Fall Vines

I got a manicure just a few days ago (to prepare for a wedding) and it already had some huge chips! So I went ahead and painted my nails myself. This is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Surspice!" which I love for fall. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I topped it with the vine design from Pueen plate #76 in Pure Ice "Black Out."

Blue & Gray

A friend of mine at work today had gray nail polish, and it inspired me to do mine in Pure Ice "Kiss Me Here." Then I wanted to stamp with a design I hadn't used before, and this criss-cross flower one from Pueen plate #23 caught my eye. Love this bright blue Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Blue Me Away!" for stamping :o)

Purple Cherry Blossoms

This was kind of a spur-of-the-moment choice that turned out really well! Base is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Lacey Lilac," stamped with Wet n Wild Megalast in "Disturbia." I used a couple of the little cherry blossom flowers on Pueen plate #59.

Stained Glass Flowers

Very excited to share this one! After seeing the Powder Perfect Stained Glass polishes on another blog, I ordered myself a set of red, yellow, and blue (for mixing and making other colors). They're translucent, so designed to be painted over your stamped lines to color in the open spaces. People have done beautiful things with these. They seem to generally use them on white, though.

Mine is a base of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in "Get Juiced," stamped just on two fingers with a rose from Pueen plate #80 using Wet n Wild "Black Creme." Then I used Powder Perfect "Medieval" and "Cerulean" to make some purple shades...

My thoughts: I should definitely have done this on white or a very pale color, as the result was kind of muddy. However, the colors seemed to work well. They do dry quickly, so just put a little down for blending. I used a small nail art brush to apply. Also, I am extremely strongly right-handed ;o)

Fish Scales

Something I've been liking to do lately is paint my nails a solid color for a couple days, and then when it starts showing signs of wear, stamp over it. That's what I did with this mani, which started with just Sinful Colors "Sail La Vie," which got lots of compliments on its own.

Then I used Wet n Wild "Black Creme" to stamp this scale pattern from Pueen plate #86, and finished it off with dots of silver Stripe Rite. I got even more compliments on it this way!

Silver Grid

I originally had something else in mind, but changed plates at the last minute to use this grid-type design from Pueen #04. Base is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in "Pronto Purple," and stamping is "Silver Sweep."

Blue on Blue Flowers

I love how these turned out! I haven't used this one much since I got it, so I started with a base of Maybelline Color Show in "Turquoise Paradise." Then I stamped on a variety of flowers from Pueen plate #72 using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in "Navy Fleet." Love the variety of shapes and flowers, all from one plate!

Minty Roses

Well, I had one thing in my mind (involving a gradient and a more geometric stamped design), but it just wasn't happening. So I went with plan B, which involves a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Mint Sorbet" stamped with "Jazzy Jade" (reversed on my ring fingers). I used multiple sections of the rose designs on Pueen plate #80. It might not have been my original plan, but I like the way it turned out!

Jamspiration

A few of my friends are now selling Jamberry wraps, but as I've discovered, they just don't work for me. However, the catalog is great inspiration for me in creating my own nail art! Inspired by the style Glam, I decided on a base of Finger Paints "Putty in My Hands," stamped with Pure Ice "Fairy Godmother" and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri "Mauve It." I had a couple design options, but ended up using the sketchy flowers on Pueen plate #77 - I loved this plate as soon as I saw it, but hadn't used it yet!

Blue Scrolls

Look who's back! I got some great nail polish for Christmas that's really long-wearing and I didn't want to bother stamping over it, but I've been home sick for a couple days and was getting bored. This is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in "Navy Fleet" (a new one I picked up recently, and honestly I think it looks more like a dark teal than navy), stamped in "Silver Sweep" with one of the flower designs on Pueen plate # 97.

Snowflowers

I picked something a little more elaborate than planned for my triumphant return to nail art ;o) Tomorrow is my holiday party at work, so I chose this flower design from my new Pueen plate #75, which reminded me of snow flakes. The base is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Blue Me Away," and the design is stamped in Wet n Wild "French White." On my ring fingers is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Breezy Blue," topped with "Sea-ly String" glitter.

How long did it take me to figure out the "Sea-ly String" pun? Way too long.

Gradient and Waves

I did this gradient/ombre of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Mint Sorbet" with "Jazzy Jade" tips last night, but it was just begging to be stamped on. I wanted something "wave" looking, so I added this wavy spiral design from Pueen plate #13 in Sally Hansen Insta-Dri "Silver Sweep." Love it!

Flakey

I can't decide if these look more like snowflakes or flowers. I guess they should be flowers, since it's still August... This is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in "Jaded" (which requires three coats to look reasonable), stamped with Xtreme Wear in "Jazzy Jade," using that poinsettia-looking design from Pueen plate #49.

Green Lotus

Besides some of these stamps being crooked, I'm pretty happy with this one! I used two of my favorite colors at the moment, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Jazzy Jade" and "Mint Sorbet." This is a flower type design from Pueen plate #51 - this is probably the first time I used the "stamping buffet" plates to do the exact same design on each nail.

Mint Lace

Another minty manicure! These Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polishes in "Mint Sorbet" and "White On" came in another of those kits I picked up on sale. The white actually stamps pretty well! I used the flowery lace design from Pueen plate #28.

Seafoam and Chevron

A new Target opened by my house, and I went today for the grand opening. I got a white and seafoam scarf, as well as this seafoam polish, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in "Jaded." I have to say, I was a little disappointed, as it took 3+ coats to really cover completely. On my ring fingers, I added the small chevron design from Pueen plate #03 in Sally Hansen Insta-Dri "Silver Sweep."

Teardrops

In kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision, I painted and stamped my nails while on a phone call for work today. I used two colors of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri: "Brisk Blue" for the base, and "Blue-Away" on top, stamped with the teardrop design from Pueen plate #58. Kind of sloppy, but not bad for a teleconference mani!

Flutter by...

Simple mani tonight... I used Pure Ice "Fairy Godmother," and then stamped just on my ring fingers with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri "Pronto Purple," using the butterfly/flower design from Pueen plate #39. Pronto Purple is one of my favorite nail colors (and I'm super bummed it doesn't seem to be in stores anymore), but it is kind of a lousy stamping polish :o(

It's a Girl

I'm throwing my friend a baby shower tomorrow, and it's a girl, so we're doing everything pink. (I hate reinforcing traditional gender roles, especially before the kid's even born, but it's a cute theme.)

This was one of my more involved manis. I started with a base of Wet n Wild "Tickled Pink," and then used a sponge to create a gradient with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri "Love Train" on the tips. I almost left it like that because it looked so nice, but I went ahead with my original plan and used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in "Slick Slate" to stamp a design from Pueen plate #59. The gray tones down the pink nicely.

Swirls on Jade

I wore this Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Jazzy Jade" by itself last week, and liked it so much that I'm wearing it again this week. This time, I stamped some random swirly designs from Pueen plate #65 using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in "Silver Sweep." It's my first time using this plate, and I really like the design!

I love the little stars scattered throughout!