Thursday 25 April 2013

April Tri Polish Challenge day 4 - going out with a bang!

Morning!

We've come to the end of the Tri Polish challenge for this month, and I'm going out with a bang! This manicure is pretty much perfect for me - bright, gradient, stamping and glitter - who could want more! I made a sideways gradient (for the first time - why hadn't I done this before?) on my ring and middle fingers with Essie Off the Shoulder and Rimmel Sky High, and topped it with some animal print stamping (zebra from Gals GA32 and Cheetah from Cheeky CH2. On my pinkie and index fingers I just painted a single colour and added a bit of a reverse glitter gradient using Barry M Silver Glitter and Revlon Stunning.




And here are my four manicures for this month - isn't it interesting how different you can make the same three colours look?!


Next month's colours are red, blue and grey, and I've chosen my polishes already! Come over to Crumpet's Nail Tarts if you want to join in!

Hx


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Tuesday 23 April 2013

April Tri Polish Challenge day 3 - You've been framed...

Morning!

Day 2 of April's Tri polish challenge, and I'm not sure how I feel about this one... The idea was good, but I'm not so sure about the execution. I started with a base of my turquoise (Rimmel Sky High) and used the cling film technique with Nails Inc Candy Orange (reversed on the accent nail). I was hoping for something a bit more jewel-like, but I kind of got mud. Then to fit in with the gem stone theme I painted a frame with a gold striper - thinking that as it was an antique-y sort of gold it would look like a cabuchon set in old gold...hmm not sure if I got there to be honest. It was ok in bright sunlight, but we don't get much of that in good old Blighty so I think it was a bit of a fail...



I think the accent nail looks better, maybe I should have done them all that way. Or maybe I shouldn't have used a muted gold for the frames. Or maybe I should have done something different altogether...

Hx


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Sunday 21 April 2013

Adventures in Stamping - World Earth Day

Hi loves,

This weeks challenge prompt for Stamping Sunday was World Earth Day, which is tomorrow. I had no idea what to do, so I looked through my plates and found a bamboo-leafy kind of pattern and freehanded little pandas. The base is Models Own Bora Bora, an addition to their Hed Kandi collection which is meant to be textured. While it is very glittery and pretty, the texture is very fine - no more than a full coverage glitter. I do love it though, and can see me using it a lot (I always say that though with almost 700 polishes it rarely happens...) I stopped at two coats, although if you were wearing it alone you'd probably need three. The stamp is from the Gals Fairy plate 37.




Isn't he cute?

Hx
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Saturday 20 April 2013

Purr-fect claws...

Morning!

My little darlings were up bright and early this morning, so I thought I'd squeeze in a blog post! This manicure was requested by one of my lovely followers Wendy from Wendy's Delights when I swatched the Born Pretty QA40 plate, so always happy to oblige I gave it a go! I used a textured polish, Nails Inc Old Compton Street Leather Effect as my base, and stamped with Konad Special Black polish from QA40 and CH2 for the animal print. Looking back, I think had I double stamped with silver before the black under the stripes it would have looked awesome!


I've amassed quite a few textured polishes it seems, and was wondering if a comparison post would be of interest? Comparing the different brands and their texture level perhaps? Maybe I'll get around to it!

The kitty stamping plate is avaiable from Born Pretty Store, and remember to use my discount code NBL91 for 10% off your whole order :)

Have a purr-fect weekend!

Hx
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Thursday 18 April 2013

April Tri-Polish challenge day 2 - Sex on the Beach...

Morning :)

For the second day of April's Tri Polish challenge I decided on an orange-pink gradient. (It works in a sex-on-the-beach, so why not on the nails?) Than in keeping with the beach theme I added a turquoise accent nail, some fine gold glitter (Nails Inc Glamour Glitter) and stamped on some tropical flowers from GA31 from the Gals Fairy set. We even had some sunshine when I took the pictures. Voila!





Now if only I was really on a beach with a cocktail in hand...all donations to the Helly-needs-a-holiday fund gratefully received...

Hx


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Tuesday 16 April 2013

April Tri-Polish Challenge day 1 - a spotty and a stripy...

Morning!

So I didn't do any better at blogging last week did I? But I had a lot of fun with my boys while the big one was off school - swimming, shopping, baking, and general tomfoolery! And the baby starts pre-school this week! NOOO! This means I am getting old and just no.

Anyway, back to the nails. The colours for this month's tri-polish challenge hosted by the Crumpets Nail Tarts over on Facebook (join us, we don't bite...) are pink, turquoise (not blue) and orange. I'm usings Nails Inc Candy Orange, Rimmel London Sky High and Essie Off The Shoulder - a choice I may possibly regret as none of them are as opaque as I thought they would be... For the first manicure of the four I just sat down with my colours and went at it with a striping brush and a dotting tool. Enjoy!






Hx


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Sunday 7 April 2013

Sunday Stamping - over an orange base

Hello!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, but it's the Easter holidays so I have two little devils home from school! I'll try to get a couple in this week, promise!

The theme for this weeks Adventures in Stamping challenge was over an orange base, which leaves it pretty wide open for what you want to do, right? Wrong. No inspiration. So I sat and looked through my new Cheeky plates and just found an image I wanted to use, and plunked it over Sinful Colors Cloud 9 (Sinful Colors are now available at Boots UK peeps! Go go go!). I stamped with Color Club Revvvolution and GA28. The shimmer in Cloud 9 is so pretty, although I don't think it suits my skintone :( Maybe it's too cool toned, I prefer coral-y toned oranges. And as for the fruit, I'm allergic. Anyway...



I'm not even sure what this image is...random and pretty!

Hx
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