I have been painting my nails for years, been down with the whole nail art "thing" for a couple of years and blogging consistently for over a year now, but I have always resisted stamping, despite how much I loved looking at the awesome stamped creation of some of my nail buddies (some named and shamed in this recent post). I had a full set of BM plates that were okay but I've always been more into the idea of honing my freehand skills (at this point, I'm going to mention that this will not change), and got caught up in the idea that stamping is kinda cheating (I know, don't all shout at me at once!).
Anyway, I'm a sucker for a good gimmick and I saw the MoYou London plates and the packaging and immediately fell in love. Then I looked at the images and they caught my interest unlike any other plate had before. Finally I saw this mani by Canadian Nail Fanatic and that was it! I was on that site ordering plates and counting the minutes until they turned up. Yesterday they did - Pro XL plates 03 and 06:
I immediately went for a floral design in the top right corner of the 06 plate as I knew that I Could play with some jelly polishes and my OPI sheer tints. Here's how it came out stamped with Konad black:
I smudged the thumb a bit, but I'm not one for doing things over and figured that most of that would get covered up by the colour. I them added the OPI sheer tints and watered down a few other colours with acetone to add some depth. I Can Teal You Like Me with Color Club Bright Night, Don't Violet Me Down with LA Colors Edgy and I'm Never Amberrassed with a very watered down Barry M Gelly Mango. I used Sinful Colors Exotic Green for the leafy bits and finished with Seche Vite.
So I know it needs improvement, but I am very happy with my first attempt at this leaded light, painted porcelain effect. Plus I have a ton of lovely stamping images to play with to get the technique right.
Sorry to all those I doubted about stamping, I am officially a convert :)
Sam xx
These are fantastic, I can't get over how good they look!! Such detail and it all looks immaculate! Personally I don't think you need more practice as they look perfect! I definitely need to practice stamping, I can't seem to do it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Emily! I felt exactly the same, it has so much to do with having all the right things. Once you have the right stamper, plates, polish and scraper (old gift card all the way), its actually a lot simpler than I thought :)
DeleteYou did an excellent job! They look lovely. I, too, was never terribly interested in stamping. I preferred to use my freehand talents. But I admit to asking for some BM plates for Christmas. I briefly gave them a try; not as easy as I thought. But I look forward to improving and trying the look you've created. Beautiful work!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I definitely prefer freehand creations overall but its a great feeling to know that you can have something that looks awesome without having to put hours of effort in :)
Deleteamazing this just looks beautiful, you did amazing for your first attempt I don't think you need any more practice
ReplyDeleteThanks Roz! Practice makes perfect (or at least makes less smudges on my big ol' thumb nails!) :)
DeleteOh Sam, these are just beautiful! Can't wait to see what you do next!
ReplyDeleteI got my sheer tints in the post yesterday, and I can't wait to try them out, but I'm wearing my gothic mani for the Theme Buffet and I don't want to take it off yet. :( xx
Thanks hun! The tints are great, but I've started playing around with watering down all sorts of polishes with acetone to create the same effect and now the colour options are endless!!! Can't wait to see your Gothic mani - I have a feeling that this week is going to be one of my favourites :D xx
DeleteI managed to convince myself to remove it now, and I loved what I did with the sheer tints in the end! I'm planning on buying a bunch of cheap clear polish and making a crap tonne of tints now though! I'm really looking forward to the gothic prompt too (duh!) Will be really interesting to see what everyone else comes up with for this too, I've taken almost everyone out of their comfort zone :p ps. if you want a spoiler for the gothic mani, I used some loose chain for the first time :D xx
DeleteEep! Exciting!!! Can't wait to see that :D xx
DeleteI'm speechless. This is simply jawdropping!
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you! :D
DeleteThese are so pretty! The colors and pattern are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI honestly feel the same way that you did about stamping. I don't know why but I won't let myself do it for challenges because I always assume that free hand would be more impressive? It really is a bad way to look at it because some of the things that people are able to achieve with stamping are downright stunning! I might need to pull out my stamping plates soon.... (:
Thanks! I'm definitely glad I got over my stamping "thing" as I was exactly the same and didn't feel that I should use it for challenges etc. Maybe we could start a "Stampaphobics" group and post our guilt ridden stamping manis there for each other lol! :)
ReplyDeleteso impressive. they look like stickers....so perfect. U r so talented girl !!
ReplyDeleteThank you Anita! :D
DeleteCongrats on your first MoYou London plates, and welcome to the stamping world ;) I'm never good at freehand, so stamping is my life saver! Your first leadlight technique looks perfect <3
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm totally addicted to MoYou plates already - my wallet is going to be taking a big hit!!! :)
DeleteWow. This is the best flower-mani i've ever seen! :x
ReplyDeleteAnd considering you did it by hand (except for the stamping) makes it even better!
Congrats.
Can you please take a look at my blog? Maybe tell me what you think? I still have a lot to learn!
http://www.dittanail.blogspot.ro/
Perfect for summer! I love them :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteI agree with you about free hand nail art :-) But, your final manicure looks fantastic, it really makes me try some stamping... but I would have to buy some nice stamping plates first... :-)
ReplyDeleteBuying the MoYou plates made all the difference - I discovered that stamping can actually be fun lol! :)
DeleteFirst attempt? Are you kidding us? OMG this looks perfectly gorgeous to me o_O
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks Simona! I think it was beginner's luck as I have also had a few fails! I'm getting there though!
DeleteYou said that you need improvement and it's your first time.... I say that you're insane! These are absolutely amazing. I love the watercolor or suncatch-like effect you got with the coloring over the black stamping, as well. I can't even imagine what you could do if you had more practice
ReplyDelete*jealous*
Haha, thanks Manda! I'm definitely wanting to do more of these, but they're pretty time intensive and I am waaaay behind at the moment! Once Scarlett heads back to school I'm hoping to catch up and maybe even get ahead a bit so I can fit in some more of this kind of thing :)
DeleteThis looks amazing!! <3
ReplyDelete