SMYTC Holiday Challenge! Day 3: Snowflakes!

Hey everyone!

It is day three of the Holiday Nail Art Challenge! Today is snowflakes!

I decided to do some stamping. Now if you follow me, you know that I am not talented with stamping but since this is a "challenge" I thought I would give it a try anyway and I am actually really happy with the results! Check it out!

I started with a white base, OPI Alpine Snow.

Then I thought that was too boring. So I attemped a gradient. I am not good at gradients. I find it to be one of the most difficult nail art techniques. I sponged on NARS Kutki, one of my favourite light blues. I wish the colours blended a little better but the more I practice, the better I get.

Now for the stamping. I have different snowflake stamps from Konad plate m59. I did them with Sally Hansen Silver Sweep. I find the smaller stamps way easier to transfer and apply than the full nail designs so these turned out pretty good. But it looked boring.

So I added a few more snowflakes in Color Club Cold Metal. I loved how it looked. I was proud of how my stamping has gotten better with practice :)

To add some sparkle, I used a coat of China Glaze Fairy dust, a fine holo glitter topcoat. I thought it looked a lot like glistening snow!

Then just for fun, I put rhinestones in the middle of each of the blue snowflakes! I thought it was pretty cute!

Here is one with flash!

I am actually pretty darn happy with how this manicure turned out! I improved on two of my nail art techniques! Both gradients and stamping. Its not perfect, but its definitely better than I could have done before!

Don't forget to check out the other awesome ladies' nails from SMYTC!

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Mama Inspired Mani! Featuring OPI!

Good morning everyone! Work is going well today :) I am at the halfway point for this tour of work and that means I only have two more weeks left before I get to go home for a little rest & relaxation AKA nail painting! :]

This is actually the manicure I wore on Mother's Day but I am posting it now because a few days ago it was my mother's birthday! Happy Birthday Mom :) I have been away for work for my mom's last THREE birthdays and it makes me very sad to have to spend her special day without her :( She is an amazing and inspiring woman, my best friend, and one of the kindest, strongest people I know. I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for my mommy. I miss her lots when I am away! 

Her favourite polish of mine to borrow is OPI Mod About You because in her words because its "somewhat of a subtle colour but still fun!" so I did the latest "accent nails" trend. The rest of my fingers are OPI Mermaid Tears because her favourite colour is green and this is the polish she always swatches on her thumb and admires when she is standing in front of my polish shelves. I don't think I'll ever be able to get her to brave-up and wear it as a full mani though. 

Then since one of my moms favourite things is gardening and flowers, especially Lilys.. I stamped on these lily-esque flowers (I can't remember the plate right now- sorry! Will update when I do). As you can tell, I'm still new to stamping and definitely need some more practice!

And there you have it! My mommy inspired manicure. I think it suits her well and maybe one day soon when I get home I can do this on her nails for her :)

Also! This is the present I got for my mom! Its a necklace carved out of Ivory and soap stone by a man here in Nunavik. :) My mother is also really into birds so I hope she likes it :)

Fishnet Fingernails Nail (fail?) Art !

Herroh!

Today I have kind of a fail nail art.... I'm still new to stamping and I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet. However I am going to go ahead and post my fails as well as my triumphs on this nail art adventure!

I originally wanted to make my nails look like lace, but they ended up looking more like fishnet tights. I started with Color Club Nomadic in Nude. I had it on yesterday but neutrals aren't really my thing so I had to add something to it. So I stamped on the full nail design image from Konad plate M57 with the criss cross lines. This is where I had the trouble. I still need practice stamping with full nail designs. Then I waited until that dried and did the roses from B42 (I think the plates are made by Nailtrixx, I got a package of them from the "As seen on TV store").

These kind of look more like ripped fishnets (Hollaaaaa Ke$ha) because of my user error... Hahah but i think overall the concept is really cool and after some more practice I might try to recreate this look again.

Oh hay!! They look pretty good from far away!! Just.. not so much up close.

Anyway, have a great day :)

May the 4th be with you! - My first try at stamping!

May the 4th be with you!!

Doesn't that just roll off your tongue? Now that I have established that I am a huge nerd, here is my very first try at stamping. I see all these BEAUTIFUL nail designs all over the interwebs and I just get insanely jealous of their stamping abilities but I could NEVER find the courage to give it a try!

Well, I was at the mall at the "As Seen On TV" store where I usually gawk over the magic bullets and snuggies, and suddenly I see THREE different stamping kits up for grabs! I bought a pack of about 20 Salon Express plates for 20 dollars, the stamper/scraper/holder, as well as a few different Konad plates because I wanted to make sure I had some that would fit my WHOLE nail for the full nail designs.

Now, I know this isn't the best stamping job in the world, but it is my first try, and I am pretty proud of it!

Clearly I messed up my index finger with a little bit of smudging hehe but that's okay!

I can't wait to try more of this :)