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 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 21: Inspired by a Color

A no-stamping mani?  Oh yes, I haven't worn my nails without stamping in quite a while!  For this "Inspired by a Color" mani, I decided to keep it simple.

The color I chose is Kleancolor Metallic Black.  I LOVE this color!  It stamps beautifully as a slightly sparkly black and when worn alone, it reminds me of freshly laid asphalt.

So, for my "inspired by a color" mani, I decided to make little roads on my nails.  I started with Metallic Black as a base.  I added the stripe with a striping polish.  I wanted a little contrast and to define the "roads" a little, so I freehanded a "shoulder" in white.

I got lots of compliments on these nails!  I don't think people always realized they were supposed to be little (somewhat lonely!) roads, but I think color contrast catches people's eyes.

Catch you later, Konaddicts!

31 Day Nail Challenge: Day 20 - Water Garble

You may not have noticed that I didn't post a water marble mani. Yes, as you may have guessed from the post title, my "water marble" was more a of "water garble".

I started with this mess:

And ended with this one:

Other than that beautiful middle finger, it doesn't look like the lovely designs in a cup of cappuccino (which is what I had in mind).  It mostly looks like a mess and one that is hard to clean up!

Water marbling is not for me.  I had a hard time getting my finger in the water "top-side" first to preserve the marble (and got blobs like the index finger).  Marbling also isn't very forgiving as it takes a lot of "set up" time  - base coat, polish base, finger taping - before that one magical shot at getting the marble design right.

I also think I needed different polishes.  I watched a few tutorials before starting and none of my polishes dropped in and spread out in the water like it did in the tutorials, even though I used room temperature filtered water in the cup.

After this little experiment, I have a new found respect for those nail artists that have marbling down!  I think I'll be sticking to stamping!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 19: Galaxies

How could I have forgotten to post my "Galaxy" nails?  Well, without further ado, here they are:

This is Wet n Wild Black Creme.  I used the scraper to mix a little of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lightening (yellow) with Pure Ice Love (pink) to stamp my "vortex".  I used XL Plate B for the design.  I used Love My Nails Silver Bullet and BM05 to complete the design with the big silver star.

This design was different for me.  I don't always like having black nails but stamping the lighter colors over the black softens the black up some and made it, for me, a more wearable design.

Take care, Konaddicts!  Thanks for reading!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 24: Inspired by a Book

Fnally, I settled on a classic.  I chose Put Me In the Zoo by Robert Lopshire - the children's book about the leopard that could do tricks with his color-changing spots.  This was one of my absolute favorite books as a child.

This little mani didn't get much wear time.  I used a bunch of different colored and styled spots and stamped them to the complete the challenge.  I figured wearing this one to work would require too much explaining!

Take care, Konaddicts!  The next challenge is "Inspired by a Fashion".

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 18: Half Moons

Hello, everyone! Today's challenge was "half moons", another new look for me!  I started with a base of Love My Nails Angel - a chrome kind of white.  I used french manicure stickers to section off the nail before polishing Kleancolor Metallic Red at the bottom.  I used plate A28 and Silver Bullet to stamp the little flower.

I loved this look!  I've used Kleancolor Metallic Red for stamping but I haven't worn it on its own.  It's a stunner!

"Galaxy" nails are next - see you then!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 17: Glitter

Today's challenge is "glitter"!  I haven't done much stamping over glitters, so this was (another!) new challenge.

I started with Kleancolor Wicked Plum and topped it with two coats of Revlon Scandalous.  The hearts and diagonal lines are a design from BM 317.  I used Pure Ice Outrageous - that lovely pink chrome - for the stamping.  


Today's post is short and sweet - speaking of sweet, these nails remind me of grape jelly!


PS: Hope you all like the blog's new look.  I ran across another site - about cemeteries! - that used the same template I did.  I was ready for a change, but the headstones were the final push to try something new!


See you next time for "half moon nails" - this will be another first for me!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 16: Tribal Nails

Hi all!
Here's my shot at tribal nails.  I went for a bright "tribal" look, rather than one of neutrals.  I just picked out patterns as I went along.  Some of my stamping wasn't clean; I think those triangles took a while to get the hang of.

Here's what I used:
Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lightening
Cheeky CH-13 and Pure Ice Siren for triangles
BM-202 and Kleancolor Grass Green for edging
Tips in Insa Dri Whirlwind White
Stamped with Cheeky CH-22 and Insta Dri In-A-Blink Blue

It was fun to try something so bright and so different!  The next challenge should be fun - it's glitter!

Thanks for reading!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 26: Inspired by a Pattern

Today, I was supposed to have "tribal" nails.  I turned to Bollywood - as I always do! - for inspiration.  I chose a movie filmed in Rajasthan, a part of India known for its beautiful folk art and patterns.  Instead of picking a nice tribal pattern, I was enthralled (as I always am) with this beautiful wedding costume that our heroine wears - that's her, peeking out from under her bridal veil.

Rani Mukherjee in the film Paheli

Her beautiful saree inspired this mani.

This is a base of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Rapid Red stamped with the lovely palm design on Konad M83.  I useed Sally Hansen Insta Dri Snappy Sorbet for the stamp.   I freehanded the tips with Snappy Sorbet.  My other golds or bronzes didn't stamp well over this combination, so I pulled out my "heavy".  I used the Sally Hansen Gold Chrome Nail Pen and BM 11 to stamp the accents.

Wow!  I love this!  It's simple and surprisingly quick (especially using the fast dry polishes).  Every time I look down, I want to start singing songs from the movie!

If I ever take this off (haha), another attempt at "tribal" nails is next!

See you soon (at least when this wears off!), Konaddicts!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 15: Delicate Print

Hello, all!  Today's challenge was "delicate nails".  I went with a fairly simple two color combination.  The base is China Glaze Kinetic Candy.  For stamping, I used a chrome blue, Pure Ice Pussy Cat.  The plate is another great design from the third Bundle Monster set - BM 314.  

I love how this turned out!  The blue is one of my favorites and the stamping in chrome adds an elegant touch to the mani.  

Thanks for reading.  The next challenge is "tribal" nails - see you then!

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 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!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 12: Stripes

Hello, everyone!  I wanted to (finally!) post pictures of my stripes nails.

I started this mani with a base of Pure Ice Love - a warm pink.  I stamped the stripes using Cheeky plate CH-10 and Konad Special polish in White.  They're the perfect stripe - not too thin, but also not too crowded.

I decided I would try to spice up my stripes a bit. I've always liked the combination of pink, white, and black so I decided I would give that a try.  I stamped the bows using plate QA-24 - a new (of course from eBay!) plate that just came in the mail.  I used that super cute kitty on Konad M83 for the accent nail.  I used Wet N Wild in Black Creme as the stamping polish.

This has been a fun one to wear but now it's off to work on the next one - animal print!  See you next time, Konaddicts!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 11: Polka Dots

It's polka dot day!  I wanted to do something a little different, so I decided to put polka dots on top of my polka dots!

This is Revlon Top Speed Stormy stamped with Revlon Top Speed Espresso using the big dots on Red Angel plate RA-103.  I pulled out my dotting tool and dotted on Kleancolor Green Grass (the darker green) and Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lickety Split Lime.

See you tomorrow for "stripes"!

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!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 9: Rainbow Nails

Hello, everyone!
Today's challenge is "rainbow".  I didn't have a lot of time today, so I chose a mani that I had always been wanting to try - Miss80Million's Rainbow Houndstooth.  I remember watching this tutorial years ago, before I bought my first Konad set.

I used Konad M63, Sally Hansen Insta Dri Fast Lane Fuchsia, Lickety Split Lime, Brisk Blue, Urgent Orchid.  The index finger is Sinful Pull Over.

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 8: Metallic Nails

Metallic nails...hmmm...  What does that mean, exactly?  I use chromes and metallics a lot when stamping so I decided to go for a mani that reminded me of sheet metal.  I tried a bunch of different things until I finally found something close to what I had in mind.

The base is Love My Nails Silver Bullet, a silver chrome.  I used (another!) pattern from my XL Image Plate B which seemed to perfectly fit the bill.  I stamped over the silver with a Pure Ice Kiss Me Here, a gray chrome.  It's the exact combination I used before in my Silver and Gray mani, except in reverse order.

I pulled out my striping polish that I bought at Sally's a million years back to add the yellow stripe.  I used my cheapie Nail Star nail pens to add the dots on my "caution tape".  Theoretically, I could have used a combo of tape and stamping to get something that more resembled an actual caution tape, but the combination of drying time and trial and (lots of) error time made me go for the simpler approach.

I had so much fun trying to put this together!  It really got my creativity flowing and I finished with a mani I liked and bunches of polish strewn all over like there had been a nail polish tornado.

Overall, it was a fun stamping night!

Next up, "rainbow nails".

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 7: Black and White Nails

Hello, everyone!
Today's challenge is black and white, a bold combination that I don't use very often.  For this mani, I used Wet n Wild Black Creme as a base.  I stamped with Konad Special Polish in White and used one of the designs from my XL Image Plate B (which has been getting a lot of use since I started this challenge!).

I like it!  This has been another challenge that has forced me out of my (rather pastel) comfort zone!

Thanks for dropping by!  See you tomorrow for "metallic nails".

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 6: Violet Nails

Guest model - my left hand!

Well...these were supposed to be my purple nails.  It's Kleancolor Metallic Fuschia - a beautiful grape.  When I added Pure Ice Pussy Cat and stamping with Konad M64, I thought I had a winner.

Until the topcoat.

Oh, yes, until the topcoat.

Oh well...at least there was my left "non blog hand" so I could show the look I was going for!  Memo to me - if I try this again, add topcoat between the base and the chrome stamp.

The nice thing about this nail challenge is that no mani lasts too long...see you tomorrow for black and white nails!