Before & After: Decorations

(Nothing to disclose)

Hello!

I'm back again just under the wire actually on time (sort of) with today's challenge theme! Today it's the 12 Days challenge, and the theme is 'Decorations'. :)

I started with Julep Mia, a metallic flecked polish that's a tricky shade of silver-green-gold:

Julep Mia

Julep Mia

Julep Mia

Then I stamped over it using Bundle Monster H03. I put both red (Pure Ice Siren) and green (Zoya Hunter) on the image before scraping. Finally, I added some teeny microbeads for accents:

I just realized I put up two three-nail-design manicures in a row! Shows you I'm really into the look right now. Anyway, I like this look because it's soft and elegant; very ladylike and understated. :)

Hope you're having an excellent week,
M.

Before & After: Winter Wonderland

Hello!

If orange is the new black, can 'one day late' be the new 'on-time' for nail art challenges?? Pretty please?

No, I really do just need to get my act together.

Well, today's yesterday's challenge theme for my Crumpet's Nail Tarts Christmas Winter Challenge is 'Winter Nature (Landscapes, trees, frost..)', so today I created for you my version of a Winter Wonderland.



I started with this most controversial of 2013 Holiday Polishes, China Glaze There's Snow One Like You. This is a white, glittered, textured conglomeration of a polish that takes the idea of texture to a new apex or nadir, depending on your personal preference. I admit, I am one of the few who truly love it--it looks to me like drifts of snow and makes me feel like my fingertips have that tree flocking stuff on them. I personally think it looks best with a generous coat of topcoat over the top, to smooth it out a bit:

China Glaze There's Snow One Like You

China Glaze There's Snow One Like You

China Glaze There's Snow One Like You

Next, I stamped over it using Barry M Silver Foil and Bundle Monster 407:

Finally, I put little half-beads as accents for the circles on the design; these were sent to me for review from Born Pretty Store, and I will be doing a more complete review of them tomorrow. If you're interested in buying them in the meantime, I have a 10% coupon code (MCL91):

Later on, we'll conspire

As we dream by the fire

To face unafraid, the plans that we've made

Walking in a winter wonderland. :)

I wasn't sure how this would come out stamped over texture, but I do sort of like the way it makes the light shine off of different parts of the trees, almost like it's being lit by moonlight or something. And what do you think, better with the beads, or without? I think the beads add a little special something.

Hope you're enjoying your winter wonderland, whatever it might be looking like. :)

Hugs and loves,

M.

Before & After: What happens when Rudolf drinks too much...

Hello!!

So I'm part two holiday challenges this month, and I'm already behind on two of them. But it's for a good reason--I'm made some really good progress on my book and should have a complete first draft in a week or two. Woo hoo!

Today's theme, which is for The Twelve Days Of Christmas Nail Art Challenge, is festive colors/glitter.

I started with Jessica Touch it, a gold-silver blend textured polish with glitter for extra glimmer:

Jessica Touch It 

Next I added a layer of Shirley Ann Nail Lacquer Rudolph Ralphed, which I just got in her Black Friday sale; it's a mix of gold, red and green glitters in hex and square shapes. Inspired by the name, I decided to add the little Rudolph who had just ralphed it all over my fingers--I figure, he must have been drinking too much at the annual North Pole Christmas party:

I stamped the reindeer with Konad Black, and China Glaze Passion and Brownstone (I layered them to get the shadaowed effect), and Bundle Monster plate H01. I added a red stud for the nose and two black rhinestones for the eyes.

Look at that little dickens! Cute as a button! Well, at least he looks a little bit sheepish about getting glitter everywhere...sigh...;)

Hugs and love, and don't forget to check out the other manis below! :)

M.

Before & After: I'm in the mood for...

Hello!

Okay, yesterday we took mini break from fall with some bright colors. Today, I'm in the mood for fall, baby. In fact, I'm in the mood for Thanksgiving.

'I'm in the mood for Thanksgiving...simple because yams're near me...'

Ahem. Sorry about that. The thing is, today's theme in Adventures In Stamping is 'I'm in the mood for ___". And yes, I am in fact in the mood for Thanksgiving.

It all started with this incredible custom that InDecisive Lacquer made for me, and rusty orange brown crelly with all sorts of brown, gold, orange and pinky-purple hex and circle glitters...I decided to name it Zea Mays, because I think it came out looking like the most beautiful Indian corn you've ever seen:

InDecisive Nail Lacquer Zea Mays

This, my friends, is one coat. That's right, you heard me, only one coat. I could have divided it into two coats, or put one thin coat over something else. But seriously now--a crelly that looks this good in one coat, no dabbing, no fussing? Oh yes, sooo nice...

BTW, I have been trying to convince Aleksandra that she should make this part of her line. I think it's a such a perfect color for fall and so packed with glitter. What do you think?

Anyway, having established an wonderful fall feel with this base, I decided to do my first Thanksgiving mani for the year with it. I stamped using Bundle Monster H11 and H13; I stamped the corn leaf things with China Glaze passion, and the cornucopia with Konad black. Then I pulled out the acrylics and painted over the stamped image to bring it to life; I think this is rapidly becoming one of my favorite time saving techniques:

 I love how it came out, but I'd stamp the leaf things down further next time to let more of the base polish show.

What about you--are you looking forward to Thanksgiving?

Thanks for stopping by today! Big hugs,
M.

My entries to the Barielle Halloween Manicure Contest

Hello there!

If you don't already know, Barielle is currently running a Halloween contest, open to anyone:

You can check it out by clicking here. I put together two manicures to enter and thought I'd also share them here. :)

For the first, I started out with a gradient of Barielle Green Apple and Barielle Green Opal. Then I stamped over it with Nfu-Oh 61 using HD-C for the webs, and Barielle Edgy for the spiders (same plate):

Da itsy-bitsy spiders...

The second is a skittle-based manicure, using Barielle Orange Parfait and Green Apple as the base; I stamped over the index and pinkie with Konad white using Bundle Monster BMH07; for the middle and ring fingers I used Konad White and Barielle Edgy to stamp with Bunny Nails plate HD-D:

What do you think? Do you have a favorite? Do you like either one?

No matter what, head on over to Barielle's Facebook page and consider entering the contest. Even if you don't want to enter, take a look at the entries and 'like' your favorites. If they happen to be mine, well, hey, so be it! :)

Halloween hugs,
M.

Before & After: Attack of the B-Movie (Or, watch out for that preying mantis!)

Okay, so here's the thing.

When I got my Bundle Monster 'Create Your Own' plates, there was an image of a praying mantis. I, in my infinite goofiness, did not recognize it as such, and thought it was some sort of weird ant-grasshopper hybrid. Embarrassing, yes, but it stimulated my imagination.

When I was really young, they used to play these crazy B-movies on TV, and it seemed like in at least half of them, so crazy GINORMOUS critter that had been cross-bred by scientists/zapped by chemicals/exposed to nuclear waste crawled out of the ocean/mountains/forest/swamp and destroyed a city. If one of those movies didn't have a huge praying mantis, one most surely had some sort of huge grasshopper/ant/stick insect thing.

So I decided to do a tribute to those B movies, by creating one with a praying mantis that has been turned into a preying mantis...

I started with a base of China Glaze Grape Pop, another wonderful purple for Halloween purposes:

China Glaze Grape Pop, 2 coats, artificial light

Next I stamped on the skyscape and the praying mantis from Bundle Monster BM414 and BM417, using Barry M Silver Foil and Konad Black polish:

Sorry...

I have no funny praying mantis jokes...::sobs::

Oh noes!!! It's climbing up the building! It's eating the peoples! It's coming to get us all!! AAAHHHHRRRRGGGGGGG!!

::Ahem:: So what do you think? Does it take you back to all of those awesome Saturday afternoon creature features?

Here's hoping nobody eats your head off,
M.

Tutorial: Dia De Los Muertos manicure

Hello!!

I had some requests for a tutorial on my Dia De Los Muertos manicure, so here it is! It's pretty simple once you know how to do it, so that's a good thing.

Step 1) Over your base color, which can be any medium gray color, you want to stamp a row of
roses across the bottom (tips) of your nails in a lighter gray color that is opaque enough to show up:

Notice I did not do this perfectly and didn't care if they are blurry or smudged a bit--this is just a background row that you're putting in to create depth and contrast, you won't be able to see if it's perfect or not because it will be covered up. My rose is from Winstonia 104, but you can use any rose you like. :)


Step 2). Add another layer of roses in red over your layer of gray roses:

You do not want these to line up perfectly, in fact, you want to give the illusion that there are a ton of roses there. So, try to stamp generally in the same spot as the other roses, but don't worry about it when it doesn't match up, because that's the effect you're going for. :)

Step 3: Finally, add in your skull and your skeletons! (Mine are from BM413.) I wanted my skeletons to look like they were dancing and moving around like they would be in a Dia De Los Muertos parade. But I do admit that the nail I love the best is the index finger, where they sort of look like they're in a mosh pit, lol:

The point is, position them randomly anywhere you like. One important tip, however; for the skeletons on my ring and pinkie finger, I rolled the stamper downward, from cuticle to tip, rather than from side-to-side on the nail. That's how I keep an image straight vertically on the nail without warping. :)

And that's it! Throw a topcoat on--I bet this would be awesome with a matte topcoat--and you're done!

Of course I'm including a single-image tutorial for you in case you want to pin it somewhere for ease of use.

Thanks to the people who requested the tutorial--it really helps me when you tell me what you'd like to see tutorials for, so keep those requests coming!! :)

Hugs and loves,
M.

Before & After: C-S-I'm Too Late

Hello!

It seems that this month I am fated to be one day behind on my challenges...But I'm not giving up trying! Yesterday's theme in the CNT Halloween challenge was 'Blood and/or Gore', and who can skip that one??!!

I started with a base of China Glaze's Cast A Spell, from last year's Halloween collection; it's a blackened golden-olive fleck-finished polish perfect for your darker, gothier, more classic zombie moments, and it's a one-coater to boot!:

China Glaze Cast A Spell, one coat, artificial light

I wanted to make this look like a creepy crime scene, so first I took the splatter image from the new Bundle Monster set (BM416), and I painted a stripe of Konad Red polish down it diagonally, and carefully scraped to minimize where the polish went (let me know if you'd like a tutorial on how I did this). At first I tried stamping this directly on top of Cast A Spell, but it didn't show up as brightly as I wanted it to--this is the time for a bright, gory effect! So, I did this again with Barry M Silver Foil, and then stamped the same image section over that in red. I didn't worry about doing this perfectly, because having some of the silver foil actually gives it a more dramatic contrast. Then I stamped the skeleton parts using Konad white and Bunny Nails HD03, and Mash 29; I left the red polish on my skin to give it more of that blood-splatter look:

Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?

He didn't have the guts. 

I am so proud of this mani! I think it may be my favorite Halloween mani I've done this year. It's horrendously gory and spectacularly scary. I think I may even wear it on Halloween, or when I go on my yearly haunt!

Thanks for taking a look, and please don't forget to take a look at the other Bloody/Gory manicures below. :)

Haunting hugs,
M.

Review: Bundle Monster 'Create Your Own' Collection

(The plates in this review were purchased with my own money.)

Hello!!!

I am finally caught up on my stamping plate reviews!! And today I am very excited to present to you the Bundle Monster 'Create Your Own' collection, which was created from the input of stampers like us!

Of course I have made a lovely, silly video with my deeply insightful observations about the plates, along with a stamping test:

And of course I have still shots for you:

BM401: Love these octopuses (octopi?) and that bird is very folk-arty

BM402: Tape manis and mustaches and coffins, oh my!

BM403: How cute is that Celtic-style four-leaf clover?

BM404: Infinite love and thought clouds make me happy inside

BM405: Live, Laugh, Love...especially, love the Egyptian and origami images

BM406: Every one of these is a winner

BM407: I love that stylized forest at the top...

BM408: I love the globe and the faux glitter...I wonder how good that will look to make cool patterns

BM409: Love that linguini pattern and the sweet tree...and DNA is always useful. :)

BM410: Beautiful Grecian-type pattern and stunning phoenix

BM411: The mosaic heart is so sweet and so are the XOs

BM412: Top image is great for anyone who struggles with the opposing dots manicures--like me >.<

BM413: this screams Dia De Los Muertos to me...so I already did a mani of that!!

BM414: The cityscape is fantabulous, the fingerprint is awesomerific, and the seahorse is wonderlicious

BM415: This entire plate is just a great big gob of WIN

BM416: One of my top priorities is to figure out the best way to use the splatter image to eliminate any need to do splatter manicures by hand ever again...

BM417: Is that an ant? A grasshopper? A mutant spider? There's no need to decide.

BM418: Claddagh image = long overdue

BM419: I love Paris in the Springtime...with feathers and chintzy patterns, too. :)

BM420: Corsets and masks and zippers! Just a fun night at home.

BM421: Love me or hate me, it's still an obsession...(but I love the caution tape the most)

BM422: Love the brick wall on this

BM423 Some standards

BM424: For everyone that love pandas, or has been wanting to do the butterfly mani

BM425: Sweet nothings. :)

BM426: Shouldn't there be a fine line between these two? 

In terms of size, here is a comparison with a standard Konad plate; you can see these images are a little wider and a titch taller than the Konad:

When I tested these plates, all but two stamped very well, and you can see the results of those tests by clicking here. Also, here is the link to the Dia De Los Muertos manicure I did with this set (click here). I did have trouble with two plates, where were etched a bit too shallowly; I contacted Bundle Monster about this, and they are sending out replacement plates. I don't think this is indicative of the overall quality of the plates, and you shouldn't let that stop you from buying this set--I have literally had at least one bad plate from every main-stream brand I've ever purchased. For me, the issues are whether or not the bad plate is the exception or the rule, and whether or not the company makes it right. In this case, it is definitely the exception and the company is making it right.



What are my feelings on the set overall? I think it's a wonderful idea to get input from stampers on what sort of images we'd like. The set that they ended up with is eclectic, and I really like about 2/3rds of the images; the rest I am either not that crazy about or I feel like I already have them in my set. But the 2/3rds that I do like (and that's a pretty darn good percentage for any set, I think), I really, really like. Crossword puzzle? Circuitry board? Caution tape? Mardi Gras mask? Sugar Skulls and skulleletons? These are unique, or unique twists on things I already have, and that makes it more than worth it to me. :)

You can buy these plates directly from the Bundle Monster site for $16.50; when I purchased them, shipping was free. I wasn't able to find them on Amazon yet, but I'm sure they'll be there shortly.

Hope this was useful for you! Hugs, and happy stamping! :)
M.

(The plates in this review were purchased with my own money.)