Thursday, September 20, 2012

31DC2012: Day 20, Water Marble

Water marbles are hard. The first time I ever attempted one was for the water marble day of last year's challenge, and I wanted to successfully complete one so badly that I felt like crying when I just couldn't. I've had more success since then, but this technique is still quite challenging for me. Let's take a look at what I did for this marble and then later in the post I will try to give you guys some helpful links and tips.


Dayna said that this marble looks like Starburst, and I kind of agree! They must be the sour pack or something cause I think that's the only kind with blue in it. Anyway, I like these colors together a lot.

I marbled over a white base. The colors I used are China Glaze Tree Hugger, China Glaze Sexy In the City, and China Glaze Strawberry Fields. These colors ended up looking pretty different in my marble than they do when worn alone, because they spread so thin on the water that it changed the way the colors looked.


I liked that the bands of color in this marble turned out thick. Honestly, at this point, I'm glad to get a workable marble at all. Getting each nail to look the same takes me a very long time and lots of do-overs. The pinky and middle fingers are my favorite this time.


Okay, so water marbling tips. First of all, if you are new to marbling, go watch a few of Colette's videos over at My Simple Little Pleasures. She is really fantastic at marbling and watching her can be so instructive.

Second, here are some things that have helped me:
  1. Not all polish works for marbling, but I have found that China Glaze works most consistently for me. You will probably have to try a lot of combinations before you can get a set of colors that all work and that you like together.
  2. Use room temperature filtered water. I use Brita filtered water.
  3. When drawing your patterns in the polish, don't drag from the outermost ring. Try starting a ring or two in if you are having trouble.

Check out last year's marble here, and challenge prompts here. And then go check out Jodi at Captivating Claws' marbles. She rocks!
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33 comments

  1. That's freakishly beautiful!

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  2. Oh wow! That is so pretty. I love the colour combo.

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  3. Probably one of the best water marblings I've seen!

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  4. Thanks for the tips! I love the colours you chose =)

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  5. Love the colours you chose. I like the bigger water marble patterns. Awesome

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  6. I have a super hard time with water marbles too! The tip about not pulling from the outer ring seems like it'll help a lot!! Also, these look great :]

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  7. If you don't want to drag your polish, start from the innermost ring and drag outwards. That'll give you te cleanest lines when you drag the polish

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  8. Freaking amazing, you did an awesome job.

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  9. Way too pretty. I love your color combo.

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  10. I really like the thicker lines this water marble created and the colors are fab! Great job!

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  11. Oh man, best looking water marble I have seen in a long time. The middle nail is amazing- never seen bands that thick. I also like the ring ringer quite a lot. Good job!

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  12. Looks great & thanks for the tips! I tried it once but it wasn't a big success ;).

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  13. I just wish water marble worked for me. I've tried EVERYTHING. I bought a special water filter. Tried in cold, hot, and room temp water. Used the same polishes as Colette, and it just will not work for me. This looks amazing though

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  14. These colors look great and I love the thickness of the rings!

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  15. This marble turned out great and I love the colors you chose!

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  16. This looks amazing! The colour combo is gorgeous. :)

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  17. That is probably the best water marble I've seen! I love how clean everything is, the colours-- and especially how your middle finger turned out! Crazy awesome!

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  18. Color combo is gorgeous! And I like thicker bands too (:

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  19. I always love marbles because they don't match on the nails, so this looks great!

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  20. Sarah, You're too sweet. Thanks. You did a wonderful job!! :)

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  21. It looks great! I really like the color combination.

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  22. Wow this is so pretty! Those colors go so well together. I especially love your middle fingers the rings are so cool!

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  23. Beautiful job! I wish My water marbles would turn out that amazing!

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  24. wow. this. is. AMAZING! seriously.

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  25. The colour combination is superb and I was attracted to this by the thickness of the lines - I like it, too.

    Water marbling is a challenge for me.
    When I first did it, my mother's and boyfriend's comments were "It looked like WW3 out there".

    My second attempt was less successful than the first :| .

    The technique is frustrating for me at this point in time, but it yields such good results when done right I won't give up on it yet.

    Using unfiltered water is a mistake I'm well aware of, but it felt silly to invest in distilled H2O when I use so much of it just to get one nail right (and tap water comes warm straight from the, well, tap).

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  26. Congratulations on your successful water marble, it looks amazing. It only gets easier from here.

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  27. Gorgeous!!! What do you use for clean up around your cuticles? The lines are Sooo clean

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    1. I use a makeup brush dipped in remover. There are some helpful links on my FAQ page.

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  28. Makes me think of Dr. Seuss!

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