Tuesday 22 November 2011

Challenge Week 8: Taping! (and a taping tutorial)

I've only made a few attempts at taping before (documented here and here) so I was quite excited about this weeks 52 week nail challenge theme as it gave me another excuse to test out some fun taping patterns: I saw someone who used craft scissors to tape a zig-zag pattern, and as I have several (hundred?) pairs of craft scissors in various shapes I thought I'd give it a try.

Also, ColourByMakeup requested that I do a taping tutorial, so I thought this was the perfect chance (sorry it's taken so long!) and while I'm certainly no expert I will take you through the taping method I use, and share the tips and tricks I've picked up along the way, I hope you find it helpful  :)

Start with a base coat (I've gone for a blue theme, so I'm starting with one coat of Models Own Beth's Blue) Make sure it is absolutely completely totally dry before attempting to tape- or the tape will smudge it or rip it all off! You may want to give it a fast-dry topcoat to speed it along.


Models Own Beth's Blue

Next you need your taping 'equipment': tape, scissors and some junk mail (basically any shiny paper) The paper will be explained a little further down, but isn't at all necessary for regular straight lines with normal scissors.




Rip/cut off a small amount of tape, and de-sticky it on the back of your hand: stick it on then peel it off a few times- until the tape will still stick to your skin, but wont pull at your skin when you peel it off.




Now you can skip this step if you want straight edges (If you want straight lines you just need to snip off a section of tape, de-sticky it and use the straight edge to tape.) but I found that my craft scissors didn't cut the tape very well- they just aren't sharp enough and the tape sticks to the wider bits of the blades, so I stuck it to my shiny paper (shiny is better, as the tape sticks less).



Then used the craft scissors to cut both the paper and tape.




And peeled the tape off the paper, leaving a cleanly-cut strip of tape with a nice wibbley line, ready for taping!




Now you need to place the tape over your nail. I always have issues getting the angles even (which is why all of my taping so far has been at all different angles...) so if anyone has any tips please leave me a comment and share your knowledge!

Make sure that the tape is flat against your nail, especially at the edges (where it often sticks to the cuticles and doesn't stick all the way down the nail) so you might need to press it in at the edges using another fingernail. Once the tape is firmly on and in place, you can paint the nail that isn't covered in tape. Be sure to paint right up to the edge of the tape- if you've stuck it down properly the polish wont seep under, and you'll be left with a nice clean edge.




Next is the part I find most tricky: you need to remove the tape quite quickly (if you allow the polish to dry it will stick to the tape and it'll peel off with the tape) but carefully (so you don't disturb the wet polish.)

I tend to peel slowly and gently from one side to the other, keeping the end of the tape in my hand down and close to the nail (which gives it more control). I wish I could take a picture of this, but I don't have enough hands- I hope you understand what I mean!




If necessary, clean up any rough edges or patches etc. (in my haste to take pictures and remove the tape, I dented the wet polish, but filled it in with a new blob of polish- you can barely tell, right?) with polish, and carry on taping the other 9 nails.




I used Primarks Glo Baby Glo in Cornflower (perhaps I do too much baking, I just misspelled cornflower as cornflour...) as my main taping colour (shown above) and- not being quite content with just one colour- I used Models Own Pro in Midnight to tape the very tips, adding a bit of sparkle :)







I think my middle and ring fingers are my favourite, I like the two layers of evenly spaced taping on my ring finger, but I also like the cross-over pattern on my middle and index fingers :)

I really love taping, although it's a rather simple concept you can create so many different patterns and shapes with it. I'm currently thinking up a wintery themed taping design, involving a snowflake shaped hole punch in my craft box... watch this space!

If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask, I hope you found my hints and tips to be useful- let me know if you post your own taping manicures! :)


                                                                                                 xGretalRabbitx

10 comments:

  1. Thank you :) I'm really glad you understand it (sometimes I wonder if I ever make sense to other people!)
    xGretalRabbitx

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  2. This is really cute, I love the nail polishes <3

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  3. Thank you :) I'm glad you like it! (you should try it yourself!)
    xGretalRabbitx

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  4. This is a really great tut, your nails look really cute xx

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  5. Thank you Charlee, and I'm glad you found it helpful :)
    xGretalRabbitx

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  6. This looks so awesome! I love those three colors together too :)

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  7. Thank you :) It took me age to decide on these three, I have quite a few blues! :)
    xGretalRabbitx

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  8. This is so pretty!!! :D Also, I nominated you for the "Nail Art Friendly Blog" award. :D

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  9. Aww thank you Ashesela, thats so sweet of you! :)
    xGretalRabbitx

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