Hi all! 
Before I start with today’s Cameo idea I have to confess something – I’m a hopeless case when it comes to nail polish… I can barely manage to apply a plain coat of color without messing it up, lol. Still – I love to see beautifully painted nails and that’s where my Cameo comes to the rescue!
Did you know you could use it to help you paint your nails? You can cut embellishments out of vinyl to stick on your painted nails (even add a rhinestone or two) or cut those little helper strips if you’re going for the French nail look (instead of buying them for a lot of money in a drugstore…)
Today I’ll show you a quick and simple (I know, I love quick and simple, lol) way to dress up your nails for Independence day!
Here’s what you need: Red and blue nail polish, clear top coat and white vinyl for the Cameo. That’s it.
First you need a 5 pointed star – I used the one from my Stars cutting files. If you don’t have these – here’s a link to download the 5 pointed star from this collection (click image to download).
Open the .dxf file in your Silhouette Studio software and resize it to 0.15 inches, you might want to make it larger or smaller depending on the size of your (or your daughter’s ;D) nails. Make sure you check the box “Lock Aspect Ratio” in your scale window when resizing, so your star won’t get distorted.
Now copy the star as often as you need it.
Next pick the rectangle tool and draw a rectangle. I prefer to do a simple one and then change the size in the scale window rather than trying to get the measurements right while drawing it out.
Uncheck the “Lock Aspect Ratio” and specify the dimensions – width would be the width of your media (9 in for my vinyl) and height is the size you want your stripes to be. Mine were 0.1 in, again, you might want to change that to your liking. Smaller stripes will look nicer, but are harder to apply.
When you’re done, load the vinyl in the Cameo and cut. Set the vinyl aside and paint your nails. You could also do one hand with blue and stars and the other with stripes or alternate the fingers as I did.
Wait until the polish is dry. I know. That’s the hardest part, lol.
Then stick your homemade nail art stickers onto your fingers. If you waited long enough and the polish is dry and hard, you will be able to peel the stickers off and readjust them. It is much easier to apply the stripes if you have someone to help you do that. Cut a piece off the long stripe approximately the width you need it, align it on one side of the nail and cut it off on the other side with very small scissors. Once you’re all done, apply a coat of clear nail polish as top coat to protect your nail art.
Before I leave you, here’s another confession: We were out of blue nail polish, so all my nails were painted red – I had to cheat with Photoshop to show you what it will look like, lol. Now I just wish I could do that in real life, too ;D!
Have fun thinking of all the awesome things you could do with this technique and the different colors of vinyl – from hearts and flowers to elaborate flourishes to letters, the possibilities are endless.
Have a great week!
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