Digit-al Dozen Does NEW & Improved; Day 1

It's Digit-al Dozen week!  This months theme is New & Improved which is something nail related never tried before or something nail related that may have been done in the past but is improved (hopefully!)  The great thing is that it is open to our own personal interpretation so there will probably be a lot of variety in all the ladies this month. Speaking of the ladies, we have some exciting news within the group!  There are several new Digit-al Dozen ladies starting this month; Cathy from More Nail Polish, Michaela of The Mani Cafe, Cheyenne of CBD Nails, RoseLynn of Manicured & Marvelous and Marisa from Polish Those Nails. We also had some sad news as we also said goodbye to other members in the last month or so who have moved on for a variety of reasons; Emily of The Lacquerologist (who has started a new blog, Casual Contrast), Victoria of Vic and Her Nails, Hannah of The Dalai Lamas Nails, and Kirsten of Geeky Owl. While it is always sad to see ladies leave and we wish them well, the upside is we welcome new members who are super talented to inspire and challenge us!

This is what I came up with!

Started with a base of three coats of Noodles Polish Resolutions; this is shown with no top coat.

Added a coat of Girly Bits What A Rush QD TC before applying decals and stamping.

I made stamper decals using an image from Moyra Stamping Plate 05-Vintage.  This is where "improved" comes into play for a couple reasons.  First of all, while I've shrunk stamped images using the stamper method, my recent stamper purchase from UberChic makes is oh, so much easier!  Using the Luxe Stamper, shrinking decals is a breeze!  Simply stamp the image as regular, but when you take the stamper head out of the holder and then use it, it shrinks in size all on its own! No distortion or any other effort required!  The bird image that I had picked out would not have fit on my nails without shrinking; heck, even with shrinking, the bird hardly fits. But it certainly does help.  Overall, the stamper shrink method using the stamper makes larger images more practical for those with smaller nails.  So what I did here was stamped the birds, regular for the one bird, then double stamped onto another stamper to get the reversed image.  This took a few attempts to get the right mix of stampers that would allow the double stamping while still allowing the transference but with some trial and error, I was able to do it. 

I also have another new trick for stamper decals.  This might be old news to some of you, but new to me; I've been doing it for about a month now and it is soooo much better for stamper decal making.  You probably have to be living under a rock to not know about the UberChic Uber mat.  I ordered one as soon as they were first available.  One of the benefits of the stamper mat was to make decals right on the mat. While I tried this method, it just isn't my favourite way of making decals; I much prefer the old school way of making the decal on stamper heads for a variety of reasons.  Those who do make stamper decals on the UberChic mat will know that you place a clear coat on the mat then fill it in then transfer the decal to your nails.  I tried a variety of products for this with varying degrees of success but one of the better products was Sally Hansen Hard as Nails, which was suggested by CopyCat Claws.  Now for making stamper decals, I've always used Seche Vite to coat my painted decal but it is very rigid and on the thick side so have had varying degrees of success in applying it.  I thought if the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails worked for the decal on the mat, it might work as the clear to top the stamper decal so tried it!  It is so much better!  It isn't nearly as thick so it does make it a little flimsier to peel off the stamper head so you have to be more careful, but the upside is that it sits so much nicer on the nail and the clear isn't all thick and create visible end lines or wrinkles like Seche did, making it an overall better eye appealing decal on your nail. So these two items are an improvement for me, which qualifies them for the purpose of the theme this month!

For the decals, I used Funky Fingers Dark Knight as the stamping polish, then acrylic paints to fill.  The branch was a little short on each nail so extended using MdU 23.

Moyra Stamping Plate 05 - Vintage

Added tree branches using an image from Wistonia Hunters Life with MdU 23.

Topped with Girly Bits What A Rush QD TC to finish.

Here's the other hand; I did same branch stamping but no decals.

Here's the other ladies Day 1 manis!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for looking!

40 Great Nail Art Ideas Does Pale Blue Base

It's back to 40 Great Nail Art Ideas challenge!  I'm a day late in posting but did have my nails done for Friday; hopefully, I won't be late next week!  This weeks theme was pale blue base; I had the added prompt of mermaid/scales.  Here's what I came up with!

Started with a base of Polish II Sky Blue; two coats on middle, ring and pinky and three on the remainder.  Two coats wasn't the best but I knew I would be adding a glitter top coat.

Added a coat of Shimmer Polish Sarah on the fingers that only had two coats and top coated with Girly Bits What A Rush QD TC before stamping.

Stamped mermaid scales using MdU 3 using an image from Bundle Monster BM-502.

Bundle Monster BM-502

Added a coat of top coat.

Made a stamper decal using an image from Marianne Nails n.89 using MoYou Ever Green, Funky Fingers Dark Knight, then filling in with acrylic paints.

Marianne Nails n.89

Placed the stamper decal on index and middle.

Added seashells from Infinity 11 to middle using CND Sweet.  Started the mermaid tail by filling in with MdU 11 using a brush.

Once I was somewhat happy with the shape of the tail, filled it in a little bit more.  Added some more hair to the mermaid using MoYou Ever Green on middle finger.

Did a water scene on thumb to accent using images from Infinity 11.  Stamping polishes are MdU 11, 15, 39 and 59.

Added fish to the thumb using MdU 3 using an image from Bundle Monster BM-501.  Added some sand using Zoya Godiva.

Bundle Monster BM-501

Decided I wanted a fish school so triple stamped (or more, can't remember now).

Added a coat of 10.1 Polish Blueberry Blues to thumb for water look.  Top coated it all with Girly Bits What A Rush QD TC to finish.

This pix I think is one of the better ones that it flows well.  Its not perfect by any means but overall, I was apy how this turned out!

Here's the other ladies manis over a pale blue base with their various prompts!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for looking!

The Stamping Polish Pulled It All Together!

This is an archived post from nails I had done in the fall but didn't get around to posting until now.  I remember at the time that I didn't think this mani would work out that well when I first started it but the stamping polish tied it all together and I like how it turned out in the end.  Here's what I came up with!

Started with a base of Colors by Llarowe Well Done! Woo! Woo! with accent of Colors by Llarowe Annie. Both are two coats, no top coat.

Added a coat of QD TC before stamping.

Did stamping using an image from St. Merry by Gogo Only using Funky Fingers Gesso.

Double stamped using same St. Merry by Gogo Only image using MdU 72.  I love that the stamping polish matched Colors by Llarowe Annie so well; it's something that I like to do occasionally with having the stamping polish match the base polish.  Although most times, the stamping polish doesn't match this well and I have to custom blend the stamping polish on the plate so it is nice that everything matches this well without any extra work.

Added a gold stud from Lady Queen Beauty** on the accent nail.  I thought these studs were unique as I don't remember seeing them any place before.  While I've shown gold here, they also are available in silver.  I thought they would be really cute for a Valentine's Day mani with a tic tac toe nail but might be getting ahead of myself lol.  These studs are available at Lady Queen Beauty here.  If you are so inclined to place an order, please use my code, please use coupon code "NYLC15 ” for 15% off your order at www.ladyqueen.com. 

Added a coat of top coat to finish as well as help adhere the stud. 

Thanks for looking!  

**item provided for review; please see disclosure policy.

Stamped Gradient

I'm not sure if I'm in the minority or not, but as much as I love wearing all the holiday nails associated with Christmas, New Year's, ugly sweater nails, snowflakes, winter, etc, I was just itching to do a mani that was nothing related to anything closely resembling the holidays.  So I was searching my stash to use a polish for a mani and nothing seemed "right" to put on my nails.  I don't know about you, but I have to have a feel for something to put it on.  Anyway, I seen a bottle of Orly Bus Stop Crimson sitting on my table that I had pulled to wear for the holiday season but didn't get around to wearing it and that's what struck me as I had to put on my nails!  Even though I had set out to wear nothing remotely associated with the holidays, I picked another deep red to wear.  Duh!  But it was what I went with; here's what I came up with!

Started with a base of two coats of Orly Bus Stop Crimson; no top coat.  I would suggest very thin coats; I applied my first coat as normal only to have polish puddle at the cuticle which lead to lots of clean up and we all know how hard it is to clean up a colour like this!  So very thin coats even if you have to do a third would be suggested.

Topped with a coat of Girly Bits What A Rush QD TC before stamping.

Did a gradient of polishes on the plate using MdU 11, 32 and 66.  Image is from Infinity 158.

Topped with Girly Bits What A Rush QD TC to finish.

Thanks for looking!

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  I know I'm a few days late; but these were the nails that I was wearing to ring in 2016!

Started with a base of two coats of piCture pOlish Winter, no top coat.

Added a coat of Girly Bits What A Rush QD TC before stamping.

Stamped using MoYou Festive Collection-39 using MdU 64.

MoYou Festive Collection-39

Added images from Pet'la Koy using Funky Fingers Gesso on all fingers except middle, which is Messy Mansion MM02.

Added a few more fireworks using same image plate using MdU 11 and Girly Bits Red Fire Engine and Sapphire.

Finished with Girly Bits What A Rush QD TC to finish.

I did my other hand a little different; used same MoYou Festive 39 plate with gold and silver chrome stamping polishes.  This was OK but not what I was looking for so did the left hand different, as shown above.

Thanks for looking!