Walkin' in tha spiderwebs

I'm not gonna lie, my Bundle Monster plate BM13 sucks. It's not etched good enough and I had a very hard time with it. Grrr. So yeah, this pretty much bites...but I wanted and was determined to make it somehow work. I'm disappointed to say the least, but here here's my Halloween stamping...enjoy (I say that ever so sarcasticly)

What I used: CND stickey basecoat, 1 coat of Sinful Colors in Black on Black, 1 coat of Nfu Oh Flakies #38, 2 coats of Pure Ice in Hot Tamale on ring finger, stamping colors were Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Silver Sweep & Sinful Colors in Black on Black
Plate: Bundle Monster, BM13 - grrr again

My boyfriend's car

Well I let my boyfriend pick my colors again. This time he wanted me to use my "Polestar Blue." It's not technically Polestar Blue, it's technically Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Brisk Blue and it's pretty much an exact dupe. Ok so for those of you who don't have a clue what Polestar is, which is probably the majority of you..it is a line of racing and performance parts made for Volvo cars. Interested in more? You can read all about it here and see the Polestar blue for yourself:
http://www.polestar.se/
So for my base coat, I used an another almost exact dupe for the color of his Volvo C30. Volvo calls it Cosmic White. Revlon calls it Aloof. Ha. It's a pearlish white with a silver base shimmer. Anyway, so I put my Polestar Blue (aka Brisk Blue) on top of Volvo Cosmic White (aka Aloof). And there you have it. Inspiration in so many unexpected places :)

What I used: CND Stickey basecoat, 2 coats of Revlon in Aloof, stamping color was Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Brisk Blue, Seche Vite topcoat
Plate: Bundle Monster 2011, BM-203

Ring around the...mistletoe

This stamping wasn't meant to be blog worthy. I was just playing in my nail polish last night (due to stress, seriously, painting my nails helps relax me. I know, weird). But it turned out fun looking so I thought I'd share. This particular stamp reminds me of the Target logo. If I'd done it in red and white, I'd be walking a Target advertisement. The base is called Mistletoe from Revlon and was part of their holiday collection last year. It's actually a dark, deep green with tiny gold sparlkes. You can see just a hint of the green in sunlight but indoors it just looks like a black sparkle. The stamp color was actually bronze but looked silver upon stamping. Oh well, still turned out kinda cool.

What I used: (no basecoat), 2 coats of Revlon in Mistletoe, stamp color was Sinful Colors in Super Nova, Seche Vite topcoat
Plate: Bundle Monster 2010, BM-19

Paisley!!

Anyone who knows me knows that paisley is my absolute favorite design. And I didn't just jump on the paisley band wagon, I've loved it as long as I can remember. So it kinda sucks that it's so popular right now because like every fad, it will fade. But it's ok, I will still forever be in love with it. And in fact, this particular stamp was the whole entire reason I became interested in nail stamping. I saw a pic on another nail blog and had to know how to achieve these paisley nails! So I've been just waiting til I got this stamping thing down a bit to try my paisley stamp.
The stamp color I used was from Maybelline Color Show in Bold Gold and it stamped flawlessly. My base is from the Color Show line also called Twilight Rays. It's black with tiny gold flakes throughout. I actually bought these two colors specifically together for the paisley. The combination didn't disappoint. It turned out so lovely!! I may just do my nails paisley everyday in different colors! Ok, that's going a bit far BUT it really is going to be hard to restrain from this plate. Maybe once a month? We'll see :)

What I used: 2 coats of CND Stickey basecoat, 2 coats of Maybelline Color Show in Twilight Rays, stamping color was Maybelline Color Show in Bold Gold, Seche Vite topcoat
Plate: Bundle Monster 2012, BM-315

Crocodile rockin'

I really should have been cleaning my house instead of doing my nails but I had a HELLACIOUS day at work and playing in my nail polish makes me happy. So I did that instead.
I picked a crocodile print (or lizard, whatever it is. I'll say crocodile because it makes for a cute blog title). I'm not usually an animal print person but it was calling to me. There's also a snake print I'm gonna get to at some point.
I went with green (again). I can't seem to stay away from greens and blues. Both are my favorite polish colors for the time being. But my original plan was to use a khaki base with a dark army green for my stamp color. However, the only khaki I had looked white underneath the dark green when I stamped it...sooo on my polish wish list a darker khaki/taupe must be added ASAP :)
On a whim, I decided to use a new(er) Loreal color I picked up at Walgreens. It's from their Fall 2012 Limited Edition Project Runway collection called The Temptress' Touch. The sales counter lady at Walgreens had put this color back for me waiting for me to come in and look at polish (sometimes I just go in and browse at the new collections). What? I don't have a problem...really.
Anyway, she said it looked like a color I'd like. She was right. But I'm pretty sure that's a sign that you go into Walgreens too much for nail polish when the counter lady starts to know your taste and puts stuff back for you. Ha!
Ok moving on...
Here it is and it turned out very nice. It actually looks better in person than in the pic. And uhh nevermind the clean up there or lack of. I was in a hurry, as always!

What I used: CND Stickey basecoat, 2 coats of Loreal in The Temptress' Touch, stamping color was Essie in Armed and Ready, Seche Vite topcoat
Plate: Bundle Monster 2011, BM-224

Crossing the lines

This was my first try with a reverse image. The first time was a disaster. I smeared it in one place and it didn't transfer well in another. I hate to start over but it was just my ring finger nails I was doing the reverse image on. The second time was much better and came out better. I think I'm kinda diggin' the one different nail thing.
This was also my first Sonia Kashuk nail polish. I believe it's sold exclusively at Target stores. Fatigued is an army green with a very slight bit of shimmer. I loved the formula and will definitely be seeing more of these polishes in my future.

What I used: CND Stickey basecoat, 2 coats of Sonia Kashuk in Fatigued, stamping color was Sinful Colors in Black on Black, Seche Vite topcoat
Plate: Bundle Monster 2012, BM-316

Feelin' a lil pink today

Since the change in the weather here in East TN, it has got me missing summer something awful. It's been dreary, blah, and just too cold for me. I dread winter so bad. So I thought I'd do a pink today. I can't brighten up the weather, but I can brighten up my nails! Plus, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so it fits just as well. I thought it turned out ok, just a couple of small mess ups, but overall...I was quite pleased with them.

What I used: CND Sticky basecoat, 2 coats of Pure Ice in Peony, stamping color was Maybelline Color Show in Impeccable Greys, Seche Vite topcoat
Plate: Bundle Monster 2010, BM10

Trial, trial, and more error

I'm not happy with this stamping at all, but I'm posting so maybe someone else can learn from my mistake. When using a cream polish that's a bit on the thin side, you don't have to work as fast. In fact, you should take your time. I learned this about into my 8th nail. I found that if I stamp then wait about 3-5 seconds before stamping it on my nail, it didn't smear quite as bad. I also found out that the design I was using was not as crisp as some of the others I have. I know this because the polish was not coming off evenly, so I tried different polishes and the flaw was with any polish. I read that sometimes this will be the case with some designs on a plate, just a chance you take. So anyway, it is what it is. I'll probably take this off tomorrow at some point and do something different since I'm so not digging this. But here it is for the time being. Smudgy and blah. Oh and btw, the base coat I used for this is just lovely. It's Sinful Colors in Winterberry. It's hard to tell in this pic but it's a deep, grey purple with shimmer. Great color for fall and it's only $1.99 at Walgreens.

What I used: CND Sticky Base Coat, 2 coats of Sinful Colors in Winterberry, stamp color was L.A. Colors in Delicate, and Seche Vite Topcoat
Plate: Bundle Monster 2011, BM-204