January Challenges - Gold and Diamonds

Two combined challenges today:-
Gold for #clairestelle8jan. I'm not really a gold fan but I decided to combine it with my most favourite plate BundleMonster + Sloteazzy BM-XL210. I started with a base of A England Lady of Shalott, added a coat of Nicole by OPI Twist of Fate (which gave more coverage than I'd planned but I decided to go with it) - then I stamped using Avon Gold Leaf - I think they looked OK, not quite as I'd planned but they could have been worse.
and then Diamonds for #wnac2016 - despite having [quite a lot of] plates I couldn't find a single one with the right image but then I spotted Messy Mansion Symetrika 05, this was the closest to what I had in mind and I stamped that over my gold mani with Esmaltes da Kelly Doguito for quite a subtle look. I wasn't too sure about this one as I was doing it but once finished I really liked the over all combination, despite it being a tricky one to catch on camera.

Nicole by OPI Twist of Fate

BundleMonster + Sloteazzy BM-XL210

Messy Mansion Symetrika 05

 

 

November Challenges - Zodiac

There was a new challenge in the When Colours Collide group and this time the theme was Zodiac. I am a Taurus but no amount of searching would find a bull on any of my stamping plates and this really isn't an animal that will lend itself to my freehand attempts.
Luckily I have this lovely Vivid Lacquer plate VL040 which has zodiac symbols, constellations and starry images.
I started with a base of A England Lady of Shalott, black with gorgeous blue shimmer.
Then I stamped one of the constellation images with SV by Sparkly Vernis Blurple Ice Cubes and then the zodiac symbols with Hit the Bottle Snowed Under.
I took a few macro so you can see the holo stamping under the zodiac symbols.

A England Lady of Shalott

Vivid Lacquer VL040

 

Vivid Lacquer VL040 matte

 

 

A2Z Series - J is for Jewel

It is Thursday again and time for the next letter - this week it is J is for Jewel.
I had decided what I was going to do for this week and then lying awake one night I suddenly wanted to do green amber instead. I think amber in general is fascinating, but I am not a lover of yellow or orange, so when I discovered green amber it was love at first sight. I couldn't wait to double check that it is actually a jewel so I could use it for this week's challenge. A quick google search told me "amber is a jewel quality fossilized resin"
Other than stamping, the other nail art technique that I discovered and really enjoyed most in 2014 was the saran wrap mani and I was pretty certain I could do something green and pretty using that technique.
I decided to start with a dark base, so I painted my nails with A England Lady of Shalott (I know its blue but it's mostly covered up and I wanted to wear it yesterday on its own).
This morning I blobbed A England Dragon onto my nails and moved it around with the saran wrap. I then added a few more much tinier blobs of A England Holy Grail, just to add a bit of golden warmth and saran wrapped that too. Top coat and done - 5 minute mani.
This turned out pretty much as I planned and I love them! I know they are a bit darker than green amber, but I like the dark base showing through and I just love that marbled finish. The fact that the 2 A Englands are holographic and sparkle delicately just adds to the prettiness of this, I think so anyway :)

 J is for Jewel - green amber

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look HERE to see what everyone else got up to.

An InLinkz Link-up

A England Lady of Shalott

Just a quick post today - I have a very beautiful polish to show you - it's another that I have worn before but the sun shone so I grabbed a couple of pictures.
The last time I wore this was pre-blog but I checked back, the picture I took wasn't very good so probably just as well!
A England Lady of Shalott is from the same collection as Jane Eyre, the Gothic Beauties collection. This is a black base with sapphire blue shimmer and it is stunning - in lower levels of light it does just look like a very dark blue but in the sunlight and other bright lights the shimmer is really beautiful.
It applied well with good coverage in 2 coats, and my pictures are taken with top coat.
It's so nice to be getting these colours out and wearing them again and I have a particular fondness for dark blue so this one will always be a favourite.

A England Lady of Shalott