When Colours Collide - Teal and Gold

As soon as the cover photo was posted for this challenge there was a flurry of water marbly posts in gorgeous teal and gold. Well, I don't do water marble  - it is so messy and for me the end result is so dreadful, it is one of those things I just accept as not being for me. Anyway, I love stamping too much.
I did want to do something quite organic, along the lines of our cover post, and on this occasion was not sure I wanted to use my water marble plate, so I went for the rather lovely water spotting image on Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS12.
I started with a base of OPI Ski Teal We Drop, one of those polishes I just love love love!!
Then I added a coat of a very special glitter topper I bought from Quirk a couple of years ago. An Ocean Potion is a stunning mix of teal and gold and was perfect for this mani.
Next I stamped the bubbles image from Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS12 with Colors by Llarowe Thing 1 & Thing 2.
Finally I used Avon Gold Leaf and stamped the water spotting image.
Then I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get a decent photo that i) was in focus, and ii) actually looked teal. I tried blue, green, white, brown, pink woollies and even no woolies at all, nothing worked, it all looks blue :(
Well, anyway, I loved the finished mani, I know it is teal! I love the mix of holo, sparkle, gold stamping and teal even if no-one else can see it!

OPI Ski Teal We Drop

 

Quirk An Ocean Potion

Sascha Gossen YS12 and CBL Thing 1 & Thing 2

Sascha Gossen YS12 and Avon Gold Leaf

 

 

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

 

 

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

Avon Gold Leaf 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

 

 

Stamping! Art Deco nails for Moyou London's Bookworm contest

Moyou London is hosting a Bookworm contest and the idea is to do a mani based on one of the 9 books they listed. I've seen entries to their competitions before and they look so elaborate that I didn't really think about it when I saw the Instagram post - save  but then I spotted the title "The Great Gatsby" and having seen posters for the film, that black and gold image came straight into my mind. When the postman brought my Moyou London Time Traveller plate this morning I knew I had to give this contest a try. I had spotted the Back to the 20's plate on one of the sales pages at the weekend, so I think it was fate and I do love Art Deco!!
I chose 2 images, but with one being more solid than the other so I decided to switch things around so that the overall look would be more consistent. I painted 3 nails of each hand with Avon Metallic Effects Gold Leaf, and the thumb and ring finger with Nails Inc Lily (all my blacks are running out but Lily is nearly black).
Then I stamped using the very last dregs of my A England Camelot over the gold, and used the Avon to stamp over Lily. If you look I doubt you'd be aware that 3 fingers are black on gold and 2 are gold on black, unless you know the stamping plate really well.
As if running out of blacks wasn't bad enough, all my top coats seem to have got to that gloopy stage where they need to be binned and as a result there were a few smudged stampings. I took some pictures but found the reflections were masking the detail, so I top coated again with the OPI matte topcoat. This is not as matte as some top coats but matte enough for me to actually get a couple of reasonable pictures. Although I had a few issues with these I am quite pleased with the results and I have taken the plunge and entered the competition.

Moyou London Back to the 20s 05
(The  Great Gatsby)