31 Day Challenge 2018 – MY 31DC2018 OUTLINE & AIMS

So. I’m doing it again. The 31 Day Challenge for 2018 [explore entries on Instagram #31DC2018 ] – and here’s MY 31DC2018 OUTLINE – Buff & Polish Aims for this season’s epic nail challenge. READ ON!

These are the prompt images for this years 31 Day Challenge – created by the lovely Cathy from More Nail Polish. I couldn’t decide which one to use, and it changes depending on my mood, so I will probably use them all and have posted them all below for you to see. You are free to use these images for your own website, social media, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram posts.

You can find these images and other info also on the ‘official’ outline post over at Cathy’s blog – click here to be taken.

WHAT IS IT & WHO CAN JOIN?

This yearly challenge many of you will have already heard of, but it became an annual trend to do it in September when Sarah from Chalkboard Nails began doing it in 2011 and took off from there. Cathy took up the mantle of providing the yearly InLinkz, images and info after Sarah got licensed and didn’t continue on.

Anyone can join in. You don’t even have to have a blog or social media account if you’d like to just challenge yourself, but part of the fun of this whole thing is to share and get and give feedback, to connect with others who might understand the pain of doing such a challenge of a mani a day for 31 day.

Pain? Yes, well not gonna lie, it can be punishing and have you questioning your sanity at times, but the sense of achievement you feel at the end is worth the effort if you can make it. You don’t have to do complex things every day, so it needn’t be stressful either.😁

MY AIMS

I like to use the challenge to try out different techniques, ideas I’ve had, and also to try and use some of my ‘untrieds’ – as yet unused items and supplies. I’m sure the collectors out there will understand exactly what I am talking about. I set a few aims for this year’s challenge:

• Actually DO some nail art! 😂 (Been a very hard few months where that’s all been on the back-burner)
• Incorporate more 3D nail art
• Push the creative bounds a little – IF I have the time
• Try a few styles & techniques that I’ve wanted to do for a while
• Do more of the things I love too – style-wise
• Post the challenge manis in September, but follow up with 31DC2018 video tutorials in the following months
• I’ll be keeping up with my commitments & swatches throughout this time as well, so you will be seeing A LOT of posts. Or if you’re one who somehow magically posts 20 times a day on Instagram, you’ll have some friendly competition haha 😆😁

I am still short on time so will do what I can with the above, but at least this year I should be able to finish. Providing I’m not forced into more urgent life matters or stuck in hospital – there always seems to be something in September that throws me under a bus!? Also, figuratively…😓

WHERE TO SEE THE MANIS

You will be able to view all of my nail art both here on the website and on this account on Instagram.

You will also find my nail art linked in the group on posts below the text on all my posts and via many other blogs who have chosen to partake in the InLinkz kindly set up by Cathy. It’s a great way to get more exposure and see what others are doing. You can add yours (see next part).

You can explore entries on Instagram #31DC2018 so make sure you tag everything with the #31DC2018 hashtag so it comes up in results and everyone else can see it! ✌

HOW DO I ADD MY MANI TO THE INLINKZ?

You can add your mani from your blog and even YOUR INSTAGRAM POSTS. If you wish to add your links and the InLinkz to your own blog, you can do so using the codes provided at this page courtesy of More Nail Polish.

If you have a different social media account or Instagram,  or just want to add your link without having a widget, I suggest you bookmark my website (or anyone else’s who has this InLinkz, they will appear in the grid below) and visit each day. If you scroll down to the InLinkz grid there will be an option to add your image and you must add your link to the specific prompt day. So add your Day 1 – Red nail art to a Day 1 – Red prompt post. They each have different codes.

See the picture below that shows what it looks like in my post pages and how to find it:

How to add your links/images to and Access the InLinkz via my blog posts (or participating blogs)

WILL THERE BE FINISHER BADGES THIS YEAR? WHERE ARE LAST YEARS?

EDIT: THEY ARE HERE for 2018 & 2017!!

Yes! You don’t get prizes for this, only a sense of accomplishment. But that’s still good. Sarah used to create badges to display on blogs or social media for those who finished. Once she didn’t continue past 2016, they were absent last year. But they will be making an appearance again this year.

I spoke to Cathy about this earlier and I’ll be knocking up some 31DC finisher badges for 2018 – and will also do some retroactively for 2017 (when they were missing) just to complete the set for those that have done this for several years. Stay tuned to our pages for more info on that throughout September if you are interested.

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Also don’t forget to pop over and read the FAQ and 2018 Info Post on Cathy’s blog. She won’t be participating in September this year due to being on an epic vacation Stateside, but will be doing it on return in November. So this year they links are open til the end of the year (they aren’t usually because we do it in September). Feel free to leave praise and thanks in the comments while there 😁

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And that wraps up my 31DC2018 OUTLINE. See some of the other participants in the InLinkz below each of the posts, or check out the official hashtag on Instagram. You can also follow me on Instagram here – Come and comment, lemme know if you’re doing it, or just to say hi so I can see what you’re doing too 🙂

Oh, and GOOD LUCK! I’m running behind a day (yeah, off to a great start) but will be getting on track with that ASAP. Just lots of groundwork and stuff to do first and it all takes time on top of other commitments 😉