Add some humor to your manicure with this 'technical difficulties' design

Before digital media was the norm, television programming was occasionally interrupted for a variety of reasons. If a news anchor was having trouble reading the teleprompter, or if the video feed suddenly malfunctioned, a colorful test pattern and the words “technical difficulties” would be displayed on the screen. Flash forward to all kinds of live interruptions and errors, and that same symbol has become a comical reminder that even the best-laid plans often go awry.

If you often feel like your life is filled with these kinds of impromptu problems, consider trying this manicure. Start with a white base coat, and draw light blue horizontal and vertical lines. Once your grid is complete, fill in the squares and rectangles with bright colors for a one-of-a-kind manicure that's anything but difficult.

Materials
- White gel polish (Born Pretty, Day)
- UV or LED lamp (Lumcrissy, not shown)
- Waterproof Post-it notepad, to use as a palette
- Light and dark blue, orange, yellow, pink, red, purple and black gel polishes
- Medium liner brush
- Short border brush
- Paper towels (not shown)
- No-wipe top coat (Cheri)

Instructions
1. Apply two coats of white gel polish to your nails, and cure it between coats with the UV or LED lamp.

2. Apply small amounts of each colored polish to the waterproof Post-it notepad as a palette. This will save you time when switching colors.

3. Use the medium liner brush and light blue polish to map out lines on your nail. Start by drawing a few horizontal lines near the tip.

4. Paint vertical lines on each side of the horizontal lines. Cure the wet polish with the lamp.

5. Use the short border brush to fill in the first rectangle on the left lower side of the nail with orange polish. Tip: Wipe your brush clean on a paper towel between color changes.

6. Fill in the second small square above the orange one with yellow polish.

7. Leave the long rectangle next to the orange one blank, but paint the next rectangle pink.

8. Paint the rectangle next to the yellow square dark blue. Cure the wet paint with the lamp.

9. Fill in the large square above the yellow and blue areas with red polish.

10. Apply purple polish between the orange and pink rectangles.

11. Paint the left side of the nail light blue, including the square next to the upper red one. Cure the gel with the lamp.

12. Use white gel polish to fill in the remaining rectangle on the lower right side of the nail. Paint the tip area above the white and light blue polish white as well.

13. Fill in the white square above the orange one and the remaining area next to the red square with black polish. Cure the polish with the lamp.

14. Protect your manicure by applying a layer of no-wipe top coat. Cure the gel one final time.

Stay pretty!