Sunday Stamping: The Great Thanksgiving Heist...

Is seems like ages since the last time I participated in a Sunday Stamping challenge for the group Adventures in Stamping. With the holidays quickly approaching, this week's theme is Thanksgiving or Winter nails. I chose to go with the Thanksgiving theme and I'm happy to present my manicure to you. I have affectionately been referring to it as "The Great Thanksgiving Heist"...

The manicure started out with a base of Nicole by OPI Who Red My Journal??? stamped with Essie Good as Gold using Messy Mansion plate MM19. I recently purchased the Essie Mirror Metallics collection (all except for the silver) for stamping and they all work perfectly! Essie Good as Gold is just slightly lighter, more of a champagne gold, than my favorite Maybelline Bold Gold, but works just as well...

I created stamped decals for the rest of the images. The woodland creatures are from the same Messy Mansion MM19 plate. I stamped with SinfulColors Black on Black and then colored them in using acrylic paints. The pumpkin is also stamped with Black on Black using Bundle Monster plate BM-H11 and colored in using acrylic paint. To give the creatures a bit of a base to stand on, I added gold tips using Good as Gold...

I imagine the little fox sneaking in to steal the pumpkin for a big Thanksgiving celebration in the forest. The two hedgies are standing guard while the theft takes place. The perfect heist, although looks like the hedgie on my pinkie nail is asleep on the job. This is because I used a stamper to stamper technique to flip him and he got distorted in the processes, but I think it turned out even better that way...

Let me know what you think of this manicure!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

Giveaway Scavenger Hunt...

Last month I shared with you the exciting news that I had been chosen as a winner in Bundle Monster's Create Your Own Contest. My prize was six full stamping plate sets, one for each design chosen. Obviously I don't need so many! I have shared a few of them with my friends and now I've got a few to share with you...

Rather than do a typical giveaway, I thought it would be fun to do a scavenger hunt! I hope you will play along with me and have some fun in the process. I have stamped this little Bundle Monster guy on one of my nails and hidden a photo of that stamped nail throughout my blog posts...

Your challenge is to find that image, fill out the raffelcopter below and tell me where you found it! There are 12 of them hidden throughout the blog. For every image found you get a point in the giveaway! They are in no particular order so don't worry about matching #s to images. A few extra points for sharing as well! This is open internationally and will run until November 29th 2013!

P.S. I don't do giveaways often so hopefully this makes sense. Let me know if you have any questions! Good Luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for looking and good luck!!
Anutka :)

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Today I would like to show you a manicure that I created quite a while ago, but have not gotten around to posting. I have been sick the past two weeks and my energy for creating manicures is at an all time low. Luckily this candy filled manicure is just perfect for a day which has become synonymous with candy overload...

For this manicure, I created a gradient using Nicole by OPI Candy is Dandy and I Liliac Gumdrops. I stamped using Essence Stamp Me! White and Bundle Monster plate BM-306. Fun and easy...

Here is a look at the gradient before the stamping. To create this gradient, I simply brushed on I Lilac Gumdrops over Candy is Dandy when it was dry. I think because they are textured, this sort of rough gradient still looks good and is much quicker than sponging...

How will you be spending your Halloween?

I will be spending my Halloween at work, leaving my boyfriend home to tend to the trick or treaters. We get lots and lots of them every year. I am sad I won't see all the cute costumes, but also kind of glad I won't have to be jumping up and down every 20 seconds to open the door.

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

The Graveyard After All This Time...

Today I would like to show you a fun Halloween themed manicure. I got this beautiful gray polish for review along with the 365 Days of Color Horcrux collection last month. I set it aside at the time because it was not part of the collection and it somehow managed to hide from me until now. I'm so glad that I finally saw this little one hiding among all the big polish bottles which clutter my table. It is appropriately named 'After All This Time?' as though to mock me in the fact that I took so long to play with it. It is absolutely perfect for a spooky graveyard manicure that even glows in the dark...

To create this manicure I used a base of 365 Days of Color After All This Time?. Swatches of this beauty are further down in this post. I stamped various images from Bundle Monster plates BM-413 and BM-H08 and Winstonia plate W116. For stamping I used Essence Stamp Me! Black stampy polish....

How fun is that skeleton peeking out from behind the gravestone?

Oh and did I mention that it GLOWS in the dark? That's right, it doesn't just glow in the dark! It GLOWS in the dark!...

After All This Time? is a dove gray jelly loaded with silver and holo glitter. There is definitely a lot more holo glitter than what my camera could capture. This beauty sparkles. It is fairly sheer and took four coats to build up to good coverage. I think next time I will try it over gray undies, but for my first swatches I wanted to show the color by itself. The formula is very nice, no streaking and great glitter distribution. Swatches are with a top coat...

Just look at this glow! It is the brightest glow in the dark polish that I have ever tried! Unlike others I've tried, this one is also most certainly not camera shy!

Swatch Details
	Brand: 365 Days of Color Collection: 12 Months of Color, October Color Name/Number: After All This Time? Number of coats: 4 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

What do you think of this polish? I'm most certainly in love with it. I love gray polish to begin with, but throw in some holo glitter and I start to swoon... make it glow in the dark and I fall head over heals in love!

Find out more about 365 Days of Color...
Shop | Facebook | Blog

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

Sunday Stamping Over Black Base

I've been in a bit of a nail art funk lately after burning out halfway through the 31 Day Nail Challenge. I'm still determined to finish it, but for today I decided to take part in a different challenge. It has been way too long since I participated in Sunday Stamping with the group Adventures in Stamping. Somehow these challenges always get my creative juices flowing and today's theme of stamping over black turned to this...

For this manicure I started out with a base of Wet 'n Wild Black Creme...

I then added three coats of Essence Fly Firefly Fly glow in the dark top coat. It does alter the base color a bit which is why it looks gray rather than black...

I stamped the spiderweb from Bundle Monster plate BM-H07 using Color Club Cherubic, a peachy holographic beauty. The spiders were stamped using Pure Ice Silver Mercedes and Bundle Monster plate BM13. Each spider accented with a red rhinestone...

And now for the glow in the dark shot. Is it OK to admit that it actually creeps me out in the dark? The spiders look too real for comfort... *shudder*. I'm debating entering these in the Bundle Monster nail art contest....

A few photos of Essence Fly Firefly Fly before all the stamping. This is three coats over black. I originally tried just two coats as suggested on the bottle, but it didn't glow quite bright enough. It glows really brightly in the bottle (see photo above), but this doesn't quite translate onto the nail. The effect seems to fade rather quickly after the lights are out. Swatches are with no top coat...

Over black, you can see the little fluorescent particles. More coats equals more particles, less visible base and brighter glow...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Essence Color Name/Number: 18 Fly Firefly Fly Number of coats: 3 (layered over black) Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

I'd love to know what you think of this manicure!

P.S. Sorry if I freaked any of you out with spiders :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

Scatter...

I would like to show you a manicure that I have been wearing for the past few days. I finally got around to trying one of the Ozotic shades that I purchased from piCture pOlish a few months ago and I'm in love...

For this manicure, I used a base of Ozotic 912. Full swatches of this beautiful lilac shade are below. I stamped using Sally Hansen Color Quick pen in Pink Chrome and Bundle Monster plate BM-404. I still can't believe that I can stamp an image that I designed. OK, I promise that is the last time I bring it up, but so freaking exciting for me...

Ozotic 912 is a beautiful lilac duochrome with scattered holo glass fleck shimmer. It is absolutely gorgeous. I wasn't too excited when I first saw it in the bottle, but holy smokes I changed my mind with the first brush stroke! It applies perfectly and provides good coverage at just two coats. The color shifts from a metallic lilac to brown. The holo flecks are most noticeable over the brown. Love it! Swatches are with no top coat...

A bit of the color shift shown here. At the more extreme angles it shifts to brown with more prominent holo flakies!...

Ahh, just look at it...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Ozotic Collection: 900 Series Color Name/Number: 912 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

I really need to make more of an effort to play with my untried pile. So many beauties just waiting for their moment to shine... :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Bundle Monster Contest Winner!

I've shared this exciting news on FB and Instagram, but I have yet to announce it here on the blog. I'm not sure why I waited so long, but it might have something to do with a slight feeling of disbelief. Earlier this year Bundle Monster held a contest to create design(s) for their "create your own" stamping plate set. I hesitated entering my designs because I thought it would be a fan voted popularity type of contest and I try to avoid those. At the last minute I realized that the Bundle Monster team would be picking the winners so I got super excited and sent ten different designs for their consideration. Then I waited... and waited... found out I'm a finalist...  and then waited some more. Finally I got the exciting news that... I'm a winner!...

Out of the ten designs that I submitted, Bundle Monster chose six! Yes six of my designs are in the new Bundle Monster set! Can you believe it? I had to see them for myself before it really sank in. Seriously, I couldn't be more thrilled! I had to wait along with everyone else as Bundle Monster slowly released teaser images one by one to find out which designs were picked. Now that I finally have these plates in my hands, I can show them to you...

My six designs are... the drips on plate BM-405, the patches on plate BM-411 and the four full sized images on plate BM-404...

The most surreal feeling that makes my heart skip a beat every time is seeing my designs used by someone else in their manicure! I know it's silly, but I can't help it! I just about passed out when Marta of Chit Chat Nails posted her patches manicure... or when Carolina of Colores de Carol posted her drip manicures here and here...

What is my prize for being a winner? I got a full set for each design chosen. That's right, I had the most epic Bundle Monster nail mail ever! Six sets...

What am I going to do with five extra sets? A few are going to friends whom I've infected with the stamping bug.... and.... a few are going to be up for grabs in a giveaway! I haven't quite figured out the details for it yet, but I promise I will soon, so stay tuned...

Also, full review of these plates coming up once I get a chance to test them out...

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

The Snake...

While swatching the 365 Days of Color Horcrux collection last week, I thought it would be fun to create some nail art to go with one of my favorites from the collection. I love the beautiful color of The Snake and decided that stamping a bit of snake print would be just perfect for it...

To create this manicure I started out with a base of 365 Days of Color The Snake. I stamped the snake print from Bundle Monster plate BM-215 using SinfulColors Moss Have. They two laquers are very similar in shade and I love the subtle print that resulted. For my accent nail I stamped the snake from Mash plate Mash-50 using Essence Stamp Me! Black...

I would love to know what you think of this! Leave me comments below :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **