May Challenges - Spring Flowers

Still trying to decide whether to keep my blog going but in the meantime blogs posts will be a mix of short and long...
Spring Flowers for #clairestelle8may - I used Fab Ur Nails FUN14 and Barry M Black Pistachio over Barry M Cream Soda and then coloured the tulips with Barry M Purple Pop - Tulips are my most favourite spring flower and I love black tulips!
I was thinking of using more than one colour but since black tulips are my fave I decided just to stay with the purple. I love this new Barry M Lolly Gloss. I am glad I bought all 4 but I expect the purple will be used most! The depth of colour is great - nothing worse than a tint that is so pale it may as well not be there!
I was pleased with how these turned out and glad that I used green to stamp over the soft cream soda shade, rather than pure black and white.
Finally I added a matte top coat - unsure which I love most!

Fab Ur Nails FUN14

 

 

September Challenges - Colour of Your Socks

Today's prompt for #30daysofcolourchallenge was Colour of Your Socks. As I was in the mood for stripes, I dug out a pair of stripey socks and then set to work recreating them.
I started with a base of Leighton Denny Brick Road, and then added blue stripes with Esmaltes da Kelly Wendy and Moyou London Pro XL 01.
Then I added more stripes with Colour Alike Red Wine & Lilac Sweater and Lealac LLC-A. The image on LLC-A is quite large so it was possible to paint the actual stripes in alternating colours on the plate - a bit tricky but worth it I think. The resulting stripes were not that tidy, a bit wonky in places but overall I thought they were OK..
Then I added the knitted look with A England Lancelot and Messy Mansion MM40. I do like this plate!!
Finally I added a matte top coat. I still can't decide whether I prefer this mani matte or glossy but I was pretty pleased with it anyway.

Moyou London Pro XL 01
and Esmaltes da Kelly Wendy

Lealac LLC-A and Colour Alike Lilac Sweater and Red Wine

Messy Mansion MM40 and A England Lancelot

 

 

Messy Mansion MM40 - matte

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

September Challenges - Jelly, Nude and Matte

I have combined three #30daysofcolourchallenge prompts, Nude, Jelly and Matte.
For Nude I used Leighton Denny It's an Honour, from the September 2015 Harper's Bazaar magazine. It is a lovely colour, and I don't mind the shimmer too much!
For Jelly I used my Kandy Colors Neon Jellies - Retro, Grape Much? and Carnival. I stamped with UberChic UC1-02 over the jellies on the index and little finger and used the jellies to leadlight an image from Apipila Super Plate C stamped with Essence Stampy 002 on the other two.
For Matte, I added Barry M Cosmetics Matte Top Coat - I love the silky finish it gave to this mani.

Leighton Denny It's an Honour

Kandy Colors Jellies

Kandy Color Jellies - matte

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

July Challenges - Animal

Today's challenge for #clairestelle8july was Animal. I did think about doing animal print but while I was arguing with myself whether to go stripes or spots and what colour combo, I remembered the cute Messy Mansion foxy plate I got and decided I'd go with that.
I also decided to go for a bit of recycling so I added a bit more red to yesterday's Horror mani to make a black and red base for my foxes. I stamped with Avon Metallic Effects Frosted Peach and Messy Mansion MM34. I love this image, so cute and it reminds me of a really sweet little cartoon the children used to watch when they were little, Pablo the Little Red Fox.
Now this is clearly not a summery mani - somewhere between Autumnal and Christmassy but since it has rained all day and I am now wearing 3 layers including my thickest winter cardigan I am not sure that matters!
Then I had to add a coat of my newly acquired Barry M Matte top coat - there is barely any daylight so the pictures are not the best but I really love this!

Messy Mansion MM34 and Avon Frosted Peach

 

Messy Mansion MM34 and Avon Frosted Peach - matte

 

Wiki'd Nails - Horror Icon

This is the last week of the Wiki'd Nails Challenge - I feel quite relieved because it has felt a real struggle to do these. However, looking at the album of Wiki'd pics on my facebook page I am actually quite impressed with what I have achieved, especially considering I almost gave up on this before I even started.
Sometimes we do need to be pushed a bit, but maybe not during financial year end!
Anyway, this week's Wiki'd Nails Challenge was Horror Icon so I have stamped the ghoulish looking face from Hehe 040 using A England Rose Bower over Nails Inc Lily.
They were a bit camera shy, so I added a coat of Barry M Matte top coat - much easier to photograph and wow! what a top coat, it is actually properly matte. I am really pleased with it!
I am quite happy with these ghoulish little chaps - when I got Hehe 040 I couldn't see me using this particular image although I love all the fake water marbling images, such a brilliant little plate!

Hehe 040 and A England Rose Bower

 

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up