Tiger Belly

I'm walking on the wild side this week!

I just love how these stripes came out (even though my stamping is sometimes a bit wonky).

This was an easy mani that started with a base of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White.  I sponged a bit of SH Mango Team and the bright orange Revlon Top Speed Charmed to the sides. I used Konad M57 and a stamping black to add the stripes.

The gradient came out much more smoothly on my left hand.

Raaar!

I hope you're having a fierce week, Konaddicts!

Peacock Feathers

Hello, everyone!

It's been a long time since I've posted, but I couldn't miss an opportunity to share these delightfully festive fingers with you!

This is a base of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Jade Jump.  To add sparkle, I double stamped the peacock pattern, first with the shimmery Nicole Mer-Maid for Each Other and then with the crisp Kleancolor Military Green.  The feather pattern is from a plate simply labelled Jumbo Plate B.

I used a nail brush to fill in the eyes of each of the feathers.  The brown is the sparkly Revlon Copper Gleam.  I dotted on Insta Dri Brisk Blue and the lovely, rich indigo Insta Dri Quick Jeanius.

Thanks for reading!  Have a great weekend!

Big Game: Puppy Bowl Nails

Hello, Konaddicts!  Today is the big day!  That's right - today is Puppy Bowl XI!  Yes, for those of us not particularly into football, there is this super cute alternative.

So, to commemorate PuppyBowl Sunday, I created this little festive mani.  Here's the lineup:

-- Image plages --

Puppy Image - T28

Lines - BM411

Football - CH35
Letters - Konad M18-M19

-- Polishes --

Kleancolor Grass Green

BM Black

Konad Special White

Kleancolor Mocha

Revlon Top Speed Expresso

Sally Hansen Insta Dri Sand Storm

Thanks for reading!  And whether you go for the SuperBowl or the PuppyBowl, I hope you have a fun day rooting for your favorites!

A Walk on the Wild Side

Hello, everyone!
Well, my laptop went kaput (argh!), so I'm making this post with my phone. So far, so good....

This mani was inspired by a trip to the zoo.  Our local zoo has a new elephant calf.  Isn't she cute?

I LOVE elephants, so I decided that now would be a good time to try out wild manicure.

For this mani, I started with BMC Nail Lacquer 15.  I used the beautiful Revlon Top Speed Charmed for the orange gradient.  I used BMC Nail Lacquer 13 for both the stamping and the black stripe of "ground".  I wish I had taken pictures ASAP (to avoid the nail line), but I was completely sidelined by my ailing laptop.

For the stamping, I used a number of plates.  The tree and "brush" are from RA-115 and BM-315.  The elephants and accidentally enormous giraffe-a-saurus are from Mash 66, Gals GA32, and Gals GA46.

Thanks for reading, Konaddicts!  Wish me luck with my laptop!

Counting Sheep

Hello, everyone!
Today I'm wearing a fun manicure made with the Cheeky XL Wild at Heart plate.

This was a pretty easy design.  I started with a base of white.  I stamped the base with Kleancolor Concrete Gray and used a tiny nail brush to polish in the area around the sheep with Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure First Kiss.

For the accent nail, I just reversed the design.  I used First Kiss as the base and made a decal of the little sheep.

This mani is easy and so much fun to wear!  Thanks for dropping in, Konaddicts!

Leafy Ladybugs

Hello, Konaddicts!

What a busy summer I'm having!  I was expecting to have lots of time for sipping lemonade and polishing nails, but such has not been the case.  Well, I am happy to have a manicure to share with you today.  It's ladybugs!  This is one of my favorite stamping images.

I used the beautiful Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Chartreuse Chase as my starting color.  To make my leafy background, I used Mash 61 and MyOnline Shop Bright Green Stamping Polish.  

This was light enough stamp right over so I used GCOCL plate K05 and Milani Black Magic to stamp the ladybugs.  I filled them in using a small nail brush and Wet n Wild Red Red, Bundle Monster Art Polish 12, and SH Insta Dri Man-go Team.

I really loved how this turned out!  It was so much fun to play with the ladybug colors, and it added a lot of variety to the mani.

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you're each having an awesome summer.  Also:  have you seen the new Sally Hansen Color Foil polishes?  There's a cool post about them on Adventures in Acetone.  The old SH chrome polishes stamped beautifully.  It looks like these might not work as well, but I'm still dying to pick up a few bottles!  Anyone else tried these?

Rudolph Peek-a-Boo Nails

Hi everyone,

Santa's coming soon!  This year, I decided to try my hand at reindeer nails.

I used a combination of stamping and easy freehand "painting" for this mani.  For the patterned nails, I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri Rapid Red as a base and stamped the geometric pattern using Sinful Super Star and QA 56 (I love this pattern!).  I wanted to add a little Christmas flair, so I made dots in the pattern using the bright green Kleancolor Green Glass and topped that with green glitter.

For my Rudolph nail, I used an easy 4 step photo tutorial from blanketprint.tumblr.com.  My base is the nude NYC Fashion Safari.  Rudolph's body is Kleancolor Chocolate Brown and his antlers and pupils are Revlon Top Speed Espresso.  There's also a little Rapid Red and Super Star for eyes and nose.

I love it!

I'm not the best at free hand designs.  The design on my left hand turned out well.  The Rudolph on my left hand looks like he's had too much egg nog.

Take care, Konaddicts, and go easy on the egg nog!

Sea Creatures

Hi all,
Today I've got a beach inspired mani  to share with you.  I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted, so this one kind of evolved as I went along.

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Cinderella.  I used a nail brush to add a "shore" of Kleancolor Mocha, and dotted it with NYC Fashion Safari and Revlon Top Speed Stormy.

I decided to add decorations to my beach shore.  I tried stamping a little crab but it didn't really work well with this color set up so I decided to switch to the "decal method" for the designs.  The outline provides a lot of detail and really makes the design stand out.

So, for the decorations, I used these plates:
Octopus - Mash 37
Palm Tree - Shany SH19
Crab & Seahorse - Cheeky CH39
Starfish - Gals 42

In some places, the polish got a little thick from the layers and the stamp decal, but it's a small price to pay to keep company with such cute little critters.

Keep swimming, Konaddicts!

Where's my goldfish?

Hi, everyone!
I love the fish scale pattern.  It's one of my very favorites to play around with.  I normally can't get my colors quite right, but I'm in love with the way this one turned out (so expect  A LOT of pictures!).

For this mani, I used Color Show Sweet Clementine, Milani Metallic Mango, Orly Prince Charming, and Milani Blackberry Baby.

I used Milani Metallic Mango as the base and Prince Charming and Mash 39 for the stamping.  The metallic really adds to the scale-like shimmer.  I made little U-shapes at the bottom of random scales with a dotting tool and Sweet Clementine.

For the accent nail, I used a base of Sweet Clementine and a decal made from plate A48 using Blackberry Baby - darker and more metallic than Prince Charming - and Metallic Mango to fill in the fish's body.

I love the shimmer and the compliment of the lighter color.  I keep peeking at my nails to see whether it looks "really fishy" or just like splotches.

I think I'll be staring at this one for a while, Konaddicts!  Hope your weekend ahead is a great one!

Konad M95 Reivew

Hello, everyone!

With all of the new plate sets being released, it's been a while since I've actually bought a new Konad plate.  Many thanks to Joy at NailPolishCanada.com for offering me an opportunity to review one of the latest plate releases from Konad.  I chose M95 to review; hold on - it's a good one!

We expect quality from Konad but what I hadn't noticed was that the full nail pattern on this plate is a lot larger than some of my other Konad plates.

M95: 1.5 x 2 cm;  M78: 1.75 x 1.2 cm

The real selling point, I think, is the delightful little owl.  There are owls in other sets (one of the Bundle Monster sets has an owl) but this owl is very small, and is the perfect size for an accent.  I made several decals of this little guy and was able to fit two on a nail.

So - hearts, an adorable owl, a pattern that's big enough to fit your whole nail - what's not to love?

NailPolishCanada.com is having a giveaway to win all 5 of Konad's latest releases.  It only takes an email address to enter (woot!).

I hope you're having a super week, Konaddicts!  Best of luck if you decide to enter the giveaway!

~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's what I used for this little mani:
Base: NYC Fashion Safari
Plate: Konad M95
Full nail patterns:  Stamping with Revlon Top Speed Espresso, filled in with Sally Hansen Just In Lime
Accent nail:  Owl decal made with Espresso, filled in with Kleancolor Mocha and White.  Dotted with Just In Lime and Kleancolor Mocha.

But That's Bananas!

WHAT?  You can make your own decals with your Konad stamper?  But that's bananas!  An awesome thing just got, well, awesome-er!

New technique?  Here I come!

For my banana-rific background, I started with a base of Sinful Colors Unicorn, that lovely, sweet lemon yellow.  I stamped bananas using Cheeky CH 20 using Wet n Wild black creme.  To create a little contrast, I filled in the bananas with a nail brush using Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lightening.

To start my decals,I stamped - this is Wet n Wild black creme polish and the image is from Gals plate GA 45.

I filled in my monkey's face using a small nail brush and Kleancolor Mocha.  I let it dry for a few minutes.

Next, I used Orly Prince Charming and a nail brush to fill in the rest of the monkey.  I let it dry a few minutes before applying a medium-thick coat of Out the Door topcoat.

I only have two or three stampers, so I couldn't do the 4 decals all at once (and I wasn't sure how long they needed to dry).  I let the first two monkeys dry overnight and used tweezers to peel them from the stampers.  I made a second set and found that they were reasonably dry within about 30 minutes.  

It worked like a charm!

I'm not sure if you're supposed to use topcoat on the nail before sticking the decal on.  It seemed to work both ways and appeared to blend in a little better without the additional topcoat on the nail.

Omigosh!  So many new possibilities!  Get polishing, Konaddicts!

Worst Manicure Ever - Grumpy Cat Nails

I LOVE Grumpy Cat!

From the holiday greetings...

to the commentry on the end of the Mayan calendar...

this kitty...

cracks me up!

I'm not much of an artist, so I could never approach Judith at Spektor'sNails awesome design of Tardar Sauce (her real name), but I still had to attempt to work this little grouch into a design.

The cat was stamped with plate OB-38 and "adapted" with a tiny nail brush. I used a nail pen for the writing.

Well...there's my grumpy manicure!

Take care, Konddicts!  I hope Grumpy Cat gives you a smile as well!

Rattlesnake Nails - The Remix

Hello, everyone!  Following the lead from several tutorials, I decided to remix my Rattlesnake Nails.  I used the same base - Pure Ice Jaguar.  This time I layered the stamping I used BM215.  I stamped with Maybelline Express Finish in Walnut and a warm brown Nail Savvy polish (unfortunately, the label fell off).  The final layer was stamped with a lovely silver holo, Color Club Worth The Risque.

The holo catches the light and dampened the colors just a bit.  Layering the stamp really made the whole design more dynamic. I love how this one turned out!

Have a dangerous - but not too dangerous! - weekend, Konaddicts!

Scales Nails

Good morning, everyone!
I have had so much fun experimenting with the fish scales pattern on Mash 39!  I'd like to try this again - maybe with some blue and green sponging.

This time, I used a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Real Teal topped with the blue and green sparkles of Sinful Colors Nail Junkie.  I used Mash 39 - the scales are a little more open than version on Red Angel plates - and Konad Special Polish in Black.

Shake your mermaid tail, Konaddicts!

Rattlesnakes and Remixes

Hello, Konaddicts!  Can you believe it's already August?  I am sooo tired of the hot weather so I'm desperately waiting for Fall...

Well, today's mani is Rattlesnake print.  I tried a version of this once using BM 215, but couldn't quite figure out how to get the color combination I was looking for.

This design is using an XL Plate D.  I purchased mine on eBay for about $13.

I started this with aPure Ice Jaguar.  It's a lovely, glittery gold, but it's a little sheer, so it takes several coats to make it opaque.  I decided to color my pattern using Kleancolor Coffee Addict, Maybelling Express Finish in Walnut, and Wet n Wild Black Creme.  I dotted them on the plate and mixed a little with the scraper before stamping.

I like this design, but I still have a hankering for snake print.  Look at Miss80Million's tutorial for using BM 215.

Ooo - might be time for a remix!

Tread carefully, Konaddicts!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 23: Inspired by a Movie

Hello, everyone!  I'm finally getting a chance to post my "Inspired by a Movie" nails.  It took me a while to decide what movie to choose.  Here's the mani I came up:

Can you guess the movie?
It's Kung Fu Panda!

This was a  fun one, and it was a perfect use of my new set of MASH and Bundle Monster plates!

I started my Kung Fu Panda nails with a base of Sinful Colors Pull Over stamped with the lines from BM 301 and Nail Savvy in brown (sorry - the label fell off!).

I stamped the panda outline in white using Pure Ice Super Star and Mash 30 as a guide.  I filled in that outline with white and stamped the panda again using Konad Special Polish in black.  My outlines weren't perfect - you an see on the thumb in the picture above - but this one is fun even considering the imperfections.

Take care, Konaddicts!  I'll see you soon for "Inspired by a Fashion" nails!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 13: Animal Print

Sooo....my "animal print" mani is a bit of a bust.  I tried to come up with a cool looking rattlesnake but couldn't quite get it right.  I polished, stamped, dried...and then took it all off. :(

By then, it was late, my polishes were strewn everywhere and I still didn't have an "animal print" mani.  I decided I would opt for cows - they're only two colors and seem simple enough.

Well...it turned out okay, but it's not one of my favorites.  It's a very simple base of Sally Hansen Whirlwind White stamped with Wet n Wild Black Creme.  I used fauxnad M61 for the spots and fauxnad S10  for the little cow...or is that a giraffe?

I'm not happy with this one, but I figured I would go ahead and share and move on to the next challenge - flowers.

Thank you so much to all of you who read and take the time to comment.  You all make my day!

More Ladybugs

Hi, everyone!  We have had some beautiful weather and along with the lovely weather, there are ladybugs about!  Those cute little critters inspired me to pull out my ladybug plate (a favorite) and see what I could come up with.

This time, I used Sally Hansen Jade Jump as a base.  I stamped the background using BM20 and Sally Hansen Sea Breeze.  I used Milani Black Magic and GCOCL plate K05 to stamp the ladybugs.  Instead of using my nail pens, I filled them in using a dotting tool and Pure Ice Siren (the red) and Heaven Waikiki Sunset (the burgundy glitter).

I love this plate!  Ladybugs are so much fun.  I also love, love, love the Heaven polish (picked up on sale at Albertson's!).  As soon as I can figure out a pretty way to wear it, I will definitely show you more of this lovely color.

Hope you're well, Konaddicts, and enjoying these longer days!

----
PS:  I won something!  I won a bottle of that hard-to-find beauty, Whimsical, from Jamie at Fancy Schmancy Nails!

Thank you, Jamie!   It's so much fun to win something, especially when it comes in such pretty packaging! I can't wait to try this out!

Red Angel Peacocks

So, after fiddling around unsuccessfully with the peacock on plate BM-15 - I just couldn't figure out to how get the placement right - I heaved one last sigh, and decided I would have to pick some other design.

I flipped through my nail plates binder and noticed that there's a peacock on Red Angel plate RA-102!

Hooray!  I put my imagination to work to see if I could accommodate my hankering for peacocks after all.

I used China Glaze Kinetic Candy as a base.  I used XL Stamping Plate B for the background design.

I stamped the pattern - not sure how to describe it, but it's circled in the piture - using three colors - Sally Hansen Insta Dri Jade Jump, China Glaze Secret Peri-Wink-Le, and Revlon Top Speed Stormy. I tried to mush the colors a bit with the scraper so that the colors would mix a little at the edges.

Finally, I used Revlon Top Speed Espresso and Red Angel RA-102 to stamp this awesome little image of a peacock on top (I love its little "top feather").

Well, Konaddicts, there's one nail obsession temporarily assuaged...these things never last long, though.  I'm sure I'll have a bee in my bonnet for another design any time.  

Wait a minute - do I have any bees? :)