Watercolor Stamping Experiment With Jelly Polish

I’ve got some pretty pastel nails to share today. Believe it or not, these were created by stamping!

THE DIGIT-AL DOZEN – MARCH THEME: STAMPING WEEK

So often we stampers are focused on finding and using the most opaque of stamping polishes. So much so, that I thought it might be fun to give the opposite a try. I wanted to get the answer to the question: Is it possible to stamp with jelly polish? 

The verdict is yes.

That’s a really good answer as far as I’m concerned. Another reason to get out those colorful bottles of squishy magic! Color me a very happy Kimett!!

Design Details

Before starting this experiment, I knew that it would be key to find jelly polishes that layer well together. To save time in testing various polishes from different brands that I own, I grabbed the Silk Watercolor collection by Essie (2015). The company made these polishes with layering as their primary objective – so I was sure that if this would work, these jellies were up to the task.

To begin, I applied three coats of White Page, plus topcoat, as my foundation.

Then, one by one, I stamped with each jelly polish – eight in total – to create this watercolor painting look. I used Fab Ur Nails stamping plate, FUN 21. The splatter image was perfect for this technique. (Far right column, third one down.) It has blobs and jagged painterly lines which gave nice interest to the final result.

It’s important to mention, the stamp image is just as important as the jelly polish to be used. Prior to stamping on my nails, I tested four other abstract splatter type images as well as a dry brush image. Yes, I tested all eight colors, for five rounds. It was another moment of stamping zen.

It turns out, the splatter pattern I used here, as well as the dry brush motif, were the best I tried. As a general rule, I found that it’s important the stamp has an equal distribution of design and empty space. If there was too much space, the nail art didn’t look complete. If there was too little space, the results were muddy. Also, make sure to rotate the stamper a bit more each time you place the image on your nail to keep things as random as possible.

Pictures – Or it didn’t happen

Watching the jelly polishes build to the final stage was fascinating to me. So, I took pictures for you to see too. I wanted to film a video, but the polishes are so sheer when they’re on the stamper that they were impossible to see. And, before you ask…Yes, that made stamping a little challenging. However, I got used to flying blind and just rolled with it.

Okay, here we go – captions are below each image:

The final topcoat really softens the look, doesn’t it?

Design Discussion

It occurred to me to see if the order in which I stamped each color made a difference to the overall design, and I found it did not matter. Each of my five nails was stamped in different color order.

Below, a photo of my work surface when I was finished. I thought the watercolor rainbow it made on the paper towel was worthy of capturing.

It would have been really pretty to add another stamp image on top – maybe a floral pattern or some simple open triangles. But, since this post is all about the experiment, I left well enough alone. Next time, though.

I’m looking forward to trying this out with other jelly polishes and see what fun patterns can be made. What do you think of this abstract nail art?

If you’re thinking that all these stamping layers make this a difficult design – it really isn’t. Because you don’t have to worry if the image picked up completely or whether it is lined up when stamping on the nail, it’s actually quite fast. Honest! It’s actually fun to stamp without worrying about the perfection of it all. I hope you’ll try it. Let me know if you do!

Thanks so much for stopping by – see you again with the next set of colorful nails.

Till Next Time,