Amythest

Hello, everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas or time off with friends and family.  For me, it has been a difficult holiday season.  This was my family's first Christmas without my father, who passed away earlier this year, and without my great-nephew, our beautiful 4 year old boy, who was killed in a car accident in July (that also severely injured my sister).  On Christmas day, he would have been 5 years old.

Despite our losses, it was a blessing to be together, to enjoy each other, and to be thankful for the graces that we have been given.

All that said - I've finally also gotten to do my nails!

This was another design that kind of just evolved.  I started with a gradient of Love My Nails Angel, a pearly white, and Kleancolor Salsa, an unusual pink/gold color.   I added a coat of holographic glitter - Kleancolor Holo Pink - before using XL Plate A to stamp the design in Love My Nails Berry Nice.

From DRK-A Plate

I decided to try a contrasting accent nail.  The colors I used weren't really reversible, so I used Milani Blackberry Baby as the base color and I stamped with Pure Ice Outrageous.

Well...that's all for now.  I hope you are each doing well and preparing for an awesome start to the new year!

Be well, Konaddicts!

Royce - We love you and miss you!

My Dad and Me

Redo: Flower Gradient

Hello, everyone!  I decided to take a break from the nail challenge to take a another stab at a gradient mani. I started with two coats of Orly French Manicure Sheer Nude.  For the gradient, I used the same colors that I used in my last attempt - Sally Hansen Insta Dri Pink Blink, Konad Special Polish in Pastel Pink, and Kleancolor Barbie Pink.  I finished with the flowers from Konad M60 in Konad Special polish in white.  The dot of the flower is Kleancolor Metallic Gold.

Oh my goodness!  It's sooo much prettier than my last try!  The Nailasaurus picture tutorial made all the difference!

Thanks for stopping by, Konaddicts!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 14: Flowers

Thank you to Sammy a Nailasaurus for the awesome gradient picture tutorial!  With her help, my gradient has gotten much, much better!

I also just received my the new Bundle Monster set in the mail - what a great day!  I decided to combine a new effort at gradient nails with my new Bundle Monster plates to come up with a "flowers" manicure for this day of the challenge.

I started with a base of Kleancolor Pastel Teal.  I should have tried my gradient with only two colors, but I didn't feel like the green was dark enough, so I made a gradient with Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lickety Split Lime and a tiny bit of Kleancolor Grass Green.  It made the gradient a little splotchy - especially since I'm still working on this technique - but it did darken up the green a bit.

I stamped with Konad Special Polish in white using a plate from the newest Bundle Monster set - BM314.  They've got some interesting designs that I can't wait to play around with!  At their website, you can see closeups of the new set.  

To add a little contrast, I dotted the flower centers using Kleancolor Metallic Green and Metallic Aqua.

I hope you're having a great weekend, Konaddicts!  Thanks for stopping by; see you next time for "tribal" nails...

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 10: Gradient Nails

For my "gradient nails", I decided to go with one of the looks that initially drew me to try Konad.  I started with a base of Bella Il Fiore Baby Doll - a sheer french base.  I decided to start sponging with Sally Hansen Insta Dri Pink Blink; then I went with a medium pink, Konad Special Polish in Pastel Pink; and finished the darker pink, Kleancolor Barbie Pink. I slapped on some topcoat and then stamped the flourish using Red Angel RA-116 and Sally Hansen Whirlwind White.  I didn't have any actual pearly accents, so I used Love My Nails Angel, the pearly white, and a dotting tool to add the dots.

I love the look of sponging but I never feel like I have it totally down...  Today's mani was a good chance to get out the sponges and to give it a try!   BTW:  All you polish queens, what sponges do you think are the best to use?

The next challenge is polka dot nails!  See you then!

Valentine Gradient

Here's an early Valentine's design.  It's a pink gradient stamped using Red Angel RA-114.  I really like this plate, so I'm sure I'll be posting more variations soon!