Digit-al Dozen Does Red, Gold and Green; Day 1

It's Day 1 of the Digit-al Dozen monthly challenge; this month's theme is Red, Gold and Green. This is the mani I came up with.

Started with a base of three coats of Layla Special Effects 02.




I really wanted the stamping I was going to be adding to stand out so decided to matte this; added a layer of OPI matte.




Stamped using Sally Hansen Insta-dri Jumpin' Jade using images from W232 (wreath), Sugar Bubbles special 02 (tree), Sugar Bubbles special 01 (ornaments), Chez Xmas 001 (mistletoe) and MoYou Festive Collection-03 (string of lights).




Added assortment of

glitters by fishing them out from polishes, mainly from KBShimmer Kringle all the Way.

A quick look at MoYou Festive Collection-03.






Added topcoat to finish.





This mani is doing double duty; my weekend was too busy with my DD's birthday and other holiday related items that I didn't get a change to do something specific for the Nail Polish Canada week 2 contest so it's my entry for this week.  Here's all the entries if you want to check them out and vote for your favourite!




Thanks for looking!

Digit-al Dozen;Tape Mani's, Day 3

It's back to Digit-al Dozen mani's this week; I have a few mani's finished but unfortunately, haven't been able to post them due to being too busy or having no internet due to storm systems.  Then, I finally got some time...and the internet is working.... then Blogger was being an arse, giving me an error code to my posts and wouldn't let me add any text or do any type of editing to the pix...anyway, I seem to have figured it out, so finally joining the group posts today!  Here's what I came up with.

Started with a base of two coats of Layla Softouch Effect 06, topped with SV.  (Those in FB Adventure's in Stamping will know that this weeks challenge was doing a mani using the colour of your birthstone...I have an August birthday, my stone is peridot and this is the start of the mani I did for the challenge...just didn't get around to posting it!)

Stamped using white Konad special polish using Cheeky Jumbo 10 Plate, Happy Hands.  (I topped the mani with SV and wore it for a day like this, but as this post has so many pix, no pix shown at this time. )

The next day for the Digit-al Dozen tape challenge mani, I added various pieces of tape over the stamped base and then applied Color Club Pink Flame to the tape void area.  This green and pink combination is one that I love and I wear this colour combination fairly often; although, I'm not sure how many of the mani's have been posted though!  

My taping skill (lack thereof, actually!) is to be desired so the end result wasn't the best.  The pink on the index finger is all blotchy as I nicked the pink while putting tape on the middle finger so just brushed over top of it to fix. And, well, you can clearly see the rest of the mistakes!

Once Pink Flame was dry, stamped using white Konad special polish and added a row of hearts and lips from plate SdP 120.

I got to looking at my nails now and thought the mani is looking a little off as there is stamping only on two fingers and decided more stamping was needed.  I decided to see if  I could challenge myself and get some itty bitty stamping onto those itty bitty pink stripes on the index finger; so added stars from SdP 49 and a flower from SdP 77; also added a couple more flowers from SdP 77 to the pinky. I was surprised that I was able to get a few images on somewhat OK on that thin pink strip!

Topped with SV to finish.

This actually turned out better than I thought; a little on the girly side and really on the busy side...but that is pretty typical of my nails!  It was a good time saver that I was able to use a mani for two challenges, too!

Here's the other Day 3 mani's of the Digital Dozen; again, so much talent in this group!

Thanks for looking!

Challenge Mani

This weeks FB Adventures in Stamping Challenge was to do a mani featuring the colours from your Christmas tree.  My tree pretty much has most colours under the rainbow, but has strong gold and red decorative accents, which is also the majority of the colour scheme for the rest of the house decorations, so those were the colours I chose to do for the mani....here's what I came up with.

Started with a base of two coats of Layla Softouch Effect 02.  I received this polish as a RAOK from KarenD at Frazzle and Aniploish.  After seeing the Layla's in one of her blog posts and then looking for them at Ulta during my last cross border shopping trip but they weren't available, KarenD was good enough to offer to pick them up with a few other pretties....THEN before I have even had a chance to pay, she messaged that they were on their way to me!   Thanks so much again, Karen!

Added a few holiday decorations using red Konad special polish and Sally Hansen Jumpin' Jupiter using D07 (present on pinky), Sugar Bubbles special 01 (wreath on thumb), and fauxnad D (tree on middle, candy cane on ring and mistletoe on index).

I was going to do a few accent dots but then I remembered a newly arrived polish from Candy Lacquer called Rudolph's Treats that is circular (!!!) glitters in green, gold and red in a clear base.  So I fished them out and added red on the tree for ornaments and others to accent the wreath and the other images.  Then I fished out more of the circular dots and used to accent throughout as well as used a star shaped rhinestone for the tree topper.

Bottle pix of Candy Lacquer Rudolph's Treats.

Added SV.

Just before taking it off, I topped the mani with Essie Matte About You (which is the first pix) and this is the version I like the most.

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

Layla Holo Tiger Stripes

When the Layla Hologram Effects were available for sale at Ulta a while back, I made the trek to the U.S. one bright and early Sunday morning to make sure I didn't miss out on them.  I had been calling them all week to see what day they would be on the shelf....and they kept on telling me they didn't know and to call back. (OK, reading this back makes me seem like some crazy polish freak!!)  Which it turns out was unnecessary as I was at Ulta yesterday and they still have one of every colour in stock so they are still out there if you are looking for them.  I'm guessing the $15.50 price tag has something to do with this.....   I wanted to try out these Layla's for a mani versus just stamping and remembering this mani here using my untried Essence plate, I thought I'd do something similar; this is what I came up with.

Layla Coral Glam, three coats.  I found my bottle to be a little lumpy but nothing a few drops of thinner didn't solve.  I did three coats because, as with a lot of the holo's, it was on the thin side.  Lumpy and thin...how is that possible?  But it was...

Stamped using Essence plate for stripes and A28 for tiger face using Konad black special polish.  Because SV has a tendency to dull holo's, I topped is using Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Fast Dry Top Coat that had been recommended on a friendly nail board. 

What's your thoughts on holo's?  Love?  Hate?  Give or take them?  Personally, I'm a huge fan of holo...I can remember the very first time I wore one.  It was China Glaze OMG that I scored at random beauty supply place.  I could never figure out why they were just sitting there when the nail community was so ga-ga about them.   But unless you've seen the magical holo in the sun, its just a dingy gray on the shelf which was good news for me because the OMG collex had already passed before I started to really get into polishes.  Anyway, I remember putting on OMG and then being oh, so facinated by the holo rainbow on my nails.  I was smitten!  I kept on staring at my nails....angling this way and that to see the rainbow....and my love affair with holo's began!

So, holo's....love 'em or hate 'em? And because my brain cannot fathom 'hate'em' and 'holo', please tell me why if you are a hater...just curious.....!

Thanks for looking!

Blue Holo on Blue Base

My Canadian nail gal pal, nailxchange, does these amazing colour on colour stamping mani's (here and here are just a couple examples....in fact, the second one linked here, she posted on April 23rd and I did this mani on May 1...I'm so far behind in posting mani's!) and I thought I'd try out a blue stamping on blue base mani.....aka copying her!  You know what they say...imitation is the greatest form of flattery!  Well, this mani isn't exactly copying her designs (hers are so much more sophisticated IMHO!), but moreso using the tone on tone concept as she calls it; here's what I came up with!

Started with a base of Sinful Colors Cinderella.  Its pretty sheer so this is three coats and can still see some VLN.  The nail community was all ga-ga about Cinderella a few months ago...and now that I have a bottle, I know why!  I had been on the lookout for a bottle of Cinderella in my recent US visits but it was always sold out; however, I FINALLY snagged a bottle on cross border trip not long ago...even managed to pick up a couple extras for some regular European/UK swap pals and they are already on their way to them! 

And too many more pix just because that's how I roll!

Stamped with SdP 54 using Layla Ocean Rush (hmmm....I think I seen stamping with Layla's too on nailxchange's blog...even though I've stamped using China Glaze OMG collex, etc before, I wanted to see for myself how well these Layla's stamped!  Copying her again! lol!).

Again....too many pix.....

While over on nailxchange's blog getting some links, I seen she has a giveaway going on too...that's ending soon so you may wish to check it out here! 

And speaking of giveaways.....I FINALLY compiled the list of the giveaway entrants and have sent out an email notifying the first winner! The giveaway page will be updated as I notify gals/they respond and I update the page as the plates are spoken for.....until everyone's been notified which shouldn't take too long now...thanks for your patience again! I was thrilled that my first giveaway winner (pending she responds in the time frame anyway) has lots on her wishlist that I have access too...great to know that the concept worked so she will be able to obtain three of her wishlist lemmings!!!

Thanks for looking!

Layla Magneffects

While out shopping last weekend, I stopped by Rexall/PharmaPlus to see if they had any new polish collections...unfortunately, they didn't have anything new but I did find Layla Magneffects on sale...for $3.96!



The sale tag actually said $7.96, down from $15.99. At half price, I had two at the check out. But when I was cashing out, the cashier says, "Oh wow, these are ringing up at $3.96"; I said, "well just a second while I pick up a few more!" This is the mani I came up with when I finally sat down to use one of them.

Layla Silver Galaxy over one coat of OPI Black Onyx. See my index finger? I kinda messed up the magnet...I guess it takes a little bit of practice for the magnet placement just like you have to practise at your stamping!



It annoyed me that I didn't line up the magnet the same as the other fingers plus I hit my nail on the magnet, so I did another coat of black on the index finger and then redid it.



Well apparently, I STILL need practise because it turned out worse than the first time! It was far to late to redo it, so I left it like this for stamping. I used White Konad special polish with an image from XXL Big SdP-1.



Lastly added a few random dots using CND Smoochie.



Finished it off by adding a coat of SV.



Just before I took it off, I decided to matte it using Essie Matte About You (please excuse the tip wear and dry cuticles!)



There were a couple of the Layla's that I was still looking for, so I was checking out my local stores yesterday...some stores still have them; any of the displays I seen now have tags marked $3.96 on the display too...and sometimes they are in plastic bins in the clear out section...but the selection is dwindling down so I'd suggest that if you are wanting these, that you check out your local Rexall/PharmaPlus soon! Let's hope they are making way for the Layla holographics!

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