GOT Polish Challenge - Coral

Hello everyone! Just putting this out there at the start - I hate coral! Not the colour itself, but the horrible way it sits next to my pasty skin, making it look even more pasty! Now that's out of the way, I've been stamping again! Still loving it but glad to have got back to some freehand nail art this week too. I may actually have found a good balance between the two :)

I painted my nails with LA Colors Hottie, but my bottle of this is super old that its hard to get a good finish (mental note to buy new bottle!), so I topped it with the very similar Nails Inc East Austin and then stamped using an image from MoYou Pro XL 03 using Konad White stamping polish before finishing with Seche Vite.

Its simple but it was the quickest way for me to do something pretty and then to get that coral off my nails! I am still loving my MoYou plates (might have to place another order this weekend!)! I'm going to a wedding on HMS Warrior on Saturday and am planning to use one of the stamping images to match my dress (although I'm still deciding whether to go out and buy another dress tomorrow!). Either way, I'm going to be blinging up the nails as much as possible :)

Sam xx

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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 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

NAILS Magazine 31DC Day 2 - Gold (A 70s retro glitter bomb)

Hello everyone! Day 2 of the March challenge today and our theme is "Gold". I started with the idea of something simple and classic with gold accents. But then some nail mail from L-A Glitter Nails showed up and I ended up with a retro glitterbomb instead... Meh, these things happen!

I started with an opaque base of LA Colors Solar Gold topped with Color Club Sultry Diva. I then added curves using L-A Glitter Nails Taffy and Chocolate (more stunning glitters from Lyka-Ann!) and contrasting dots before finishing with Seche Vite.

Despite the fact that they didn't turn out anything like the original idea in my head, something was obviously trying to find its way out of my brain, as my Mum told me that this really reminds her of their lounge wallpaper in the late 1970s when I was a baby (ouch!).

I have something different for you tomorrow, as well as more challenge nail art. Hope you are all having/have had a fabulous weekend! :)

Sam xx

Week of Love Challenge - Hearts

Hello! So here I am with my second post for today! I havebeen a bad girl when it comes to this challenge - I have had to let a few things slide this week on the nail front and I'm sad to say that this challenge has been one of them. I have only officially missed one prompt which was yesterday's "Roses". I will try and do a roses mani in the near future, but I don;t think its going to be this week!

So, today's prompt is "Hearts". As I mentioned before, I'm kind of Valentined out already, so I wanted to have a go at a different interpretation. I settled on jewellery, and as I had done a heart mani that included chains a week or so back (my mind wanders around some strange places after dark lol), I went for a more traditional jewellery chain feel.

I started with a base of Color Club Williamsburg which is a beautiful deep navy with a very dark shimmer. I then added hearts with a detail brush using LA Colors Solar Gold and then dotted on the chain effect. Once dry, I went back in over the gold dots with more of the navy to create the chain effect and added some gold glitter over the heart charms for a little added sparkle. I finished with Seche Vite.

Tomorrow's final prompt is Freestyle/Recreate. I have already done this one so it should be in on time and I can't wait to share it with you!

Take a look at all the other interpretations this theme by following the links below - its so great to see what looks like endless creativity from all the ladies involved :)

Sam xx

An InLinkz Link-up