Digit-al Dozen Does NEW & Improved; Day 4

It's Day 4 of Digit-al Dozen new and improved challenge; here's another mani with a new to me technique being the straw splatter method.  I know now why I've never tried this....far too messy for my liking! I didn't mind the end result so who knows, it might make a reappearance some day.  Here's what I came up with!

Started with a base of two coats of Barry M Gelly Blueberry, no top coat.

I picked out a bunch of complementary colours for the splatter.  My thought was do a dark over the light, then build up a little lighter as I went.  This was me getting ready.  I had seen a tutorial where you dip the straw into the bottle of polish but my straw was larger then the bottle opening.  So thought I would blob some down and use it.  However, in actual fact, you need a whole lot more of polish in a blob then what I've shown here to get enough to splatter.  Wayyyy more than this because you need a good amount across the void opening on the straw to get it to whoosh everywhere.  There were soooo many times I blew with no results!  After I did these nails, I seen a gal who just brushed some on the straw directly from the bottle and I will try this next time.  I think; if I ever do again lol!

So this was the disastrous mess I came up with after blowing so much I was light headed.  I have no idea how many times this was but this seems like many times that made it to the nail never mind the many times I blew and nothing came out or it went everyplace but on my nails.  I think the really big blobs were blow fails but had to live with them as really, no way of fixing them but to just do another blow on top of the first blow. Anyway, I eventually thought I had enough coverage and just decided to live with it.  I used Girly Bits Border Patrol as barrier and even though I did what I thought was a good distance, I still blew polish all over my nails.  And other places too.  What a mess!  The polishes I used were all Barry M Gellies; Prickly Pear, Blue Grape, Blue Plum and Blackberry.

This was after cleanup as best as I could do anyway.  

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

I thought this might be a cool base for the water marble image that ironically I have never used before either. Used the image from Born Pretty BP-41.

Stamped using Funky Fingers Gesso.

Top coated with Girly Bits What A Rush QD TC to finish.

All in all, I think the end result was pretty cool but man, what a lot of blowing, polish, mess and clean up.  If I try this again, I'll try a shorter straw (hoping I will get more hits as I had a lot of misses where nothing came out or it missed my nails entirely), and putting the polish directly across the bottom of the straw with a brush versus dabbing the straw into the polish.  I am positive I will never dip into the polish unless it is some old random polish that I can easily replace or don't need to as I think it would use a lot of polish unnecessarily.  

Here's the other ladies Day 4 mani's!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for looking! 

Digit-al Dozen Does NEW & Improved; Day 3

For Day 3 of Digit-al Dozen week, I did another new to me technique for the new and improved theme.  For this mani, I did some dry brush work which I have never done.  This is what I came up with!

Started with a base of two coats of Girly Bits Blue Christmas.  This is two coats.

Added a coat of Girly Bits What A Rush QD TC, which really makes this base shine!

Applied CND Flashpoint using dry brush method.  I don't think I got enough polish off the brush as you should but liked this effect anyway.  

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

Stamped using Moyra Stamping Plate 02-Fabric Texture using Funky Fingers Gesso.

Moyra Stamping Plate 02-Fabric Texture

Applied a coat of Girly Bits What A Rush QD TC to finish.

I didn't mind this technique; it's actually a quick way to add some base contrast or interest without a whole lot of effort or cleanup.  I can see doing it again for sure!

Please check out the other ladies Day 3 new and improved manis by following these links!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for looking!

Digit-al Dozen Does NEW & Improved; Day 2

I thought I'd do tribute nails to David Bowie as a result of the sad news of his passing.  To make it Digit-al Dozen appropriate for this weeks challenge, I did a new to me technique which is using the saran wrap method for the base.


Started with a base of skittles; CND Green Scene, Nicole by OPI Hit the Lights and Misslyn Head Over Heels. The green is one coat, the rest are two, shown with no top coat.  I let the base dry for some time as the tutorial I watched for the saran wrap method indicated you need a very dry base.  So I waited around half an hour before proceeding to the next step.  I used this time to work on decals I was making for the mani.

Once the base polish is dry, you apply another coat fully on top of the base. 

While the polish is still wet, bunching a wad of saran wrap, you press down on the polish to create this abstract smushed looking design.  Well, this is what I got anyway.  Maybe my technique is wrong lol.  I did each finger individually just mixing up the three colours.

Here's the saran used.  I think this is the most saran I've used in the last year!  I'm not a regular user of it but keep it on hand for the odd time I need it. 

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

Stamper decal from an image on MoYou Roxy Collection-09.  Outline is Funky Fingers Dark Knight and acrylic paints to fill.  

Applied stamper decal to thumb.  Used assortment of images from same MoYou Roxy-09 plate for rest of the fingers.  Stamping polish is Funky Fingers Dark Knight and MdU 11 on pinky.  Lower lettering on ring finger is Handy 57 using the clean jelly stamper for placement.

Added a coat of Girly Bits What A Rush QD TC to finish.  It's times like this that I wish I had a light box so that the glare would be less but this will have to do for now!

I pretty much sang Major Tom to myself the whole time I was doing these nails and have caught myself either singing it or humming it many time over the last 30 hours or so since I heard the news.  I'm saddened that we have lost a music legend and it saddens me to think that more of this will happen over the next few years as more and more icons and legends reach their upper years.  Man, makes me feel old too which is sad.

RIP, Mr. Bowie.

Here's the other ladies Day 2 mani's!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for looking!

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!