Wednesday 30 December 2015

December Challenges - New Year

New Year for #clairestelle8dec - I still don't have any firework plates so these bright snowflakes will have to do! I think New Years Eve would look great if snowflakes like these fell from the sky! I used  Colours Alike Kind of Black and Uberchic Christmas 01 over a base of Kleancolor Metallic Pink, Jungle and Green. I love the vibrancy of the Kleancolor metallics!
UberChic Christmas 01
UberChic Christmas 01

Sunday 27 December 2015

December Challenges - Gifts

The prompt for #clairestelle8dec was Gifts. All the images I had were quite small so I decided I'd have gifts at the tips of my fingers and snowflakes above them.
I started with Emily de Molly Diamond in the Rough, a lovely blue, slightly tealy holo. This was from the November Paint the Rainbow box.
Then I sponged the tips with A England Cathy to create a bit of a gradient.
I used Colour Alike Holy Night and Messy Mansion Tristaenia Merry Christmas for the gifts and Colour Alike Kind of White and Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS09 for the snowflakes. I bought both plates from Nail Artisan, just before Christmas and I am so glad I did - now just making sure I use them as much as I can before Christmas is over!!
Emily de Molly Diamond in the Rough
Emily de Molly Diamond in the Rough
 Emily de Molly Diamond in the Rough
 Emily de Molly Diamond in the Rough

Messy Mansion Tristaenia Merry Christmas and   Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS09
Messy Mansion Tristaenia Merry Christmas and
Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS09
  Messy Mansion Tristaenia Merry Christmas and   Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS09
 Messy Mansion Tristaenia Merry Christmas and   Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS09
 Messy Mansion Tristaenia Merry Christmas and   Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS09

Friday 25 December 2015

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - New Year

This weeks prompt for 40 Great Nail Art Ideas was New Year.
 My first thought for New Year was fireworks. I don't have any fireworks plates  but I decided if I used the right colours the images which might be stars or snowflakes on Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS11 would make great fireworks.
I used Colour Alike Aurora, Mars and Rudolph over A England Camelot. The chrome colours stamped beautifully over the black and although quite simple, I am really pleased with them.
Sascha Gossen YS11
Sascha Gossen YS11
 Sascha Gossen YS11
 Sascha Gossen YS11




Thursday 24 December 2015

December Challenges - and more Christmas manis

A brief summary of this weeks manis...

Tuesday 22nd December -Snowflakes - UberChic Christmas 01 and Colour Alike Kind of White

Wednesday 23rd December - Above the Curve Husbands Just Don't Understand
Wednesday 23rd December - Christmas is Coming for #clairestelle8dec - Colour Alike Fairy Forest and Messy Mansion Tristaenia Merry Christmas over Above the Curve Husbands Just Don't Understand.

Thursday 24th December - Above the Curve Crimson Time at Home
Thursday 24th December - Christmas for #wnac2015 - UberChic Christmas 01 and Colour Alike Supernova over Above the Curve Crimson Time at Home

Friday 25th December - the #wnac2015 mani with added subtle snowflakes - UberChic Christmas 01 and SV by Sparkly Vernis Blurple Ice Cubes.
UberChic Christmas 01
UberChic Christmas 01
Above the Curve Husbands Just Don't Understand
Above the Curve Husbands Just Don't Understand
 Above the Curve Husbands Just Don't Understand

Colour Alike Fairy Forest and Messy Mansion Tristaenia Merry Christmas
Colour Alike Fairy Forest and
Messy Mansion Tristaenia Merry Christmas
Above the Curve Crimson Time at Home
Above the Curve Crimson Time at Home
Above the Curve Crimson Time at Home

UberChic Christmas 01 and Colour Alike Supernova
UberChic Christmas 01 and Colour Alike Supernova
 UberChic Christmas 01 and Colour Alike Supernova

UberChic Christmas 01 and  SV by Sparkly Vernis Blurple Ice Cubes
UberChic Christmas 01 and
SV by Sparkly Vernis Blurple Ice Cubes
 UberChic Christmas 01 and  SV by Sparkly Vernis Blurple Ice Cubes

Monday 21 December 2015

When Colours Collide - Green and White

The most recent When Colours Collide challenge was Green and White.
I chose Freckles Polish The Very Hungry Caterpillar as my base. This polish does not have a blog post if its own because despite being very beautiful, I could not get enough decent pictures of it.
I captured the gorgeous golden flecks but none of the sparkle so I will have to try again on a better day!
I stamped with Messy Mansion MM30 and Hit the Bottle Snowed Under but I thought it looked a bit plain so I added a quick dusting of Violet Rose Polish Thistle.
We had another excellent response to this challenge and created two collages.
Freckles Polish The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Freckles Polish The Very Hungry Caterpillar
 Messy Mansion MM30 and Hit the Bottle Snowed Under
Messy Mansion MM30 and Hit the Bottle Snowed Under
 Messy Mansion MM30 and Hit the Bottle Snowed Under
with Violet Rose Thistle
  Messy Mansion MM30 and Hit the Bottle Snowed Under

 

Sunday 20 December 2015

When Colours Collide - Red and Gold

It is almost time to post the next WCC challenge, Green and White, but first I have to catch up and post Red and Gold from earlier in the month.
I started with a base of HJ Manicure Red Wine
Then I added Avon Metallic Effects Gold Leaf and UberChic UC 4-02
Next I added Colour Alike Red Wine and the same UberChic plate.
And finally SV by Sparkly Vernis Gilded Lemon Drop and the same UberChic plate again. This was the image I used for the collaboration.
The last pic in the series was with matte top coat.
We had so many entries we made 2 collages.
HJ Manicure Red Wine
HJ Manicure Red Wine
Avon Gold Leaf and UberChic UC 4-02
Avon Gold Leaf and UberChic UC 4-02
Colour Alike Red Wine and UberChic UC 4-02
Colour Alike Red Wine and UberChic UC 4-02
SV by Sparkly Vernis Gilded Lemon Drops  and UberChic UC 4-02
SV by Sparkly Vernis Gilded Lemon Drops
 and UberChic UC 4-02
 SV by Sparkly Vernis Gilded Lemon Drops  and UberChic UC 4-02


 


Saturday 19 December 2015

December Challenges - A beautiful purple, Festive Sweaters and some poinsettias

A three stage mani for you today...
Firstly, a gorgeous purple holo - 'Ard As Nails Oakey. This polish applied beautifully with excellent coverage. The holo is very pretty and I love this bluey purple shade. I don't think my photos really do this justice so this polish will probably stay out to be used again soon.
The prompt for #clairestelle8dec was Festive Sweater so I used UberChic Christmas 01 with Hit the Bottle Absinthe Minded and Hit The Bottle Snowed Under. In my mind it would be easy to to stamp green and white neatly! The end result looks OK but the colour split is a bit more wobbly than I planned.
After a day I felt this Christmassy need to add poinsettias to my mani! I used Fab Ur Nails FUN 14 and Esmaltes Da Kelly Joana and then dotted Virtuous Polish Glory for the centre of the flowers - pretty colourful!!
The final pic is also starring the gorgeous gloves my lovely friend Beverley sent me.
'Ard As Nails Oakey
'Ard As Nails Oakey
 'Ard As Nails Oakey
'Ard As Nails Oakey
 'Ard As Nails Oakey

UberChic Christmas 01
UberChic Christmas 01 with
 HTB Absinthe Minded and Snowed Under
Fab Ur Nails FUN14
Fab Ur Nails FUN14 and EDK Joana


Friday 18 December 2015

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Christmas

The prompt for this week for 40 Great Nail Art Ideas was Christmas.
I have just got my hands on Messy Mansion MM30 and it seeemd to me there were two images just made to be used together, the boughs of a christmas trees (I think that would be the right term) and baubles with pine cones.
I decided to start with a pale base so I used A England Cathy. Then I did the tree with Colors by Llarowe Magnificent Maleficent and the baubles with A England Let Me In.
Although quite a green teal, the CBL seems to have stamped quite blue over the lilac grey, but trees don't have to be green, do they?
I think the colours all work quite well together, a bit on the subtle side but I like them.
Messy Mansion MM30
Messy Mansion MM30
 Messy Mansion MM30
 Messy Mansion MM30






December Challenges - Stars

The prompt was Stars for #wnac2015 - I'm afraid stars mean only one thing - an excuse to do galaxy nails! I used Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS11 and Hit the Bottle Snowed Under to stamp stars over a base of A England Let Me In, Colors by Llarowe Magnificent Maleficent and A England Cathy.
I'm really pleased with the way these turned out, and the plate is perfect for galaxy nails!
Sascha Gossen YS11
Sascha Gossen YS11
 Sascha Gossen YS11
Sascha Gossen YS11
 Sascha Gossen YS11
Sascha Gossen YS11


Thursday 17 December 2015

A England Cathy

Today I thought I'd show you a polish from one of A England's new To Emily Bronte collection. This is a collection of 5 polishes, all look beautiful and plenty of bloggers have posted some excellent shots of them.
I bought Cathy a while back but haven't had the opportunity to use it. I was doing a challenge for tomorrow which I wanted to use a pale base for so I thought it was a great opportunity to try it.
I am very wary of pale colours, especially holos, in case they don't give enough coverage as I still don't like to see a nail line and at the moment I have very stained nails (thank you Kleancolor Metallic Yellow!)
I needn't have worried - as usual the A England consistency was perfect, excellent coverage. This is a beautiful polish, a very pale lilac/grey holo. I love it and I wish I'd tried it sooner. The holo is quite subtle but what I found very noticeable to the naked eye was a stunning blue shimmer. However, even in poor light, the colour is so delicate and gorgeous. I don't have anything at all like this in my collection so I think this will be like Saint George, I will actually use all of it and have to buy another!!!
A England Cathy
A England Cathy
 A England Cathy
 A England Cathy
A England Cathy
 A England Cathy