Nails to Brighten a Dreary Day!

We've had really dreary weather over the past few weeks; first lots of rain associated with Hurricane Sandy, then countless days of overcast and gray skies with very occasional smatterings of sunlight.  I hope this isn't a sign of the winter to come....so when it came time to do a mani with one of the images from the Big SdP V, I knew I wanted something a little bright to brighten my otherwise dreary day; this is what I came up with.

Started with a base of two coats of Sation Board Girl Blue with accent of China Glaze Happy Go Lucky.  Topped with SV.

Stamped using Big SdP V using FUN white stamping polish.

Dotted using Konad yellow stamping polish.  The end result looked like sunny side eggs to me even though the base is blue!

Added dots on accent with Sation Board Girl Blue.  (To finish, topped with SV which is first pix).

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

Review of Big SdP V

 I should rename this post...Those With Long Nails Rejoice!

One of the most common complaints out there regarding stamping is that the images aren't long enough to fit those with really long nails.  Shirley at Dashica took notice and one of her newly released image plates, Big SdP V, seems to have been designed with this in mind.  I must say that before Big SdP V was released, Dashica's images were already one of the largest out there but these are super long!  I can also say that other than the newly released LLC plates, there are no images plates out there that exist that are longer.  I comparison stamped most of the well known series of plates, recognizing that they aren't all here; however, if I've missed one and you are wanted to see, please comment and I will update accordingly...... there's a good likelihood I probably have one in the missed series to sample  :)

Here are some pix of paper swatches I did with most series compared to a few images from Big SdP V.  Unfortunately, I didn't stamp very straight; I'd suggest you click on the pix for a better view if needed!

I may have duplicated some of the images when taking the pix but this should be a pretty good indication of how large the images are for comparison purposes.  You will notice that DRK B is wider but not as long; Dashica also had another plate, Big SdP U, that also has reallyyyyy wide images on it.  

 As a stamper who can't line up images very straight...heck, I miss stamp a lot of images and then have to figure out a way to camouflage it.... I can only image how those with long nails find it trying to line up the image when they are double stamping onto their nails when an image doesn't fit fully...this looks like it would solve the double stamping issue for most....I guess unless you're nails are in the uber super duper length category!

Dashica** products can be found here. 

My next post will feature a mani that I did with this plate...thanks for looking!

**Big SdP V was provided for review.  Please refer to my disclosure policy for further information.

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.

Snow White for Poisonous Challenge

I just realized that I've never posted this!  I did this mani for FB Adventures in Stamping when the challenge was poisonous some time ago. This is what I had posted for the challenge.

You remember Snow White? Her wicked step mother, the Queen, was beautiful but evil. She asked her magic mirror, "Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?". The mirror always said the Queen until one day, it said Snow White. The Queen was furious, and ordered her huntsman to kill Snow White. He took her to the forest but could not kill her. She was found by the 7 Dwarfs and she went to live with them. One day, the Queen again asked her mirror who was the fairest of them all and the mirror again answered Snow White. The queen discovered Snow White was living in the forest so turned herself into an old hag and knocked on the door of the cottage in the woods. Snow White answered; the Queen asked Snow White if she would like to buy an apple. Snow White couldn't resist but the apples were POISONOUS! She took a bite and then fell into a deep sleep. Many years later, a young Prince came across Snow White, kissed her and the spell from the POISONOUS apple was broken! And they lived Happily Ever After in the Prince's Castle!

  

Started with a base of OPI Bride's Bouquet (no pix as I've shared many times before...its just your basic white!) with Finger Paints Black Expressionism on thumb to accent. 

Stamped using assortment of white Konad stamping polishes using  SdP 38 (evil Queen), fauxnad D (couple kissing), SdP 30 (Snow White), SdP 71 (castle), SdP XXL2 (apple), SdP 27 (mirror).

Added a few more images that were QA 18 (bitten apples and small heart above couple), SdP 29 (spider), fauxnad H27 (fireworks) and fauxnad H47 (bird above Snow White).

Added a few dots for interest.

Topped with SV. 

Another fauxnad image plate that has a few Snow White images just arrived; however, its untried as of yet.  I ordered from same eBay seller as noted on the pix and you can check it out here! 

Thanks for looking!

 

Stamping Over Glitter Challenge

This weeks FB Adventures in Stamping Challenge was stamping over glitter.  While I could probably pick almost any mani I have in archives because it seems like I'm doing a lot of this type of mani's recently, I decided to do something new as well as do a comparison of Lynnderella She Lived in a Swamp old and new formula.  This is what I came up with.

Started with a base coat of two coats of OPI Don't Talk Bach to Me.  This pix has no tc.



Bottle shots of old and new bottles of Lynnderella She Lived in a Swamp.  First up is the older version.

Bottle pix below is the new formula version.

Side by side.

Added the older version on middle, pinky and thumb.  While I can't say if its because my bottle is older and needs thinned or if this is how it was originally formulated, it did seem that there was a lot more glitter that came out on the brush with the older version.  Of the two, I prefer the newer version simply because I like the smattering of glitter versus the glitter bomb...but again, not sure if its how it was formulated or if in fact my older bottle needs thinning which could be!  The bottle pix of the new formula showed a lot of bar glitter and what seems to be a lot of holographic glitter, but on the nail, I wouldn't say any more bar glitter was applied than the older version.

Added newer forumla on index and ring finger.  Not as much glitter, which I personally preferred.  I did not do a close inspection/comparison to see if the glitter type/size/colour, etc. is significantly different as I'm simply not that well versed in these type of things!  I just love the polish, not what's in it!

Added a coat of Gelous and then SV.

Waited about 10 minutes before stamping, then stamped with Sally Hansen Instadri Jumpin' Jade using SdP 72.

Topped with SV.

Another pix of finished mani with my phone camera as it seems to be a little sharper in focus.

I really liked this combination; in fact, I think it was on my nails for 5 days which doesn't happen all too often!  Around that anyway.  It also wore like iron; had no chipping at all when I took it off.  I really wanted to mattify it just to see how it looked, but forgot.  Another time I'm sure!

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

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

....we've had rain since last Friday as a result of Hurricane Sandy and I've had enough!   But I thought it would be a good time to use some new plates and polishes and turn them into a little rain themed mani!

Started with a base of two coats of Essie Where's my Chauffeur?  This is from the Essie 2012 Winter collex.  The pix below does not have topcoat.

Added a coat of Elevation Polish Catch a Wave, then topped with SV.

 

Loving this polish!! Do you notice the round glitters?  Click on the images for a better look.  I chose this polish as part of the rain theme as the round glitters represented water droplets (well, in my head anyway!), not to mention the water reference in the name. 

Bottle pix.

Elevation Polish is available via Big Cartel and the shop opens on the 7th and 22nd of the month.  I was able to snag this awesome polish on eBay for $12, which I thought was a pretty good price considering sometimes the eBay auctions for some of the polishes get pretty high!  But this obviously was an unknown gem and I lucked out! 

Did some rain-themed stamping using new plates received from Nailways.  All images used are from Snowwhite-Weather Forecast, using black Konad special polish, except the umbrella on the thumb, which is Apipila 03.

A couple pix of the packaging as received from Nailways.

Information regarding where to order Nailways has been updated in my 'Where I Get My Stuff' tab on the home page.

Topped with a coat of SV to finish (first pix shown).

As much as I'm griping about the rain during the past week, I can only stress that we were relatively unscathed by Hurricane Sandy while many were not as fortunate.  While we've had rain for days, the night the storm hit, the rain was hard and the winds fierce; we had some light flickering but our hydro stayed on and there was no flooding or substantial property damage.  Unfortunately, many other areas were horrifically affected.  My thoughts are with you if you are in an area ravaged by Hurricane Sandy. 

Thanks for looking!

Happy Holo-ween!

A huge thanks to nailXchange, who let me know last week that the local supplier of Color Club nail polishes in the GTA, Designer Cosmetics, had the Halo Hue collex in stock. While the winds and rains associated with Hurricane Sandy were pelting down last night, I thought I'd turn one of them into another Halloween mani; here's what I came up with.

Started with a base of Color Club Harp On It.  The pix below is one coat.

Added a second coat.  The pix below is without top coat.

These next couple of pix were taken will my iphone so I could send pix to all my friends to tell them to run to the mall now and get them! And its nice that they are relatively easy to find in our area complared to Layla's, Jades, or nearly impossible to find like the HTF OPI DS's!

A bottle shot.  I seriously cannot believe how holo these are! 

For stamping, I wanted to add an image that didn't cover all the holo but still with a Halloween theme, so added spider webs from T23 using black Konad special polish.

I'm not sure if my nails had moisturizer on them or if the thin lines on the web dried particularly fast, but I had quite a few of the webs mis-stamp.  I really botched the thumb nail so decided to add a few random spiders from T23 for cover and for some creepy spider interest.

To finish, used Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Flash Fast Dry Top Coat (aka the one in the black bottle) to coat.  I didn't notice any fading of the holo even with topcoat which was awesome!

Color Club Halo Hues are available locally at Designer Cosmetics at Bramalea City Centre or their Bay/Bloor location for $8.99 or 2/$16.99.  They are also available online via Color Club directly here; however, they do not ship internationally.  I also seen a FB update that Nail Polish Canada will also have them in stock as of Thursday, November 1, 2012!  Edited on Nov 2 2012 to add that Harlow & Company is also carrying Halo Hues!

Happy Holo-ween!