Candy Cane Stripes

First, my apologies for the lack of post last week. Crazy happenings all over the place, and I never got a chance to post. This week starts the Christmas season though, and four weeks of holiday manicures, which I'm actually looking forward to this year (as opposed to being "not ready" just yet). I decided to kick the month off with some reverse candy cane stripes. I couldn't quite make up my mind on the tips, so you'll see where I changed my mind mid-polish further down.

I used the China Glaze "Ruby Pumps" and "Tinsel" to start, along with my white Migi Nail Art Pen, and some silver bouillon beads.

I started with a base of 2 coats Ruby Pumps (over Zoya basecoat).
Then I attempted to "sugar" the tips with Tinsel. I didn't get the polish thin enough, unfortunately, so ended up with more silver color than I'd hoped.
Then I drew on some diagonal white stripes on the main part of my nails with the nail art pen - obviously, I'm not a perfectionist, but I think they turned out okay.
I couldn't decide whether to define the tips with a line or not, so I tried black on my thumb. Too harsh, I decided.
Silver beads didn't tone it down enough, so I decided to skip the line altogether on my other nails.
I laid them in top coat on my other nails. Tip - do one half of the nail at a time, that way the top coat won't dry before you get all the way across the nail. I defined the tips with silver beads, then took stock. Decided I didn't really like the silver tips with all the other stuff going on - just too much.
So back to red for the tips. Much better, I think. Right about here I was wishing I had some white faux fur to use in place of the silver beads - don't you think that would be cute as a sort of "cuff" for the tips?
A few coats of top coat, some clean up, and voila - shiny, glittery candy nails.
My right hand, blurry, but looking pretty good.
Next week, another holiday themed mani - what are you wearing on your nails this week?