So here we go with the August challenges. A bit different to my usual format, it will be a long post with just a few words between the pictures, and only one picture per mani (or maybe 2)
So I started with Golden Rose Holiday 77, which was one of the 8 textured polishes I bought in Turkey, and huge thanks to my lovely friend Iva who told me about them!!
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| Golden Rose Holiday 77 |
The first challenge was Gradient so I did a gradient with Golden Rose Holiday 77 and 79, stunning textures!
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| Golden Rose Holiday 77 and 79 |
The next challenge was Hawaiian, so I stamped Vivid Lacquer VL014 with Kleancolor Neon Sapphire over my gradient. This wasn't a huge success but since I hadn't top coated the textured gradient I had no choice but to run with it.
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| Vivid lacquer VL 014 and Kleancolor Neon Sapphire |
Then I added some cute dragonflies from Vivid Lacquer VL014 with Hit the Bottle Snowed Under
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| Vivid Lacquer VL014 with Hit the Bottle Snowed Under |
And then I added topcoat! the white seems to melt into the blue and I really liked what I ended up with!
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| Vivid Lacquer VL014 with Hit the Bottle Snowed Under |
The next challenge was Aztec and I used Apipila 09 and Kleancolor Madly Black over Polished by KPT Swimming with Mermaids. Swimming with Mermaids is a thermal so you'll need a quick shot of that in its transition phase - it's beautiful! and then the Azetc stamping.
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| Polished by KPT Swimming with Mermaids |
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| Apipila 09 and Kleancolor Madly Black |
The next challnge was Green, so slightly in the wrong order here is the base of the Aztec mani, the beautiful Swimming with Mermaids in its cold stage.
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Polished by KPT Swimming with Mermaids
- cold |
The next mani was really just an addition to the Aztec theme. I used the same Apipila plate and Essence Stampy 001 to add some white stamping. The image was quite small but I wanted to cover the nail so I had a go at sort of rolling the image onto the nail so it stretched a bit - that needs some practice!
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| Apipila 09 and Essence Stampy 001 |
The next mani I did was another green one - such a lovely green with fine blue particles - and it applied like a dream.
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| El Corazon Kaleidoscope Spring Green 07 |
The next challenge was Beach Towel and I did this in two stages - firstly stamping stripes with Lealac LLC A, Kleancolor Concrete Gray and Hit the Bottle Purple Reign over the Kaleidoscope mani.
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Lealac LLC A, Kleancolor Concrete Gray and
Hit the Bottle Purple Reign |
For the second stage, inspired by my daughter's beach towel, I stamped with A England Lancelot and Apipila Super Plate B.
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| A England Lancelot and Apipila Super Plate B |
The next challenge was Triangles - I was quite surprised how few plates I had with triangles on - I love this one though - Messy Mansion Leadlight Lacquer A06 stamped with Hit the Bottle Snowed Under - and yes, I stamped this on top of the beach towel mani.
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Mesy Mansion LL A06 and
Hit the Bottle Snowed Under |
Then there was Birds - I was thinking owls for this one but I saw Deliciate Nails do these
gorgeous peacocks and I just had to do them too! I used the beautiful peacock plate from Emily de Molly EDM04 and A England Proserpine over China Glaze Daisy Know My Name and Leighton Denny Funky Town.
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| Emily de Molly EDM04 and A England Proserpine |
Then there was Palm Trees, and although I don't really like yellow, I rather liked the yellow and blue combo under the peacocks, so I took a chance and carefully removed most of the stamped layer. I then added a gradient of A Enland Gloriana, A England Proserpine and China Glaze Daisy Know My Name. This was a pretty bright combo but I think it made a good background for the palm trees on UberChic Beauty UC 2-03 which I stamped with Kleancolor Madly Black.
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| UberChic Beauty UC 2-03 and Kleancolor Madly Black |
The final August challenge was Carnival. I wasn't sure what to do and in the end I decided I'd do fireworks because you do have fireworks after carnivals, don't you. I don't have any firework plates so you have to use your imagination a bit.
I started with Moyou London Artist 04 and SV by Sparkly Vernis Gilded Lemon Drops over Colors by Llarowe Aubergine Dreams and then added 2 True Pro Metallica Athena with an un-named Ebay plate - the image is actually a dandelion I think but it could be a firework!
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Moyou London Artist 04 and
SV by Sparkly Vernis Gilded Lemon Drops |
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| un-named Ebay plate with 2 True Pro Metallica |
And then I added some glitter with Avon Magic Effects Tassled Trim, this looked very pretty and sparkly in really life!
