The Digit-al Dozen does Metal Day 1

Hello everyone! I am very much enjoying my blogging break and hope that you are all enjoying a sunny June wherever you are. I'm back for this week to bring you five manis with all the other ladies in the Digit-al Dozen and this month our theme is metal. 

Once I saw this I was so annoyed that I hadn't saved my sheet metal mani from two months ago! It was my most popular mani to date and would've been perfect! Still, to kick off this week I decided to go with one of my fluid designs. 

I started with a base of Nail Essentials SIlver Shimmer and freehanded some sections of Color Club Pearl District. I then added sections of All About Nails Bronze, leaving a fine line of silver showing between the gold and the bronze. To finish, I went over the silver using Color Club Sex Symbol with a striping brush, and finished with Seche Vite.

I wish that the bronze was a little "bronzer", but I like the style and overall molten metal feel of this. They're not my usual sort of colours either, but I resisted to cover the whole thing in glitter and tried to make the sparkle an accent to the design instead. 

For those of you that missed this one, here's the mani that I wish I'd saved for this week :)

See you tomorrow!

Sam xx

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The NCC presents "Skittles" 3 - Color Club Dot-skittle-icure

Hello everyone! Today I have my third NCC mani for May (with the fourth and final one following tomorrow). I picked a simple selection of Color Club polishes to create this look.

I started with a base of Silver Lake on all five nails before adding different dotted patterns on each nail using Daisy Does It, Sparkle and Soar and Wing Fling using two different sized dotting tools.

So there you have it! Super simple but I got to use some of my favourite polishes (still in love with the whole Take Wing collection) and I think the soft grey underneath really makes the other colours stand out.

One more Skittles mani for tomorrow before we move on to June's theme :)

Sam xx

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The Digit-al Dozen does Decades Day 5 - The 60s (but the 1660s!)

Hello everyone! Today brings the Digit-al Dozen Decades week to an end and I have loved every minute of it! Everyone's art has been so creative and the diverse interpretations have been awesome! I'm finishing with a curveball, born out of a school project that Scarlett did a while ago. I've had this idea on the back burner since then (fire pun - yay!), and seeing as the Great Fire of London happened in 1666, I bring you the 1660s!

I started with a base of Models Own Lemon Meringue, before sponging on OPI Yellopalooza, Barry M Gelly Mango, OPI The Drummer Is Hot and Dream Black to create the burning skyline effect. I then painted in the burning building silhouettes with Color Club Rebel Spirit, watered down with a little acetone in places, before finishing with Seche Vite.

So I'll admit this isn't the cheeriest topic to end the week on, but I am in love with how this came out (even if I did have to do it twice after I painted it upside down the first time - grrr!). Decade week has been a blast, and if you haven't checked out everyone else's manis for the week you are missing a treat! Follow the Inlinkz below to check out all the other ladies' work :)

Sam xx

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The Digit-al Dozen does Decades Day 2 - 1960s Emilio Pucci

Hello everyone! The second day of our trip through the decades with the Digit-al Dozen and I'm bringing you a little bit of the 1960s! As most of you will know I love my fluid, abstract designs along with bright (and occasionally strange) colour combinations, so it goes without saying that Emilio Pucci and his prints are a constant source of inspiration for me!

I started with a white base and freehanded sections of Color Club Pucci-licious (how could I not use that one?!), Revlon Sassy and Barry M Gelly Dragon Fruit and Lychee, before carefully outlining each section with Color Club Rebel Spirit and finished with a coat of Seche Vite.

There's a Taschen book which is full of Pucci prints - some of the covers are shown in the photo below in case you're not familiar with his style. I'm off to trawl the internet for more of his bags for my collection and will be back with another DD mani for you tomorrow. Don't forget to check out the other ladies work via the links below! :)

Sam xx

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Got Polish Challenge "Something Tropical" and NAILS Mag April Challenge "Pink"

Hello everyone! Today I am combining prompts again! The Golden Oldie Thursday challenge wanted "Something Tropical" while NAILS Mag wanted "Pink" so I combined the two and here's what happened!

I started with two coats of Jessica Purple Burst and waited for it to dry. I then stamped some hibiscus flowers from an old BM plate on to each nail with Konad white. I added in a little more detail with some white acrylic paint, used Color Club Psychedelic Scene for the pollen, Color Club Pucci-licious (thinned with a little acetone) for the petals and Barry M Gelly Greenberry for the greenery, before finishing off with another coat of Seche Vite.

 I think that I also deserve a cheer this week for remembering to use only old polishes! The last couple of weeks I realized as I typed up my posts that I may have forgotten the central point of the challenge (oops!), but I made sure this week that they are all well over a year old and despite the fact that its both pink and flowery (two of my least favourite things!), I actually think that this turned out pretty cool :)

Tomorrow's prompt is "Inspired by your favourite nail artist". I'll be honest and say that I hate this kind of prompt. I always feel like I'm copying (even though I always give full credit - I'm a good girl!), and I would much rather be doing my own thing. Still, I'll have a go and see what happens! 

Follow the links below to see all the other fabulous tropical manis from Crumpet's Nail Tarts below :)

Sam xx

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NAILS Magazine April Challenge Day 22 - Earth Day

Hello everyone! I'm hopping on board the NAILS Magazine April challenge with 10 days lest to spare. With such a busy month I just haven't had the time, but today Scarlett went back to school (although with exam week coming up next week, her 7 year old stress levels are about to go through the roof! Not if I can help it though!), my first Digit-al Dozen week is done and I've managed to sort my nail room to the point where the surfaces of both my desks are visible, so today has been a success and I'm ready to start trying to get ahead again!!!

Apparently, today is Earth Day. In all honesty I'd never heard of it, it doesn't seem to be a big deal over here and let's just say that I'm not exactly good at keeping up with environmental concerns and developments (I know, my bad...), but I read the wiki and am now a lot more informed (about the day if nothing else).

I decided to do a mani using earthy colours, which is a step in a new direction for me anyway, so I stuck with one of my fluid designs (thanks for the name Deb! ;) and a few dots!

I started with three coats of OPI My Vampire Is Buff. Once dry, I started by adding some random freehand sections of OPI Taupe-less Beach. I outlined those with a striping brush using Color Club Rebel Spirit and Sinful Colors Exotic Green, and then finished by adding some small dots using OPI Don't Bossanova Me Around and more Rebel Spirit, before finishing with Seche Vite.

  

Although this will be a familiar design style from me, the colours are completely the opposite. I've noticed that I've started buying some neutrals, taupes and nudes recently, but I still love my brights and always seem to reach for them first! 

Tomorrow's theme in the NAILS Mag challenge is "Bow". I've had one of my bright ideas for this one - whether or not it works out is another matter entirely!!!

Sam xx

FingerFood's Theme Buffet (Gothic) and NCC Movies - Nosferatu

Hello everyone! Today I have some nail art to show you that I am insanely proud of! The theme this week in FingerFood's Theme Buffet is one that is very close to my heart as its been a huge part of my life for over 20 years now! It was suggested by the lovely Sarah from Penny Pinching Polish and I was so happy that she put it forward :) This also fits in with the NCC's Movies/Music/TV month so its a double win! 

Goth isn't all maudlin black and it has grown its own set of sub genres over the years (including the fluffy, neon cyber goths), but I'm pretty much old school apart from my nails, so I decided to try and recreate an iconic image from "Nosferatu", the 1922 film starring Max Schreck.

I started with a base of LA Colors French White and sponged on the "frame" using Color Club Silver Lake, Ciate Vintage and LA Colors Black Velvet. I used a black Sharpie to draw in guidelines for the bannister, doorway and Dracula himself, and then carefully painted them in with more black, using a little more of the Vintage and Silver Lake for detail. I finished with a coat of Seche Vite.

Here's the image I worked from:

This is one of those manis that I had to try once I'd had the idea, but had no hopes of it turning out well enough for me to be able to post it! Instead I am really pleased with myself! I know that it has areas which need refining, but I think it captures the essence of the original image and this style of nail art is way out of my comfort zone!

I have one more NCC mani coming at you for April and the theme for the Buffet next week is to try "something new". I'm going to take the rest of the evening off and look at these nails some more, and I will be back with you soon - please follow the links below to check out all the other fabulous NCC and Buffet manis :)

Sam xx

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FingerFood's Theme Buffet - Fishtail ;)

Hello everyone! This week's theme in the Theme Buffet is Fishtail. I'm not going to lie to you, I've tried that technique two or three times over the last year and never once have I got more than halfway through a single nail before getting so bored and frustrated that I wiped it off and started again with something else. Its just one of those things that aren't meant to be.

Anyhoo, I had to think of a way around the theme that still fitted the prompt (also feeling glad at this point that I suggested people stretch the themes as far as they wanted!), so I painted fishtails, but more like the ones attached to my parents' Koi. 

I started with a base of Barry M Gelly Blueberry and LA Colors Flurry, and then painted in the white base for the tails in French White. Once dry I covered the white with Color Club Sparkle and Soar and painted in the details with Barry M Gelly Satsuma, Tangerine and a little more white. I added a little LA Colors Metallic Silver to the edges and a coat of Seche Vite to finish.

I'm actually pretty happy with the way that these turned out - flamey, abstract-y, fishy nails. The cremes, shimmers and glitters all worked pretty well together...

Next week is far more up my alley! I'll be back with something a little bit Goth for you - I have so many ideas for this that I don't know where to start! We might even end up with a Goth week if I can't rein it in lol!

Check out all the other fabulous fishtail manis from the ladies with far more patience than me! ;)

Sam xx

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The Nail Challenge Collaborative presents Music/Movies/TV #1 - GnR inspired

Hello everyone! I'm starting my NCC manis a little late this month - I had ideas in place but haven't had time to do them justice, so I thought it would be better to leave them for a while. Starting with a mani inspired by a bandana (why not?).

I spent my early teens obsessed with Guns n' Roses and Axl Rose and seeing them play with Soundgarden, Faith No More and Brian May at Wembley Stadium when I was 15 is still a massive highlight of my music landscape. His trademark paisley bandanas were everywhere as all my teenage boy friends tried to emulate the look (and let's face it, a bandana was more practical than Slash's top hat). Most failed miserably, but they tried... ;)

I started with two coats of Barry M Gelly Passion Fruit and then painted in the paisley shapes with white acrylic paint (Yes, you read right! I used paint for once!!!) and dotted along the edges. I went in and added inner detail using Barry M Gelly Lychee and Color Club In The Limelight before finishing with Seche Vite.

These nails have made me soooooo nostalgic and I think they are the best paisley print I've done. I'm glad I tried out the acrylic paint for the base of the print too, as it allowed me to have a clean surface to add the detail without having to wait for a layer of white polish to dry.

Here's the man himself wearing my nail design on his head ;)

So there's number one out of the way, I'm off to sing loudly along to "Appetite for Destruction" and will be back with another nostalgic TV-inspired NCC mani for you soon. Don't forget to check out all the other awesome manis from the NCC ladies below...

Sam xx

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GOT Polish challenge - Hot Pink

Hello everyone! Another week has rolled around in the GOT Polish Challenge and the theme for this week is Hot Pink. I was a little undecided as to what to do this week, but I was stamping a floral while I was thinking about it and realized that I had what I needed right under my nose!

I started with a base of LA Colors French White and then stamped an image from MoYou Pro XL 06 in Konad Black and waited for that to dry. Once dry, I thinned out Cacee Nails Olivia and Jessica Purple Burst with some acetone and started "colouring in". I added some Color Club Fly With Me for the leaves and finished with Seche Vite.

I was originally planning to do something bold, bright and HOT pink, but when this idea presented itself I decided to go with it and I think it works! 

The GOT challenge has seemed to have become a stamping challenge for me the last couple of weeks - I promise to try and do something freehand for next week! Having said that, I have a stamping mani tomorrow to close out Texture week with The Digit-al Dozen, but after that I'll be freehanding my way into the Easter weekend :)

Sam xx

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The Digit-al Dozen does Texture Day 4 - Gemstone Nails

Hello everyone! Another wholly impractical mani for you today as part of Texture week with The Digi-al Dozen! Those of you that know me know that I also make jewellery. I closed my business before I had my daughter as there was no way I could balance all that work with a baby and now its mostly a hobby, but the occasional piece makes it on to Etsy with the nails and other bits and pieces. Anyway, as a result I have cases full of gems and beads. I was joking with Alessandra (The Sparkle Queen) back in January that I should mix it up with the nails and now that time has come!

I went through looking for the smallest chips and settled on some Iolite (one of my favourites because of its lovely violet blue colour. After the denim debacle I couldn't face gluing them to five nails so settled instead for two and created a skittlette. 

All the nails were painted with a base of Sinful Colors Glass Pink. I added a layer of nail glue and added the Iolite chips to my middle and ring fingers. I had to place a couple with tweezers to fill gaps, but for the most part they adhered really well! I added a coat of Color Club Covered in Diamonds to the index finger as the large holo flakes added to the gem effect. For the thumb and little finger, I used a ton of striping tape to create a triangular pattern (again similar to the Iolite effect) and filled in the sections with Nail Essentials Silver Shimmer, Barry M Gelly Picky Pear and LA Colors Illusion.

This is far from being one of my favourites, but its one of those things that I had to see through once I'd had the idea, and despite how it turned out, I'd put too much work into it not to post it!

One more to go for my first DD week and its been a blast! :)

Sam xx

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