Saturday 30 December 2017

5 years of blogging!

Seems a bit cheeky to celebrate since I barely blog any more but I couldn't quite let the date go by without a comment.
On 30th December 2012 I published my first blog post, and back then I blogged every single mani I did!
Over the years two things happened... I got busier with "other stuff" and I got into stamping and did more manis. The result was that I couldn't blog everything, there just wasn't the time to devote to it and the readership is not huge so I reluctantly decided to cut back and only blog the challenges that came with Inlinkz as I felt obliged to blog them. And knitting wise, I haven't had much free time to knit so not many new project to blog either, sadly!
Anyway, the blog is still here and who knows what the future may bring...

In the meantime, Happy 5th Birthday to my blog (image from Google)

Friday 29 December 2017

Nail Crazies Unite - Blue, Silver and White Winter

Well, this week's prompt was Blue, Silver and White Winter and you can't get more wintery than snowflakes. I love snowflakes and I have plenty of plates with snowflakes on so any excuse to use them and I'm happy!
I started with a silver gel base. Gellifique 6056 is a one step gel of very fine silver glitter in a clear base. I used 2 coats. It was not fully opaque but enough for a base under stamping and as my nails are no longer stained I didn't mind that coverage was not 100%.
I started with a large snowflake image from Pet'la Plate Flake No More with Moonflower Polish Azul (Blue). I like the Moonflower polishes, I have 3 so far and they stamp nicely but I don't find the coverage great on negative images, or large areas of stamping. I think I need to work to find a better technique for spreading the polish but that aside the blue stamped well for this snowflake image.
I then added a much more delicate snowflake from Beauty Big Bang 06 and Moyou London White Knight.
Finally I added some trees with Messy Mansion MM30 and A England Natasha's Dance.
I was pleased with the wintery look of this mani!




Friday 22 December 2017

26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Christmas Childhood Memories

This week's prompt was Christmas Childhood Memories.
I couldn't really think of much but when I was young we used to go out walking a lot. Just as my memories are full of warm sunny summers, they are also filled with snowy winters (I don't know how factual these memories are but I am sure we had more sun and snow!)
Anyway, I am pretty sure we had a lots of walks through woods and fields in the snow, so here is a snowy forest scene!
I started with a fanbrush base of Kiko 336, Kiko 389 and Colors by Llarowe Aubergine Dreams.
Then I stamped some of the snowflakes and trees from Messy Mansion MM27XL with A England Carnation Lily Lily Rose. Then I added more trees with Avon Iceberg White.
I am not completely happy with these. Having cut my nails down ready for a family Christmas with small people it takes me a while to get used to the new length. Also due to lots of other stuff going on pictures were taken in poor light and I also tried a different setting on my phone which gave truer lighting and colour but also picked up any movement so if you spot any ghosts you know why!
Messy Mansion MM27XL
Messy Mansion MM27XL
 Messy Mansion MM27XL
 Messy Mansion MM27XL
 Messy Mansion MM27XL


Friday 15 December 2017

Nail Crazies Unite - December Holiday

This week's prompt was December Holiday. I am not really in the holiday mood yet but I thought some Christmas Trees might be a good start 🎄🎄🎄
I used Messy Mansion MM79XL with A England Nocturne over A England Katherine of Aragon.
I like this image although I imagine it would look even better on longer nails.
I was really impressed with how nicely Nocturne stamped and although not a fan of gold polish, I love Katherine of Aragon, being more of a nude / white gold.
Well, it was too cold outside to take many pictures so here are a few and now I'd better try and find some Christmas spirit!
Messy Mansion MM79XL
Messy Mansion MM79XL
Messy Mansion MM79XL
 Messy Mansion MM79XL
 Messy Mansion MM79XL


Monday 11 December 2017

26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Insects and/or bugs

This week's prompt was insects or bugs and I had the perfect plate! The Ejiubas and Sarah R collab plate has a strip of little buggy things down the middle.
I started with the week's fanbrush mani as a base, I thought the green, black and yellow made a great background and I stamped the little bugs in a nice crisp white.
Ejiubas and Sarah R
Ejiubas and Sarah R
 Ejiubas and Sarah R
 Ejiubas and Sarah R


Friday 1 December 2017

Nail Crazies Unite - Disney / Pixar Inspired

Another of those manis where I wonder whether I should really join in! I don't really like "things" on my nails so almost all of my plates have patterns, flowers, snowflakes, swirls - I don't have characters, creatures, people so I had to trawl though all my plates seeking a fish that I could stripe like Nemo! - I obviously wasn't going to find a car or a monster or a cowboy!
Finally I found one on Bundlemonster BM-S166.
I stamped this in black over a white base and coloured the stripes with an orange Sharpie.
4 fishy nails would have been too much I think so on the other nails I started with an orange base of Kiko 280, stamped white stripes and then lined them in black Sharpie. I deliberately did the freehand bit wobbly because I knew I wouldn't get it straight but I think it turned out quite well.
Lots of pics, all virtually the same!!!
 
 
 




Friday 24 November 2017

26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Reciprocal Gradient

Oh! the reciprocal gradient, it fascinates and intrigues me but I really can't be bothered with faff of doing the gradient one day and then having to wait until the second day to do the wretched striping tape or vinyl part only to discover it is a messy disaster.
Last time I did one, it occurred to me that surely I should be able to use stamping to achieve a similar effect, and I did actually try it but that was 2 years ago
So here we are, I am trying for stamped reciprocal gradient, but just with 2 colours - I think 3 was too many!!!
I used Princess Nail Lacquer Gangrene (beautiful khaki green) and Sewage (gorgeous warm grey)
I chose these 2 as a reasonable contrast to each other and also because I knew I could stamp with them.
So I did my gradient (no photos because they are never that good!) and then stamped using Dixie Plates Autumn 01. I really wanted to use an image other than just a stripe but obviously anything too complex could just end up looking messy and indistinct. I have to say, I am quite pleased with the way it turned out.
They were a bit tricky to photograph, the weather was bad, lighting was terrible and I still got annoying reflections so I resorted to matte top coat although they looked so much better glossy.
Dixie Plates Autumn 01
Dixie Plates Autumn 01
  Dixie Plates Autumn 01
 Dixie Plates Autumn 01



Friday 17 November 2017

Nail Crazies Unite - Stamping with a flakie polish base

This week's prompt was stamping with a flakie polish base. This mani is also this week's submission for the Pancreatic Cancer Awareness challenge #pcanovember17. The prompt for that was Animals (or Nature) and all the manis are in purple.
I had a pale lilac gel base on so I added a single coat of 'Ard As Nails Shamone. As with all flakies, this pretty topper would be at its best over black but I thought it was worth a try over pale lilac and loved its subtlety.
Obviously I took photos matte and glossy although they really didn't capture how lovely it really was.
Next for the stamping - well cats of course! I used Messy Mansion MM50 with Barry M Blackcurrant to add the kitty cats.
Finally I added a matte topcoat (the Barry M one, best value matte top coat!)
Messy Mansion MM50
Messy Mansion MM50
Messy Mansion MM50
 


Friday 10 November 2017

26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Animal print in the wrong colors

This week's prompt was Animal print in the wrong colors (colours)
I decided to go purple, I have never seen a purple leopard although I am sure that would be a beautiful sight!
This was a really simple mani. I started with base of Kiko 331, a lovely shade of purple and then I used Lina Get Wild 01 and A England Polovetsian Dances for the stamping.
I think they turned out quite well and I was pleased I had gone for similar rather than contrasting colours. I took a few shots - some with off-white gloves, some with purple. The purple ones often look awful on camera but I managed to capture the colour OK this time.
Lina Get Wild 01 with A England Polovetsian Dances
Lina Get Wild 01 with A England Polovetsian Dances
 Lina Get Wild 01 with A England Polovetsian Dances
 Lina Get Wild 01 with A England Polovetsian Dances
 Lina Get Wild 01 with A England Polovetsian Dances
 Lina Get Wild 01 with A England Polovetsian Dances



Friday 3 November 2017

Nail Crazies Unite - Neutral Colours

This week's prompt is Neutral Colours.
I used a new polish from 'Ard As Nails which I recently pounced on in a flash sale. It has no name so I think its an oopsie but it is a lovely pretty warm nude, although perhaps a bit darker than nude, definitely in the neutral category though.
I don't have a sunshine shot unfortunately as I did my nails after lunch and the sun had gone down by the time I was ready for photos - I hate winter!!!
I stamped with Lina Twirls and Swirls 01 and Virago The Bus Stop. I thought this was greener and it is listed as seaweed green but it really does look rather brown on my nails in most lights, although I am sure I can see green in some of the broad daylight shots.
Anyway, khaki or brown, it's still pretty neutral in my book but I will leave it out and use it as base to see how it turns out, for future reference.
I loved how these turned out and wore them for a couple of days.
Lina Twirls and Swirls 01
Lina Twirls and Swirls 01
Lina Twirls and Swirls 01
Lina Twirls and Swirls 01
Lina Twirls and Swirls 01


Friday 27 October 2017

26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Halloween with negative space

This week's prompt was Halloween with negative space.
I messed up a bit with my planning here as I did a 3 step gel at the beginning of the week and have every intention of making it last 2 weeks! Luckily it was a nude colour so I am hoping I'll get away with it!
I chose the "Scream" image from Beauty Big Bang 03 as I thought it would work well with negative space. It is also doubling up for a #clairestelle8halloween prompt, my favourite Halloween movie.
(it isn't my favourite but I could only think of 2 that I have seen and other one wouldn't work with negative space)
I stamped with A England Camelot. I maybe should have used a proper stamping polish for a blacker background and a slightly cleaner stamped image but I quite like the soft black look.
Big Beauty Bang 03 with A England Camelot
 Big Beauty Bang 03 with A England Camelot
Big Beauty Bang 03 with A England Camelot




Friday 20 October 2017

Nail Crazies Unite - Vampy Matte

The final prompt for the last series of Nail Crazies Unite was Vampy Matte.
I used one of my oldest polishes as the base, OPI Lincoln Park After Dark. Although I think most dark polishes are vampy, I do think a dark red or a dark purple are super vampy.
I stamped with Dixie Plates DP09 and A England Shall be my Queen.
At the moment I have one hand matte and one hand glossy and I still can't quite decide which I like best!
Dixie Plates DP09
Dixie Plates DP09
 Dixie Plates DP09
 



Saturday 14 October 2017

26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Friday the 13th

And we're back... Well I know I said it was the last one, but after a few changes around, the admins decided to keep going and I'm not very good at saying no so I'll keep going too. I'll just try to get less stressed about the deadlines.
Anyway, we opened the new year of challenges with Friday the 13th, as they are not that common and therefore not to missed.
And for me, the opportunity to use one of my favourite polishes is also not to be missed, Above the Curve Friday the 13th (the original one!). This is a dark brown holo, just gorgeous!
Traditionally this is an unlucky day so I decided to offset the unluckiness with lucky black cats, but clearly I have had to cheat, They are very dark brown cats, but anyone who has seen a black cat in the sun will know they often have brown, or even orangey undertones in their fur and that is my justification for the cheat!!
I used Messy Mansion MM50 and A England Carnation Lily Lily Rose to add the cute kitties.
Above the Curve Friday the 13th
Above the Curve Friday the 13th
Messy Mansion MM50
Messy Mansion MM50
 Messy Mansion MM50
Messy Mansion MM50


Thursday 5 October 2017

Nail Crazies Unite - Sugar Skulls

This week's prompt was Sugar Skulls. I have 2 sugar skull plates both with quite large images but unfortunately I cut my nails 2 days before doing this mani - complete failure to think ahead!!
I do have a stamper that shrinks images so then it was a debate between shrink the image or use the clear stamper to neatly place the image. I went for the clear stamper and hoped to get enough image on the nail.
I uses Pet'la Cavaleras with A England Camelot over a base of Polished by Leanne Purity. Purity is a lovely white with a hint of shimmer (a bit camera shy when I took these pictures but nicer than just a plain white)
Then I coloured the images in with Sharpies.
They do look a bit abstract, not sure you would think "sugar skulls" if it didn't say that in the title but I did think they looked pretty.
Pet'la Cavaleras
Pet'la Cavaleras
 Pet'la Cavaleras
 Pet'la Cavaleras

Pet'la Cavaleras
Pet'la Cavaleras


Friday 29 September 2017

26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Your Signature Style

Well, this is the 26th Great Nail Art Idea - so it is the final one. A bit sad maybe but actually I am quite relieved. It has not been the best year and struggling to fit in a weekly or biweekly blog that has to go out on a fixed day has been a bit of a challenge.
The other challenge that alternates with this one finishes in October and I think my blog may well grind to a halt for a while once that happens.
I will obviously still paint my nails and do challenges but many of the Instagram ones are a lot more flexible with posting dates so they are easier to fit in around life.
Anyway, back to this one - Signature Style - well, I always stamp, and I try to pair my manis with knitting (except in the summer when it's too hot or pics look silly with gloves) so of course I have done a stamped knitting mani.
I used a fanbrush base of Barry M Black Pistachio, Barry M Surfboard and OPI I'm Feeling Sashy.
Then I used Messy Mansion MM84XL with A England Saint George to stamp the knitting pattern. I went for the purl side pattern (knitting term)  rather than the stocking stitch pattern as I felt it would look better over the fanbrush and I really like the subtle way the dark green stamping fades into the fanbrush.
Messy Mansion MM84XL
Messy Mansion MM84XL
 Messy Mansion MM84XL
 Messy Mansion MM84XL