Un-girly!

Today's challenge in Adventures in Stamping is Un-girly! No pink, no hearts, none of that. I had to admit, I got pretty excited with this one. I DO own pink nail polish, but it's only out of necessity for certain designs and holidays. I'd wear dark colors every day if I could.

Nothing really special or fancy here, just some basic stamping over a dark color.

I started with two coats of SinfulColors Leap Frog. How to describe this color...the photo isn't really very accurate. At first glance, it's grey. But the harder you look at it, you see maybe a hint of green, maybe a hint of blue. This is going to be a favorite color of mine this fall.

I got this plate from VividLacquer, VL009 I now own a few of her plates...she always comes up with really great images on her plates. I used the fingerprint image.  

I stamped that image on all my nails using one of Salley Hansen's new Fall 2013 colors, Insta-Dri Red-io Active. It's a really great metallic red to stamp with. See how well it shows up over this dark base?

I'm really happy with this mani. Simple, dark colors perfect for the Fall...even if it was 80 degrees yesterday. 

Until next time,

Becks

AIS Challenege - Autumn

Whhaaaat? ANOTHER post?!?! Yes, you all are so very lucky. :) Also, I am just not interested in doing anything other than relaxing and doing my nails.

I went ahead tonight and did the Adventures in Stamping Sunday challenge, which is Autumn this week. I love the fall so much. Ok, I hate the hay-fever that comes with it...but this time of year is my favorite, and I am always so thankful that I live in an area where you can experience the true beauty of fall. Plus we have the added bonus of bonfires, Halloween, and pumpkin and apple everything! Ah...I so love it.

Such a happy fall mani!

I decided to go with a gradient. I have a love/hate relationships with gradients. Usually they're a fail for me, but this one worked out! I started with two coats of China Glaze Fast Track.

Then I added a topcoat, to help keep the base intact. That was a good call on my part! Usually when I sponge the gradient on, the base comes off with it. This time it worked!

It's not a very complex gradient...but I'm just glad it turned out.

And I've got to add some stamping, for the AIS Challenge! I used my Winstonia W119 plate, and stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Jumpin' Jade. For those who are wondering, every Sally Hansen Insta-Dri I've tried so far stamps perfectly!

A great fall mani! I'll be doing a lot of these, I'm sure!

Until next time,

Becks

It's Friday!

Whew! What a week. It's been a bit since my last post, but ALSO a WEEK since I last did my nails! What?!?! Well, last weekend ended with me having food poisoning, so I was preoccupied. Then this past week was so crazy with school and clinical...nails just weren't on the priority list.

BUT IT'S FRIDAY! I have some homework to do, but I can afford to have a free night or two this weekend. I think I've earned it.

So, here are some fun Friday-night nails...perfect for staying in and doing nothing, lol!

Ah...black and purple. My two favorite colors!

I started with two coats of SinfulShine with Gel Tech in Dark Room. It's a BlackBlack. Opaque in one coat, but I wanted it solid, smooth, and super shiny, so I went with two coats.

Pre-cleanup

Then I stamped with Wistonia plate W111 with Mundo de Uñas  special stamping polish in Fuschia. If you're looking into some awesome, affordable, stamping polishes...this is what you want. So many of her polishes stamp over black, and her black and white stamping polishes are the best out there, in my oh so humble opinion. Leave a comment if you're interested in finding out how to order them.

I'm trying to be better about moisturizing the ol' cuticles...all that handwashing at clinical is catching up.

So, pretty great color over black, isn't it? I love it. :)

Until next time,

Becks

Glizy Glam

Well, it's Sunday. You all know what that means! Sunday challenge over at Adventures in Stamping. Today's challenge, is 'glizy glam'. I'll be honest...I SERIOUSLY debated participating in this week's challenge. I knew I was going to want to do something with sparkle. But, I have to have my nails nekkid by Wednesday for clinical...and I HATE removing glitter polish. It's such a pain. But...my desire to have sparkly nails won out! So here we are. :)

Ooooh I love this. It doesn't show up in the photos very well, but it's like looking at ruby slippers.

I stuck with all Kleancolor polishes for this mani. Why? Well...I have a lot of them, and they deserve to be used. Warning...they stink. Really smell bad. But they're super cheap, and they come in HUNDREDS of different colors/finishes. I started with a base of Red Alert(81).

 

Then, I added two coats of Chunky Holo Scarlet(231). It has the most wonderful shimmer. Hopefully there will be some sun before I have to take the polish off, and I can do an update so you all can see the sparkle!

I then stamped with a fauxnad plate. It's like a Konad only....not. I used plate m69.

I stamped using Kleancolor Metallic Black(168). A lot of Kleancolors stamp really well, especially the metallics line.

Glizy glam, right? Well, of course I broke out the nail bling! I got a large set of these Cheeky nail gems on amazon for a steal. There are lots of really cheap ways to get fun nail art additions. Just leave me a comment if you're interested in finding some.

Ah...clean-up...that's better!

I added a little red gem to the center of each flower. Ah...it's so pretty! I added the little embellishment on each of my nails.

I just think this is too fun! Nail gems are actually pretty easy to apply. Little ones like these, I just stick on immediately after I apply my top coat. Some bigger ones (like bows), you can apply using glue. I think they really take your mani to another level.

Until next time,

Becks

Tone on Tone

It's Sunday, and that means it's time for the Adventures in Stamping Sunday challenge! Today it's Tone on Tone, meaning that you need to stamp in the same color tone that you chose for you base coat.

I chose to do something a little different, and stamp with the same exact polish I chose for my base coat. 

I chose a Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polish. These are typically all around good polishes, and stamp really well. I picked a great light purple called Grape Race.

I then painted over each nail with a matte top coat. A lot of polish lines now have matte top coats. I got this Fresh Paint matte top coat at Five Below, 3 for $5.

Mattes dry REALLY fast. So I was ready pretty quickly to move on to my stamping. I chose a cute xoxoxo image on Vivid Lacquer's plate VL001. Check out her etsy shop HERE! She has a lot of fun and really unique images on the plates she has made. I stamped the image on to each of my nails in Grape Race.

And here's the end result! It's a subtle look, but one that I really like and think is fun. I have a feeling I'm going to be doing this with dark colors a lot this fall and winter. :)

Until next time,

Becks