Northern Nights

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art is a bit of a nail fail to me though it's growing on me slightly! It's for two combined Glam Nails Challenge themes of Mountains and Northern Lights. Both great themes but I didn't have time to do them separately. I have done northern lights nails a couple of times before and they've definitely come out better! I think it didn't help that I was on the phone when I did them so I wasn't really concentrating.

I started with a base of sparkly black for a starry night effect. I then used silver polish to add mountain images over the top from Mo You London's Sailor 18 stamping plate. I knew the silver would stand out well against the black. I then used blue and green polish to add some wobbly lines in the sky using a nail art brush. I also added some blue and purple dots underneath with the end of the brush. I finished the look with a glossy top coat.

Colours used: Thunder and Lightening - Models Own, Wicket Witch of the West - Femme Fatale Cosmetics, Audacious Green - Accessorize, Prima Donna - Jessica Polish, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M

Disco Palms

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art is for Glam Nails Challenge again and the theme is Palm Trees. I went for something really bright to fit the super sunny weather we're having at the moment. Also think that neon shades go particularly well with the images on the stamping plates I used - Mo You London's Tropical 30 and Uber Chic's Mermaid Life 02 (thumbnail).

I'm not going to go into great detail of how I did this as it was pretty straightforward. I created a gradient with orange and yellow using a gradient sponge, and then stamped the images over the top in black. Voila! You can see how it looks both matte and shiny below, I'm not actually sure which I prefer. I like these but they don't blow my mind. I did receive a few compliments on them though which is always nice :)

Colours used: Beach Hut - Models Own, My Mate Illuminate - Wikkid Polish, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

What's Kraken!

Yo ho! This nail art is for Sunday's Glam Nails Challenge prompt which was Octopus. I was inspired by some black socks I have with an orangey red octopus design. Initially I was planning to replicate the socks a bit more and do a matte look but as I got started I was tempted by glitter - surprise surprise! I used Uber Chic's Mermaid Life 02 stamping plate for all images in this look.

I started by applying three coats of sparkly black (very slow drying this one!) and while these were drying created some decals for the octopus/kraken tentacles on my Uber Mat. These took longer than usual as after the red and yellow I added a layer of white to go underneath and make them stand out against the black background. I made three decals and on the other nails stamped a couple of images directly onto my nails. I'm particularly pleased with the wording as it came out so clearly and with a slightly wavy effect which was happy accident!

Pleased with these overall. They are quite thick with all the layers of polish but that's fine :)

Colours used: Thunder and Lightning - Models Own, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Yellow - Barry M, Pear Drops - Models Own

A festive mouse!

Hey everyone! Back with some more Christmas nails (what else?!) for another Glam Nails Challenge prompt of Christmas Cookies. I'm not fitting in all the prompts for the December as I've been short on time and I have a few ideas that don't quite fit. Really looking forward to share my next ones! So for my Christmas cookie theme is a cosy mouse in a jumper, enjoying a hot cocoa with some giant cookies around for nibbling! I technically for me these are biscuits not cookies as I am in the UK, but as the theme is Christmas Cookie I shall call them that!

I started with a deep red base which to be honest I'd forgotten I had! It was a lovely and rich one coater and perfect colour for Christmas. I added the Merry Christmas writing in gold from my Mo You London Noel 03 stamping plate, and created decals for the other images using the same stamping plate, you can see how here. I should have filed my thumbnail down a little more as it looks weirdly long compared to the others and the cup is a bit small for it, but overall pretty happy with these. I'm really enjoying the strong red colour!

Colours used: Marquise Maroon - Models Own, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Jolly My Roger - Painted Polish, Grey - Barry M, Staying In - ILNP, Bright Lights - Barry M

Stamping Sunday: Steampunk

Happy Fathers day! I'm not sure in which countries is is fathers day today, maybe just the UK? Happy Sunday is maybe more fitting! Today I am showing my first try of some new nail mail I got from Mo You London. I am on a nail polish buying ban, but that does not include stamping plates, so I ordered four to mark being halfway through the ban! The first I am showing is Steampunk Plate Collection 02, pictures below.

I decided to try them out over a gradient, and went for blue as it's my favourite! For the stamping I used Models Own limited edition polish I got a while back in TK Maxx, Burnt Toffee. It is absolutely perfect for stamping. I liked having something a bit different from the standard gold or silver. As always with Mo You London, the images are lovely and picked up really well. The only thing I would change about this mani is the strength of the background colours. The below pictures are in daylight, followed my sunlight, so you can  see the images well, but in some lights it was a bit too dark so the images weren't as clear, especially at the top of the gradient.
Colours used: Blue Moon - Barry M, Cyan - Barry M, Cobalt - Barry M, Burnt Toffee - Models Own

Comic Girl

Happy Monday everyone! I hope first days back at work haven't been too stressful. Mine has been surprisingly OK... trying not to think about tomorrow!

Today I have a bit of a throwback for you, to one of Models Owns gift sets from Christmas 2014! This design was done not too long after said Christmas, but I was not blogging at the time, so it finally has it's limelight! I wanted to do a design that used all three of the colours, and add a little bit extra with the stickers so I used a dotting tool to create a slightly pixelated effect. I think I did do a design with the bows too but there are no surviving pictures. Will have to follow this up with something bow related in the near future.

Below is the full design, the gift set, and a glimpse of my awesome dinosaur (or 'designasaur') t-shirt! :D

This picture is a little fuzzy looking as it has an Instagram filter on. As this was a while ago I couldn't find any proper blogging quality pictures. Super easy design to do as the stickers just peel off the backing paper and stick well to the nail. I'd recommend a top coat to finish as it helps to stop the edges peeling up.

The design lasted well and didn't chip to fast, the stickers lasted a few days as well which I was quite impressed with. I remember being saddened to take them off for a meeting!


Colours Used: Red Alert - Models Own, Pastel Pink - Models Own, Snow White - ,Models Own