Challenge (Summer Sponging)

Good morning! Did everyone have a nice (holiday) weekend?!? Mine was pretty eventful... went boating on the Mississippi River with my family, hung out by the campfire, watched some pretty amazing small-town fireworks (they were shot directly above us! We had to stare straight up to see them. It was like standing under a fireworks umbrella!!), and I still have today to do whatever I want because it is considered a holiday! No work :)

This week's challenge is a combination of ideas that I received when I asked for suggestions of what everyone would be interested in seeing for a theme. MANY people suggested a summer related theme. You can see the ideas HERE ... and Nikki thought a "sponge" technique would be fun. I agree! So here is this week's challenge:
You can create any "summery" nail design that you can thing of, you just HAVE TO USE THE SPONGE TECHNIQUE. That's it! Hope you enjoy this challenge!

Send me your "Summer Sponging" nail designs by Friday (7-09-10) at midnight (CST) to polishhoarder@gmail.com! Don't forget to add a link to your blog if you would like me to include it with your entry!

Please use this file size: 7" WIDE x 5.25" TALL @ 72 dpi (so everyone's images are the same dimensions... I want them all to be equal!) If you do not know how to crop and resize your image, let me know and I will gladly do it for you! It is better that I get a photo too large so I can minimize it to the size I need, rather than a photo too small. Photos that are smaller than the size I request will lose a lot of detail and become fuzzy when I enlarge them!

One last thing... I'm trying to create a better way to stay organized so this week I want to try something new. I would like you to name your file like this: "nameofblog_yourfirstname.jpg" If you don't have a blog, your name will be just fine... It gets a little confusing trying to organize my challenge gallery because I receive the emails in your names, but then the files are usually labelled "phdchallenge", AND I have to include your blog urls which are also different. I'm by no means whining :) Just trying to find a way to be more efficient!!

Last week I renamed ALL of the files after I checked their sizes in Photoshop. Look in the image below to see how much easier the files are to navigate:
I just used the blog names but I think it will also help me to include your real name from your email accounts so I can easily find your email in my inbox to retrieve your blog urls!

Okay, I'm done! :) Let's get to painting!!

15 comments:

  1. Great ideas all around!! Never done sponging before...this could be fun (though the idea usually looks better in my head than on my fingers). Fingers crossed!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hahaha! I have had a manicure idea in my had for the past two weeks, and now you're having a challenge which involves my idea, too =DDDD
    I'll try to finally bring it to life today, for the sake of your challenge! =D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Megan- LOL That happens to me too! Don't feel bad :) I've only done sponging once... intimidating at first but once you get the hang of how much polish is on the sponge, it's pretty easy from there :)

    Trincess- Yay! Can't wait to see it! I'm glad this challenge is of interest to you!! I'm sure your design is going to look amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. If you really get stuck, look for some tutorials on youtube. I do have a sponging on my youtube. But, there are several different ways to do it. It will at least give you a heads up! Of course, I already did my nails yesterday so will have to wait until Wednesday to try this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love sponging! I've already got 2 ideas, maybe I'll do 2 entries this week =)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think I'm actually going to enter this one!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love your challenges! I just ...ahem... found them today. (don't get me wrong - I've been a blog slacker lately and your blog is one of my favorites.)

    Maybe, I can think of something. I used to be a mean sponger...on other mediums. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  8. i love sponge technique... i have something on my mind and would love to share... i was run of time last week for ur challenge thats why I havent contribute in urt challenge i'll try to make a sponge mani today or tomorrow!! yay!! this will be lots of fun!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Does the whole design need to be sponged or can the base/background be sponged and the art be painted?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nikki- Thanks for the "sponging" suggestion! It's okay that you just did your nails because you have through Friday to send me your photos!

    Colette- Great! That'd be awesome! Your nail art is amazing so everyone would enjoy seeing a couple entries from you :)

    Jennifer- Go for it! Everyone's entries are published! These challenges are all just for fun:)

    NailsIt- Aww thanks! Glad you like my blog!! :) I sure hope you will think of something. I'm not the greatest sponge-r... I guess I just need a little practice!

    Thriszha- It's okay! I understand. I feel short of time a lot too! If you can find time to make a design, that'd be great! I'd love to see what you come up with :)

    Megan- No, you just have to include sponging somewhere :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hey you will never guess what I found!!! A Salon that swlls Zoya 4 minutes away from me!!! It was like winning the jackpot except better!! So excited

    ReplyDelete
  12. Danielle- Haha! Funny! You are so lucky. The closest store that I know of is 3 hours away :( I stop there whenever I travel to see my sister!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sadly I don't know if I'll actually buy anything quite yet I already own 225 bottles of nail polish. YIKES!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm sending my entry in today! :) This is the first time I'll be showing my nail art to anyone other than close friends and facebook buddies, so I'm really excited!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I used my step daughter as a model cause I wasn't ready to part with my current mani lol. I used sponging on every one but it's hard to tell on some of them once you put a coat of seche on top.....oh well ;)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! I would love to respond to each of your comments, but sometimes I just do not have enough time. Seriously though, thank you! :)

[P.S. Please do not spam your links. If you would like me to check something out, send me an email! Thanks for your cooperation!]