The Queen Series is a weekly feature happening on Wednesdays. Each week one of us from The Digit-al Dozen will introduce you to our blog, tell you about how we got started, and talk a little about how we ended up being the Queen of something. We all have unique talents when it comes to nail art, and our Queen titles reflect that. Check out past posts in this series.
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Name: Lindsey, Queen of Floral
Blog: WondrouslyPolished.com
Twitter: @wondrous_polish
Facebook: facebook.com/wondrouslypolished
Instagram: @wondrouslypolished
Pinterest: pinterest.com/ohwondrous
Bloglovin': wondrously-polished
Hello, all! I'm Lindsey and I write and create over at Wondrously Polished. If you can get through this big rambling mess that is my introduction, you deserve to go buy yourself a new bottle of polish!
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| The Boyfriend, Fonzi and I |
So! A little about me. I have a pretty fantastic support system comprised of my boyfriend of 8+ years, my parents and sister, and my amazing friends. My dog Fonzi is pretty cool as well :) By day, I work as a Civil Engineer - we design roads, utilities and the infrastructure of communities - and while it's interesting most days, the deadlines, clients and calculations that come with the job can get quite stressful. I started blogging a year and a half ago as a means to escape the stresses I was feeling during the day. Nail art really is a great creative outlet and has become a way for me to relax and express myself in a fun and unique way.
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| My very first floral mani - Poppies |
I've been dubbed the Queen of Floral by my fellow Digital Dozen members as my favorite type of manis are florals! Lately, it seems I can't go a week without doing a floral mani and I'm okay with that. So, here is a progression of my floral nail looks while I also explain a bit more about myself :)
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| Water Lilies |
I first settled on the name Wondrously Polished for a few reasons, namely that it was different and not yet taken ;) At face value, the name means exactly what it seems - wondrously polished nail art!
The second reason is a bit more personal in that it represents things that are inherent to me as a person. I'm a fairly analytical and logical person, but I also love art and value being creative and passionate. It can be very difficult to combine these two parts of myself, so my blog name represents the combining of this. Wondrously is the artistic, creative side of me, and Polished is the analytical perfectionist side. My whole blog is about me learning to combine these sides of myself. I know, who'd have thought a nail art blog could be so deep ;)
The second reason is a bit more personal in that it represents things that are inherent to me as a person. I'm a fairly analytical and logical person, but I also love art and value being creative and passionate. It can be very difficult to combine these two parts of myself, so my blog name represents the combining of this. Wondrously is the artistic, creative side of me, and Polished is the analytical perfectionist side. My whole blog is about me learning to combine these sides of myself. I know, who'd have thought a nail art blog could be so deep ;)
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| Retro Floral |
I like to think that I have a pretty unique style of nail art, and perhaps that's why people choose to stick around and read my blog. I like to paint a lot of prints and patterns that have a retro and vintage feel to them. I'm definitely most active on my Instagram account as I'm able to post not only nail photos, but also little snippets of my daily life. The nail community on Instagram is so wonderfully supportive and it's just a great place to share. It's also incredibly easy to catch up on my favorite bloggers in place.
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| Hodge Podge Floral |
While I love Instagram, blogging is still where my heart lies - I can ramble so much more in my blog posts! :D Realistically, I probably spend about 20-30 hours a week working on blog related things. Whether I'm brainstorming, painting my nails, editing photos, or writing a post, it is a very time consuming hobby and a single post usually takes around 3-5 hours. That may sound crazy to some people, but I love it! My most popular nail art post is this galaxy nail look done for the 31 Day Challenge and it took me several hours to complete. I'm still so proud of it!
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| Spring Floral |
I should probably have better system in place for planning blog posts, but I typically fly by the seat of my pants and very rarely have a scheduled blog post (I'm sure the thought of that gives some of my fellow DD ladies heart palpitations!). I'm a procrastinator and can't find my creativity unless there's a little bit of pressure from a deadline ;)
I did buy a planner at the beginning of the year and put hard deadlines (like this post!) in there so I know when I'm getting close to a post being due. For the most part though, I typically post when I'm feeling creative and inspired.
I did buy a planner at the beginning of the year and put hard deadlines (like this post!) in there so I know when I'm getting close to a post being due. For the most part though, I typically post when I'm feeling creative and inspired.
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| Mother's Day Carnations |
While I love my free hand nail art, I do wish I was better at stamping. I can't do it. I seriously fail every single time and it ends up being a huge waste of polish for me. It's so frustrating! I see all these fantastic stamp manis and I'm so jealous of them! Teach me your ways!!
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| Funky Floral |
I'm honestly not sure what my earliest polish memory was. There was always polish in my house growing up as my mom would often give herself manicures and I would join in on occasion. During high school I played sports and bit my nails so I didn't paint them that often, but when I started college I would buy a new red or pink polish every month or so. I was slowly starting my polish hoarding problem and didn't even know it!
When I stumbled upon an online nail art forum, I was amazed by what could be done and I also realized just how many polish colors there were. I bought my first green polish and my passion was ignited! Soon after, I started my blog and the rest is history! Now-a-days, I'm really not sure how large my collection is (I try not to think about how much money I've spent on nail polish haha), but it's probably close to 700 bottles. If, heaven forbid, I ever had to narrow my absurd collection down to just 5 bottles, it'd have to be OPI's My Vampire is Buff, Zoya's Arizona, Zoya's Natty, OPI's My Boyfriend Scales Walls, and China Glaze's Re-Fresh Mint.
When I stumbled upon an online nail art forum, I was amazed by what could be done and I also realized just how many polish colors there were. I bought my first green polish and my passion was ignited! Soon after, I started my blog and the rest is history! Now-a-days, I'm really not sure how large my collection is (I try not to think about how much money I've spent on nail polish haha), but it's probably close to 700 bottles. If, heaven forbid, I ever had to narrow my absurd collection down to just 5 bottles, it'd have to be OPI's My Vampire is Buff, Zoya's Arizona, Zoya's Natty, OPI's My Boyfriend Scales Walls, and China Glaze's Re-Fresh Mint.
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| Planner inspired floral |
If you've ever read my blog, you might have noticed that I love cremes. A LOT. It's a little bit absurd how much. They are just so lovely and you can do so much nail art with them and they're just so classy and perfect! While I own more China Glaze than anything else, I absolutely love Zoya as a brand. I love their unique bottles, their variety of shades and they almost always have a fantastic formula.
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| Daisy Daze |
My top polish tip would have to be to push yourself out of your comfort zone! If you really want to improve your nail art, don't be afraid to fail. Try new challenges that force you to paint something you never would on your own. That's how I found my love of floral prints!
Additionally, I'd say use a top coat over your base polish when doing nail art. If you mess up up in anyway, you can use a brush dipped in acetone to remove/fix the error (to an extent, obviously). This has saved me many times and I really recommend it! If you're really serious about nail art, I'd consider using acrylic paint for your nail art instead of nail polish. It's super cheap in comparison and much easier to manipulate.
Additionally, I'd say use a top coat over your base polish when doing nail art. If you mess up up in anyway, you can use a brush dipped in acetone to remove/fix the error (to an extent, obviously). This has saved me many times and I really recommend it! If you're really serious about nail art, I'd consider using acrylic paint for your nail art instead of nail polish. It's super cheap in comparison and much easier to manipulate.
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| Monochrome Floral |
Honestly, I'd say my biggest blogging achievement so far was being asked to join the Digital Dozen. I remember watching them post for their first year and just being in awe of their creativity and talent and I can distinctly remember thinking that I would feel like I had "made it" if I ever got to be apart of a group like that. I was in complete awe of the group when I joined and wanted to put my best art forward when I first joined, so I'd have to say that my first month with the Digital Dozen (black and white week) was my favorite. I'm so proud of each mani I did that week!
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| Funky Orange and Grey Floral |
One of the most rewarding experiences to come from blogging is seeing how I've inspired others in their art. I never in a million years thought that I'd be able to create something people would want to look at, let alone recreate and it is the best feeling in the world knowing that I've somehow inspired others to be creative. I'm constantly inspired by my fellow DD members as well as all the other nail artists in this community (big and small bloggers alike!). I'm always drooling over anything done by Paola over at just1nail or the stunning swatches from Kelli at The Nail Polish Challenge. I'd happily switch nails with them any day ;)
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| Vintage floral |
Oddly enough, my work station helps me get creative. I have 3 Helmers that sit under a desktop I purchased from IKEA and it allows me to have a clean and fairly clutter free station that lets my creative juices to flow! My desk is in my living room so I'm able to interact with my boyfriend or watch tv and not feel like I'm isolated when I'm painting my nails. I'm usually inspired by patterns and prints that I'll see online, in catalogues or in stores, but it can be tough to continually create original things. I try my best to constantly push myself out of my comfort zone and paint things that I think I can't. It has helped me tremendously and has really helped me grow as an artist.
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| Yes, another floral! |
If you made it all the way to the end, go treat yourself to that new bottle of polish ;) Thanks so much for reading and if you ever have any floral mani related questions (or questions in general), don't hesitate to get in contact through your favorite social media site.
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| Most recent floral mani - Textured Sunflower |
Thanks and Happy Polishing!
