Pink and Black and Full of Sparkle!

I have been addicted to Pinterest lately and have found some amazing inspiration there!  Lots of striping tape manis so I decided to give it a shot as well.  I wanted something sweet but a little edgy... After basecoat, I applied one layer of Orly Miss Conduct (on all except my ring finger) and let it dry completely.  I applied one stripe to the tip of each nail and two to the tip of my thumbs, then added a layer of Zoya Storm and peeled off the striping tape before that layer was dry.  Two coats of Storm on ring fingers and a layer of Seche to all nails.  Once dry I stamped the bow image from Cheeky plate CH15 with Ulta Quick Silver and placed a little pink stud in the center and a final topcoat.

So super-sparkly in real life!  This is right up there in my top-10 favs so far! 

Tape Mani

 I wanted to do something much more detailed for today's post but it just didn't work out.  This is going to be a very short post since it is so late in the day.  Base for this one is Zoya Kristen stamped using Cheeky plate CH7 and Julep Helena.  I then taped off the corners and applied Helena to the tips and sealed it all with NYC.

Tale of an Upgrade

Many of you know that I am a nurse with a full time job and going to school full time.  Needless to say things have been crazy lately with the holidays and such and I haven't had much time to even paint my nails let alone blog.  I try hard to fit everything in because I really enjoy being busy and having tasks to do.  Last night I was picking through my pile of untried polish because I wanted something new and something simple.  I chose OPI Casino Royale.  Beautiful color and great formula as you would expect from OPI.  By the time I was done with my nails though, I was exhausted and went to bed without even getting a picture!  Today, I had to work so by the time I got home my mani was showing some wear but I still wanted to be able to share this new color with you all.  So I took a pic of my flawed, unshiny mani with tipwear...and then I upgraded it!

OPI Casino Royale (day 2, flash)

After I took that first picture, I got out my stamping plates and some polish and went to town!  I used Cheeky plate CH11 and Essie Loophole for the stamping and then went back with Zoya Zuza for the dots to add a pop of a different color.  Once that was done I applied a fresh topcoat and I am good to go for another day!  

Day 2 mani upgrade (no flash)

Mizzou Nails!!

I must admit, I'm not a huge college sports fan...but, having your best friend's little brother make the team is kind of a big deal.  I grew up in a very small town...48 people in my graduating class and we were a big class.  So having someone from there make it as part of the team at MU is HUGE.  So, I did these nails to show my support.  I am actually pretty stoked with how they turned out and I am sure that once the season starts, I will be doing nails for some pretty big fans!

I used Zoya Purity for the base, sponged Sinful Colors Pull Over on the tips and stamped with a generic black stamping polish and Cheeky CH2 plate.  I used a small detail brush and Sally Hansen Black Heart for the letters and NYC as the topcoat.  

Summer Challenge: A day at the Zoo!

 Today's theme is "A Day at the Zoo".  Since I already did a giraffe print for the jungle theme, I decided to mix it up a bit and do several different prints...mostly because I couldn't decide on just one!  

The stamping on the index finger didn't turn out quite right but that was the second attempt so I just said to hell with it and left it!  Index finger is essie Brooch the Subject stamped with Zoya Codie, middle is OPI Call me Gwen-ever stamped with black stamping polish from Born Pretty store (see link at right), ring finger is China Glaze Kalahari Kiss stamped with Zoya Coie, pinky is Zoya Purity and black stamping polish.  All finished with NYC Grand Central Station (pictured).  The ring finger was stamped with Bundle Monster BM-215, all others are Cheeky CH2.  What do you think?  Which is your favorite?

Late Nite Summer Challenge Post - Beach Towels

I struggled with what to do for this design, there are so many different things that can be done with today's theme and the ideas were overwhelming.  I finally decided to try a gradient design, I usually fail miserably at them and wanted to push myself a bit.  I ended up using the tutorial by Sammy at the Nailasaurs which can be found here.  I had tried this method once before and failed, I'm not sure what I did wrong but this one turned out better than I expected!  I started with a base of white and used Sinful Colors Fusion Neon (pink) and Why Not (blue) for the gradient.  The accent nail is China Glaze Kinetic Candy stamped in a stripe pattern (Cheeky CH6) with China Glaze Aqua Baby and then the seahorse design from with plate m27 (fake Konad).  The flip flop design is from the new Bundle Monster set and is plate BM-309.  Overall I'm pleased with how they turned out.  Don't forget to check out the others!!

Summer Challenge : Blue + Aqua + Green

Blue, aqua, and green....had a bit of a tough time with this one.  I KNEW I didn't want to tackle another water marble yet, especially since there is one coming up on the list, so I had to come up with another way to combine the three somehow.  I pulled out several colors from my stash and none of them really looked like they went together so finally I decided on Essie Bobbing for Baubles which we saw in yesterday's post.  I recently got my set of Cheeky plates so I looked through them until something jumped out at me.  I tried a few other things first but none really worked out so I ended up with one of the designs form the CH12 plate and China Glaze Cherish for the green.  It is one of those that is perfect for stamping and it looked good against the deep blue background.  I added some aqua rhinestones and here is the result.  Overall I'm quite pleased with how it turned out!  I can't wait to see what the others have come up with!

Picnic Time!

Today's theme for the PCF Summer Challenge is Picnic.  I had an idea what I wanted to do for this one a while back but managed to put it off until the last minute... I think they turned out ok...not quite like I had pictured but "good enough".  Base is Zoya Purity with Orly's Grave Mistake and Cheeky plate CH3 for the pattern.  Dotting tool and art brush for the ants.  I used several colors layered/sponged to get the "fruit" part of the watermelon accent nail, art brush with black for the seeds and China Glaze Starbord and Glittering Garland for the watermelon rind.  Be sure and check out the other participants posts for today as well!!