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

B = Bold

A-Z Weekly Blog
This is my second post for the A-Z challenge. We will post alphabetically every thursday, So today is the letter B. The theme for B is "Bold". Hashtag #A2ZNails

My lovely friend Priscilla had the idea of using these bundle monster plates to create a vivid, bold Chinese style manicure, I loved how these three images worked together, so couldn't wait to try them out.   Here is her gorgeous blog:  http://pcontreras8nails.blogspot.co.uk/

My amazing Mexican friend, Mariana came up with this hot colour scheme and we worked together to create matching manicures.  See examples of her beautiful nail stamping manicures here:   http://instagram.com/stampingqueenblog


Accent nails base colour: Rimmel 60 Seconds, 450 Get your Shades On
Accent nails stamp colour: Mundo de Uñas Stamping Polish, 20. Fiusha
Dotting:  Barry M Instant Nail Effects Foil, NP319 Silver

Accent nails stamping plate: Bundle Monster - H15

Base colour: Mundo de Uñas Stamping Polish, 20. Fiusha (sponged on)
Stamp colour one: Barry M Instant Nail Effects Foil, NP319 Silver
Stamp colour two: Mundo de Uñas Stamping Polish, 46. Mustard
Stamping plate: Bundle Monster - H22

Our Nails

Bottle Shot

The Amazing Mariana

Mdu Stamping polish is AMAZING

Close-up

Gigantic thumb!!!!!!!

Tools of the Trade

Another bottle shot

Halogen Lighting

Check out the other participants:

An InLinkz Link-up

A = Angles

A-Z Weekly Blog

I am so happy to be part of a group of nail bloggers A-Z challenge.  We will post alphabetically every thursday. This is the first week and so we have the letter A.  The theme for A is "Angles" (and also angels).

Base colours:

• Sinful Colors, 101 Snow me White
• Maybelline Super Stay, 20 Uptown Blue
• Essie Nail Lacquer, Where's my Chauffeur

Stamp colours:

• Konad Stamping Polish in White
• Essie Mirror Metallics, 944 Blue Rhapsody
• Rimmel 60 Seconds, 825 Sky High

Stamping plate: Q Girl - 016

Close up

Alphabet themed nail art!!!!

This is a fantastic polish for stamping

Massive finger!!!!!

Halogen lighting

Variations

Tools of the Trade

The first stamp

If you have noticed that this base stamp does not match the photos of my finished manicure, you have great eyes!!!!  This happened because I badly damaged the stamping on my ring finger during clean-up (I was at my Dad's house). I had to remove the stamping and the old polish and start fresh.  I only had a white polish with me so I stamped in turquoise.

The base for my index finger

More cat hair

An InLinkz Link-up

Sea Shells with Mariana

Our Beach Manicures

I was so delighted when the gorgeous Mariana Linares (who is my Stamping queen) agreed to work on a manicure with me.  You can find her awesome manicure on instagram  (she also has a blog which is beautiful, but not quite up to date due to pc trouble.

We decided to forget Autumn for this and do a beach themed summer manicure.  We used a base layer of stamping to show the sea on the sand. Then added shell decals with corals and pinks.

Base colour: Sinful Colors, 101 Snow me White
Base stamp colours:

• Mundo de Uñas Stamping Polish, 12. Cream 
• Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Sugar Apple GNP 21

Decals from left in photo below:

• Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Papaya GNP 13
• Barry M Nail Paint, NP318 Peach Melba
• Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Rose Hip GNP 20
• Rimmel 60 Seconds, 405 Rose Libertine

Stamp colour:  Mundo de Uñas Stamping Polish, 42. Holland Blue
Stamping plate: Moyou London Sailor collection - 07

Giant finger

She shells

Tools of the Trade

The decals

Base stamping

Halogen lighting

Enormous thumb

Bottle shot

Mariana and a small group of her mexican stamping friends are also responsible for setting up this month's breast cancer awareness challenge "On Wednesday We Wear Pink". You are welcome to join in this wednesday with pink polka dots. Use the following ig hashtags: ‪#‎enoctubreusamosrosa‬ ‪#‎OnWednesdaysWeWearPink‬ ‪#‎manirosaenoctubre‬

Individually Stamped Flowers

As we approach the end of September is Stamping Month there are a couple of days where no theme is given.  I want to take this chance to show a blog post for a manicure that I shared in AIS for a Sunday Challenge a few weeks ago.

I don't think we've seen the last of the sun yet :)

Base colour: Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Sugar Apple GNP 21
Stamp colours:

• Mundo de Uñas Stamping Polish, 20. Fiusha
• Mundo de Uñas Stamping Polish, 32. Reddish
• Mundo de Uñas Stamping Polish, 46. Mustard

Stamping plate: Konad M100 and M60

In the garden

Halogen Lighing

Sunlight

Tools of the Trade

I need to stop the claw pose!

Autumn sun

Indirect sunshine