Black & Gold

I'm not sure where I was going with this paint job but I like the way it turned out.  I couldn't get a photo where the gold in the polish really comes through.  It is more of a silver gold but it still has those yellow undertones.  The accent nail (to start) is the pinky on each hand.  One hand had black glitter with a little gold and the other was gold glitter.  Since the gold of the glitter and the gold polish didn't really match, the golden pinky looked a little funny.

After a day with this paint job, I got a little bored of it so decided to spice it up a little...

I added some black rhinestones.  Here you can see golden pinky and how it just looks a little odd with the polish.  A silver polish and silver glitter would have been better, there is always next time.  I do like the rhinestones, they add a bit of edge.

If I do this type of polish job again, I will skip the pinky glitter.  I will also do all nails the same except the middle and I will just invert those colors (ie the stamp on the other will be the base and the base on the other will be the stamp).  I think it would pop with the right colors and the right rhinestones.

Sinful Colors - Zincing of You, Black on Black
Plate - Cheeky CH7

Do you have any colors that don't come out quite like you thought it would?  Can anyone recommend a good polish that is gold?  Not gold glitter but a solid gold color?

Water Flowers

The hounds tooth was too simple now that I had so many options to pick from.  I decided to do a quick polish that I knew didn't have to last too long (back in the kitchen over the weekend).  I am still working on getting the stamp to be in the center of the nail.  It is harder with these individual stamp designs verse the whole nail pattern.  It doesn't look bad being off center with this flower, but some other images might look a little funny.  I only gave one polish coat with the purple/maroon polish (over the base coat).  The pinky only had one coat of white.  While both the thumb and pinky were still wet, I gave them a little glitter fade.  The stamp was easy and quick especially since I only had to wait for one color polish coat to dry.  The rhinestone was just stuck on with a little base coat.  I like some things about this paint job but I don't know if I will ever do it like this again.  Maybe just the flower on one finger and the glitter on another.  There is a lot going on and seems busy even though there are only three colors used.

MAC -Dark Angel
Sally Hansen - White On
Plate - Cheeky CH2

What do you consider too much for a paint job?  Do you think this paint job was too busy?  Do you have any tips/tricks to getting a single image stamp in the center of the nail?

I got mail...

Guess what was in my mailbox this afternoon?

Since I don't get many packages from Hong Kong I knew what is was as soon as I saw it.  And it was HEAVY for such a small package.  Okay, to be fair, I actually came on Friday of last week but I didn't have time to check my mail because I was making this -

Yes, a very large cake.  It is all edible.  The only part that was edible was the mast & booms of the boat, but they were coated in cocoa powder to make them look more like teak.  The decorations were gum paste (tastes sort of like a necco wafer).  The silver seal was a white chocolate seal I made from
silicone mold (which I also made from the trophy).  This cake was a lot of work, so it was nice to have such a great package waiting for me in the mail and to zone out white playing around with stamping plates for the first time.

What else was in the package?  Some great little little things...

An insane amount of rhinestones.  All different colors, different sizes and some different shapes.  I now have so many rhinestones I feel a bit crazy and obsessed.  The nice thing about these wheels is they are tiny.  I would say about three inches across.  They also spin really easily but are tough enough that I don't feel like they will spin in my tool box and have rhinestones all over.

As excited as I was for the rhinestone wheels, I am more excited about the nail stamping plates.  The nail stamping tool came two weeks ago and has just been sitting in my tool box.  The package came with 26 different plates.  16 are solid patterns (4 to a plate with some extras in the blank spaces), five have mini designs and 5 have tip patterns.  While waiting for these plates I have watched numerous how-to videos online so I know the general idea of how they work.  I decided to dive right in...

Not bad for a first time if I do say so myself.  It needs some work but I think the more I use and do it, the better it will be.  I love this little hounds tooth pattern.  However, I do not like the colors.  They are too similar to have the hounds tooth really pop.  The blue would have been better as an electric blue or used a hot pink instead of the purple.  Now with so many rhinestones and plates, I think I could do a different mani each day for the next year and never repeat.  I don't think I am ready to take on that challenge yet.

One of the best things about this package was the size.  It was tiny.  Imagine the five rhinestone wheels stacked with the stamping plates on top.  That was the size of the whole package.  No packing peanuts (aka ghost poo) or bubble wrap here.  Neat and efficient.

Sinful Colors - Why Not, Let's Talk
Plate - Cheeky CH13

Has any ordered nail art supplies online?  Where in the world did they come from?

pile of dots

I love this polish job.  It is very subtle yet fun and whimsical.  No accent nail this time because each nail is different yet the same pattern/idea.  The base is a deep blue/purple with three different dot colors.

Oh, did I forget to mention that I ordered a bunch of nail art tools & such online last week.  A couple of the items are coming from Hong Kong so they will take a while.  But my dotting tools came in.  To do dots before I was using a tooth pick.  Wow, now I am spoiled with the dotting tools.  They are so easy to use and produce such perfect little dots.  I also got a set of nail brushes but have been too scared to try them out yet. Soon, very soon.  The ideas are swirling.

The nice thing about today's paint/style is that I can easily adapt it for almost anything.  This would be great with some fall colors.  during winter with some winter blues/silver.  Even during spring.  I think I have just found a new top do in my simple to go.  It takes maybe three extra minutes to do the dotting, so it is a good quick fun polish job.

Sinful Colors - Mesmerize, Why Not, Rise & Shine
Sally Hansen - White On

Do you have dotting tools?  How awesome are they?  Any other nail tricks that you can use the dotting tools for?

Panning for Gold

This paint job was inspired by another polish job I saw on another nail blog (http://www.nailnerd.com/purple-glitter-snazzle-nails/).  I liked the purple of that polish but wanted to try something with black and gold.  The black is not a solid black but it has tiny tiny silver dust in it.  Then one accent nail just has some loose glitter and hex glitter (just a few dust nuggets of gold).  The other accent nail is a full on huge nugget of gold.  This was thick.  Yellow base, glitter, hex glitter, multiple rhinestones, clear coat with some more glitter.  Then the fine seal coat.  It is a strange thing to actually be able to feel the wait of your nail (or rather the crazy amount of polish on it).  The feeling doesn't last long because you get used to it, but it is there.  I have never worn fake nails but I am guessing it was something like this.

Even with an accent nail all blinged out, it is a very subtle polish job.  My grandmother thinks I am crazy and asked if I ran out of polish.  One of these days I will turn her on to accent nails.

Sinful Colors - Secret Admirer, Lets Meet

Do you name your polish jobs?  Is it too much to theme it out like this?

Toga! Toga!

Guess what I got at the store yesterday?? Hex glitter!!  It is just a smidge too small to get perfectly alligned to do a honeycomb design but it still is fun to play with.  I don't know where I was going with this paint, I just new I wanted to use the gold, bronze and silver hex glitter with something.  They both have a basic white base but on one hand is solid hex glitter and the other is just two rows.  I don't think I will do the solid again on one whole hand, it is a bit much.  I do like the two rows, sort of like a 60's mod french manicure.  Plus, it makes my nails not look like they are super short.

Sally Hansen - White On

Have you used hex glitter?  What size hex glitter do you like best?