More Ladybugs

Hi, everyone!  We have had some beautiful weather and along with the lovely weather, there are ladybugs about!  Those cute little critters inspired me to pull out my ladybug plate (a favorite) and see what I could come up with.

This time, I used Sally Hansen Jade Jump as a base.  I stamped the background using BM20 and Sally Hansen Sea Breeze.  I used Milani Black Magic and GCOCL plate K05 to stamp the ladybugs.  Instead of using my nail pens, I filled them in using a dotting tool and Pure Ice Siren (the red) and Heaven Waikiki Sunset (the burgundy glitter).

I love this plate!  Ladybugs are so much fun.  I also love, love, love the Heaven polish (picked up on sale at Albertson's!).  As soon as I can figure out a pretty way to wear it, I will definitely show you more of this lovely color.

Hope you're well, Konaddicts, and enjoying these longer days!

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PS:  I won something!  I won a bottle of that hard-to-find beauty, Whimsical, from Jamie at Fancy Schmancy Nails!

Thank you, Jamie!   It's so much fun to win something, especially when it comes in such pretty packaging! I can't wait to try this out!

Garden Variety Roses

I used two coats of Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Mint Sorbet as a base, Revlon Top Speed Emerald for the stems, and various pinks, purples, and white for the roses.  The plate is GCOCL K05 (there's a photo of this plate in my Lady Bug Nails post).

I hope your start to 2012 is a great one, Konaddicts!

Asian Inspired Nails

For this Asian inspired manicure, I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Racin' Red for the base color.  Next, I stamped various Asian designs from Konad S6 and BM203 in China Glaze Hi-Tek.  Then, I stamped the dragons from H12 (usually sold with other GCOCL type plates) in Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Sea Breeze.  I'm thrilled at how well the green stood out on top of the red!  Finally, I added a bit of glitter to each dragon's eye with a pin (I used Rimmel 60 Seconds Vinyl Stars in Eccentricity).  It was a surprisingly quick mani and I love the result!

Here are the polishes I used.  BTW:  I love, love, love Insta-Dris for base and stamping coats.  As a base color, they dry in a snap and they stamp beautifully!

Here's a closeup of the result.

Happy stamping, fellow Konaddicts!

Light and Feathery French Manicure

To restore balance after all of the spooky nails in October, I've tried a flowery and feathery French Manicure using GCOCL plates.  

I started out with two coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Cafe Au Lait.  I cannot say how much I love this polish!  I searched long and hard to find a good base coat for French Manicures that fit my skin tone and had the right level of opacity.  After many tries across brands, I struck gold!   This is great polish!  One coat would probably have been enough to cover my nail line and I think I finally got the color right.  They have a number of color choices, so if you're looking for a good base polish for French Manicures, you should certainly take a look at them.

The design is from GCOCL plate A26.  One great thing about the GCOCL plates is that they usually feature mirror images of the designs so that you can easily get the same look on your right and left hands.

To complete the look, I added pink rhinestones for a dash of color. Presto!  Easy, quick, and very sweet!

Base color: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Cafe Au Lait

Stamping color: Konad Special Polish in White
Plate: GCOCL A26