May Collaboration - Florals and foliage

I took part in a collaboration with some fellow nail addicts given the prompt "florals and foliage"
I decided to do mine over the pink and lace mani I did last week. In theory the pink and lace would make a lovely base for the floral and foliage stamping. However, as I had left that matte, and still wanted to keep the whole mani matte, it make things a whole lot harder. Normally I top coat between every layer of stamping which gives me the option of taking off unsuccessful attempts - this time I ended up having to fully redo a couple of nails but I got there in the end.
I started with the foliage, stamping A England Saint George with an ivy leaf pattern from Fab Ur Nails FUN15.
Then I added the flowers using Virtuous Polish Humility, a stunning deep violet shade and a lovely flower image from FUN14.
And yes I do seem to have combined green and purple again, but I tried red and it looked too Christmassy!
You can see the other manis on instagram #whencolourscollide.

A England Saint George and FUN15

Virtuous Polish Humility and FUN14 

 

the Florals and Foliage collaboration

May Challenges - Above the Curve Crimson Time at Home and "stars"

The challenge for #clairestelle8may today was stars. I did think I'd like to do galaxy nails again but didn't really have a lot of time for sponging, so I went for something a bit simpler.
Firstly, Above the Curve Crimson Time at Home... what can I say - this polish is stunning!!! I am completely in love with it! Although when I think crimson, I think red and this polish is either a purpley red or a reddy purple! It does look more red in some lights, and then bluer in others but in all lights it is gorgeous. It has a beautiful scattered holo and is amazing in the sunlight. It applied and dried well and I have to say this is one of those manis where once I'd stamped I rather wished I'd left it as it was.
Anyway, I did stamp with A England Her Rose Adagio and then with SV by Sparkly Vernis Blurple Ice Cubes using two images on Cici&Sisi 09 to add some trails of dots (planets). Then I stamped the stars from UberChic Beauty UC 2-01 with Essence Stampy 001. There is a nicer stars image on UC 2-03 and I wish I'd used that as I prefer the random layout of stars. The end result is pretty but not my fave mani ever.

Above the Curve Crimson Time at Home

 

Stars - UberChic Beauty UC 2-01

 

May Challenges - White / Leadlighting

Today's #30daysofcolourchallenge was white/leadlighting. I hate white nails on me so I stamped on them as soon as they were dry.
I used Barry M Hi Shine Gelly Cotton as my base and then stamped butterflies from Messy Mansion 42 using A England Camelot.
I still don't have any jelly polishes but I do have Nelly Polishes. Nelly Polish was a UK Indie brand owned by a lovely lady called Hilary. I don't think the polishes are available any more but they were jelly based with really pretty glitter. I found that they are great for leadlighting and you get the occasional glitter added in which is lovely!! I have used Bodmin (blue), Looe (green), Jonah's Green (teal) and an un-named red sample polish that Hilary kindly added to my order.
I am still not sure about so much white on my nails but these are very pretty and I couldn't help adding a photo with my lovely Portmerion vase!!

Leadlighting with Messy Mansion MM42

 

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

May Challenges - Pink and Lace

There was a theme in one of my facebook groups to do a pink mani for the new royal princess so I thought I'd combine that with #clairestelle8may challenge which was Lace.
I was in the mood to stay with textured polish so I used Avon Stardust Crystallized Pink. It's not that pink to be honest, almost a neutral tone which makes it very wearable as well as very sparkly and pretty.
Then I used Born Pretty BP-02 and Essence Stampy 001 to stamp the lace pattern. This looks really pretty but the contrast is not great - it's quite subtle which I don't mind but it does make it tricky to get a good picture.
I decided not to top coat this and 24 hours later it still looks fine. I love the feel of the textured polish and the matte stamping polish looks lovely and delicate over the textured base.

Avon Stardust Crystallized Pink

 

Lace - Born Pretty BP-02 and Essence Stampy 001

 

A2Z Series - Z is for Zig Zags

The final A2Z challenge is here - this week Z is for Zig Zags and I thought I'd combine it with the #30daysofcolourchallenge which was green / gradient.
I love textured polish and had some success last time I did a textured gradient so I thought I'd try again. This time I have used Avon Magic Effects Mineral Crush Topaz and Kiko Cupcake 655 Mint. I think these 2 greens work well together and it's quite interesting to see the sparkly Topaz against the matte mint cupcake.
Then I stamped my zig zags using Hit the Bottle Purple Reign and Magenta at your own Risk and Moyou London Fashionista 04. I love the pink and purple against the two greens - these Hit the Bottle polishes stamp beautifully.
Pictures are all taken without top coat. I have top coated it now to protect it but it did look better before.

Green Gradient - Avon Magic Effects Mineral Crush Topaz
 and Kiko Cupcake 655 

 

Z is for Zig Zags
Hit the Bottle Purple Reign and Magenta at your own Risk
with Moyou London Fashionista 04

 

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

May Challenges - Purple / Dry Brush and Inspired by Another Artist

The #30daysofcolourchallenge for May 4th is Purple / Dry Brush.
For purple I have used OPI I'm Feeling Sashy, which has sat untried for far too long. It is a lovely creme polish in a dusky plum shade. This is a beautiful polish, almost neutral in tone and very wearable.
I did google dry brush and I am not sure I'd like it on me, but there aren't any rules on how you apply the dry brush so I decided to use it just to add some colour ready for the next challenge - that way, if I didn't like it I could just cover it up! I used Virtuous Polish Queen Ester to add some pastel lilac to my purple base and I am surprised how much I liked it- I think the blue lilac pastel shade went well with the redder OPI shade.
#clairestelle8may challenge for 5th May is "Inspired by another artist". I wasn't sure if this was intended to be a nail artist (who would I choose from all those talented ladies out there!) or just any artist but I have gone for Monet. I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to art, I only know of a few artists but I do love Monet's waterlilies so that is my inspiration for the mani.
I have used Vivid Laqcuer VL 030 and Virtuous Polishes Miriam and Deborah to add some flowers, and then finally Virtuous Polish Rahab to add some greenery, using the same plate and an image which is the same pattern as the previous one but in outline only.
I love this Vivid Lacquer plate and the thing I like about the image I used first is the way it prints bands of flowers but leaves strips where the base colour shows through.
I am pretty pleased with the way this turned out. I am not claiming it looks anything like a Monet, but I like it anyway!

OPI I'm Feeling Sashy

OPI I'm Feeling Sashy and Virtuous Polish Queen Ester 

Virtuous Polish Miram, Deborah and Rahab,
Vivid Lacquer VL 030

An InLinkz Link-up

May Challenges - Flakies and Gold/Dotticure

Here we go with the first May Challenge.
I have started with Flakies for #clairestelle8may. I used one coat of the gorgeous Girly Bits Take My Money Please over China Glaze Liquid Leather. This is a beautiful flakie with flakes going from gold through to green and even blue at extreme angles. The flakes are so vibrant, truly stunning.
Of course I had to try it matte although I am really not that impressed with my OPI matte top coat, it doesn't really seem quite matte enough but the flakies look fab anyway!!
The #30daysofcolourchallenge was Gold/Dotticure so I added gold roses using SV by Sparkly Vernis Gilded Lemon Drops, definitely my favourite gold polish! I used UberChic Beauty UC 1-02.
I really like the combination of the gold holo and the flakies although it was quite tricky to capture on camera.
I resisted the dotticure part for a day while I decided whether it would really work on this mani but in the end I decided it was worth a try. My hands ache too much if I try to do a proper dotticure but I am perfectly happy to stamp the dots so I used UberChic Beauty UC 1-03 and Hit the Bottle Copper Haired Girl. I wasn't sure about the end result but once I had topcoated I decided I liked it enough to take some pictures and now I really like it. It's probably a bit autumnal with the copper, gold and green but I don't mind :)

Girly Bits Take My Money Please

Girly Bits Take My Money Please - matte 

SV by Sparkly Vernis Gilded Lemon Drops 
and UberChic Beauty UC 1-02

Hit the Bottle Copper Haired Girl 
and UberChic Beauty UC 1-03

An InLinkz Link-up