Natalie Kurz, a booth renter at Sleek Images in Berkley, Mich., who specializes in gem-studded art-work, believes wearing her nail art is her best advertisement. “My nails are one-inch long and I wear my own nail art. It’s the best marketing tool I have. I like to keep my customers guessing what I’ll wear next. And I always wear a nail charm,” she says. Kurz, who services clients from age 5 to age 80, says she makes her nails sparkle by adding plenty of gems. “I’ve had nearly 100 gems at one time on my nails. It usually takes me to four hours to do my own nails.” Kurz polishes her nails and then use all colors of stones. She also doe freehand work with water-based acrylic paint. “My favorite type of art to do is abstract art with lots of feathers,” says Kurz.

For the nails pictured here, Kurz polished her nails and allowed them to dry. Then she applied stripping tape in a diagonal direction, crisscrossing the tape on the ring fingers. Next Kurz applied stones with an orange wood stick and top coat and created the marble look with a metal dotting tool. When the artwork was dry, she applied a generous coat of top coat and added a nail charm.