Silver Circles

I wanted to do some silver stamping, so I decided on this circle design from Pueen plate #04 in Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Celeb City" on Insta-Dri in "Blazing Blue." I didn't realize I was running low on Blazing Blue, it was getting a little skimpy as I brushed it on.

The circles came out kind of wonky, and the top coat caused the blue to streak on some of my nails, but I still like the way it turned out. My original plan was to go back and add light blue dots in the centers of some of the circles, but I liked it with just the silver so I stopped :o)

Star Light, Star Bright

For this manicure I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Marine Scene," stamped with Wet n Wild "Black Creme. On most of my fingers, I stamped the star and dot design from Pueen plate 18, and then added additional dots of Xtreme Wear "Celeb City." On my ring fingers, I used the star pattern on plate 24.

Ugh, the streaking looks so bad in macro!

I didn't expect this polka dot design to look so punk rock, but it kind of does. Also, I totally smudged my right thumb :o(

Monotone Swirls

After a week without any stamping, I wanted to do something a little subtle. So I went with a base of OPI for Sephora "Under My Trench Coat," and stamped some swirls from Pueen plate 46 in Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Grey Area." Hopefully neutral and something I won't feel like updating right away.

I did get a little bit of streakiness when I added the top coat, but it's not horrible...

The colors are probably more accurate above, but the picture below is clearer, with the flash:

Subtle Strings

I'm not too happy with this one... I've liked this design on Pueen plate 45 since I first saw it - it sort of looks like strings of beads. But I chose the wrong color to use for the stamp: Revlon "Black with Envy." It was just too sheer. However, I love the base color, Wet n Wild in "Rain Check."

The result is a bit more subtle than I'd like.

So I added a little Wet n Wild "French White Creme" on top, and ... I guess I am happier with the results? Next time I'd like to try something a little more bold and graphic.

Blue Jewels?

I had this awesome multicolored stamp all planned, and when I actually went to do it... it just wasn't happening. It's possible these Pueen plates have some kind of residue on them that needs to be cleaned off the first time, but that hadn't occurred to me yet, so I scrapped that idea and went with something else.

Instead, I painted my nails with Pure Ice in "Kiss Me Here" (gray), and used three of the designs on Pueen plate 26 with Wet 'n Wild "Black Creme." On my middle three fingers, I used the one on the right that looks kind of like chandelier beads in varying lengths. For my pinkies, I used the similar one on the left where they're all the same length, because I didn't want to risk having the mostly blank area end up on my nail. And for my thumbs, I used the swirly dot pattern at the top to cover the large area.

I then went back and added dots of Wet 'n Wild "Bijou Blue" on top of some of the larger gem/teardrop shapes. Unfortunately, when I added a top coat, a lot of the designs smudged :o( I think this was mostly because the top coat is kind of old and gloopy now. That's going into the trash :o/

My First Attempt with Konad!

I've been kind of obsessed with the idea of Konad for some time, so I finally did some research, figured out what kind of supplies I needed, and placed an order. I was so excited to try everything out when it arrived! I only got the stamper and some plates, not the special nail polish.

For this first attempt, I tried a couple things just to test out some of the designs, but eventually decided to go with Sally Hansen InstaDry in "Expresso," and Essie "Fiji" for the stamps, for a kind of subtle look. To jazz things up, I added a tiny dot of red in the center of the flowers with a dotting tool (but kind of regretted it).