January Challenges - Winter Berries

I am still loving my new BundleMonster + Sloteazzy BM-XL210 plate and this time I have used it with Hit the Bottle Snowed Under over Leighton Denny Morning Dew.
Then I used it again with A England Proserpine.
The prompt was Winter Berries for #clairestelle8jan. I used Pet'la Plate Golden Russian and Esmaltes da Kelly Naomi over the watermarbled stamping mani. Naomi is a dark red although I think it looks a bit brown in these pics and it was really hard to get a good shot of these, so again I resorted to a matte top coat.

BundleMonster + Sloteazzy BM-XL210

BundleMonster + Sloteazzy BM-XL210

Pet'la Plate Golden Russian and
Esmaltes da Kelly Naomi

 

Pet'la Plate Golden Russian and
Esmaltes da Kelly Naomi - matte

 

 

October Challenges - Autumn Colours

The challenge for #clairestelle8oct was Autumn colours and I planned to build on the glitter and yellow stamping from yesterday.
I don't have a red cream stamping polish but I remembered Nails Inc Gatwick which I got in a lucky dip. It is a matte red that I'd be unlikely to use otherwise so I thought it was worth giving that a try. I did a test and reckoned it would be OK over a pale base which is why I started with the yellow stamping.
I stamped another image from Pet'la Plate Golden Russian with Nails Inc Gatwick. It looked like this hadn't worked until I top coated it and then I think it looked pretty good.
Next I used Esmaltes da Kelly Frogger and the same plate to add some green leaves, and then finally I used Colour Alike Scary Pumpkin for the final layer of stamping.
You can only just see the glitter glinting through but I am happy with the way this went, and I like the final layer of shimmery orange. These Colour Alike polishes stamp nicely but they will leave shimmer on your skin if you skip the latex protection, or whatever you use when stamping, and then clean up is tedious! Sellotape doesn't seem to shift it.

Nails Inc Gatwick and Pet'la Plate Golden Russian

 

Esmaltes da Kelly  Frogger and Pet'la Plate Golden Russian

 

Colour Alike Scary Pumpkin and Pet'la Plate Golden Russian

October Challenges - Floral with Esmaltes da Kelly Iron Man

The Challenge was Floral for #30daysofcolourchallenge.
I decided to be a bit bold but Autumnal and used Esmaltes da Kelly Bee and Pet'la Plate Golden Russian over Esmaltes da Kelly Iron Man.
Iron Man is an amazing, stunning mix of autumnal glitters packed in a dark green/brown base. You get full coverage with two coats, but it is worth waiting a while between coats for it to dry and it is very top coat hungry. I used 2 coats but for a really smooth finish I could have done with adding a third.
The colours are just amazing and it is so sparkly!
I did think it looked similar to Esmaltes da Kelly Thor, but it is little darker, more brown rather than gold, and a dark base rather than clear. When I used Thor I used it as a topper but I don't think you'd use this as a topper except over a dark colour. They do both have the look of Autumn about them, the glitters glinting red, green  and gold.
I wanted to stay with Autumnal colours for the next few layers of stamping (3 more in the next post) so I started with yellow. Not my favourite colour as you know but I thought it would look good against the dark green/brown background. I used one of the floral images on Pet'la Plate Golden Russian - I really like the images on this plate and they all work so well together which is great for multiple stamping!
I hope these pictures look OK, they look a bit washed out to me but they look OK on my phone - laptop screen is rubbish :(

Esmaltes da Kelly Iron Man

 

 

 

 

Esmaltes da Kelly Bee and Pet'la Plate Golden Russian

 

An InLinkz Link-up

June Stamping - Hawaiian Shirt Mani with Pet'la Plate Golden Russian

There was a bit of Hawaiian shirt madness going on last week started by Debbie @ladyandthe_stamp so I had to join in!
I also wanted to do a slighty cheating negative space mani so I started with a base of Nails Inc Fulham Palace Road (nails too yellow for real nude nails) and I stamped with A England Saint George and Pet'la Plate Golden Russian.
I was quite pleased with this, quite pretty and a nice dark base for my #hawaiianshirtmani.
I stamped some foliage with Hit the Bottle Absinthe Minded and the same Pet'la plate and then I added a layer of flowers using Hit the Bottle Purple Reign and Hit the Bottle Magenta at your Own Risk, again using the same plate.
I was really pleased with these, not too outlandish and perhaps not as bright as some hawaiian shirts but it was my son's birthday and I am not sure he'd want to go out with me with really loud nails!!

Hit the Bottle Magenta at Your Own Risk, Purple Reign,
and Absinthe Minded, A England Saint George,
and Pet'la Plate Golden Russian

 

 

A England Saint George and
Pet'la Plate Golden Russian

 

April Challenges - Easter

I already did one Easter mani but I really wanted to do one which was not all about pastels - the colour of my new Cadillacquer inspired me to think of Fabergé eggs and this is what I came up with for #clairestelle8april.
Cadillacquer Saviour was sent me as an extra when I bought another Cadillacquer last week from a really nice lady - how sweet is that! It is a gorgeous polish but the weather wasn't good enough for good pictures so that will have to wait for another a day.
Anyway, this is what I did. Two coats of Cadillacquer Saviour, and then I stamped with one of the images on Pet'la Plate Golden Russian and Virtuous Polish Deborah -  a bright vibrant blue that brings to mind the colour of turquoise stone. I then used the same plate and a 2nd image, the same pattern but larger, and A England Virgin Queen.
I am really pleased with how these turned out.
I might well try a third layer of stamping tomorrow but for now they are staying as they are.

Pet'la Plate Golden Russian,Virtuous Polish Deborah
and A England Virgin Queen
#clairestelle8april

 

 

 

Pet'la Plate Golden Russian and
 Virtuous Polish Deborah

 

Stamping! Pet'la Plate Golden Russian and Picture Polish Bohemian

Yesterday and today I have been stamping, again! This time over Picture Polish Bohemian.
I thought quite a while about what colours to try over this polish - I thought black would be too harsh so I started with the very dark red of A England Lancelot. This polish stamps beautifully and I think it goes really well with the pink and bronze tones of Bohemian.
I used Pet'la plate Golden Russian, I love this plate - the images are beautiful and the one I chose to start with is a lovely mix of swirly leaves, ferns perhaps, and berries.
Today I stamped a second image which is the same pattern but larger. I chose a really contrasting colour, the very white Essence Stampy 001. I did wonder about a more muted shade but I think the pattern would have been lost and I love the crisp white stamping. (It would have been even crisper if the bottle hadn't been nearly empty!)
Finally, I couldn't resist - there is a third image on the plate, same pattern but larger again, so I stamped that with A England Saint George. I did try a couple of other colours but in the end I decided the tealy green was the best contrast to all the other colours. The detail of the pattern is not so clear now I have the third layer of stamping but I love the combination of colours.

Picture Polish Bohemian with Pet'la plate Golden Russian
and A England Lancelot

 

Picture Polish Bohemian with Pet'la plate Golden Russian,
A England Lancelot and Essence Stampy 001

 

Picture Polish Bohemian with Pet'la plate Golden Russian,
A England Lancelot, Essence Stampy 001 and
A England Saint George

 

Stamping! with Pet'la plates, A England Saint George and Mentality Green Opaque over Fancy Gloss Pumpkin Patch

I have a 3 part mani to share with you today, a new polish and 2 new plates. This is also my Chinese New Year mani but I'll try not to make the post too long!!
I started with Fancy Gloss Pumpkin Patch, which is a beautiful pumpkin orange with really pretty glitter that picks up red, yellow and green in the light. I think this might have been limited edition (for Halloween) but I bought mine from Rainbow Connection and it is still available there.
The polish applied well, good coverage in 2 coats although I could see the nail line in the light. Not so much that it worried me but I am finding the longer my nails are the more I can see it as light shines through - I'll have to learn to live with it!
I did this mani over 3 days, so yesterday, Chinese New Year, I added the Mentality Green Opaque and used Pet'la plate Golden Russian. I love the Pet'la plates - they are brass so they look a lot different to all my other plates but the quality is excellent.
I think the metallic Mentality polish worked well over Pumpkin Patch, a lovely contrast between the soft polished sheen of the green  and the sparkly intense orange.
Finally, today, I added a 2nd layer of stamping with A England Saint George, a gorgeous dark intense holo teal and Pet'la plate Flake No More. I love it!! I think the dark teal with the paler green work really well against the orange, and again the plate was brilliant.
I love double stamping, it's a bit trial and error for me but sometimes you get some really lovely combinations, and whilst I wouldn't wear orange for more than a day or two, I'd happily wear this for some time!

Fancy Gloss Pumpkin Patch

 

Mentality Green Opaque
and Pet'la plate Golden Russian

 

A England Saint George and
Pet'la plate Flake No More