Gobbles on Turkey Day

Hello, everyone!  I hope all of my American friends had an awesome Thanksgiving!  This year, for the first time, I roasted a turkey myself. It was a big deal for me since I'm usually happy to let others do the cooking! :) The turkey turned out well, and it was just nice to spend the day with family and friends.

I wanted a fun and Thanksgiving-themed manicure to wear.  I kept telling myself that "one year" I would try out the little turkey design on Winstonia W119; this was the year!

I began with China Glaze Life Preserver and made decals of the feathers and the turkey with Revlon Top Speed Espresso and L'oreal Walk on the Beach.  I decided to give my turkey some eyes and to dab on a little red for his wattle.  The feather pattern isn't as opaque as I thought.  I probably should have been more careful with my fill color.

So...what the heck is going on with my top coat or base coat?  I can't seem to go more than a day without chips.  Ideas?

Well, Konaddicts, thank you for stopping by!

Conversation Hearts

Happy Valentine's Day, Konaddicts!  

Hope you have an awesome day filled with love!

~Polishes & Plates~

Base: Essie Fiji

Conversation Hearts

Plate: Messy Mansion MM03, Konad M18 (for the pinky heart)

Heart Stamping Colors: Sally Hansen Insta Dri Mango Team, Blue Blast, Fuschia Flare, Urgent Orchid, Konad Polish Pastel Green, Sp Polish in White

Accents

Pueen 21 stamped with metallic Love My Nails Berry Nice

Dots of Essie No Place Like Chrome

He Loves Me...

Hello, everyone!
So many Valentine's images, so little time!  :)

Today I'm wearing a simple combination - Essie Fiji as a background stamped with Love My Nails Berry Nice.  I used Konad M95 for the full nail hearts (eek!  I love these!).  For the accents, I used the heart from Messy Mansion MM03 and stamped the children and cupid in black with Winstonia W102.

Aww...

Hope you're having a great Valentine week, Konaddicts!

Christmas Cheer

Hi, everyone!

It's hard to believe that we've only got 11 days until Christmas!  Well, I was feeling in the spirit this week, and decided to whip up some off-beat Christmas nails.

I chose two different patterns - the traditional candy cane stripes from BM-423and some circles from Gals GA-26.  I used a simple red and stamping white for the candy cane stripes.  For the circles, I chose Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lickety-Split Lime stamped with Revlon Top Speed Emerald.  I used L'Oreal Walk on the Beach and Wet n Wild Red Creme to fill in the circles.  I topped off my red with a lovely red glitter, Pure Ice First Party.

I'm loving my holiday nails!  I think that means I'll have to try more!

Hope you're having a good start to the Christmas season, Konaddicts!  Thanks for stopping by!

Toasty Sweater Nails

Brrrrr...time to zip into your Christmas sweaters!

Hi, everyone!  For this design, I got to try out two images that I haven't tried before - the sweater design from Winstonia W120 and the cute little zipper from BM 420.

The setup was pretty easy.  I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri Cinna Snap as the base.  I polised  Kleancolor Military Green about halfway down each nail.  I used the beige L'Oreal Walk on the Beach and Winstonia W120 for the stamping and tried to position the line more or less over my half-way point.

I decided to add the zipper just so I could try out the design and also to add a little variety.  I made these as decals - since I didn't think they would stamp well over the darker colors.  I used Konad Special polish in White and BM420.  I filled the stamp in with Kleancolor Chocolate Brown.  Peel, stick, and voila!

Well, Konaddicts, it's almost that time!  What nail goodies are on your holiday shopping list?

Festive Fourth Nails

So...I don't usually do 4th of July nails.  Typically, they turn out to be a great big mess.  This year, I thought I'd give it another try and, well, I just couldn't stop - stars and glitter and flags and the Statue of Liberty and dots!

In my head, I had some kind of lean and sophisticated look going, but in fact, it's like The Party Store exploded all over my nails...and I kinda like it. :)

I used Wet n Wild Red Creme and Revlon Urban as the base colors.  I went about it the easy way and polished the whole nail red, stamped my stripes with Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, painted the blue tips, and stamped the stars over that.  Cheeky CH4 provided the perfect stars and wavy stripes.  I used Cheeky CH51 for the star image on the thumb and Essie No Place Like Chrome for the stamping.

My favorite part of the mani is the way over the top image of the Statue of Liberty on the accent nail.  This plate is Winstonia W114 and, boy, is it cute! Decorated with a little red glitter and silver dots, it's a fun added touch!

Well, thanks for stopping by, Konaddicts!  If you're reading here in the US, I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday!

St. Patrick's Day Nails

Hello, everyone!  St. Patrick's day is right around the corner.  To celebrate, I've gone with an easy and colorful green manicure using a design from Pueen plate 2.

I polished three nails with Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lickety-Split Lime and then used Revlon Top Speed in Emerald for my 2nd and 4th fingers.  Then, I stamped Top Speed Emerald over the lighter Lime on thumb, middle, and pinky.  
I wasn't sure how well Lickty-Split would look over the darker Emerald, so for 2nd and 4th fingers, I opted for an apple green stamping polish from MyOnlineShop's Facebook store (love, love, love these stamping polishes!).  The apple green provided the lighter contrast over the darker color and stamped beautifully.

Quick, easy, and just enough contrasts to keep it interesting.

Wishing you a lucky and safe St. Pat's day, Konaddicts!

Valentine Hearts and Roses

Hello, everyone!  Valentine's day is long gone (thank goodness!), but I'm still in the mood for hearts and flowers.  Luckily, Mash 39 has a unique design that is both roses and hearts!

I have been eyeing this plate for a while but I hadn't been able to come up with a design I liked.  This time, I opted for double stamping, and I love the result!

This is a base of Orly Sweet Temptation with a thin coat of holographic glitter - Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope.  I thought about sponging a background, but opted for something a little quicker.  Instead, I stamped the design once with Konad Special Polish in Pastel Pink and then stamped the design again with the darker Orly Mind's Eye.  I tried to line the designs up, but didn't worry too much about overlap.

Pink + Hearts + Flowers?  Love it!

Wishing you much love, Konaddicts!  See you soon!

Sparkly Valentine

Hello, everyone, and happy almost Valentine's Day!
I took advantage of the last bit of evening sun in order to catch a photo of my glittery Valentine nails.

This is an easy (if busy!) mani made with a base of Pure Ice Siren and a coat of Pure Ice First Party - a red glitter in a clear base.

I stamped this sparkly confection with Pure Ice Super Star using one of the heart patterns on BM 312.  The ring finger heart is from QA12.

Here's an indoor photo.

Well, Konaddicts, I hope you have wonderful plans for the special day.  Those of you who don't have plans can share it in spirit with me! :)  And, on a good note, all the Valentine's day "stuff" will be out of the stores very soon!

Catch you soon!

Chrome Hearts

Here's another quick mani.  For this mani, I decided to combine two colors that I love.  The base is Maybelline Express Finish in Racing Rubies, a deep burgundy red.  I stamped with Pure Ice Outrageous, a beautiful pink chrome.  The hearts are from the DRK-A plate.

I like how this one turned out!  I have to experiment more with stamping in pink (rather than always just reaching for the silver!).

Hope you're having a great May, Konaddicts!

Easter Nails

Happy Easter, everyone!
I've got a pink and sparkly manicure for this Easter Sunday.

I started with Sally Hansen Insta Dri Pink Blink.  Next, I added a coat of Pure Ice Spit Fire, a holographic sparkle in a pink base.  Cheeky Plate CH8 has candy cane-type stripes, so I used that plate to stamp the stripes in Insta Dri Spring Green, Insta Dri Fuchsia Flare, and Kleancolor Lavenbaby.

For me, Easter is about God providing hope and victory, even in the darkest and most desperate situations.  I pray that you have a blessed Easter and that God may grant you hope and peace.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I picked easy Bundle Monster shamrocks for this manicure.  The base is Sinful Happy Ending.  The shamrocks are from BM08 in Kleancolor Grass Green and Kleancolor Military Green.  I dotted a little gold glitter to add some sparkle.  Have a safe and fun St. Pat's day!

Valentine Hearts French Mani with Cheeky Plates

More hearts!

This time, I used my new Cheeky plates for the design.  I used Kleancolor Pink Sleepers as a sheer base, then freehanded the tips with Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Whirlwind White.  I stamped the hearts using Cheeky plate CH22. I used Pure Ice Siren and Kleancolor Barbie Pink to add a little variety to the hearts.  Finally, I stamped my accent in Siren using Cheeky CH5.

So far, so good with the Cheeky plates (I bought them on Amazon here).  The stamper and scraper were awful, but the plates I've tried have worked well enough with my Konad scraper and stamper.

I chose the Cheeky plate over the Konad plate with a similar design because the Cheeky plate has smaller hearts - which comes in handy since my nails aren't very long.

Have a weekend filled with love, Konaddicts!

Valentine's Chocolate Boxes

You can tell it is close to Valentine's Day when you see those little heart shaped boxes of chocolate. They were my inspiration for this design.  Two coats of Essie Fiji make up the pale pink background.  I used Revlon Top Speed Stormy and Bundle Monster plate 202 to stamp the hearts.  Then, I dotted on my "candies" with various browns (and red!) and a dotting tool.

I hope your February is full of love (and chocolate!), Konaddicts!

Valentine Hearts

Okay, so it didn't take me long to try out another design with Red Angel RA-114.  This time, I went for a simple look.  The base color is Pure Ice Siren.  I used Konad Special Polish in Pastel Pink to stamp the hearts.  Then, because I just couldn't stop, I used Bundle Monster BM 09 to stamp on "Love" and the heart in silver.

I like it!  It's more understated than the last design but still manages to be cute and sweet.

I have to say that I'm not a fan of the Konad Special Pastel Pink.  It seems to me a little orangey and I think I have more smearing with the "special" polish than with regular polish (and for $7 per bottle, "special" polish had better be very special!).  Anyway, in this mani, the pink came out just fine.

I love, love pink so February is the month for me.  I'm sure I'll be back with more hearts for you soon.

Much love, Konaddicts!

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!

New Year's Nails

For this manicure, I have confetti and streamers (and a spotty glass of wine!) to welcome the new year.

The plate is A16.  I love, love, love the A-series plates (and eBay searches show that new designs have been released - hooray!).

I used Milani Black Magic as the base and Sally Hansen Chrome Nail Makeup in Gold Chrome for the stamp.  I used my brand new dotting tools to add color to the "confetti" in various metallics.


Best wishes for a wonderful start to the New Year, Konaddicts!

PS: Santa's Amazon Gift Card means that new nail plates are on the way - Red Angel, a brand I haven't heard of before (you can see them on Amazon here).  I'll give you the low down when they arrive, so stay tuned! 

Christmas Tree Nails

Three coats of Finger Paints Sketch and Etch stamped with silver using plate BM205  

Christmas Wreath Nails

This mani was inspired by all of the lovely Christmas wreaths around this time of year.  I started with a base of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Jade Jump.  I stamped the leaves with Kleancolor Military Green using Konad Plate M83.  I painted a stripe of Jade Jump over the pattern to serve as a background for my bow.  Finally, I stamped the bow with Insta Dri in Racin' Red using Konad M56.   

Ah...this mani reminds me of winter trips through the mountains and deep breaths of clean mountain air.  I think we could probably all use a deep breath in this holiday rush! Take care, Konaddicts!

My little dog, Barley, is also doing her impression of a wreath. :)

Christmas Candycanes

I'm back with another Christmas manicure!

For these simple stripes, I started with a base of Pure Ice Siren and used Revlon Top Speed Emerald for the accent nail.  Once those base coats dried, I used a thin coat of Out the Door top coat before stamping the stripes in Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White (just to try to keep the white and red from smearing when the final top coat went on).

I used Bundle Monster plates for the stripe.  The pattern on BM 20  is pretty small, so I had to try to match up my lines in some places in order for the pattern to fit the whole nail.  It wasn't always perfect, but the final product turned out okay.

I freehanded the tips in white.  I found that if I tried to stamp them, the polish wasn't thick enough to cover the bottom of the stripes.

I intended to leave things there but I felt like something was missing.  I added a few rhinestones (I didn't have any in red!) for a little contrast.

As a side note, I'm almost 80% done with my Christmas shopping!  Woo hoo!

I hope you like the design.  Be well, Konaddicts, and remember to be good.  Santa will be here in no time!