NOTD: Grasslands

Hey guys! I was playing ball with Bella Roo yesterday and my nail on my pointer finger sustained a critical break. She got really excited and tried to grab the ball out of my hand. It was was the perfect storm of puppy teeth, a tennis ball, and a 3 day old manicure... there was nothing I could do to save it. So, I ended up cutting back all my nails since there was such an extreme difference in the lengths... broke my heart. :o(

It's a wee nubbin!

Oh well, what can ya do? So anyways, I've seen several new takes on stamped zebra and tiger manicures in the past few days and I have to say, I'm a fan! I think my fave has to be this gorgeous number from That's So Fresh... I love the effect the layering created. So being inspired and with my conveniently shorter nails that make for easy stamping, I created my own version.






I used OPI Skull and Glossbones for my base color. Then I sponged on OPI San Tan-tonio, China Glaze Westside Warrior, and Orly Luxe in random spots. After that, I stamped on the zebra print using Essie Licorice with the Konad M57 plate. I started to use a white polish for my base but I wanted the look to be more earthy and fall-ish... I'm definitely glad I did!

Thanks for reading!
- Kim

NOTD: Bling Dynasty

Hey guys! Quick post today... I did a random design using Bundle Monster image plates BM-208 and BM-221. My base color is OPI Bling Dynasty and the stamps are done with China Glaze China Rouge, Orly Luxe, and Essie Licorice. It's very different than what I would typically wear but I think it's pretty none the less... I'll still probably end up taking it off tomorrow though, lol.






Thanks for reading!
- Kim

NOTD: Kind of Like 80's Wallpaper

I picked up this cute smocked tube top at Target the other day and I was feeling inspired by the fabric pattern... it reminds me of this hideous 80's bathroom wallpaper a friend used to have at her house. I like it better on the shirt than the walls so decided to see if I could imitate it, lol. I started to freehand the design but I thought better of it and broke out my Bundle Monster plates... I went with the feather pattern on BM-214 since it was the closet thing to the palm leaves.

To get this look, I painted my nails with a base coat of Essie Smooth Sailing and then layered stamps of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Blazing Blue, Pink Blink, and Brisk Blue and Essie Sand Tropez in no particular order. It was a little time consuming to do that many stamps but I needed the mental break today so I didn't mind. :o)





On a side note, if you're interested in this buying this top, you may want to check out your local Target before getting it online. Mine had these on clearance for $8.98 but the website is still selling them for $17.99 for whatever reason. I swear I will never understand why the prices vary like that, lol. But anywho... thanks for reading!

- Kim

NOTD: Purple Leopard Nails

Hey guys! Here is a quick mani I did today using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Lively Lilac and Whirlwind White, OPI Black Onyx, and Kiss Nail Artist Black. I used the OPI with my Konad M57 plate and then I free handed the moons and tips. Very simple and took me about 20 minutes. :o)





Thanks for reading!
- Kim

NOTD: Wild Thing, I Think I Love Ya!

I love my Konad M57 plate but I have neglected to use it for a while. I decided to break her back out tonight for yet another leopard mani. I've only used wild colors with this plate so far sooo I thought I'd try something new and keep it neutral. :o)


I just kind of winged it and I really like out this turned out. I ended up using a bunch of different polishes... more than I expected. I started with my usual Seche Clear base coat followed by a coat of Essie Jazz. I topped that with China Glaze Cyberspace. (I did this since the Cyberspace takes at least a good 3 coats to get any kind of coverage.) Then I used OPI Black Onyx with the Konad stamp since it doesn't come out super dark.


Now this is where I had to get creative. I planned on using Orly Prince Charming for the accent color but it was too plain Jane brown. I needed something leaning more towards yellow or orange but I didn't have the color I needed. I have this tiny bottle of Sally Girl orange polish... I looked all over the bottle but I couldn't find a name. It's just a bright orange with mild shimmer. I made a 50/50 mix of the two to get that orangy-brown and I just used a regular detail brush to paint spots throughout the leopard print. I also find that the Bundle Monster plates make great "mixing trays"... just flip 'em over and mix away and when you're all finished, just wipe it clean with a cotton ball and some polish remover.

So that was all I did... I also just realized I used 5 different brands of polish, 6 if you count the top coat. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad, lol. Anyway, I think I'll wear my nails like this for a day or two and when I start rough up the tips, I'll go back and do a wild color french tip. I'm thinking hot pink or lime... oh yeah!

NOTD: Leopard Electric

I picked up a bottle of Sally Hansen HD - LCD and decided to try it out tonight. Overall, I liked the look of it but it took four coats to achieve this depth of color and it's still translucent. So I would recommend layering it with another polish if you don't want to go through putting on that many coats. (Maybe some Orly Soul Mate would look nice?)


Then I wanted to add something else to this color and I thought black tips would look great until I effed up my finish with tape. I waited about 15 minutes before that attempt which is usually plenty of of time but that whole 4 coats thing got me. To hide my boo-boo, I whipped out my Konad M57 plate and Leopard-ed them up. And with me never being satisfied, I felt it needed more so I added some Sally Hansen Green with Envy. Awesome. :o)


Thanks for reading!

~ Kim

NOTD: Funky French Manicure

I came across the wonderful blog Chloe's Nails by fellow polish addict Erika. She has some really great (and easy to follow) tutorials. I absolutely LOVE her Funky French Manicure and I was amazed at how easy it was to do! I also added some Konad stamping for a little extra flair as inspired by That's So Fresh. I got started by getting my supplies together...


To copy this mani, you will need:

• Essie Jazz
• OPI Black Onyx
• base coat/top coat
  
• good old fashioned Scotch tape
• Bundle Monster plate BM20
• Konad Stamper set

I painted my nails with Seche Clear base coat and then 2 coats of Essie Jazz. (This polish has to be my absolute favorite neutral color!) Then I added a layer of SecheVite top coat. After that, I played Angry Birds on my phone for ten minutes while it dried and then I proceeded to use Erika's instructions for the scotch tape. I used the OPI Black Onyx as my second color. Once aaaaaaall of that was done, I added the designs to my ring fingers using the Bundle Monster BM20 plate and sealed it all in with a final coat of SecheVite.

It seems like it would take a long time but it took me about 30 minutes total including the 10 minutes of Angry Birds/dry time... not bad at all!


Please ignore my hideous cuticles... I need to fix that. And definitely follow Erika's advice about working quickly with the tape. I hesitated on the first nail and my line turned out a bit wonky. That's okay though...

Click to bigify, friends!

I really had fun doing this mani and I want to try other colors... I have them all planned out in my head! I'm tempted to redo them again but it's been less than 24 hours since I painted them. I think I need to try let a mani last at least 2 days or so before painting again. We'll see how long I can hold out...

Nail Polish Obsession

I came across a blog called My Simple Little Pleasures by a super talented lady named Colette. I was instantly inspired by her nail art and the array of beautiful colors and impressive patterns. She also introduced me to something I had never even heard of before. She often uses a technique called marbling which is amazing and I have yet to try it on my nails but wow! I love it!

So with a bit of inspiration to guide me, I've picked up painting my nails regularly since it's fun again. I also discovered Konad stamps via Colette's blog. This product may be old news to a lot of ladies but it was all new to me! I ordered a stamper and a stamping plate off of eBay and got to work. All I can say is that this has to be the coolest nail art tool ever invented. I've only tried a few manicures but I get tons of compliments on them. Here are a few that I have done in the past couple of weeks. (Pardon the poor photo quality... the pics were taken at random using my cell phone!)





I only have one plate so far... the Konad Plate M57. I absolutely LURVE the zebra and leopard print! I wish I had taken a picture of my leopard mani but I neglected to do so. But I will say metallic hot pink, black, and silver make a great combo! Here's the plate of awesome awesomeness...



So that's my new obsession for the moment. I've even ordered more plates and I can't wait for them to arrive so I can try them all out. So until next time, happy crafting (or polishing)!