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?

Beachcombing

Hi, everyone!
I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!
I'm enjoying my latest manicure, sand and shells, which I created using the shell design from the Cheeky Jumbo Tropical Holiday plate.

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Sand Storm (an awesome addition to the Insta Dri colors).  I wanted my shells to be colorful, but I also didn't want to spend a lot of time doing them (haha), so I double stamped the shell design.  I stamped first with NYC French White Tip and then again with my favorite brown, Revlon Top Speed Esspresso.

I did want to add a bit of color, so I got out my brushes and added a few quick lines to the shells with a sheery peach and sheery blue.  I dabbed on a few gold and brown dots for the sand.

I am loving this Cheeky plate!  I've had it for a while, but I guess that I've determined to get good use out of it this summer!

Thanks for reading, Konaddicts!

Summer Cocktails

Hi everyone!
I hope you are enjoying the start to summer!
I have always wanted to try "cocktail inspired" nails, but have never quite figured out how to do it.  This isn't exactly what I had in mind, but I'm enjoying this combination.

For this mani, I started with a base of Maybelline Color Show Orange FX.  I made a gradient including Sally Hansen Insta Dri Man-Go Team and Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lickety Split Lime.  To give it a fizzy, cocktail look, I stamped it with NYC French White Tip using a design from the Cheeky Summer Holiday Jumbo Plate.  I haven't done a three color gradient in a long while, but I really love the look.

Hope you are having fun and staying cool and refreshed, Konaddicts!

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!

Tropical Heatwave

I am obsessed with peach this summer!  Anything peachy, orange, or mango colored totally catches my attention.  I can't quite get to the look and feel that's in my brain but I'm getting closer.

Here's what I started with - what a lovely trio!

Sally Hansen Insta Dri Butter-fly Stroke is the base.  The design is from Winstonia plate W111.  I used Man-go Team and Orange Impulse to do the stamping, mixing the two a little on the plate.

I felt like something was still missing [glitter], so I added a flower with Milani Blackberry Baby using Cheeky CH2.  I dotted the centers with a rich purple glitter, Orly Bubbly Bombshell.

It's not yet exactly what's in my brain, but it is a bright burst of summer!

Take care, Konaddicts!  Thanks for reading!

Refreshing Lime

Hi, everyone!
I certainly hope it's cooler where you are than it is here!  I figured the heat was a good reason to finally post this lime manicure that I wore a few weeks ago.  I wasn't happy with how my pictures came out but I wanted  to share the design anyway.

This is a base of Sally Hansen Lickety Split Lime and a very thin coat of holo glitter.  I used KD20 and Revlon Top Speed Emerald to stamp the limes.  On my ring finger, I used the fruity Cheeky 20 to stamp those larger limes.

Here's another look:

The image on KD 20 is kind of a fun one because your stamping color because the primary nail color and your base coat peeks through as the design.  It took a little practice to use because if you don't scrape the plate carefully, though, you can get streaks.  If you don't stamp carefully, your image can cut off or just not go on properly.  The final effect is kind of fun, though, and I'd like to play around a little more with this one.

Well, I hope you are doing well and staying cool!  Take care, Konaddicts!

Sweet Tone on Tone Peach

Hello, everyone!
I've been feeling like something a little different - and I love how this turned out!  After all the bright shades, it's nice to wear a sweet, mellow peach.

My base color is Revlon Peach Petal.  The stamping color is the pearly Revlon Bronzed Rose.  The curlicue designs are from Gals plate GA37, the stripes from H-series plates H12, and the flower is the classic from Konad M31.  I finished off with a little rhinestone in the flower.

I've noticed more and more manis with different designs on each finger.  I didn't feel quite that adventurous this time, but I think the stripes add a nice touch.

BTW: have you seen the new Holiday set of Bundle Monster plates?  They have some very cute designs!  At some point, I'm going to have to stop buying plates and get busy using all of them!

I hope you are having some sweet, summer days!

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!

Vibrant Pink and Teal

This looked nicer before the cotton ball got stuck on my ring finger! :(

Hello, everyone!  I hope you're having a great Saturday!

Today's nails came about in a backward sort of way.  For several days, I've been wearing Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear The Real Teal.  I planned to stamp it, but I wasn't sure what design I would use.

I picked Wet n Wild Lavender Creme as a complimentary color.  Since my nails were already teal - and there's no way the creme would stamp over it - I polished my tips white with Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Whirlwind White.  Then, I polished the Lavender Creme over the white, to give me a bright vibrant pink.

I stamped the heartbeat line using Wet n Wild Black Creme using Mash 38.  I used a little nail brush to fill in any spaces missing colors.

Take care, Konaddicts!  Take time today to remind your loved ones how much you care for them.

Pineapples

Hi, everyone!
I have been feeling like having fruity nails (never mind that it's now feeling very much like Fall outside!)  I have seen some really cute designs created with the Konad plate with the pineapple.  Unfortunately, this is a plate I don't own (gasp!).  Luckily, the first set of Cheeky plates (CH20) has a super cute pineapple.

This is a simple one.

• First, you get a Mark Wahlberg movie (Contraband was my choice) - he's just so cute, you won't even notice how many pineapples you stamp.  
• Then, you select your base.  I used Sinful Colors Unicorn as a fruity, yellow backdrop.  
• Next, get to stamping!  I stamped the pineapples with a chocolate brown Nail Savvy polish (sorry, the label fell off) and Kleancolor Grass Green.  
• Finally, you ignore the absurd plot twist in the movie and choose instead to gawk at how handsome Mark Wahlberg is.  Oh, and your nails are done!

Delightful! :)

Dry (Water) Marble

Hello, everyone!  Well, after the debacle that was my attempt at water marbling, I decided to try out the dry water marble. Okay, so technically, I guess it's just a "dry marble".

I wasn't sure how this "experiment" would turn out, so I decided to buy a few Wet n Wild 94 cent polishes to use.  I pulled up Enamel Girl's Dry Water Marble Tutorial, pulled out my ziplock baggies, and got started.

At first, I didn't have my colors right and I got a mess.  Not enough colors.

Okay, so then I paid closer attention to the directions (haha) and used a base color plus four colors for marbling.

Oooh - much better!

I waited a few hours, peeled them from the ziplock bag and cut them into nail-sized squares.  I polished my nails and waited for them to dry until they were slightly tacky.

Because of my bad water marble experience, I thought - this must be the part where my experiment goes badly.  But wait - so far so good!

So, I did have some issues with removing the extra polish along the sides.  I used polish remover and a q-tip, as well as a little bending and tugging, to remove the edges.

And look - it came out pretty well for a first attempt!

Oh my goodness!  I'm so excited to be able to get that marbled look!  I can't wait to try this again!

Thanks for stopping by, Konaddicts!

Sunset Nails

Hey, everyone!  I'm back with another mani that I've always wanted to try but never quite got around to - the sunset mani.

I started with a base of Sinful Pull Over and sponged on some orange, China Glaze Life Preserver, and a pinkish red, Revlon Cherries in the Snow.

I used Konad Special Polish in black to stamp the palm tree using plate Shany 19,  I added a little China Glaze For Audrey with a nail brush.  I used a nail pen to fill in the tree outline and then used Wet n Wild Black Creme to freehand the "islands".

I like wearing this one, but my XL Plate A with the puzzle pieces arrived, so I don't think I'll be sporting this one for very long.

Catch you soon, Konaddicts!

Summer Cherries

My favorite thing about summer is cherries!  When I was first deciding whether or not to try Konad, seeing the plates with cherries on them was one of the things that cinched the deal.

This is one of those manis that I've always wanted to try but never quite got around to.

For my cherry mani, I used a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme wear Mint Sorbet.  I used Mash 50 and Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lickety Split Lime to add the background lines.  It added more color to the design and made me feel better because I couldn't settle on a green that I really liked.

I used the Pure Ice Siren and Kleancolor Military Green to stamp the cherries using the cherries on Cheeky CH13.  I added a highlight with Pure Ice Sparkle Berry.

Let me tell you...this is one busy design!  But it's also a fun one to wear!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 22: Inspired by a Song

The song I chose as inspiration for this mani is the classic "Stormy Weather" with that enduring chorus "Stormy weather / Since my man and I ain't together / It's raining all the time".

Here it is, sung by the elegant and beautiful Lean Horne in 1943.

For my "weary weather" manicure, I used the holographic Color Club Worth the Risque as the base.  I stamped my rainy background using the diagonal stripes and dots on Konad M65 and Pure Ice Kiss Me Here.

The umbrellas are stamped with plate Konad M8 in Konad Special polish.  I filled in the umbrellas using nail pens.  I picked neon colors since the polish was a kind of gel that didn't obscure the umbrella outline.  I used the silver nail pen to add a few dots around the nails as bigger "raindrops".

Here's the mani in the sun.

I love the holo base!  It adds a little 3D feeling to the design!

Take care, Konaddicts!  Next on the list is "Inspired by a Movie" nails!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 3: Yellow Nails

Yellow nails!  I haven't had yellow nails in a while, so this is a fun change.  I decided to stamp this one, too, but I decided to go with slight variation on the yellow.  Too bad I didn't notice that I didn't stamp the whole nail (look at that "blind spot" on the index finger!).  

The color is a lovely, soft yellow - Sinful Colors Unicorn.  The stamping polish is a pearly peach, Rimmel 60 Seconds Extreme Polish in Va Va Voom (a polish I recently used in my Citrus Sunburst mani).  The pattern is from Bundle Monster plate BM201.

I love this!  I don't know if it's the subtlety or the warmth of the yellow, but I really like it.  I guess I won't get to wear it long, since tomorrow's challenge calls for green nails!

See you next time, Konaddicts!  Have a very warm weekend!

~~~~

According to the Bundle Monster Facebook page, it looks like the new plate set will be released on June 20th!

The new set of Cheeky plates - which look awesome on the Cheeky Facebook page - should be out soon, too, although I didn't see a release date.

Save your dollars, polish friends!  It's going to be an exciting month!

Gone green!

Hi everyone!  I wanted to share a design "from manicures past".  This is an easy two color mani using a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mint Sorbet stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Sea Breeze.  The plate is A16.

It's a simple and easy combo, but I received lots of compliments on this one!  I love the A-series plates (I get mine from eBay).  I don't have all of them, but some of the designs are really fun to try out!  

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

Bright Dots

Hello, everyone!  Today, I have an easy and vibrant mani using Cheeky plate CH10.  I started with twocoats of coats of Pure Ice Free Fall.  I used a final coat of Pure Ice Tease, a magenta with a blue shimmer.

I stamped the dots using Cheeky CH10 and Kleancolor Metallic Aqua.  The aqua looked more purple on the nails, but it worked!  Before picking CH10, I tried the dots on Konad M60.  I liked the Cheeky plate better for this mani.  The dots on the plate blend more at the bottom on the Cheeky plate and I liked that look better for these colors.

It's a simple look, but I love the sparkle!

Shine on, Konaddicts!

Summer Island Nails

Summer is here, and thank goodness for that!  Here's a summer island mani to celebrate summer.

I started with two coats of Kleancolor Pastel Blue.  I stamped the wavy tips using Kleancolor Beach Blue and one of the French manicure designs on BM216.  I stamped my "islands" using plate A33 and Sally Hansen Insta Dri In-a-Blink Blue for the wave, Revlon Top Speed Espresso for the palm tree trunks, and Revlon Top Speed Emerald for the tops. (I love these polishes; what would I do without my Top Speeds?)

My waves/island bottom didn't blend like I (magically) expected them to, but this breezy mani is fun all the same.

I hope it's smooth sailing for you, Konaddicts!

Fresh Watermelon Nails

Hello, everyone!  Apparently, I can not resist Sally Hansen Insta Dri Fuchsia Flare this summer.  When I look at my polishes, my hand is just drawn to this bottle.

This time, I found it to be a perfect base for a watermelon mani.  Fuchsia Flare is the base color.  I freehanded the tips in Pure Ice Siren (it took two coats to make sure the pink didn't peep out).  I stamped the "rind" with Kleancolor Green Grass using one of the French Tips on Konad M45. The "seeds" were stamped using the polka dots from my Hello Kitty plate QA-12.  I topped it with a topcoat with Spectraflair.

Who's ready for a picnic, Konaddicts?

Easy Summer Checks and Bows

Here's a quick and easy summer mani.  I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri Fuchsia Flare as the base.  I used Pure Ice Super Star, my less opaque white, and Konad M64 for the checks.  I used Konad Special Polish in White to make the bows and used that classic bow on Konad M56.

Here's wishing you a sweet start to summer, Konaddicts!