K is for Kitchen Sink

Hello my lovely readers,

This manicure is full of subtle changes.  From a multi-chrome base colour to a pretty stamped gradient and a using a stamping image which merges from one pattern into another.

Today is the letter K for "Kitchen Sink" for the A-Z Weekly Blog challenge.  I'm stretching the challenge a little here, but I've tried to use everything except the kitchen sink on my nails this week. We post alphabetically on thursdays, but I am always late. Ig hashtag #A2ZNails

Colour shifts!!!

And here's more from up-and-coming British indie polish maker "Frightfully Spectacular"

Today I am showing off this incredible multichrome topper (used for the base of my manicure):  Once Upon A Dream by Frightfully Spectacular.

This flower-shaped bottle of magic will totally transform any colour into an incredible purple to green to gold party on your fingers.

Check out the new facebook page https://www.facebook.com/frightfullyspectacular for a sneek peek.  Also see  #FrightfullySpectacular on instagram for more photos.  

If you would like to donate to Frightfully Spectacular  www.gofundme.com/kttwuo

Halogen Lighting

This close-up really shows the change in colours both in the base coat and in the stamping.

Gigantic finger

Base colours:  Frightfully Spectacular, Once Upon A Dream (Multichrome topper), over black (black polish not shown)

Stamp colours from left:  Mundo de Uñas Stamping Polish, 16. Lilac, 49. Lavender and 24. Aqua

Stamping plate:  Pueen Encore - SE02A

Tools of the Trade

To finish off, I wanted to show you how I achieved the coloured gradient using stamping polish.   I used three colours, placing a dot of each next to each other on the stamping plate and scraping two or three times in the same direction.  Mundo de Uñas Stamping Polish is perfect for this technique since it is slower to dry than most other brands.

My work area after stamping!

Here are the other manicures for K = Kitchen Sink

An InLinkz Link-up

Frozen Jewel

Hello lovely fellow nail stamping fans!

Thank you so much for your patience.  This post is long overdue, and I truly apologize for my absence.  As the title indicates, I have been "frozen" -  not literally, but I have really been finding it difficult to function as a normal human being these last few weeks.  Pah, enough grumbling...it's a brand new year!

★ ☆  ★ ☆  ★ ☆  ★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆  ★ ☆ ★ ☆  ★

My Warmest Wishes 

 for 2015

★ ☆  ★ ☆  ★ ☆  ★ ☆  ★ ☆ ★ ☆  ★

This manicure is part of a nail art collaboration organised by Mary who created an amazing collage to start the new year off with a bang.  #NewYearManiCollage.   I have added her incredible collage as the finale of this post, so keep scrolling down to see it...

For my manicure, I decided to go for a cool wintery look to mark the start of a bright and fresh new year.  I included all the best things to complete this look:  a uk indie duochrome, double stamping DRK, MDU, and rhinestones!!!!!

I am also so happy to be back posting with A2Z nails and this week is the letter J for Jewel.

Huge finger

Before I get into further details for this mani,  I would like to give an extra special mention to my amazing friends:  Mariana, San, Sumeet and Elaine. Thank you all so much for being here for me. You have all helped me through winter and I really appreciate your friendship.

Mariana @StampingQueenBlog
https://www.facebook.com/stampingqueenblog

San @santie_nails
https://www.youtube.com/user/Sannejoey/videos

Sumeet @tales_of_coffee_lacquer_beauty (more information below)
http://talesofcoffeelacquerandbeauty.blogspot.co.uk/

Elaine @LollyBlackHeart (more information below)
#FrightfullySpectacular

Bottle shot

I also need to give thanks to my amazing friend Marty, I am the proud owner of this Messy Mansion super soft stamper head.   This is part of a set of two stamper heads that come in a little tin.(http://www.messymansion.com.au/products/soft-stamper-set-with-tin.html).  For easy use, I placed the head in the lid of a nail polish remover bottle which acts perfectly as a holder.

Tools of the Trade

One final stamper note before moving on:  When I first saw the set of stamper heads they looked so shiny I didn't expect them to pick up any nail polish at all.  I was prepared for some serious priming, however, to my surprise, when I tested them out, they both picked up the image first time like a dream.  And in fact, they seem to perform better and stamp more reliably than any of my other stampers on all of the images I've tried them with.

Base colour:  Frightfully Spectacular, Happy New Year [By Abba] (Aqua with gold shimmer)

Base stamp colour:  Essie Mirror Metallics, 944 Blue Rhapsody
Base stamping plate:  DRK Themes:  Enlaced (left below)

Stamp colour for flourish:  Mundo de Uñas Stamping Polish, 06. Pastel Blue
Stamping plate for flourish:  Born Pretty,  BP - L 008 (right below)
Rhinestones:  http://www.moyou.co.uk/nail-art-decoration-set-design-glitters-rhinestones/rhinestones-nail-art/1200-rhinestones.html

The Stamping Plates

I could not believe my luck when this gorgeous lacy DRK plate arrived for me over Christmas...I had drooled over the plate, but I hadn't ordered it!  Then I discovered it was a present to me from the wonderful Sumeet.  I simply could not wait to try it out, and this pretty intricate pattern was ideal to add a beautiful detailed background for my flourishes.

I am a gigantic fan of  Tales of Coffee,Lacquer and Beauty, Sumeet's fantastic blog.  The link is to her honest, informative reviews of stamping plates, but I would highly recommend her other posts and pages to anyone interested in nail art or indie nail polishes.  And if you are trying to figure out how to stamp your own nails, then look no further: Nail Stamping 101 has all your questions answered.

Frightfully Spectacular, Happy New Year

Here is the base colour for my manicure...I am wearing "Happy New Year" from Frightfully Spectacular. This is now, one of my all time favorite polishes.  Just look how the gold dances around the blue in the light.  My fingers and toes are so happy right now!

Frightfully Spectacular is a brand new UK indie polish line coming soon to you by @LollyBlackHeart.  I can honestly tell you that this girl turns colour into magic.  She chooses combinations that I've never seen before, and they work wonderfully.

Check out  #FrightfullySpectacular for more news.

As an extra special bonus, Here is a compilation of my all time favorite manicures.  I had so much fun creating these, I really hope you like them too.

My favourite manicures of 2014

More details and many more photos for each of these manicures in the links below.

1.    Neon Disco
2.    Snowflakes Skittle
3.    The Bird is the Word
4.    Crunchy Autumn Leaves
5.    Flower Power
6.    A = Angles
7.    Diwali Gradient with Mariana
8.    E = Elegant
9.    Diwali Decals with San
10.  Back to School
11.  Pink Roses
12.  Orange for Elisa
13.  C = Copycat
14.  Candy Cane Chevrons
15.  Holographic Stars
16.  Elements
17.  Pretty Paisleys


And last, but by no means least:

Thank you so much Mary

An InLinkz Link-up

Smokey Snowman

Hello Lovelies!

This is a challenge manicure for our facebook group: Stamp one, Stamp all Ten!   And the theme for the group this week is "Christmas or Hanukah"  I thought snowmen would be neutral, yet likeable enough to please everyone.  But somehow, I have created a penguin instead!  #StampOneStampAllTen

Ho ho ho!!!!

This is a festive manicure for Mary Mitch, she is putting together a collage of Snowmen manicures!!!  Of course, I had to take part!  Check out her other amazing nails here:
http://instagram.com/dreamymm
http://dreamymmnails.blogspot.co.uk/

Rina from the amazing blog Simply Rins  has actually managed to inspire me to finally try out freehand!!!!!  Her amazing video tutorial on this blog post, make the snowman seem almost idiot proof but apparently, not quite Bob-proof! Hehehe.  I simplified it slightly!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

As an exciting extra, I am also swatching a polish for you today!!!!!  I am so thrilled to present a new, exciting UK indie polish manufacturer:  Frightfully Spectacular.  I can tell you that there are currently magical, shiny, shimmery, glittery little bottles of wonder being put together in Kent!  

Smoke on the Water

I will provide more swatches and information (including many exciting concutions and a brand new Etsy shop) during this festive season.  But for now, just enjoy "Smoke on the Water", a beautiful metallic popping purple.  I also used this to stamp the background image in my snowman manicure.  When stamped, the purple shimmer catches the light just beautifully to created a soft, smokey shimmery magical finish.

Frightfully Spectacular.

Look how this beautiful colour stamps, I used it for the swirly background.   And the purple is even prettier in real life.

Humongous Finger!!!!!!

Base colour:  Sinful Colors, 101 Snow me White
Background Stamp colour:  Frightfully Spectacular, Smoke on the Water
Background Stamping plate:  DRK xl Designer - 01
Middle finger Stamping:  Cici & Sisi Merry Christmas plate
Stamp Colour:  Konad stamping polish in black
Ring finger Freehand:  Acrylic Paints
To finish: Mixed shape pink rhinestones from a friend.

Colours used:

Stamping Plates:

An InLinkz Link-up

Pretty Paisleys

Hello lovelies!

Here is a girly, swirly and fun manicure for you...I am sharing these pretty paisley patterns as a quick break from all the festive madness that takes over this time of year.

Curly cuteness!

This manicure is a design that took me a while to post.  That's because this is actually my third attempt at completing this...and it still isn't perfect! Ah well.

Bottle Shot

I love this amazing full image paisley pattern that born pretty have created.  But to be quite honest, it was beyond my stamping decal abilities.   (The fine detail is sooooo hard to colour)

To make things easier for myself, I isolated a really small section of this image for my decals, and tried my best to colour the pretty paisleys in!

For my accent finger, I reversed the decals by stamping over a "smoosh attack" base (see tutorial at the end of this post).  This meant I only needed to colour the centre of the paisleys white!

Close-up

Base colour:  Sinful Colors, 101 Snow me White
Stamp colour:  Konad Stamping Polish, Black

Tools of the Trade

Decals and Smoosh Colours:

1. Primark Nail Polish, Unnamed (Pink)
2. Barry M Nail Paint, NP318 Peach Melba
3. Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Sugar Apple GNP 21
4. Rimmel 60 Seconds, 450 Get your Shades On

Stamping plate:  Born Pretty, BP-22

The Decals

Here is the smoosh attack accent finger before I added top coat....don't worry, one coat of clear smoothes out all of these lumps and bumps.

Smoosh Attack

I will definitely use this gorgeous stamping image again, but next time, I'll try it with gradient stamping instead of decals.

Halogen Lighting

Thanks so much for taking the time to  look and read my post <3

Candy Cane Chevrons

Hello you!  I am finally feeling festive, so I am sharing the Christmas spirit with this golden candy cane manicure.

This design brings all of my favourite aspects of stamping together:  Moyou London stamping plates, holographic glitter, decals and last but not least Mundo de Uñas stamping polish.

Bottle Shot

Here is my post for the A-Z Weekly Blog challenge. We post alphabetically on thursdays. Today is the letter G for "Gold". Hashtag #A2ZNails

This is also my challenge manicure for Crumpets 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge. This week, we have been given the prompts: "chevrons" and "red and gold".
Hashtag #52wpnmc

Gold and Glitter

Base colour:  Beauty UK Nail Polish, Unnamed (Gold)
Glitter:  Loose holographic gold glitter from set of twelve
Stamp colour:   Mundo de Uñas Stamping Polish, 32. Reddish
Decals:  Konad Stamping Polish, White
Stamping plate:   Moyou London  Fashionista Collection - 04

Tools of the Trade

The Decals

Halogen Lightinng

Crumpets

An InLinkz Link-up

A2Z

An InLinkz Link-up

F = Fashion

Hello there!

Camouflage nails today.  I have felt like hibernating this week, so this manicure helped me to blend in.  When I first saw this stamping image in my Cici & Sisi stamping set, I was disappointed...however,  as soon as I tried it, I changed my mind...I love the rough, rugged natural texture it produces.

Camouflage under halogen

I hope this works for the A-Z Weekly Blog challenge. Today is the letter F for "Fashion"  I am not fashionable, but I like camo...a lot, so I guess it is my fashion sense.  We post alphabetically on thursdays (except I'm late again!) . Hashtag #A2ZNails

And this is also my challenge manicure for Crumpets 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge. This week, we have been given the prompts: "Camouflage" and "Dark green".

Hashtag #52wpnmc

Matte variation, Bottle shot

Snowflakes Skittle

Hello you!

My first festive manicure this year!  Here in Hereford (England, UK), we have had a couple of frosty mornings, but no snow yet.  Sooooo to help me feel more Christmassy, I thought I'd put some snowflakes on my fingers!!!!!

I Snow you Love Me!!!!!!

Woolly Winter Warmer

Hello lovely viewers!

Since the weather has cooled off, I've recently dug the cosiest winter warmers out of the back of my wardrobe.  And I wanted to pay tribute to my favourite comfy jumper.  I felt that the decorative stripes on this hehe plate look just like the fair isle patterns on my woolly green friend (you can meet the jumper at the end of this post).

Bottle shot

E = Elegant

Hello!  Quick post for you today:  here is a simple playful manicure using a rich metal bronze stamped over a dreamy creamy white base,  I ❤ the flowing swirls and hearts on this Pueen plate.

The stamper picks every detail up

Crunchy Autumn Leaves

This is another manicure where I am attempting to fulfill several different challenges all at once!   The themes all cried out for me to do an autumn manicure with rich autumn colours, using leaves as decals.

My awesome Mexican friend, Mariana and I worked together again.  See more of Mariana's beautiful nail stamping manicures here:   http://instagram.com/stampingqueenblog or on her Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/stampingqueenblog

Our manicures together <3

Crumpets 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge.
This week, we have been given the prompts: "Books" and "Brown".  I don't have any books to stamp with so I used the most gorgeous, glossy, chocolate brown ever: Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Cocoa.

This is also a challenge manicure for our facebook group: Stamp one, Stamp all Ten!   And the theme for the group this week is "Seasons"  I chose Autumn since this is my favourite season.

A-Z Weekly Blog
I am so happy to be part of the group of nail bloggers A-Z challenge. I will try to post alphabetically every thursday.  Yesterday's letter is D for "Dark", so I used deep autumn colours for the leaves and background. Hashtag #A2ZNails

Halogen Lighting

The lovely Mariana

Close-up

Bottle Shot!!!

Tools of the Trade

Base and decal colour: Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Cocoa GNP 34

Accent fingers:  Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Plum GNP 1

Glitter tips:  Barry M Aquarium Collection, AQNP4

Stamp colour: Rimmel 60 Seconds, 405 Rose Libertine

Stamping plate:  Cici & Sisi Set 01 - Plate 03

Colour shift!

Shimmery tips

Another Bottle Shot!!

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

Sunset Smoosh

This post is a collaboration with my gorgeous friend Sumeet.  If you love nail stamping, you need to take a look at Sumeet's blog: http://talesofcoffeelacquerandbeauty.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tales-of-coffee-lacquer-and-beauty-and.html  She posts the most gorgeous, inspiring manicures you could imagine.  Sumeet has such a wonderful way of explaining how to use techniques to get the effects you want.  Furthermore she also provides some of the best stamping product reviews I have seen in combination with her love of indie polish reviews.

Close-up

Take a look at these popping colours by Sumeet:

Our manicures together ❤

Now, I would like to explain my post title.

Sunset:  When I first sent a message to the lovely Sumeet, my mobile phone was convinced that I needed to change her name from Sumeet to Sunset!  And even though I knew I hadn't misspelled it, Sumeet will always be a gorgeous sunset to me.

Smoosh:  This is a technique I'd never heard of before.  It involves stamping multiple colours onto the nail in one go.

Sumeet directed me to @With2L (http://instagram.com/p/sZlXl2KmiM).  Elle applies different coloured polish onto one stamper and smoooooshes it onto a second stamper before placing it onto the nail.  And then Mariana (http://instagram.com/stampingqueenblog) showed me a similar technique by @Nailstamp4fun  (http://youtu.be/aQE9lIdYG4o) Swanette applies dots of different nail polish onto a non-porous surface.  She then uses a stamper to pick this smooosh up and transfer it to the nail.

I used Swanette's method, but adapted it slightly by waiting for the "smoosh" to dry on the stampers before applying it as a decal to my nails.

Bottle shot

Halogen Lighting

Gigantic Fingers.

How I smooooooshed!

Base colours:  (Sumeet was much braver than me)

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Blood Orange GNP 4

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Paprika GNP 32

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Satsuma GNP 7

Stamp colour: Konad Stamping Polish, White
Stamping plate: DRK xl Designer - 01

Smoooooosh Atttttack!!!!!!

Cobbles and Waves