A2Z Series: Midway with Manis

So we’ve just got past the halfway point and I thought it would be good to catch up with the bloggers taking part and put them all in once place. You might remember the “Meet the Bloggers” introduction post, this is my version of a follow up as I think it’s great to stay in touch with everyone through out the challenge and keep each other going. We’ve also had a few new people joining us so hopefully by the end of this post you’ll have seen a couple of them.  For anyone who doesn’t know A2Z is a 26 week series with a theme for each letter of the alphabet, we post once a week on Thursdays – you can find complete archives HERE and we have #A2ZNails on IG so you can check us out there as well.

For this post I asked the bloggers/instagrammers to send me a picture of their favourite mani so far and write a little piece to go with it. I’ll include links to blogs and posts so you can check out more!

Ramble over, let’s get right into it.

PocketMoneyPolishes: I really struggled to choose my favourite mani from this challenge so far, I have had a couple of manis that didn’t turn out quite how I wanted but every week I push myself to be as creative as I can will the challenges. I am always amazed with the manis that all of the other girls come up with and it’s fun to see how similar or different our interpretations are. I am really delighted with the effort that everyone makes every week and inspired by everyone who takes part. This mani I did for F for Fashion and was inspired by a mod picture I found, you can find out about it HERE. 

SammyGailsNails: I can’t believe we’re halfway through the A2Z Weekly Challenge. It’s been a lot of fun, and some weeks were definitely a challenge.  So far my favorite week was J is for Jewel.  I used my two Azature Diamond polishes and successfully stamped with them using MoYou London Princess 12 plate.  Stamping is always a challenge for me so I was really happy with how this manicure turned out.  I hope you all liked it too!
For more on this mani click HERE.

BionicHipsandFingerTips: The A2Z challenge was something I hesitantly took part in because I wasn’t keen on the idea of being restricted in what I panted on my nails. However it has ended up being completely the opposite and something that I’m thoroughly enjoying! Its really testing my imagination and always pushing me to come up with something a little different each week. We have now reached the half way point and looking back over all the designs I’ve painted it’s really difficult to choose a favourite! I love each and every one of my A2Z designs because I’ve put so much thought into them all, but I think my favourite has to be The Beatles design I did for ‘Multi-coloured’ week. I’ve wanted to do a design similar to this for a long time so I was delighted to finally have the opportunity! For more on this mani click HERE.

TheRiteofAging: This was the first manicure I made for the A2Z Series after Charlie kindly let me into the group! I had recently purchased these adorable kitten water decals from Pueen Cosmetics and knew right away they would work well for this prompt. This look was very easy as it was mostly applying water decals and a little stamp but it is one of my all time favorites! For more on this mani click HERE.

PrettyQuirky: Howdy friends. How to sum up the A2Z challenge so far? A challenge! In a good way. For me there have been some wins, some outright catastrophes and everything in between. To date though the mani that springs to mind for me is ‘G’ is for Gold. For a few of reasons. Firstly, it was a very simple mani to create and reminds me that sometimes less is more. Secondly, the gold was from a UK indie, my passion! Dark Metal Lacquer – I can’t rate this polish, Flashy Sparklies, enough (it’s so damn gorgeous in’it!). And finally it was the final A2Z post with my old pal Max. A very personal reason, that oversized spaniel used to lie snoring on my feet as I painted my nails and even though we now have a pup who is half springer, half piranha, it doesn’t stop me missing my old friend. So at this halfway point the manicure that strikes me most is the one that makes me smile on the inside. I hope it makes you smile too. MO x For more on this mani click HERE.

AlpsNailArt: Firstly, I would like to say thank you for adding me in this A 2 Z challenge group. Not only I enjoyed being part of challenge but also got to see so many inspiring nail arts. Secondly, I have not been able to post for all the themes so far but from the ones I posted, my favorite would be N for New. I did a Syrup gradient nail art which was new technique for me. I loved how it turned out in my first attempt. For more on this mani click HERE.

RainbowifyMe: My favourite mani so far is the “N is for new”-mani, where I tried a new technique: Dry water marbling. I have tried ordinary water marbling, but never really got it to work. Dry water marbling was a success for me. No mess, just prettiness on the fingertips. For more on this mani click HERE.

LadyMaidNails: I’m Mandy from Lady Maid Nails, and I’m a new member of the A2Z group. I’m a blogger, wife and mommy from Canada. I started my blog as my girlie outlet in a home full of boys. I’m a stamper and swatcher, but probably known for my detail work. Visit me anytime at www.ladymaidnails.blogspot.ca  For more on this mani click HERE.

BiteNoMore: This is my favourite mani from all the A2Z Nails so far, as I do love me a water marble and this rainbow one just looks so colourful. I think the way the stripes join together makes it look so dreamy. For more on this mani click HERE.

KnittyNails: So we are halfway through the challenge and Charlie asked us to pick a favourite! Another challenge! When I looked back over what I have done in the last 13 weeks it was not easy to pick a favourite.  Some of these challenges have been harder that others, some ideas have come to me very quickly and others have bothered me for weeks before settling on a plan. Certainly the prompts have made me think long and hard and I have probably pushed myself far more than I would otherwise have done with my manis. As I look back there are things I have tried that I never would have done and that has made me more adventurous in general with my manis. For that reason I love all the manis I have done because they have shown me what I can do if I try. It’s also been fun to see what everyone else has come up with and the wide interpretation of the brief. There have been lots of stunning manis and I’ve got to know some lovely ladies along the way. The one I have to choose as my favourite though is the H mani. H for Holographic where I did a gradient of 2 holos, added a diagonal sweep of a 3^rd holo and stamped a knitted pattern over the top to create the perfect knitty nail. For more on this mani click HERE.

SimplyIntoMyNails: Hi, I’m Tracey the author of Simply Into My Nails.  I blog about gel polish but I also have posts on regular polish and how I incorporate both to create nail art. I decided to enter the A2Z Challenge at the last minute after initially declining the invite as I thought I would not be able to stick to the weekly schedule while maintaining my gel polish schedule as typically, I wear my gel manicures for 10-14 days.  However, after seeing the first posts for ‘Angles’ week I threw caution to the wind that very day and signed up for the challenge, afterall I’m all about covering gel manis with regular polish…. I’m so happy I changed my mind.  I have had such a great time coming up with my interpretation of the prompt words each week, using either gel polish or regular polish to create something new and interesting for my manicure. Surprisingly to me, to date my favourite week has been ‘K’ for Kitchen Sink. I loved the challenge of using a different design/technique for each nail. This favourite manicure is closely followed by the Copycat, Elegant and Insipred manicures as I love how they turned out.I am really excited to see what we all create over the coming weeks.  It has been alot of fun so far and I am chuffed to be doing this with such a lovely group of talented ladies. For more on this mani click HERE.

Annabean83: “My favourite manicure so far was my K is for Kitchen sink manicure. In the build up to that week’s theme I was really not looking forward to it and almost chickened out, despite having quite a defined idea in mind. I had a change of heart at the last minute though and went for it, and I was so pleased with the result! In general I am really enjoying the A 2 Z series, even if I have been a bit daunted by some of the themes – it gives me some structure and something to look forward to each week, and it is helping to keep my blog alive! I also love to see what everybody else has created each week, it’s really interesting to see how differently we all interpret the themes. Bring on the rest of the challenge :D” For more on this mani click HERE.

Kerruticles: I took part in the previous AtoZ Nails challenge, which was fun. But I’m loving this series of A2ZNails even more. The prompts are loose enough to be able to pretty much do whatever I like. This “kitchen sink” manicure of mine is probably my favourite from the challenge so far. I like that there’s a bit of everything in there and the colours work well together too. I’m not great at polishing ahead of time, so I often end up doing the manicure on the actual day, then I frantically rush to post it on the Thursday before the day runs out. Nor am I good at planning ahead of time, so it’s not like I even have any ideas for the upcoming challenge prompts either. It makes it all the more spontaneous I guess! For more on this mani click HERE.

Varnished Valkyrie: Half way done already! This is a tough one. There was actually a three way tie as to which manicure was my favourite. It was between my Take That inspired mani, for obvious reasons. My King Tut inspired mani because I’m a sucker for history. But I ended up choosing this watercolour one. Mainly because it’s not something I do often and it turned out so pretty. I did it for copy cat week and tried to recreate a manicure by @_lastrega. Her work is FANTASTIC. She is probably my favourite nail artist out there. Go check out her work…and mine! For more on this mani click HERE.

 

@angelscaleb: This is my favorite mani so far that I have done in the A2ZNails challenge. It was fun yet challenging to recreate someone else’s mani. This mani is c for copycat. I love the rainbow and blue is my favorite color. I used all julep polishes for this manicure and look forward to “copying”some more awesome manicures in the future. For more A2ZNails manicures you can follow me in on instagram @angelscaleb or check out the hash tag A2ZNails

Spellbound Nails: Hello lovelies! I’m Ashley from Spellbound Nails. I lost my passion for blogging after starting my own indie brand (shameless plug to Spellbound Nails if you were wondering) and quickly realizing how utterly time consuming it is to start a business. Recently however I’ve been trying to find my passion again. Though I’m coming in late, this challenge seems to be the perfect opportunity to rediscover that original love … especially since L for Lines let me create a mani I’ve been dreaming of for months!!! I’ve already done my nails more often in the last few weeks than I have in months. I can’t believe I ever forgot how much I adore nail art, and I’m really looking forward to the rest of this challenge!

Beautometry: “We’re half way there! I’ve chosen this mani because it’s my absolute favorite so far. I’ve always wanted to do a beach sunset theme but never gotten around to it. The great thing about this challenge is it’s making me do all the things I’ve thought about but just haven’t done yet. I can’t wait to see what everyone else comes up with for the second half!” Find out more about this mani HERE.

Fingertiptastic: I am a complete novice – I caught the nail bug at the beginning of 2015 and inspired by a mani I saw on FB I purchased some supplies and started experimenting!!! I have gone from having 6 (very old) polishes in my stash to 150 in 4 weeks (don’t tell my husband!!!) – I just can’t seem to pass a polish shop without purchasing!!! I’ve joined a few face book groups, followed loads of people on Instagram and have just set up a blog (I’ve only written 2 blogs so far and haven’t got a clue whether anyone is reading it!!!) I was fortunate to be included in the A-Z challenge and although my first post was L is for Lines, I had done the K is for Kitchen sink mani (but was too late to post) so that is the pic that I have included – it took me nearly 24 hours to get just one finger with a semi decent watermarble!!!. The group members have been really supportive and helpful and I would love any feedback on my blog if anyone gets a spare moment to read it www.fingertiptastic.blogspot.com I would love to increase my Instagram followers @fingertiptastic (and hopefully get a few more likes!!!)

Starfish Nails: I absolutely love participating in the A to Z challenges. Mainly because it makes me try and think of ways to interpret the prompt in ways that no-one else has & if theres one thing I love, thats thinking up new designs to put on my nails
I picked my “Dark” themed mani from week 4 as I love space, and galaxies, and my black hole design is most definitely up there in my favourites! Can’t wait to see what my brain comes up with in the next few weeks ! Find more HERE.