Space Turtles! Inspired by The Great British Bake Off

Hi everyone and happy Sunday! Today I'm sharing some nail art I based on my favourite creation so far on this years Great British Bake Off. This is the first year I have watched it (shock, horror!) and I'm really enjoying it. Kim Joy is my favourite to win as I love the beautiful things she creates and the themes. My favourite theme was the 'space turtle' cake she made earlier in the series.

These didn't really turn our how I had intended, unlike Kim Joy's wonderful cake, but they're still cute! I might try again with a different colour scheme another time. I started with an off white base on all nails, and then applied a couple of coats of Barry M's Electric Eel on three fingernails, and Butterflyfish on my ring finger and thumb nails. On the brighter blue nails I used the Kelli Marissa Bundlemonster and some gold nail polish to add some space images. I don't think I chose these colours very well as it doesn't really show up!

On my ringer fingernail I used a turtle decal and some dark green nail polish for the turtle shapes. I stuck the centre of the decals on my thumbs rather than using more stencils as it saves the others for another time. On the turtles I used a couple of different glitters (colours listed below the pictures) to continue the galaxy theme. I used tiny pieces of sponge for this as I hope to create a galaxy look but it was a bit too fiddly so I just ended up with very sparkly turtles!

So these didn't really come out as I'd hoped, and as I'm now onto Halloween nails I don't think I'll have time to try again before the Bake Off ends, but they were still cute and I liked wearing Electric Eel for the first time.
Colours used: Cream Soda - Barry M, Butterfly Fish - Barry M, Electric Eel - Barry M, Catwalk Queen - Barry M, Diamond Glitter - Barry M, Hang Up The Heels - Essie, Foil Effect in Gold - Barry M

A Molten Metal Autumn

Hey everyone! Something autumnal today as we're fully into that leafy season. I'm disappointed I couldn't get better pictures of these as they came out so well. I struggled a bit with lighting as the weather turned pretty grey after these were finished. The top left was quite nice but you can see this was taken about a week after they were finished as they've worn away a bit! Bottom left shows the sparkle under the kitchen lights which is pretty much how these looked most of the time. They were fabulous in the sunlight!

I started with a gradient using Barry M's four newest Molten Metal shades. At the time of doing this I was in full sunlight and was totally dazzled by the gradient! Once two layers of gradient were complete I used an image from Uber Chic's Lovely Leaves 01 plate on all nails. I loved the way the colours peeked through and think they worked really well as autumn nail art for someone who isn't generally that into autumn colours. Hope you like them too!
Colours used: Pink Luxe - Barry M, Crystal Blue - Barry M, Antique Gold - Barry M, Celestial Silver - Barry M, Midnight Mischief - Painted Polish

Stamping Sunday: Autumn Drinks

Hey everyone! The sharpies are back! They often come back into my nail art around autumn as among my hundreds of bottles of nail polish I don't have many autumnal shades. Had some small mishaps with this but it came out OK in the end!

I started with a base of off-white, and then stamped on some leaf images from the Uberchic Lovely Leaves 01 plate and the hot drinks cup image on their Bottoms Up plate. I had a bit of trouble with blurring on some of the drinks images, as you can see in the pictures. I think it was caused by a few things but fortunately it's not kept happening so hopefully it was a one off!

Once the images were dry I put a quick dry top coat on to protect them from the nail polish remover mixed with Sharpie ink. The Sharpie's I have are from a mixed pack which I think had an 80's theme. I picked some greens, browns, oranges and reds. I mixed the ink from the sharpies with nail polish remover on some foil using a small brush, and then painted onto the images. It's quite a time consuming process as the ink dries fast.

Once it was all dry I finished off with another layer of quick dry to coat. I like the autumn feel of these nails, but they did turn out a little messy and are possibly just not very me. I felt like they were missing something - probably glitter! I have just re-done them with something more shiny and fun so looking forward to sharing those with you. TTFN!
Colours used: Cream Soda - Barry M, Cocoa - Barry M, Assorted Sharpies

Holiday Nails: Tribute to Tenerife

Hi everyone! So these might not technically be holiday nails, as I didn't have them on while on holiday, but they were done when I got back based on various aspects of the holiday. I did a similar thing after our trip to Norway before Christmas last year, you can see them here.

I started with a base of Zircon from Cirque Color's new additions to the Facets collection, and it is rather lovely. On my ring fingernail I used a white base and then created a neon gradient with pink and orange. If I did this nail art again I'd probably use normal bright colours rather than neon as I think they'd fit a little better with Zircon.

On my thumbnails I used layered stamping for the mountain landscape and added stars.  On my index fingers I used a couple of whale images based on my new quirky Orca swimsuit (it's the cutest!) I got from Batako, they are a little patchy as I painted the white on once I'd already stamped on the black images. I used layered stamping on my middle fingernails as well, these ones are to remind me of the dolphins we saw at sea! On my little finger nails I used layered stamping again for some crabs, we saw some large ones on the rocks, and lizards too but I don't think I have any lizard images!

I think I like these more than the ones I wore on holiday and enjoyed having something bright on my nails while I am still a little tanned (emphasis on a little!).
Colours used: Zircon - Cirque Colors, Floral Street - Nails Inc, Beach Hut - Models Own, Claridge Gardens, White - Emily de Molly, Grey - Barry M, Midnight Mischief - Painted Polish, Cocoa - Barry M, Foil Effects Gold - Barry M

Holiday Nails: Dolphins & Cocktails In Tenerife

Hey everyone! On this somewhat cloudy day I'm bringing to you my holiday nails for our trip to Tenerife. I got back a week yesterday and am still adjusting to the colder weather and being back at work. I used a few new or long untouched things for this nail art. A thermal blue polish I bought on Facebook, the Uberchic Bottoms Up stamping plate, and Rainbow Reef, one of the 'dolphin glitter' polishes I bought from Ellagee when I was first discovering indie polishes.

On my index and ring fingers I am wearing Crepuscular Awakening, the thermal blue, topped with Rainbow Reef. On my middle finger I used the Tropical 07 plate from Mo You London for a citrussy gradient, and on my thumb nails I used a cocktail image from the bottoms up plate to create a summery gradient there too. On my little finger I used a few of the smaller cocktail images in a variety of colours. I think I probably should have filled them in with a bit more colour but got carried away and stamped the outer images of the layering ones first for some of them!

So all in all these aren't my favourite holiday nails, but I do rather like them, they capture the essence of the holiday I think - plus we saw dolphins! They also give me fond memories. I hadn't been to Tenerife before but would definitely recommend it for a relaxing holiday.
Colours used: Floral Street - Nails Inc, Crepuscular Awakening - Femme Fatale Cosmetics, Yellow - Barry M, Greenberry - Barry M, Papaya - Barry M, Rainbow Reef - Ellagee