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

 

 

Wiki'd Nails Challenge - Midas

This week's Wiki'd Nails Challenge was Midas so what else to do but gold nails!
I don't like gold nails but I've given it my best shot and even tried out one of my latest nail art fears, the blobbicure!
I decided I'd go with A England Holy Grail, the old one and the new one, to see how different they really are so I did gradients on 2 fingers and the thumb and blobbicures on the other 2 fingers. Despite not really liking these colours I was pretty pleased with what I did, not least that the blobbicure fear has been conquered.
Then to make sure they really were gold I added a coat of Nicole by OPI Twist of Fate, a pretty dense gold glitter - again, not a glitter I use a lot but I think it did the trick. I had however forgotten what a pain glitter can be to photograph, especially in the sun, so the pictures are not great.
I think the pre-glitter version is better, but there was no going back!

A England Holy Grail - old and new

A England Holy Grails and Nicole by OPI Twist of Fate

An InLinkz Link-up