June Challenges - A Smoosh and Unicorns

Right, I think I will give blogging a rest, except for those that have to be blogged. I have thought long and hard about it, but there just never seems to be enough time to do it well and I don't want it to be a scrappy effort (although a few recent ones have been brief to say the least)
This week's smoosh was pink, blue and gold - I used Nails Inc Sugarloaf Sunset, St James Square and A England Holy Grail.
Unicorns for #clairestelle8june - well I started with UberChicUC 6-01 and Esmaltes da Kelly Fox Fur over my smoosh - and I think that unicorn poops might look a bit like this!!
UC 6-01 is my newest UberChic plate - I know I am a bit behind!! I couldn't quite make up my mind if I needed this set but there are so many images other people have used that I liked I decided to go for it and I love how Esmaltes da Kelly Fox Fur stamps!!
There don't seem to be many unicorn plates, perhaps as rare and shy as unicorns themselves - I found an image on Apipila Super Plate C but to be honest I preferred the previous stage. I am not that keen on single images on my nails, much prefer a pattern and my nails are a bit too small for this unicorn anyway,

Smoosh!

UberChicUC 6-01 and Esmaltes da Kelly Fox Fur

Apipila Super Plate C

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Aqua or Turquoise and Sponging (and then some stamping too)

This weeks colour prompt for 40 Great Nail Art Ideas was Aqua or Turquoise with a pattern prompt of sponging.
I started with a base of Nails Inc St James Square and when I showed my husband he said, ooh turquoise, so I got that bit right.
I chose to sponge with  Leighton Denny Jailbird, Kleancolor Metallic Aqua and HJ Manicure Blue Lagoon thinking they would go well with the base but unfortunately although I could see the differences the camera said, oh all blue then! You can see it if you look closely but perhaps I should have used less similar shades. The end result was pretty, if a little subtler than I intended.
Now, I often have 2 Friday challenges and I usually save one for Saturday. However, the prompts for #wnac2016 were a bit late being announced and as the first one was also sponging I decided I'd combine it with the 40GNAI. The theme for this months #wnac2016 is Love/Hate so I went with Love and added hearts with A England Rose Bower and Apipila Superplate B.

Nails Inc St James Square

 

Turquoise with sponging

 

Apipila Super Plate B and A England Rose Bower

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Watercolour mani with Nails Inc pastel shades

As I mentioned on my last post, my previous mani was intended as a base for nail art. This is what I did with it...
I think I mentioned I had joined a group run by Debbie from The Crumpet, to learn some basic nail art. There are week by week tutorials to follow, but I joined late so I am catching up, mainly with the ones that interest me most. Last week I decided to try the watercolour mani.
I chose greens and blues, and at the back of my mind was something very pretty like Monet's Waterlilies. A quick check of Google showed that the colours were nothing like Monet's but never mind!!
I had the soft green base of Nails Inc Holland Park Gardens, and the other 3 colours I chose were also Nails Inc, mainly because I have polishes in the colours I wanted to use, rather than any specific desire not to mix brands. I chose Bluebell, a slightly lilacy blue, Royal Botanical Gardens and St James Square, 2 very pretty tealy pastel shades, St James Square being bluer and a touch darker.
I followed Debbie's tutorial and this is what happened.
I couldn't quite decide when I'd finished whether its looked really good or a complete mess, but comments I received were mostly positive, and actually it really grew on me. Initially I had intended to do some stamping on top straight way but I decided to wear it on its own for a coupe of days and then I was too worried about spoiling it. The stamping bit will now get a separate post.

Watercolour mani with Nails Inc pastel shades