Subtle Purple Filigree Stamping

Hey there! I feel like I'm posting so much right now, even though I'm not. It's because we've literally had the whole week off from classes due to the lovely weather right now - The joys of living in Georgia. So I get four snow days while the state shuts down. In all seriousness, we are just not equipped to handle this weather, and the ice is terrible still. So we have our reasons for freaking out.

So since the weather is so cruddy, I've got a really subtle, dark design for you. But hopefully this design is not cruddy. ;)

(with flash)

So for this design I started with two coats of China Glaze Up All Night (this color has recently found its way into my collection, and it is STUNNING) and then I stamped the filigree stamp from Cheeky's Jumbo Plate #8, the Princess Charming plate, with China Glaze Love's a Beach. That polish is a neon shimmer polish, but it's sheer enough that it made the stamp look purple over the blue! It was very subtle, which I LOVE. I love how the slightly different stamp shade is just visible enough to pique someone's interest, and then they have to look closely to see it, and I just love it. Is that conceited of me? Pffft, nah. 

So that's it! It was super simple, and I hope you like it! Thanks for reading, have a great day, and happy painting! :)

Pastel Nautical Nails

Heeeeey guuuuuurl, how you doin'?

Okay, sorry. I had a moment. Anyway, who loves nautical nails?? (Hint: IT'S ME, IT'S TOTALLY ME)

(I apologize for the three pictures that look exactly alike, I apparently didn't get any better pictures before I took this design off)

Okay, so these aren't exactly pastel. But I didn't know what else to call them, so I took inspiration from the lovely, dusty, pastel teal that is OPI Gargantuan Green Grape. So for my thumb and ring finger, my base color was OPI Cajun Shrimp, with white acrylic paint stripes on them. On my middle finger, I painted Essie Good As Gold and then put e.l.f. Golden Goddess over that. Then for my index and pinky fingers, my base color was OPI Gargantuan Green Grape with stamped anchors from Cheeky plate 36 with Essie Good As Gold on them. 

These were absolutely precious, and they were a really nice break from the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge. Like I said in my previous post, my best friend left for a study abroad trip in Japan, and I felt like I needed some retail therapy - So I picked up my three base colors up there. Of course, I had to use them immediately, haha. I love nautical nail designs more than any other design, so it was a natural pick when I was looking for something easy and comforting to paint on my nails. I painted my sister's nails and then mine, all while she was reading scary stories to me. It was a pretty good way to spend a few hours! I'll be getting back to the Challenge in my next post, but until then... Thanks for reading, have a great day, and happy painting! :)

Neon Sunglasses Nails

Hey there! I'm finally getting into the summer spirit... now that it's almost over, anyway. Maybe it's because the weather has been awful here. In the month of June, we had more rain than we had in the entirety of 2012. That's ridiculous! But I guess it's never too late for some bright colors!

These practically scream SUMMER! The polishes from thumb to pinky are China Glaze Surfin' For Boys, Sun-Kissed, I'm With The Lifeguard, Towel Boy Toy, and Beach Cruise-r. I flipped it on my right hand, so that Beach Cruise-r was on my thumb and so on. Of course, you're welcome to put them in any order you want. :) The stamp is from Cheeky plate 37. I dabbled with the idea of doing something different on the accent nails, but I figured that would be too much with the different colors and I ultimately decided to keep the design consistent on all the nails, as you can see. So I hope you like it! I thought it came out pretty well, and I've even painted it on my friends' nails because she liked it so much. So let me know if you try them too! Thanks for reading, have a great day, and happy painting! :)

Valentines Day Nails #2

Hello again! This is my second design (and my favorite - this one didn't last long enough sadly) for Valentines Day, posted well after the 14th. But I'm posting it anyway! :)

(indoors)

My base color was China Glaze Ahoy! (mentioned in my previous post). This one was a stamped design, but I did do something extra. I used a plate from my new set of Cheeky Summer 2012 plates (funnily enough, purchased in February of 2013) - CH53. This is the design I used:

I'm not entirely sure what is in the center of the hearts, but I really liked the hearts themselves. For the stamping I used Sinful Colors Soul Mate, my favorite coral pink. Then I used a dotting tool and just covered the weird lettering in the center of the hearts with my base color. Easy peasy! This design was absolutely my favorite. so pretty. And as always, I loved the contrast between the shimmery base color and the creme stamp on top. So nice. And as for the shimmer in Ahoy!, here's a really good picture I got (by accident) that shows off that glorious gold shimmer:

Isn't it just heavenly? It's my favorite pink. China Glaze also has another pink with gold shimmer in it called Strawberry Fields. They are similar, but they are definitely not the same. Trust me, it's worth it to have them both. 

So thanks for reading, have a nice day, and happy painting! :)