When nail tech Terri Mandelko read our plea a few months back to help out Eneida Rodriguez with some suggestions for nail art designs that work on short nails, she felt a special connection to the Puerto Rican nail tech. “My husband had just returned from a three-month construction job in Puerto Rico and he said the people he met there were extremely polite and helpful,” says Mandelko, a tech at Shear Perfection in Missoula, Mont. The women, he noted, always had their nails, hair, and make up done before going out in public.

Being the helpful type herself, Mandelko painted some of her favorite short-nail designs on tips and sent them to us to forward to Rodriguez. She even included a few of the Micron pens she used to do much of the detail work.

Mandelko was not the only reader to heed the call for assistance. Check out the designs below to find some very good ideas from some very generous techs.