have participated in this challenge for the last couple of months and I love it. Each week's theme is a different nail art technique, the design and colors are entirely up to you. I really like this challenge because it helps me explore new techniques as well as work on others that I could use some practice. For April, the glitter tint challenge will be something I have never done so that should be interesting. The double stamping challenge will allow me to practice my stamping technique which we all know I am not very good at.
The other challenge that I'll be participating in this month is completely new, and I am very excited about it. It is a #freehandchallenge, each week is a different theme and the only rule that applies is that the design has to be free hand drawn or painted. This means no stamping, stickers, vinyls, or decals. So, dust of your brushes and dotting tools because this is all done by hand. I actually already completed and posted the first week's Flower challenge, it was the Garden Easter Egg Hunt I created. I'm quit proud of it, and I've already got most of my other themes for this challenge planned out. I just have to find the time to get them done, that allusive little thing always seems to be the problem, doesn't it?
What is a Nail Art Challenge?
For my fellow plebes out there who have never heard of or participated in a challenge, here is the low down. A nail art challenge is created by a person or groups of persons, to inspire creativity and challenge a nail artists skills. Rules are usually very simple and easy to follow and are typically not very restrictive. For instance, with the challenges above the restriction lies in the technique or theme but otherwise you are free to do what you want. I have seen some challenges that are color specific or polish type, such as holo, specific but leave other details open for the creator to decide on.
The deadlines provided are also not set in stone, but are there as a guideline. I find the deadlines very helpful in planning out my manicures and blog posts. You also don't have to complete every weekly theme, or you can do multiple designs for one theme. I personally try to complete one design for each week's theme. When I am restricted by time I might combine two challenges into one nail art design to keep on schedule (or as close to on schedule as I can get).
The big question I've been asked, is what do you get in return for completing one of these challenges? The answer is the simple, joy and the satisfaction of completing (mostly) beautiful nail art designs. There are no awards or prizes for completing one of these challenges, at least not in any challenge I've found. These challenges are simply for personal self-fulfillment, to challenge your skills, and inspire your creativity.
These challenges really help keep me going and help me when I get a mental block on what to create next. In addition, to the monthly challenges I often do (but not always) the Nail Polish Queen's weekly challenges. The NPQ is a group of like minded individuals that share nail art and nail related things in a Google+ community.
I hope you will join me in these fun and interesting challenges. Stay tuned to see what I come up with. Thanks for stopping by see you next time.
Your Fellow Plebe,
