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 :)

Black and White Challenge Day 8 - Sponging

It is day eight of the Black and White Challenge which means a sponged manicure. I had in mind a marble or granite look, so I turned to the internet for inspiration, as I often do. Somehow it helps to have a picture to stare at as I work. While searching for black and white stone, I stumbled upon a photo of Emma Stone in a black and white dress that I just couldn't resist...

Emma Stone photo Source

I started out with Borghese Tempesta Black (swatches below) and then using a corner of a cosmetic wedge, I sponged on white acrylic paint. As I was working on the manicure I decided it probably would have matched the dress more if I had started out with a white base and sponged with black. This led me to wonder if a zebra is really white with black stripes or black with white stripes, but I digress. I will have to try a black over white version of this at some point...

Just as I was done editing all the photos, I remembered that I finally got my hands on a bottle of Essie Matte About you, so I added the matte topcoat at the last minute to match the satin look of the dress. I love how it turned out. I hope you don't mind if I matte everything from now on. :D

Here is the shiny, regular topcoat version. I though I would share these since I already had them done and ready to go. Plus, I do like the shiny version as well. Which do you prefer, matte or glossy? :)

Borghese Tempesta Black
A black base with a fine silver shimmer. Application was perfect, I love the wide brush. Two coats for full coverage. This is very similar to Essence I Love My Jeans that I used just a few days ago, except that the shimmer in Tempesta Black is a bit larger.

A close up to see the shimmer...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Borghese Collection: Main Line Color Name/Number: Tempesta Black, B370 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Don't forget to check out all the other lovely ladies participating in the challenge...
Biba's beauty corner , Biberlee-Džumbus, Colores de Carol, Emerald sparkle, Hooked on polish, Lacquered Tips, Mateji ustvarjata, My Little Vanities, My Nail Grafiti, Nail crazy, Oje Gemisi Kalkiyor, Omgnoodles, Pink Polish Addict, Polish nail art, Purple Glitters, Taya, The Nail Buff, Welcome To Brianna's World!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Sinful Colors Easy Going and Sunday Stamping Challenge

It is time again for the weekly Sunday Stamping Challenge in the Facebook group Adventures in Stamping. I have been feeling sick the past few days, barely motivating myself enough to go to work and I really didn't think I would be participating in this week's challenge. I woke up (just a few hours ago) feeling a little bit better and decided to attempt something for the challenge before I have to leave for work. This week the challenge was to make a manicure using a stamping plate ending in 3. I chose one of the generic plates I got from Ebay numbered M63.

I started out with Sinful Colors Easy Going. The name seems to really match my mood at the moment. I stamped using Borghese Mezzanotte Blue and a flower image from the plate M63. Mezzanotte Blue is a very pigmented dark navy blue. In a full manicure it is so dark that most of the time it looks black, but it was perfect for stamping. To the center of the flower I added a small (2mm) pink rhinestone.

Sinful Colors Easy Going is a very light pink cream. It is almost white with just a hint of pink. The formula on this was great, opaque in two coats. The brush, however, was very stiff and left scratch marks in the polish. I have a feeling this is just a problem with the bottle that I have, since I don't usually have problems with Sinful Colors brushes. I applied three coats to even everything out and that worked just fine. This is with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Sinful Colors Collection: Main Line Color Name/Number: Easy Going, 300 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

I hope you like my last minute attempt at the stamping challenge. I'd love to know what you think!


Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Borghese Sonata Berry C with Pure Ice Oh Baby!

I'm not feeling well today, so I will keep it short and show you a manicure from a while back. This is Borghese Sonata Berry C topped with Pure Ice Oh Baby!. Oh Baby! is a sheer base with a color shifting shimmer. The shimmer changes from green to blue to purple/magenta depending on the angle that it is viewed at. It is a fun and quick way to spice up a solid color. I'm loving all the "effect" polishes lately...

In it's own Borghese Sonata Berry C is a deep berry red polish with a jelly finish. I used three coats to get nice even coverage. It is not original in my collection, but I do tend to like these colors so I end up with lots of them. Application was good, I love the wide brush in these polishes. This is with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Borghese Collection: main line Color Name/Number: Sonata Berry C, B255 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

What do you think of the "effect" polishes that are so popular lately?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Borghese Plumaggio Purple and Sunday Stamping - Stars

Welcome to the 3rd edition of Sunday Stamping. Today's challenge was stars. I'm hoping this qualifies because there is some, but not a lot of stamping here. I started out with a blue polish from Borghese named Plumaggio Purple. The reason I call it blue is because that's all I saw on my nails. The purple was mostly left in the bottle. Over the blue, I lightly sponged Sinful Colors Out of This World. Then I added the large stars which were hand made decals using Sally Hansen Celeb City. An annoying process which turned out to be cute, but a pain in the butt to do. I'm wishing I had the Essence stamping plate used by Jane of Nailside here. Sigh! I would make this so much easier. Now for the actual stamping part I added small stars from a plate named m08 that I ordered from Ebay.

Here is the result... I love how it turned out (except for a few air bubbles under the decals)...

And now for Plumaggio Purple on it's own. In the bottle, it is a dark blue with a strong purple shimmer. You can clearly see the purple in the first photo, but only in the bottle. It decided to stay there and not show up on my nails. I wish this was one of those "but trust me, it is there in real life" cases, but nope, what you see is what you get. Otherwise application was good and I do like the extra wide Borghese brush. Two coats plus a top coat in these swatches...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Borghese Collection: Main line Color Name/Number: B350 Plumaggio Purple Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP

I'd love to know what you think of the color or the final mani!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Day 29 - Inspired by the Supernatural

Quite honestly I wasn't feeling very inspired by the supernatural for today's challenge. There are lots of ways this could have gone, but I was not in the mood for anything loud and crazy so I decided to keep it simple. Plus, I wanted something that I would be able to wear in public :). I chose to do another take on galaxy nails and throw in a few UFOs for the supernatural effect. Yes, those little silver blips at the top of the nails and one that landed on the tip of my index finger are supposed to be UFOs.

It may not be the best take on the challenge, but I do like the manicure and I hope you do to...

The polishes used for this manicure:
- Borghese - Mezzanotte Blue (base)
- LA Colors - No name metallic blue
- Rimmel - Violet Metal
- Essie - Braziliant
- Wet 'n Wild - Silvivor

I'd love to know what you think. Are you sick of galaxy nails yet or still loving them?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Graduating to gradients...

My first gradient attempt turned out pretty decent. Sure, it could have been more blended with less visible separation of colors, but for a first attempt also it could have been worse. The colors make me think of a beautiful sunset... wish I was there...

Polishes used, base to tip:
1. Wacky Laki franken - Nearly Nude (scroll down for swatches :))
2. Sinful Colors - Hazard
3. Borghese - Maraschino
4. Wet n Wild - Caught Red Handed

What really started this gradient was another almost throw away color. I had two really old Revlon colors Snowflake Pink and Wink of Pink. They were both at least 15 years old and have not been worn in at least 10, so in an effort to empty out one of the bottles, I combined the two and topped it off with the remainder of the darker pink from the Blush set that didn't fit into the Lucky Lavender franken bottle.

Here it is only two coats plus a top coat. It still applied beautifully. If it didn't have a shimmer to it, it would probably be my perfect nude color...

Outside...

Brand: Wacky Laki blend Collection: N/A Color Name/Number: Nearly Nude

I'd love to know what you think of my 1st gradient attempt :D

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Trying Out the SpectraFlair Top Coat...

A fellow member of the Facebook group Polish-aholics Anonymous created a holographic topcoat using the infamous SpectraFlair holographic powder and some clear nail polish. Mine finally arrived a few days ago, but I have been patiently holding out on using it until we got some sunshine around here. Trust me, it was hard...

I applied one coat over my existing Borghese Berry Confezione manicure to achieve this holo goodness :)

Feel free to click on any of the photos to zoom in...

Outside in the sunshine...

Just look at that gorgeous rainbow... :D

My only issues with this was that the SpectraFlair powder settles out really quickly and tends to stick together/to the bottle. It needs to be shaken for quite a while and still a good part of the powder is stuck to the bottom. I suspect it is due to lack of suspending agents...

Also, while I love the holo effect, the original color almost completely disappeared for me. I am curious to see how this looks by itself and over silver...

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)