Mother's Day and Sunday Stamping

First I would like to wish all the moms out there a very Happy Mother's Day! I wish you all a wonderful day and hope you get spoiled as you deserve! May you always 'bee' happy! :)

The manicure today had a lot of self-imposed requirements to meet. I wanted it to be Spring-like, have flowers for Mother's Day and use a stamping plate ending in 5 (the theme for today's Sunday Stamping challenge in the group Adventures in Stamping). I'm quite happy to say that all the requirements were met and I can rest easy.

For the manicure I started out with a peachy gradient created using Elf polishes. Scroll down for details on polishes used. Then, for the stamping I used the flower pattern from Bundle Monster plate BM-205. Spring colors... check! Flowers... check! Plate ending in 5... check! Yay!

My original intent was to stamp the flower pattern twice, using the lightest and the darkest colors from the gradient. I had hoped that it would smoothly fade into the gradient on each end. This didn't work too well and the stamping was hardly visible so I stamped a third time using Wet 'n Wild French White Creme. The white is mostly what is visible in the photos, but if you click to zoom in you can see some of the other layers. After I was done with the flowers, I added the bee using Shany plate SH05 with Wet 'n Wild Black Creme. Second plate ending in 5... do I get bonus points here?

The gradient itself was created using three out of the four polishes in the Elf set that I acquired on my recent trip to Chicago. I started out with Elf Coral Dream (lightest color) as the base and then sponged the gradient using Coral Dream, Party Peach and Smokin Hot (from base to tips). The gradient was quite bumpy when I was done (and I wanted it smooth for photos), so I used two layers of clear polish followed by a quick drying top coat. Oh for the love of a good photo... Do all these layers make my nails look fat?... :D

I'd love to know your thoughts on this mani!

Do you have anything special planned for Mother's Day? I will be enjoying some breakfast brunch with my Mom this afternoon :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Sunday Stamping: Unnatural Animals

This week the stamping challenge for the group Adventure in Stamping was truly a fun one. The challenge was a stamped manicure with the theme of unnatural animals. I have been wanting to try a rainbow gradient animal print for quite a while, so this was the perfect opportunity for it. What could be more unnatural than a rainbow zebra?

For the gradient I used the technique of layering all the colors on a cosmetic sponge and then sponging them on all at once. I'm so in love with this technique that now I look for any excuse to do a gradient. I stamped using Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and Bundle Monster plate BM-223. I then matted the whole thing using Essie Matte About You. The matte topcoat smudged the stamped pattern a bit, so in hindsight I probably should have used a regular top coat first and then the matte.The good news is that the smudges are only visible up close :)

A few shots of what the gradient looked like before I stamped and matted it. For the base I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, a soft white with a hint of gray. Swatches of that polish are coming soon. For the rest of the colors I used nearly every polish from the Color Club POPtastic collection. Scroll down to see the full list...

Colors used (left to right): Wet 'n Wild Caught Red Handed, Color Club Wham! Pow!, Almost Famous, Twiggie, Chelsea Girl and Pucci Licious. I love this collection when I need primary colors for a manicure. The only thing it is missing in my opinion is a good red hence why I had to use a Wet 'n Wild Polish. The set contains two pinks instead which I didn't use for this manicure. You can see the cosmetic sponge that I used and my "palette" to dab on. The purple didn't actually make it onto my nails since they were too short. Guess there is always next time :D

I would love to know what you think of this! What kind of unnatural animal would you have created?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Curious Puppy Prints...

I often get the urge to try a gradient with similar colors within a collection. Just as often it doesn't work out as I imagined since the colors are too similar. Such was the case with Color Club Incognito and Give Me a Hint. Give Me a Hint turned out to be too light and sheer to create a nice gradient. Rather than give up and start over, I added Barielle Tight Knit into the mix to darken up the tip of the gradient.

The puppy and the paw prints were stamped using Barielle Unraveled Rust and Shany plate SH08. The puppy was just what I need to cheer me up. He is so cute. What shall we name him? ;)

I would love know what you think of this!
Do you ever create a silly manicure just to cheer yourself up?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Sunday Stamping using Multiple Stamps Over a Gradient

After taking two weeks off from Sunday Stamping challenges, I am excited to once again participate. Every week the members of the group Adventures in Stamping vote on a challenge theme. For the first time this week there was a tie between choices, stamping over a gradient and stamping using multiple stamps. Since both won, I thought it would be fun to combine both challenges in the same manicure.

I started out by creating a gradient using Borghese Mezanotte Blue, Color Club Chelsea Girl and Wet 'n Wild French White Creme. The tips were stamped using a pattern from an Ebay plate M88 that reminded me of waves. The fish is from a Shany plate SH19. Both were stamped using Wet 'n Wild French White Creme. It all looked kind of boring, so I colored in the fish gold using Pure Ice Bite Me. Then, using Sally Hansen Celeb City, I accented a few of the "waves." I'm loving the touch of metal in this. What do you think the chances are that this goldfish will grant me some wishes? :)

A closeup of the goldfish...

I also wanted to show you the gradient itself. To make this, I used a really easy technique that I was trying for the first time. Instead of adding one color at a time as I have done before, these are all layered onto a cosmetic wedge and sponged at the same time. The result is a much smoother gradient as the colors mix much better. It looks as though it was spray painted. I've seen a few tutorials out there, but Laynie of LaynieFingers has a great how to video on the technique, so be sure to check it out.

I keep thinking of how much this reminds me of my black to white gradient and how much quicker this was to create versus that one... Love learning new techniques!

Have you tried creating a gradient using this method?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Zoya Carey in a Gradient with Kelly

Next up in the Zoya Feel collection is Carey. It reminds me of a lighter version of Kelly which I go bonkers for every time. With all my polishes I still keep reaching for Kelly every time. I thought it would be fun to pair Carey up with Kelly in a gradient.

I started out with Carey as the base and using a faux sea foam sponge I sponged on Kelly. It looks ashy and dirty and I love it... :)

Here is Zoya Carey on her own. A dusty pale gray cream with just a hint of lavender. Application was great. Full coverage as promised in two easy coats. Swatches here are with a top coat. Not much to say about it, just perfect...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Feel, Winter 2011 Color Name/Number: Carey, ZP592 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Have you tried any polishes from the Zoya Feel collection?
I'd love to know what you think of this mani...

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Tutorial - Gradient

Here it is, the long overdue tutorial for the gradient nails from challenge day 10. A reminder what what the manicure looked like...

	Supplies: - Nail polishes - Black, dark gray, gray, white, and glittery silver (I used Wet n Wild Black Cream, Zoya Kelly, Petites Color Fever Vintage Gray, Wet n Wild French White Cream, Sinful Colors Out of This World) - Sponge - different types will work for this, but I used an artificial sea foam sponge - Q-tip for clean up - Tweezers for holding the sponge (if you use a small piece)
	Step 1: - Cut off a few pieces of the sponge
	Step 2: - Apply a base coat and - Apply desired number of base color coats - Shown here is 1 coat of WnW Black Cream
	Step 3: - Put a few drops of the dark gray on a piece of paper (or other work surface) and work the color into the sponge by dabbing it.
	Step 4: - Lightly tap the sponge on the nail from tip towards the base, leaving about 1/4 of the base unsponged. - Add in small amounts until satisfied with the look
	Step 5: - Work the lighter gray color into another side of the sponge (or a clean sponge piece)
	Step 6: - Lightly tap on the nail starting from tip and going about half way down. - Add a little bit at a time to get the desired effect
	Step 7: - Work the white polish into the sponge as before
	Step 8: - Tap the white on the tip of the nail
	Step 9: - This step is optional, but to give the gradient some glitter and sparkle, work a silvery color into the sponge.
	Step 10: - VERY LIGHTLY tap on the nail. - I put a little bit too much and ended up muting the black and the dark gray out (compare to to original manicure to see what it should have looked like :))
	Step 11: - With a Q-tip or a brush dipped in nail polish remover/acetone, clean up the cuticles
	All Done! - Add a top coat and you are done!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! As always I would love comments and feedback so that I can improve :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Day 10 - Gradient Nails

Gradients for some reason sound easier than they are (for me)... just sponge on the next colors and you are done. Lets just say it took a few attempts to come out with something I like. My original idea was white transitioning to black at the tips. That turned out to be a bit too messy for my taste. The second attempt was black transitioning to white tips. Not as messy, but the gradient was too rough, similar to my very first attempt. I tried it one more time using a different sponge that worked much better, so third time was the charm. I finally got a gradient that I actually like and can wear...

UPDATE: Tutorial for this manicure available here!

My boyfriend said it looks like a night sky... a way better response than to my first two attempts which were met with shoulder shrugs and a look that means "OK, but I don't get it..."

The colors I used for this manicure were:
- Wet n Wild Black Cream for the base
- Zoya Kelly
- Petites Color Fever Vintage Gray
- Wet n Wild French White Cream
- Sinful Colors Out of This World (sponged lightly on top for sparkle)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)