31 Day Challenge 2014: In Review

The crazy and relentless 31 days are over! Now it's time to sit back and admire all the awesome work that's been done. My goal for this past month was not only to complete each day, but to really push myself by trying new techniques and develop new skills. I'm really satisfied with the results, and feel like I achieved that goal. After a month long binge of nail art, I am looking forward to what I am officially dubbing this month- Swatchtober. It's time to show off some beautiful polishes in their pure and unadulterated form. I also want to spend time going back to check out other bloggers' work for the Challenge that I haven't had time for yet. I'm sure I missed some good ones.

Here is all 31 days in once place in case you missed any. Or if you caught them all and just want to come back for more. 

31DC2014 Day 31: Honor Nails You Love- Very Emily's Floral Houndstooth Nails

Hallelujah! I did it! I'm done! *Cue Chariots of Fire* I have come to the end of my second 31 Day Challenge both totally exhausted and energized. 

For the last Challenge prompt, Honor Nails You Love, I chose this Floral Houndstooth mani by my darling friend Emily of Very Emily. I totally gushed over Emily's nails when I saw her post, and I immediately knew that I would have to try and recreate them. I am so in love! I think this one ends the Challenge with a bang, don't you?

31DC2014 Day 30: Inspired by Lucy's Stash's One Stroke Abstract Petals

The penultimate day of the 31 Day Challenge! I'm telling you, I am completely exhausted. I think I've been staring at the screen for about 20 minutes now without writing a thing, because my brain just wants to sleep. So I'll be succinct.
For today's Inspired by a Tutorial prompt I tried to follow this tutorial by Lucy's Stash. She is absolutely amazing with her one-stroke method manis. I have never tried the one-stroke method before and still felt a little lost after watching the video. Watching it a second time would have helped a ton, but by the time I got started with my mani the computer was occupied. So I kind of just went for it and created some random flower-like shapes.

31DC2014 Day 29: Swirling Vortex of Boomstick

Inspired by the Supernatural has got to be the toughest prompt of the Challenge for me. I just don't feel that inspired by it. Good thing I ended up with something awesome anyway! While brainstorming ideas, the image of an eerie, ominous, vortex came to mind. You know, the kind that you see in movies that sucks you inside and spits you out through some different portal in another time and place. Well it reminded me especially of the vortexes in the game Fistful of Boomstick, a video game based on the Evil Dead movies (more on this in a sec). Then it all came together that this swirling vortex of doom would have the perfect title of Swirling Vortex of Boomstick.

31DC2014 Day 28: Inspired by Tibetan Prayer Flags

Hello lovelies! Today's Challenge prompt, inspired by a flag, may seem a little random to some. It's actually one that I look forward to because I am a little bit of a flag aficionado, if such a thing exists. For today's inspiration I went with prayer flags. There is a beauty in their colors, delicateness, fluidity and purpose. I tried to capture some of that beauty in this mani.

31DC2014 Day 27: I Want To Live Until I Die, Inspired By Explodingdog

I had initially hoped that this year's Inspired by Artwork mani wouldn't take me as long or be as stressful as last year's Banksy nails. But once again I really wanted to try my hardest to do this artwork justice. Today's mani was inspired by a piece titled "I Want To Live Until I Die" by Sam Brown, the artist behind Explodingdog.com. I knew I wanted to do an image from Explodingdog, but had the hardest time choosing which one! Finally I decided on this one because it is so joyful and just felt right.

31DC2014 Day 26: Kamon Inspired Pattern

For today's Inspired by a Pattern prompt I chose this image representational of Japanese kamon, emblems or crests that identify a family. This particular kamon is repeating in a beautiful tiled design. During my trip to Japan a few years ago I noticed similar images at every temple and castle we visited. Most of them consist of a floral or botanic motif. I loved discovering the different variations of each kamon from place to place.

31DC2014 Day 25: Emilio Pucci Inspired Nails

Hello my pretty polished peeps! For today's Inspired by Fashion prompt I was inspired by this Emilio Pucci dress here. It was my original plan, but when I woke up today I wanted to do a take on a t-shirt and jeans. That's my "style" most days. So, hey, why not honor it? In the end I knew I still wanted to be a little more adventurous, and I'm happy that I did.

31DC2014 Day 24: The Hangry Games

I really, really struggled with today's Inspired by a Book prompt. I came up with a half a dozen ideas that I just wasn't happy about. I even started two different manis before scrapping them. What I ended up with is completely my husband's invention. I asked him for ideas for the Book prompt and without much effort he suggested "The Hunger Games". I was in the middle of rolling my eyes and explaining "Yeah, that's been done before", when he followed up by adding that it would food based. Hunger Games....food that makes you hungry. Hahaha. It's just too funny not to do. 

31DC2014 Day 23: Drive Scorpion Jacket Nails

I based today's Inspired by a Movie mani on the movie Drive. It is one of my favorite movies for a million reasons which I could go on and on about. I will be succinct and give you my top reason- Ryan Gosling. There. Nothing more needs to be said. Okay, I will mention that the rest of the cast is stellar too.

The image I tried to replicate was of the scorpion jacket that Gosling's character wears throughout the movie. This jacket is to die for! Someday I will get my hands on a replica. Until then, well, I'll just have to keep crying into my pillow.

image credit: mcmbuzz.com

31DC2014 Day 22: Sound and Vision

Once again David Bowie was my muse for today's Challenge prompt, Inspired by a Song. What can I say? I'm obsessed. Last year's was inspired by Bowie's Let's Dance, a mani that I was so proud of! Today's is inspired by another classic, Sound and Vision from his album Low, which has a couple other of my favorite songs on there.

Don't you wonder sometimes, about sound and vision

31DC2014 Day 21: A Color That Can't Be Tamed

I didn't go super, over-the-top creative with today's prompt. To figure out what to do I searched through my nail polish collection, paying attention to the names, and came up with a handful of ideas. Then I picked the easiest one. The color that I was inspired by is Sephora by OPI A Color That Can't Be Tamed. Hence the "wild" leopard print. And who doesn't love a good leopard print?

31DC2014 Day 20: Green Distressed Water Marble

Once again for this year I chose to do a green water marble. Actually, sometimes the nail polish chooses YOU. Haha, kidding, I chose it. This year I added a little twist by doing my distressed water marble technique, which I made a tutorial for here. I love this technique because it's so unpredictable. Every mani turns out truly unique. 

31DC2014 Day 19: Guardians of the Galaxy Nails

Hey dudettes! My galaxy nails last year were geeky and I knew that I had to stay on that theme this year too. So today's mani features the Nova Corps insignia from Guardians of the Galaxy. I enjoyed almost every moment of the movie. I was probably extremely annoying in the theater, singing along to the songs and guffawing at every joke. I can't wait to watch it again! The image I based this on was from an insignia patch being sold on the interwebs here. Okay, who else really wants to buy this badge now? 

31DC2014 Day 18: Peekaboo Negative Space Half Moons

Hey everyone! Today I have my first ever negative space mani. Actually I'm not totally positive, but I can't remember doing one before! I've stayed away from them for a few reasons: a) My ridges are more visible without nail polish, b) I don't need to show how yellow my nails are! (they get bad at the tips), and c) I hate the feel of my nails with just topcoat on, it gives me the willies. So with all that said, and despite all my hesitations, I am really digging this look!

31DC2014 Day 17: Mermaid Scales Glitter Placement

Hello lovelies! Today's post is more picture heavy than usual. I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking, because they have so much to say! 

31DC2014 Day 16: Geometric Perfect Symmetry

Happy Halfway of the Challenge ladies! Only 15 more days to go! I just swept my floor, possibly for the first time in two weeks. I haven't showered yet today (yes that's where that smell is coming from). Probably 100 other things have been neglected (love you kids!), but I think it's been worth it so far..

I have another album cover art mani for you today. This time my inspiration was an album from probably my all-time favorite band, Keane. As I sat down to do my nails, the cover of Perfect Symmetry popped into my head. I realized that this had been on some mental mani to-do list a long time ago, and this was the perfect opportunity to finally try it.

31DC2014 Day 15: Delicate Gold Lattice

I'm still a day behind on the challenge but I'm hoping to catch up soon! I knew this baby pink polish would be hard for me to photograph, but the pink and gold look soo purdy together. 

31DC2014 Day 14: Patriotic-esque Floral Print

I had a few floral designs ideas for today. I decided against all of them yesterday once I saw a lady in church wearing this pattern. I almost asked her if I could take a photo of her dress for reference. But I don't know her and didn't want her to think I was a weirdo. Because people who do know me already know I'm a weirdo.

31DC2014 Day 13: Fancy Hide Cow Print

Having fun with the family = 0 time to do my nails! I also feel like a cold might be coming on any day now, and I need to sleep as much as I can manage to. So I am playing catch up with my Challenge posts!

On my "to try" list I've been wanting to experiment with cow print. I thought today was as good an opportunity as ever. I love how unexpected the gold flakie is over the cow print. I must lament how flakies never photograph as well as they look in person. So you'll have to just imagine that they looked even better than this!