Stampicure of the Day: Contemporary Design

I felt like stamping last night but I wanted a subtle background and a high contrast element in it. 

I finally decided on China Glaze Exotic Encounters as a base with Pure Ice Magic as a background using Cheeky XL C. There were two similar designs, one with a swirl and one without so I used the swirl design on my ring finger. 

I added a black tree/branch design on over it using Konad Black.

I really like how it turned out.

Exotic Encounters is like a cross between a pthalo green and teal with some grey. 

It's a very adult contemporary design ;) I like it, not too busy or crazy this time :D

Stampicure of the Week: Blizzard

I had a hankering to try Zoya Kristen this week because (as you may know) the Midwest was pummelled by a blizzard the day after Christmas. I thought that Kristen would be the perfect wintery weather blue and I was so right. I knew there was a reason I bought this a long time ago!

I had to add some snowflake stamps to it! I used the Bundlemonster 2012 set's full nail snowflake design and HB23, a cheapie plate I got from a Chinese company awhile back. 

I stamped all but the ring finger in Konad White and then did the ring with Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. I used the HB plate to add little snowflakes in the opposite stamping color over the full nail design. 

I am pretty darn proud of this one. My nails have been really suffering from my job and the holiday season (even before Thanksgiving) has been suuuuuuper busy and totally crazy. I hope to have more time to devote to my nails and blogging again!

Stamping Sunday: Delicate Metallics

My inspiration for this mani is based on pieces of clothing that are made like lace with metallic thread; very sheer and delicate looking but also shimmery and rich. 

I used an untried!

Base: Catrice Cotton Candy at Eiffel Tower (3 coats)

I got this polish from my German swap pal

Stamping polishes: FabUrNails gold w/ Konad m51

Revlon Copper Penny with BM-314

Kleancolor Coffee Addict with Fauxnad m76

I think this photo shows how lovely it is to layer a delicate foil shimmer over a sheer nude polish. I used 3 coats of the nude to give it a jelly-ish depth.

It looks cute with my vintage Cutex manicure set!

Stamping Sunday: Birds in Brown

Taking pictures of shimmer is just not fun without a light box. :( But oh well, the point of this post is...

Stamping Sundaaaay which is themed 'Glitter' this week.

This is Bettina Magnolia which I won in a contest given by confessionsofapolishaholic.com! It is a tan color with beautiful bronzey gold shimmer/glitter in it. This is without a top coat, mind you! It is pretty chunky!

It shiiines....so gorgeous

This is the point at which you are inundated with photos! I stamped using the large ebay plate H19 which I only bought because of the bird imagery. Stamped with Kleancolor Dark Brown

You can see that I am playing with watermarking!

Oh right, I put LA Girl Glitter Addict in Flashy on the middle, ring, and thumb.

The flash really highlights the copper glitters

Aaaaand this is where I put more birds on it! I mixed some Konad Special Black with Kleancolor Dark Brown and stamped some birds from big ebay plate H24. I luv these birds, they're adorable little chickadees to me. 

Tired of birds yet?!? Oh, btw, that is my free Target Beauty Bag! I got it today :)) It has lots of shampoo samples (yay) and SPF 70 sunblock (yay for my face!)

Here is a photo of the plates I used. They are a little finicky sometimes and some of the images don't work as well as others. They are sooo cute tho. It was hard to get both birds on my nail in the full nail design on H19 plate (on the left; the bird design is on the right). Can you see em? Little turds. This is why i had to add more birds!! 

Fun in the Sun Stamping!

Hello all, sorry for the lapse in blogging lately. I waste so much time on the computer but when I think about blogging, "I could be working!" Then my cat lays down to sleep on all my papers and I get lazy again!

I decided to get a little artsy this week, though, and created a scenic stamping mani for a contest where the theme is Fun in the Sun. I am excited to blog about this actually. I actually drew this up on paper and stamped where everything should go before I stamped it out. 

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Barracuda 

And sponged on Sally Hansen Brisk Blue for the top of the sky and in areas with ocean, the ocean background. Then I went over the sky again once it dried with SH Barracuda to tone down the brightness of the blue.

Cleanup! I usually just rub a qtip around the skin until I do detailed cleanup. Especially with blues, don't want to have smurf hands!

I painted down a little OPI Skull and Glossbones where I wanted sand/dirt. Then I sponged on Sally Hansen Quick Sand, which is sparkly and sand-like. 

Then.....I stamped. A lot.

I used my new MASH plates and Konad/Fauxnads for this.

I don't know any dolphin songs soooo I was singing Baby Beluga the whole time in my head >_>

I know, lots of photos! I love this though! Even if the butterfly stamps were jerks! 

Baby beluga in the deep blue sea...sigh, it is there again. haha!

Nail Stamp Layering: A Basic Tutorial

Before I begin, let me share a little advice with anyone reading this: Test your stamping on paper before doing your mani! I say this as someone who fails to do this on a regular basis, hehe. But truly, it saves you from having a design you are not happy with and helps you test the opacity of polishes you are using for stamping. 

For this design, I knew I wanted to make a mani to do this tutorial, so I chose to keep the color scheme monochromatic. This is easier for beginners and I just know most nail addicts have at least one color group over-represented in their stashes ;)

The base I am using is Essence Gleam in Blue, a frosty, shimmery medium blue.

For the second step, I am choosing to use a bottom stamping layer as a sort of "wallpaper" background for the top two layers. 

So I chose a color that was noticeable on the base color but also subtle. In the photos below, it appears more bold than it does in real life. I used Sally Hansen Barracuda for this layer because it is relatively transparent and light colored. 

On the index finger, I have stamped the second layer in Kleancolor Retro Green (I know, it is really blue). I stamped this on paper to test the contrast first (Sorry it is smeary).

My final element or the top layer of stamping is in Konad Special White to really pop from the background. All of these designs are on the Cheeky XL C plate. Experiment a bit and see what works!

I think it looks a little like embroidered blue jeans, what do you think?

Thanks for looking and don't forget to LIKE me on Facebook!!

Stamping Sunday: Black and White Layered Stamping

I got my Cheeky XL plates this week!! YAY!! I got B and C and I decided to do this Black and White stamping challenge using Cheeky B. B has mostly organic and natural designs.

What did I use?

Konad Special polish in Black and White (for the top-most stamps)

Essie Waltz for the understamping on the black nails

Black jelly franken for the understamping on the white nails

White nails are painted with Sally Hansen White On

Black nails are painted in WnW Black Creme

No, I did not clean up this mani very well. I had a lot to do today (and I shouldn't be posting now!) but I think it looks fine even without being perfect. 

I chose the understamp specifically because it had thinner lines and a repeating pattern. The stamp over it is a thick lined, high contrast overlay. I am pretty proud of it!! :))