Digit-al Dozen Does Thankfulness; Day 2/Lest We Forget

Today's mani serves a dual purpose; a Remembrance Day mani as well as a thankful mani for Digit-al Dozen Thankfulness. For Day 2, I'm thankful for all those who gave their lives and continue to serve so that we enjoy the freedom we have today.

Polishes used are Pahlish Mind Like a Diamond (gray), Duri Taming of the Shrew (red) and OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls (white), all two coats topped with KBShimmer Clearly on Top.

I applied a stamper decal I had made on the thumb from Big SdP E, then stamped on the rest of the nails using Marianne Nails n.56 (index), MoYou Gothic Collection-04 (middle), Marianne Nails n.22 (ring) and Wistonia W04 (pinky).  The black voids on both the middle and index finger did not stamp fully no matter how light or which direction I scraped on; even with trying several polishes, stampers and scrapers so I eventually gave up and just filled in any bare spots with polish and a brush.

Added a few dots to the poppy centre on the pinky, then topcoated.  I thought I had better take a pix now because I had purposely planned to stamp some letters and if I messed it up, this was the end result mani I would be showing!

Stamped using letters from Nailways Back to Basics 123 ABC for words on the thumb.  While not 100%, I didn't do too badly for Lest We...then it went downhill from there.  I stamped the F and other letters numerous times until it got to the point that if I removed the lettering anymore, I was going to remove the base polish.  I eventually got the placement of the F somewhat where I wanted and just hand painted in the rest.  (I was pretty happy with my handwriting as I have no skill with a brush and these didn't turn out that badly).   It took me longer to stamp those few letters on the thumb than doing the rest of the nails combined. (If only plate makers would do these words like I have suggested so many times!)

At this time, I touched up the poppy on the thumb a little bit, then top coated the thumb.  

I liked how this turned out, but found I couldn't get a good, clear shot of the mani so added a layer of OPI matte.  

There was no way I was attempting anything like this on my right hand; this is what I did for it.  (Please excuse the hangnails and terribly dry skin; as soon as the cold weather hit, my hands have been a disaster!)

Top coated again for wear.

Plate pix of some plates that have poppies used as well as others that I thought I might use but didn't.   

Marianne Nails n56

Marianne Nails n48

Marianne Nails n22

Vivid Lacquer VL038

MoYou Gothic Collection-04

I find as I get older, I have more appreciation for Remembrance Day, recognizing exactly how fortunate we are for the freedom we have as a result of the veterans in their fight for us as well as those who continue to serve.  I'm also thankful that my grandfather, who fought in World War II, made it home safely; otherwise, I wouldn't be here!  My grandparents had pre and post war babies; my dad was a post war baby and he (and in turn I) would not be here if my grandfather hadn't returned from war.  I don't know a whole lot (anything really) about what my grandfather did in war, where he was stationed, how long he served, etc; he never talked about his war experience even if he was asked. I'm surmising to keep the horrors he witnessed from surfacing and keeping the demons at bay.  I can only imagine how horrific it was to go through; what little I have seen from film footage from the war years is enough to visualize never mind having to fight and live through it. 

I am truly thankful for those who fought, and continue to fight, for our freedoms.  

Lest We Forget.

Here's what the other ladies are thankful for on Day 2!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for looking!

Lest We Forget

Today is a Canadian Nail Fanatic first.....first time ever for two posts in one day (please don't get used to it as I doubt it will happen that often! lol).  I already posted the Digit-al Dozen Day 1 mani, which is a mani I did a few days ago in preparation of the weekly challenge.  But it's also Remembrance Day here in Canada; Veteran's Day in US.  This is the mani I'm wearing today.



Started with a base of one coat of Duri Taming of the Shrew, with an accent of Sally Hansen CSM Greige, no topcoat (or cleanup).  For the red nails, I was adding stamper decals but wanted a base coat of polish in case my stamper decal wasn't that opaque as I didn't want to see bare nail underneath.



Added a layer of Hare Swanky Soiree on accent, topped with SV.



I had made a series of stamper decals earlier in the week in preparation of doing the mani using red and black Konad special polishes.



Applied the stamper decals.  The full size decal is made from an image on Apipila P.01 and the individual ones are from Big SdP E.  The Konad double ended stamper also has a small poppy on it.



After I got all the stamper decals applied, I had a d'uh! moment.  The full size image on Apipila P.01 is clear underneath...which means I could have just stamped it onto a red polish base!  All this work (and terrible cleanup!) for nothinggggg!  Grrrr!  I had a plausible reason for making the stamper decal at the time but now for the life of me, I cannot remember why.  Practise, I guess???!!



Added one of the small decals from Big SdP E to accent.  I know one thing for sure is that I much prefer applying the smaller decals versus the full size ones which are a pain to size, clean up, etc.



I had a few of the small decals left so added them to my right hand, which I did a little different.



Please honour and remember those who died so that we have the freedom we have today.

Thanks for looking (for the second time today!)

Lest We Forget

This is the mani I did for Remembrance Day this year.

Started with a base of two coats of L'oreal Greycian Goddess, no topcoat.

Added a layer of Lynnderella 50 Shades of Maybe on all fingers but accent, then added coat of SV.

Stamped accent poppies using Konad red special polish using Big SdP E.

Added stamping from MJ V on rest of fingers using black Konad special polish then topped with SV.

I picked up this pin a couple days ago at a display at the local mall at a display where the local Legion was selling poppies and other items; its smaller than a traditional pin poppy; I only wish it was the same size as the more traditional ones.

Thanks for looking...and remember those who gave their lives and continue to serve so that we enjoy the freedom we have today.

Lest We Forget

Today is Remembrance Day here in Canada; Veterans Day in US. Here's the mani I'm wearing today.



Started with OPI Red by Fortune Cookie and Color Blast by Orly Reflection; two coats each. I used this red polish as I know that black stamping shows up well on it and it is slightly darker in real life more similar to the above pix; sometimes using a darker red polish, the black stamping isn't as visible.



Added full accent nail using SdP-D09 with Black Konad special polish.



Using Red Konad special polish, added three images for the poppies on accent finger; these are individual flowers found on Big SdP E in a variety of sizes; I used the second to smallest. I think its fantastic there's size options on some of these images found on some of the Big and XL plates...you can use the one that suits your nail size best or add a bunch of the same design in a variety of sizes.



Filled in the centres of the flowers on the full size nails using Black Konad special polish.



Lastly, added a coat of SV.



Please remember those who gave their lives and continue to serve so that we enjoy the freedom we have today.

Thanks for looking.

French Tipped Stamping Attempt....Again

My stamping nemesis is french tips. I can never get them 100%...or even 90% for that matter! One problem is that I feel that the french tip stamping looks nicer on square-ish shaped nails, which mine are not so they always look off. I never get them all on straight nor a uniform width. Nev-er. My nails are getting a length that I thought I'd soon should be filing them down a bit but before I do, I have enough length to again attempt a french tip without having it go halfway down my nails...one of the downfalls of having small nails. This is what I came up with.

Base coat is two coats of Quo by Orly Celestial Star. While there was good coverage with two coats, with the pix you can see some VNL which does not appear in real life.

I was iffy on the stamping right from the get go so did my thumb nail first using Big SdP H. I thought if I fail at it, then I can do something else on the rest of the nails. But I lined it up pretty good.

So proceeded on the rest of my nails. Did the pinky and middle finger. Doing OK. Onto the index finger. Of course. Index finger is too thick. *sigh*. Can never get them all matched. *sigh*. Decided on using Big SdP A as an accent on the last nail, as this image is the same design as the tip but in a full nail image.

At this point, I've gone too far to remove the design and its far too late at night to start another mani. So I thought I'd add some flower accents to be a distraction against the stamping. Used the flowers in SdP E. Silver stamping polish used is Nicole by OPI Positive Energy. The silver foil contrasted well with the blue foil. To finish it off, I added a couple swirls of holographic glitter.

The great thing about polishing and stamping is that you can try, try again.....practise makes perfect and just another excuse to change your mani!

Thanks for looking!