Black and Red Challenge

I hope they don't revoke my membership over there at FB Adventures in Stamping!   This week's challenge was Red and Black....a little white won't hurt,will it?  This is what I came up with.

Started with a base of two coats of Duri Taming of the Shrew.  This has SV.

Added images using black Konad special polish. Plates used were fauxnad XL U (thumb), OB17 (middle image) and FUN1 (index, ring and pinky). 

Isolated a single image from OB17 and added in a few random Mickey head outlines in various spots using white Konad special polish. 

Added a few black and white dots using Konad special polish.

Topped with SV. 

All of these plates are available at MyOnlineShop as well as Fab Ur Nails. (For MyOnline Shop, go to the tab that says About and ordering information is there.)

Hope you're having a fantastic weekend; thanks for looking!

Are Peach and Gray an Odd Combination?

In early sumer, I was going through a  coral/orange/peach phase.  It seemed like I was wearing these shades all the time!  This is one of many I came up with at the time.

Started with a base of Maybelline Peachy Petal.  This is two coats, with no topcoat.  I seem to recall what while I loved this colour, I had a lot of problems with this polish.  It was like there there was some type of random grit in the polish and it didn't apply well.  Whatever the grit issue was, I never experienced it before and it was only with this bottle.  I had bought this polish in early spring in the US...I bought a few others at the same time but haven't tried them yet...I sure hope they aren't like this!  My camera didn't like this polish either as these pix aren't quite accurate in colour. Such a pretty colour; but I do remember I had quite the time with the polish with whatever ailed it.  I don't think it's visible in these pix, but all I know is I had to search my stash for something to put on top of it to hid the mess.

I found the solution!  A coat of Savvy Magic Pumpkin.  This is one coat, with SV. 

Stamped using A59 using white Konad special polish.

I wanted to show a pix of the image plate.  See below?  Images like this, I never know how to use.  How exactly is it to be placed on the nail?  I turned the image what I think is upside down and stamped on my nails. Also, even though my nails seem fairly long (to me anyway), as you can see, only a very small portion of the stamped image is on my actual nails.  KarenD, this is one reason why I wish I had man hands as I mentioned in the comments of one of your posts not too long ago!

Anyway, added a few random dots using Orly Mirror Mirror and topped with SV to finish.

 

What's your thoughts?  Did peach and gray turn out OK, or is this a little on the odd side? 

Thanks for looking!

Revlon Surf

Hard to believe I did this mani almost a month ago...I'm so far behind in my posts!  Anyway, I went through a spell when I was trying out a bunch of Revlon's as I picked up a few at Rexall/PharmaPlus for $2.99; this is one I came up with!

Started with a base of two coats of Revlon Surf.  This was quite opaque and probably could probably have done nicely with just the one coat if I had have been more carefully when I was applying it.

Added a coat of NYX Girls Under the Moon for some sparkle/glitter interest.

Stamped using white Konad special polish using Big SdP P.  I think this is an interesting design with a lot of stamping possibilities simply by changing up the base and stamping polishes.  I should point out that the shadowing on my index finger is not a plate problem...I've had this happen a few times with different plates and stamping polishes...until I figured out that the cream I was using on my cuticles before stamping (so you didn't see all nasty dry cuticles in the pix of the base polishes) would occasionally cause my stamper to slightly slip or drag when I was applying the stamped image to my nails......you can see it here too on index finger)...so lately, I've been trying to take pix without the cream to avoid this mis-stamping, unless my cuticles are so dry even I can't stand them!!  But I am glad I figured out what was causing this because I was thinking I had forgotten how to stamp or something!  

While I was blog surfing, I came across a giveaway I thought I'd share.  NailsIT, the creator of some pretty fantastic polishes....who also happens to do awesome stamping mani's.....is having a 100 follower giveaway and the prize package includes said pretty fantastic polishes.  Please go here if you are interested in checking it out!  

Thanks for looking! 

Bright Summer Nails

The weekly FB Adventures in Stamping challenge was your new favourite plate.  I thought I'd try to incorporate a new favourite plate with some bright, fun, summer nails for the weekend......here's what I came up with.

Started with a base of two coats of Julie 9 to 5.  This is sun pix.

Julie 9 to 5 in the shade.

Sponged using Julie Bikini.  I was oddly fascinated with the sponging on my fingers...this is in the sun...

This is in the shade.  These pix also show me that I'm applying far too much polish on the sponge for the gradient as I think I got more on my skin then the nails! lol!

After cleanup.  In the sun.

In the shade.

Stamped using Milani One Coat Fast Dry in Fast Fuchsia.  I picked up a few of these Milani one coaters on my last cross border shopping trip as they were on sale as I remembered reading that they work well for stamping...and couldn't pass the sale up.  Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I picked up these Julie nail polishes on the same trip. The stamping plate is XL 33.  I thought this one worked pretty well; I still have to try out the black and white Milani's.

Another pix in the shade.

A couple of my favourite stamping plates are XL 33 and XL 35 right now.  I'm slowly getting more and more into the polishes, layering, different techniques, etc.....but haven't given up my love of stamping.  These plates have a lot of designs that you can see an interesting stamped design, yet still allow lots of the polish to show underneath.  Win-Win!  Here's a mani I did with XL 33 not too long ago.  I've done a few others; just haven't gotten around to posting them. 

XL 33 is available at MyOnlineShop as well as Fab Ur Nails.  (For MyOnline Shop, go to the tab that says About and ordering information is there.)

Hope you had a fantastic weekend...thanks for looking!



Gold Nails

Well, I totally missed the boat on this weeks FB Adventures in Stamping Challenge.  It was suppose to be Precious Stones...either base colour of jewel tones or stamping of precious stones.  So the colours I picked out where gold related....only to realize later that gold is not a gem!  Anywayyyyyy, here's what I came up with.



Started with a base of three coats of OPI Dazzled by Gold.  This is pix taken in the sun.

Shade.

Added a coat of Lynnderella Change.  Not really 'added a coat' but dabbed on here and there in hopes to get the glitter here and there!  Sun.

Shade.

Stamped using SdP 72 using black Konad special polish.  This is in the sun.

This is shade.

Another sun.

This pix was taken right after SV was applied so it looks smooth, but in actual fact, this was a topcoat eater and wasn't that even...definitely would have needed gelous and some more topcoat, but I didn't have it with me, so lived with the bumpy nails.  Its still very blingy though and this may be a good choice  to do again if I ever need some really glamourous looking nails for some function.

Hope you're having a great weekend...thanks for looking!

Konad Basic Kit 2 + Konad Giveway by Nail Polish Canada

This is another mani I came up with using the Konad Basic Kit that was sent to me by Nail Polish Canada. 

Started with a base of Essie Bikini So Teeny.  This is two coats, with no SV.  This has a gorgeous hidden shimmer...too bad its in hiding in these pix...even on the nail, it wasn't that visible.  Just in the bottle, you can see it...maybe that's why they call this 'So Teeny'...the shimmer is so teeny you can't see it? 

Started a gradient on the tips using FingerPaints Sapphire Shimmer.

Further gradient layering using Magic Visage Glamour.  This is another polish that nailXchange was good enough to send me from her travels; unfortunately, I don't see a name.  So I called it Glamour Silver and Blue Glitter.

Bottle pix....I only wish I had have been a little more messy or not so heavy handed with the FingerPaints so the dark gradient line wasn't so obvious. 

Stamped using m36 which is included in the kit.

It's coming up to the weekend which got me to thinking that this kit would be a good for travelling.  The compact size would make it a great travel companion if you wanted to jazz up you mani's while on vacation without taking a lot of supplies. I could easily see myself putting the contents of the kit in a plastic baggie with a small bottle of remover, some cotton rounds and a couple of the small Essence nail polishes for a couple quick mani changes while away!  So I thought I'd put together a little travel kit in a sandwich baggy just to see if the mani basics would fit and it does....this has all the mani supplies you'd need for some polish changes and stamping...in fact, enough room for a few more plates and more polishes if needed! There's enough here for a quick mani change for a weekend away or while on vacation and the small size of the baggy won't take up a lot of suitcase room...or you could carry it in your purse if you wanted.

I was over at Nail Polish Canada checking out what polishes they have available, and when I was browsing the site, I also seen they are offering another awesome giveaway regarding Konad products.  If you are interested, please go here and click on the giveaway box.  Open to residents of Canada. 

Have a great weekend....and thanks for looking!

Konad Basic Kit + CND Shellac Giveaway

I was contacted by Nail Polish Canada and asked if I'd be interested in doing a review on the Konad Basic Stamping Kit.  I haven't been using Konad image plates too much as there are so many plate options out there now...unlike when I first got into stamping a few years ago.  But it was nice to get back to my stamping 'roots' as Konad products are what originally turned me onto stamping.  I still remember the amazement I had the first time I seen a Konad display at a local home show....I thought it was one of those home show products that work at the show, but won't when you get them home, if you know what I mean. While I was fascinated, I wouldn't even consider it until I did my own nails at the booth.  But I did, and before I knew it, I had a cool butterfly design on my nails!  Then I hung around the display for around an hour (not kidding...with DH in the car waiting for me!) and watched how easy it was for the gals in the booth to put it on nails.  I was fascinated, but heming and hawing about whether I trusted the product and whether or not I wanted to spend so much money for something I wasn't even sure I would use on a regular basis...and especially cautious because the prices of the plates and polishes were between $10-$15. Yes...not like the prices we see nowadays!  I seen salon owners pick up kits and talking amoungst themselves how the nail art will increase their sales as well as seen a lot of ladies of all ages who were just like me.....wanted to add a little decoration to their nails!  But I did buy the products...and the rest is history!  I was hooked on stamping!

If you are like I was and can't decide if stamping is for you and don't want to invest in a big kit, the Konad Basic Kit is great to get you started.  This is the mani I came up with using it.

Started with a base of Icing Rosie Posies, two coats.  This has no topcoat.

Added a coat of Icing Rave Royalty. 

Stamped with m36 using white Konad special polish, both of which are included in the kit.

Unfortunately, didn't line up the thumb image terribly well, so added a second image to cover the bare spot!

I thought it would be cool to matte the flaky so added a coat of Essie Matte About You...which I thought was kinda cool!

This is the Konad Stamping kit as it was sent to me. 

 

This is a great kit if you are considering stamping as it has all the supplies you'll need to determine if stamping is something you're into...or not!  But I can tell you now that in no time, you'll be hooked!  I know I was...and still am! 

I did another mani using this plate too...I'll show you how it turned out in my next post!

For all of you how aren't into changing your polish everyday (lalalalala....I can't hear you!! lol!), Nail Polish Canada is also offering a giveaway for a lifetime supply of CND Shellac......all you have to do is say why winning will change your life!  Open to residents of Canada and US....if you'd like to check it out, please go here!

 Thanks for looking!