NAILS Mag 31DC - Colour Block Patchwork

Hello everyone! The theme for today in the NAILS Mag March Challenge is "Colour Block". Normally I would go right into a taping mani but today I felt like doing something a little different. I have been looking through some old photos with my parents recently and was reminded of my favourite duvet cover from when I was little. It was purple patchwork and I thought it would be fun to try and replicate it for this challenge.

I started with a white base and then drew in some guidelines with a purple Sharpie. I filled in the sections with Barry M Gelly Prickly Pear, Collection 2000 Hot Looks Go Retro! and China Glaze Spontaneous and then added flowers, spots and criss cross patterns for the patchwork feel. To finish, I went over the lines with the Sharpie and added some little "stitches" before finishing with Seche Vite (after the Sharpie had had plenty of time to dry)

So there's a trip down memory lane and my version of colour blocking for this March challenge. I've been reliably informed that NAILS Mag are also holding an April challenge which I will be joining in on as much as possible - although with the school Easter holidays in full swing and my first Digit-al Dozen week coming up I'm not sure how much I will get through! All my NAILS Mag challenge posts are on IG with the tag #31NAILS2014, so if you've missed any head over and take a look here - you can see all my pics without having to to read my verbose nonsense ;)

Sam xx

NAILS Magazine 31DC - Mint (Is it summer yet?)

Hello everyone! I'm back again and we're almost at the end of the NAILS Magazine March challenge. Today's theme is "Mint". There were lots of options open for this one, but he furst thing that pops into my head is Mint Choc Chip ice cream and I stopped thinking right about then :)

I started by painting a base of Sinful Colors Glass Pink and then painted across the lower half of each nail with Color Club Earthy Angel. Next I added some fine criss cross detail using Models Own Nude Beige with a fine detail brush and the cone was done. For the ice cream itself, I used Barry M Greenberry (I used the brush straight from the bottle to add it) and added irregular chocolate chips with Color Club Rebel Spirit before finishing with Seche Vite.

Something cute and fun for Friday! The madness of the Easter holiday starts here at midday - Scarlett has over three weeks off so I will be balancing nails with entertaining housefuls of 7 and 8 year olds who want their nails painted! They may even get their own post if I'm running short! In other news I'm looking into doing a course that will allow me to teach nail art/colour theory etc - so exciting! But more about that another day :)

We're in for a lovely warm weekend here in London so maybe I will actually get to eat an ice cream instead of looking longingly at these nails!!!

Sam xx

GOT Polish Challenge Yellow/Peach and NAILS Mag 31DC - Marbling

Hello everyone! Another Thursday and another GOT polish challenge day has come around. The colours for this week are yellow/peach and I can't say I was thrilled with them, especially as I wamted to be able to tie them in with the NAILS Mag prompt "Marbling". Many of you know that I have a love/hate relationship with water matbling (love how it looks, HATE doing it!), so that was a no go from the off. However I have been trying out Robin Moses No Water Marbling technique (tutorial here) with up to now fairly inconsistent results and today it all finally clicked into place - I am so happy! 

The base is LA Colors Illusion. It really is an illusion as I promise I didn't really use purple in a yellow/peach prompt, honest! ;) Then while the polish was still wet, I added blobs of LA Colors  French White and Hottie along with Models Own Lemon Meringue. I used a fine detail brush to drag the wet polish into marble patterns and allowed to dry for a good while before finishing with Seche Vite.

I was so happy to have got this technique right finally that I did two sets, one in the GOT colours (ignore the glaring misuse of purple - but it needed a background colour to make the yellow/peach work, so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!), and another in coffee and chocolate similar to the ones in Robin's video. Here is a sneaky peak at my yummy "mocha coffee chocolate frappuccino" version:

I'm off to do some more of this, playing around with the vast array of colour combinations alone are enough to keep me going for weeks, so expect to see a few of these. I've also spotted a tutorial on how to do flowers in this style - I am all over that!

Tomorrow's prompt for the 31DC is "Mint" and I have something fun lined up for that one! Until then, follow the Inlinkz for all the other GOT manis :)

Sam xx

An InLinkz Link-up

GOT Polish "Ruffle", NAILS Mag 31DC "Dotting Tool" and "A New Technique" (a couple of days early!)

Hello everyone! Today I am combining three prompts into one. I was hoping to get four out of it, but realized that it was going to be a little tricky to cover "Untrieds" in with "only polishes over a year old". Once my brain accepted defeat on that one, I settled on my older polishes for the "Ruffle" prompt, you have to use a dotting tool to create the design, and as its a new technique, it covers the NAILS Mag prompt for Saturday too!

I started with a white base to help the colours hold, and then dotted on lines of (from base to free edge) Rimmel Sunshine, Barry M Gelly Satsuma, LA Colors Absolute, Jessica Purple Burst, LA Colors Edgy, Barry M Gelly Blackberry, Blue Grape, Guava, Greenberry and Key Lime. Finished with Seche Vite.

I can't say that this is my favourite look, but I flung in as many colours as I possibly could, so its bright and "in your face" if nothing else! Its a simple technique and can be made more or less complicated by using a smaller or larger dotting tool.

Tomorrow's prompt is stamping - I might try and be bothered, but I have a few other manis lined up for you if I really can't face it! Can you tell I'm not a fan? ;) It looks lovely, but I would much prefer to paint :D At the very least, I promise to think about it...

Sam xx

An InLinkz Link-up

NAILS Mag Day 19 - Outline

Hello everyone! Today's prompt in the NAILS Mag 31DC is Outline. I haven't done many of these manis so far as they tend to be a bit understated and my nail-style is pretty much anything but that. Since working on this design I've some up with some ideas for outline manis that fit my personality a little more, so stay tuned for those, but in the meantime, I couldn't resist adding a little bling to this one too :)

I started with three coats of the stunning Nails Inc King's Road and then painted in the outline with LA Colors Black Velvet (and a very steady hand!). I had already planned to do an accent nail to break it up a bit, but decided to use a rainbow of rhinestones (part of a prize I won from the fab nail art forum Nail Artsy!) for the outline on my ring finger, set into carefully applied glue. A coat of Seche Vite finished the look.

This Nails Inc polish is really something else, a really subtle rose gold foil effect. If I went for subtle polishes I would get through sooooo much of this polish! I do like the outline look, although I always have to resist the urge to turn them into cartoon nails. However, like I said earlier, I have some more of this design style on the way that are a little less subtle all round! :)

A GOT polish challenge and NAILS Mag 31DC combo coming your way tomorrow. The GOT prompt is "Ruffle mani" and NAILS Mag is "A New Technique" - yay for fortuitous timing!

Sam xx

NAILS Mag 31DC Day 18 - Fade (more glitter!)

Hello everyone! Today I have yet another glitter bomb for you! The prompt for the 31DC today is Fade and I decided to take that as a gradient/colour fade. I had some glitters I'd been dying to mix up and was not disappointed with the finished result :)

I started with a simple, single coat green to blue sponged base to give the glitters a fair start and then layered and blended L-A Glitter Nails Apple, Aqua, Peacock and Sapphire and finished with Seche Vite.

These are so sparkly that they have made me super happy! It felt like the easiest glitter gradient ever - so much glitter packed into each bottle that there wasn't the problem with coverage that is sometimes a problem with glitter gradients. I have almost a full spectrum of these so I think that there may be a few more fade/gradients like this one!

Tomorrow's prompt is "Outline" and I have something a little less glittery lined up for you. There is still some bling involved, but its a far more understated, classy look (I know! From me! Who knew? Lol)  

I will also be road testing a new product called Flexiglaze before I offer it to my clients and will be writing about it and giving progress updates on here. I'm hoping it'll help my poor nails that have refused to grow out nicely since I've been ill (they've become stubborn little buggers!), so there's plenty coming up :)

Sam xx

Tri Polish Tuesdays and NAILS Mag 31DC - My favourite nail product

Hello everyone! Today I'm doubling up as I have so many manis to fit in this month! I had already decided to do a sponging mani as they are my current obsession, and that tied in (tenuously, but I'll take it!) with the 31DC prompt! So my current favourite nail product is technically not nail specific, but make up sponge it is!

I started with a white base to make the colours really pop and then sponged on several layers of LA Colors Mint, Aquatic and Edgy before finishing with Seche Vite.

Its got a retro, tie-dye, lava lamp effect that I love, plus it features some of my favourite colours! I I originally planned to put something else over the top, but I loved the colour combo so much that I couldn't bring myself to add anything else.

Follow the links below to see all the other fabulous Tri Polish manis and if you are thinking of joining in, we have the colours themes for the next three months now posted in the group. We have one more left in this colour scheme though so check back next Tuesday for the last green, blue and purple creation :)

Sam xx

An InLinkz Link-up

Purple madness! GOT Polish, Theme Buffet and NAILS 31DC!

Hello everyone! Today I have a three in one post for you. This mani combines the GOT Polish challenge and NAILS Magazine 31DC "Purple" prompts, along with FingerFood's Theme Buffet "Dots and Stripes" prompt. The polishes are all over 1 year old, there are dots and stripes and its all purple, so therefore made of win!

The base is two coats of Barry M Gelly Prickly Pear. I then taped on a grid pattern and went over the whole nail with French White before carefully removing the tape. I added dots to each white space using a selection of my favourite purples (light to dark: LA Colors Wisteria, Electra and Edgy) and finished with a coat of Seche Vite.

I was able to use some of my favourite colours in this design and I love the fact that I managed to get it to line up for the most part!

So that's my three for the price of one post! I hope you like it. There are loads of links beliw to some gorgeous nail art, so be sure to check them out!

Sam xx

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

NAILS Mag 31DC March Day 10 - French

Hello everyone! Today's prompt in the 31DC is French. I'm not a big fan of French manis in the traditional sense - well, given how much colours I regularly splash all over my nails, somethig as tame and subtle as a traditional nude French mani was never going to work for me, but I understand that they have their place (and do them regularly for other people!).

Having said that, I felt I needed to do a "me" French, so I Started with several coats of Nails Inc Baker Street (a super striking blue), and painted the tip with LA Colors French White (finally using it for its named purpose lol!). I then painted on large pink circles using LA Colors Absolute, filled those in with more French White, and added more circles with LA Colors Mint. Iadded a few smaller dots using all the colours and then finished with Seche Vite.

I love these colours! So bright and bold - this mani really cheered me up in the middle of a pretty rubbish time all in all. I wish I could keep them on for longer, but tomorrow calls for a Purple themed mani as well as my next Tri Polish challenge design for March, featuring green, blue and purple. Lots of painting to do! :)

Sam xx

NAILS Magazine 31DC March Day 9 - Good Luck Charm

Hello everyone! A quick post from me today as World War 3 is about to break out in my house with the rugby kick off! The prompt for today is "Good Luck Charm" and I've gone for another old school tattoo style design. 

I started with a base of LA Colors Sand Storm and then drew in guidelines for the banner with a Sharpie. I filled in the banner using Black Velvet and French White. I added the four leaf clovers with Jessica Victorian Crush topped with Color Club Fly With Me, and added a border to each with Black Velvet. To finish, I drew in the lettering with a black Sharpie, coloured in the heart with LA Colors Red Carnation and finished with Seche Vite. 

I love these - they're very me! The whole thing was a bit of a mission, but I'm pleased I persevered!

Enjoy the rest of your weekends and I will be back with you soon! :)

Sam xx

NAILS Magazine 31DC March Day 8 - Feather

Hello everyone! So far I'm keeping up with the 31DC and today's prompt is Feather. I see that one as being open to several interpretations, but about a year ago I did a "test nail" of a peacock feather and have always been looking for an opportunity to paint a hand full!

I started with a base of Maybelline Lilac Charm which takes three coats for opacity. I then painted on the "eye", the central spine of the feather and a few structural guidelines using LA Colors Black Velvet.
I filled in the eye using a combination of Barry M Teal, Color Club Fly With Me and finished them with a dot of Barry M Navy in the centre. 

Next I used a fine detail brush to add in the soft side feathers using Color Club Sky High and Fly With Me, Barry M Teal and LA Colors Morning Glory. Finally I went over the black lines to clean the design up and finished with Seche Vite.

I love these! I got to use so many of my favourite colours and they turned out exactly how I wanted them too, and how often can you say that about nail art? ;)

Tomorrow's theme is "Good Luck Charm". I've been using some fabulous nail art templates that AJ from Nail Lacquer UK has made available here, which have made me more ambitious design-wise (not sure if that's a good thing or not yet - watch this space!). They are great for working out design placement and three nail shapes are available. They helped me work out my nail art for tomorrow, so thanks AJ!

Sam xx

NAILS Magazine 31DC Day 6 - Your favourite drink

Hello everyone! Post number two for today and time for my favourite drink. Please note that this is my favourite hot summer's day/out for the evening drink, and not my first thing in the morning through to the evening favourite drink! Now that's cleared up, on to the beer!!!

I thought that if I could find a shimmery amber-gold polish, the colour and effect would mostly take care of itself, and I found exactly what I needed with LA Colors Gold Nugget. Three coats of this to get it fully opaque and shimmering beautifully. I added a fluffy French tip for the beer foam using LA Colors French White. To finish, I dotted some white bubbles, then wiped the dotter and added some pressure to the white to allow the gold to show through the centre of each bubble.

These have made me so thirsty, especially with the weather turning warm and almost Spring-like! Definitely time to dust down the grill and get some beers on ice for the weekend! 

Next up for this challenge is "Favourite Sports Team". Given the grudge match that will be playing out in my house over the weekend when England play Wales in the 6 Nations Rugby on Sunday, I don't think there will be any surprises with my next mani :)

Sam xx