Snowflake Sparkles

Hello, everyone!  We're about to say goodbye to 2013!  I hope it's been a great year for you, and I pray that you have an even better 2014!

I've been enjoying my holidays so much that I forgot to post this Christmas mani.  I also immediately ordered some K.B. Shimmer polishes after seeing Cait at Polish Hound's post on those adorable winter glitters, so I've been experimenting on and off with those.

So - back to the (late) snowflakes!

This is a base of the lovely green Pure Ice Not Now topped with the Christmasy glitter of Sinful Sleigh Ride.  From there, I used silver and assorted snowflake designs to stamp my flakes.

I got so many compliments on this one, so, even though it's late, I thought I would share!  Now, to get to work on the design to welcome in 2014!

Have a great (and safe) meeting with the new year, Konaddicts!

Seeing Stars

I have had stars on my mind for a while now.  I tried to come up with something different, unusual, awesome...but I didn't quite get there.  I ended up with the fairly traditional combination of dark blue and silver stars.

This is Sally Hansen Insta Dri Blazing Blue followed by topcoat with Spectraflair.  I stamped the stars using Cheeky plate CH4 and Love My Nails Silver Bullet.  I finished with my regular topcoat.

This was my first use of topcoat with Spectraflair while I was layering and stamping.  I'm still feeling my way through how best to use it.  For this mani, though, it may have been better to have used a holographic polish since the two topcoat layers seem a bit chunky...  :(

Well, living and learning...and looking up!  You keep looking up, too, Konaddicts!

Spectraflair tips, anyone?  I'm all ears!

Greta Silver Holo and Pink

I'm still entranced by this polish!  I decided to see how Make Up Store's Greta would look with a stamp.  I chose A-10 and Milani Hot Orchid for the dots and dashes.  I used a top coat, which dulled the holo effect a little, but you can still see the color gleaming through!  The colors must have distracted me, though, because my stamping is bit wacky!

Sparkle and shine, Konaddicts!  (Can you tell I've been watching Toddlers & Tiaras?)

Swap of the Century: Makeup Store Greta

Wow!  I have made the swap of the century and I am in holographic heaven!  For a few bottles of polish, I swapped for Makeup Store Greta and the Aqua Fix base coat for holos.  These pictures are all in natural light.  For the full holo effect, I decided to skip the top coat.

It's beautiful!  I love it so much I could marry it!

No, really - I can't stop looking at my fingers!!

I'm even forcing other people to look at my fingers!

The sparkle is killing me!  Please, someone take my debit card before I call the Denver store (thank you, TraceFace Philes for the ordering info) and order the whole collection!

Ah yes, Konaddicts, this must be love!

I'll be stamping soon, I'm sure, so I'll show you how it comes out!  Thank you for letting me share a girly giggle with you!

Christmas Tree Nails

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

Silver on Gray with Chez Delaney

I finally bought a Chez Delaney XL plate!  I absolutely love all the full nail patterns.  The etching is deep and the patterns are really varied.  This was my cool look of silver on gray.  I had to move quickly to transfer the metallic polish from the stamper (but it was a true bargain at a little over $1 per bottle, so I'll gladly accept any extra hassle!).  

Base color: Pure Ice Kiss Me Here

Stamping color: Love My Nails Silver Bullet
Plate: Chez Delaney Plate B

If you haven't seen the Chez Delaney XL plates, you can see them/buy them at their website (in France!) here:  http://www.chez-delaney.com/Stamping-Nail-Art/en/XL-image-plates.  I didn't purchase mine from their website.  I waited until I found one on eBay for about $30.  Since there are 42 beautiful images on the plate, it turned out to be a great buy.  I can't wait to try out all the other patterns!