Stamping Sundays: Advanced Stamping Take One

Today's stamping post is my first attempt at advanced stamping with large images. I did it experimentally so only tried it on an accent nail, and I'm pretty pleased with how it went. The only downside it that the base colour is quite dark, so the pattern didn't show up as well as it could have done. For this design I used Born Pretty stamping plate 04 which I purchased on ebay.

For those of you who are not familiar with advanced stamping, it is an ingenious technique which looks so tricky but is actually satisfyingly simple! The design is picked up with a stamper and the gaps are filled in with a tiny brush or dotting tool (as the picture will be flipped before being applied to the nail this allows for some painting over the lines!). I used dotting tools as I felt they gave me more precision. Once all is filled in and dry a generous layer of top coat is applied and left to dry, there is quite a lot of drying time required!


Once dry, the design can be peeled of the stamper. This is the bit I thought would be really difficult but it was surprisingly sturdy, and as my stamper is squishy I could just press the sides down so it peeled off easily. Next I carefully applied the design to my nail. this is easier with a small design like the turtles I posted a few weeks back. With a large image I found there was some bubbling which was hard to get rid of, a little like sticky back plastic. The beauty of a decal made of nail varnish is that clean up is a dream!

I've really enjoyed advanced stamping, and due to the arrival of some new stamping plates for my birthday there will be a lot more to come!

Colours used: Anne Teak - Freckles Polish, Black Knight - Mo You, Baker Street - Nails Inc, Red Hot Rio - OPI, Block Your Green - Rimmel

Freckles Polish - Monthly Indie Review

Today is my second monthly indie polish review, and I'm excited to share with you Freckles Polish! This is a UK based brand and I purchased the polishes on Etsy, link here if you're interested.I was really impressed with the variety of polishes available, and the shinyness! I went for Anne Teak and Descendants Of Salem to start with, but when my pre-birthday/Christmas buying ban is over I will certainly be tempted to get more!

First up is Anne Teak. I chose this one as it's a bit different to anything I've seen before, and was indeed complimented on it. I have a quite a few golds, but this one is darker/bronzer and shines an almost greeny grey in some lights. The pictures below are in a variety of different lighting to give you an idea. This is my favourite of the two. The consistency was great and I just love how indivdual and shiny it is. One of those polihses where you just have to keep looking at your hands!

Next we have Descendants Of Salem, a dark holo green. This is a chameleon of a polish and does different things in different lights, like several colours in one! The holo is more visisble in bright light, as in the bottom two pictures. In daylight it is a holo/sparkly green, and in darker areas/ the office, it is a dark metallic green. I like the versatility of this one, and that the holo isn't too intense. It is my favouirte holo so far, only out of two at the moment, but still, a happy customer! :)

Let me know what you think in the comments below! TTFN :)