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

An InLinkz Link-up

The Digit-al Dozen does Texture Day 5 - Textured Stamped Floral

Hello everyone! Woohoo! I made it! I have completed my first week with The Digit-al Dozen. I have loved every minute of it but it has been a pressured kinda week and its a massive relief to have the first one out of the way! Everyone in the group is lovely and they have been super supportive, but there is a huge amount of talent between all the ladies and its been pretty intimidating to have to jump in to it!

Today I have gone with my new found fave, stamping! It looks a little more Christmassy than I intended as I used all textured polishes to complete the look and the choices from my stash were limited! I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Sugar Fix and then stamped an image from MoYou Pro XL 06 with Konad Black. Once dry, I filled in the flowers with Sally Hansen Sugar Coat Cherry Drop and Claire's Red Leather polish (with a little help from the super sheer LA Colors Moody Red), and the leaves with more Sugar Coat, but this time Sour Apple (and a touch of Sinful Colors Exotic Green). I finished with a little of L-A Glitter Nails fab copper glitter at the centre of the flowers.

I loved how these turned out! The colours show brighter in real life so it looks more tropical (the irony of posting Xmassy looking nails at Easter is not lost on me!). I wasn't sure how the textured polishes would work together for the "colouring in" but they were great. Rexture over texture can be quite unforgiving so I had to be super careful with placement, but its definitely something I'll try again.

So there you have my first week with The Digit-al Dozen. Its been so much fun and I can't wait for next month. Next week is going to be a busy one, with lots of music/tv/film inspired manis for the NCC and a mammoth catch up with the NAILS Mag challenge on the cards. I also have lots of swatches and reviews to post (can you tell that Scarlett is heading back to school??? Normal service will be resumed)! :D

Sam xx

An InLinkz Link-up

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

An InLinkz Link-up

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

An InLinkz Link-up

A stamping obsession - it all starts right here...

Hello everyone! I am tying my Mother's Day nails for FingerFood's Theme Buffet together with my full and frank confession about stamping. Its a vintage floral that my Mum loves and has asked for as her next mani (she will happily let me paint her nails in any colour/pattern combo - despite being at the top end of her seventies!).

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

An InLinkz Link-up

The NCC presents "Untrieds" and Polish Party "Spring" with OPI Sheer Tints

Hello everyone! Today I have my final March mani for the Nail Challenge Collaborative and itis "Untried" in more ways than one. I have been resisting getting into stamping for several reasons for a long time, but seeing some of the fabulous manis out there (especially Sarah's over at Penny Pinching Polish, Ali's at Fixin To Faff) and having a chat with the fabulous Rebecca at Lane's Lacquers (who assured me that it was a good idea!) I caved and ordered some MoYou plates. Obviously I couldn't possibly sit and wait patiently for them to arrive, so I dug out some old Bundle Monster plates that I never used and had a go. What I finished up with seemed to perfectly fit the "Spring" theme for the "Polish Party" group that I have just joined on Facebook, so I decided to combine the two :)

I received my big, juicy OPI nail mail and it seemed like a good opportunity to road test the Sheer Tints, so I layered each of the four colours - Be Magentale With Me, I Can Teal You Like Me, I'm Never Amberrassed and Don't Violet Me Down over a white base. I stamped the accent nail with Konad Black polish and then filled in the gaps with the tints :)

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the tints, but once I knew that it was best to apply them generously, they were very easy to work with. I'm planning another post when I've had time to explore the nail art options a little more, so there will be some gradient/dotty/floral/abstract goodness featuring the Sheer Tints asap :)

So that's it for "Untrieds" month with the NCC. Next month, our theme is "Music/Movies/TV". I am super excited as I have had some great ideas for these manis - whether I can actually execute them so they look as good on nails as they do in my head is another matter entirely though! The theme for the "Polish Party" will be chosen later in the month (as we post towards the end of the month) so I will update you with that info as soon as I have it :)

Sam xx

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up