Bye For Now!

Hi space turtles! It's a few weeks since I've posted on here and although I've been (just about) finding the time to do my nails still I have got quite behind with the blog! At this point I think it makes sense to stop or take a break as when I struggle to find time it ends up being a task on my to do list! I will still be sharing my nail art on Instagram and Twitter (find me @clawsforthought) as it's quicker and more interactive. One thing I had always intended to do on my blog is a short list of my favourite nail polish names. Involves a fair bit of swatching so haven't got round of it but might pop back for that. For now, here is the nail art I haven't got round to sharing yet - the top two are my favourites. TTFN!

Ladies in the Lake

Hey everyone! Behind as usual... The nail art I'm sharing today was created for a charity event at the local lake where I love to swim. I didn't take part but I did donate and do my nails in tribute! I used the Breast Cancer Now colours in the background. I wouldn't have thought to go for something so bright with abstract nails otherwise but I really like the way it came out.

I started with a base of pale pink and then added swipes of orange, yellow and pink. I didn't follow a particular pattern and just did what I felt like. Once this was dry I used black stamping polish to add images from Mo You London's Le Musee 04 stamping plate and finished the look with a glossy top coat. This was really easy to do and I love how it came out!

Colours used: Vintage Tee - Nails Inc, Seven Dials - Nails Inc, Seymour Walk - Nails Inc, Beach Hut - Models Own, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Nails to Soothe the Soul

Hello space turtles! Todays nail art has me feeling zen. I did some pastel yoga nails I really loved a while back and as I've got back into yoga I thought now would be a good time to try something similar. I started the look with two layers of lilac on my thumb and outer fingernails and two layers of off white on the middle two. I then created decals on my Uber Mat for the middle two nails and while these dried I added some figures in yoga poses in black and silver, along with a silver image and some wording on my thumb. All images are from Mo You London's Mandala 16 stamping plate. I added the decals to my middle nails and finished the look with a matte top coat. Pastels and yoga are a prefect combo I think :)

Colours used: Wardour Street - Nails Inc, Cream Soda - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Foil Effects in Silver - Barry M, Indigo - Barry M, Greenberry - Barry M, Cyan - Barry M, Bluebell - Barry M

A Cactus Collection

Hey space turtles! I haven't had as much time for nail art recently but am glad to be back! I'm not doing the Glam Nails Challenge on Instagram this month but couldn't resist dropping in for just one theme as I haven't done cactus nails for ages! I liked the idea of a mottled background to look like a paving area covered in little cactus pots.

I started with two layers of pale blue and then used cling film to apply some grey nail polish over the top. For the cactus images I used Mo You London's Hipster 18 stamping plate to create decals which I placed over each nail. I chose large images and I'm pleased with my choices as they fit my nails well. I finished the look with a matte top coat. You can see them both matte and shiny below. I really love how these came out! Just what I wanted :)

Colours used: Pale Blue - Not listed, Grey - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Spring Green - Barry M, Terracotta - Not listed, Cream Soda - Barry M, Raspberry - Barry M, Cyan - Barry M

Coronation Swans

Hey space turtles! I'm a bit behind with this post as it's from the weekend but better late than never! I wasn't really planning to do anything for the Kings Coronation at the weekend but the lake where I swim did fancy dress for it and I just couldn't resist! I wore a swan hat and decided to create some nail art to match. 

I started with pale blue on my middle two nails and thumbnails and dark blue on the others. I created decals for the swan nails using Mo You London's Animal 01 stamping plate. While the decals dried I added some gold detailing from their Games 02 stamping plate on the dark blue nails. I added the decals to my nails and trimmed them before adding a layer of blue across the bottom. I was pleased with how well that came out since I was using the brush straight from the bottle and my left hand! I added a top coat carefully to avoid smudging the nail art. I think this would look good matte too but stuck with shiny as it felt right.

I really love how these came out. The colours are very me and I like how bold they look against the contrast of the swans. It does feel a little weird to have royal themed nails when I'm not particularly into the royal family but I think they're relatively subtle. I'd definitely enjoy doing some similar swan nails in the future.

Colours used: Pale Blue - Brand I no longer support, Indigo - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Beach Hut - Models Own, Essential White - Uber Chic, Bright Lights - Barry M

Botanical Sophistication

Hey space turtles! I have something a bit gown up to share today, and also the aftermath of my nail disaster from last week! Having half of the nail art on my index finger as well as half of the nail made me too sad so once I'd finished filing my nails I decided to add a new design that may fit a bit better to their shorter length.

I started with a shimmery base coat then two layers of quick dry polish (colours listed below pictures). I then added images from Mo You London's Botanical 13 stamping plate in gold. I carefully added a top coat to avoid smudging the images before I added the matte top coat. You can see a couple of pictures of the look shiny as well as matte below. I really like these. It's a beautiful stamping plate which I haven't used much and was perfect for this. I do think this length (apart from the broken nail) looks quite stylish too.

Colours used: Sprint Finish - Barry M, Bright Lights - Barry M

Arctic Portraits

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art was inspired by some notecards I saw in Paperchase. I can no longer find a picture of them and they don't look that similar but they sparked an idea. I started with a couple of layers of white nail polish with one of the best named nail polishes ever - A Mantis Shrimp's Favourite Colour. I then added images from Mo You London's Enchanted 05 stamping plate in black stamping polish. I used a large dotting tool to add spots around the edges in bold colours. I started with the blue and tweaked the technique a bit as I went along. I finished the look with a matte top coat.

I really love how this came out and am enjoying the matte look, it really makes the colours pop. Unfortunately I did have a nail disaster the morning after I did these! I'm so glad I took some pictures beforehand! When trying to wrestle a particularly tight bin bag off our bin I sadly broke a nail! It was above the nail line luckily but only just - so I lost part of the narwhal. It's been years since I broke a nail so a bit of a shock to the system! I've filed my nails down a bit but can see a crack in my thumb nail on the same hand so hoping I don't have a disaster there too!

Colours used: A Mantis Shrimps Favourite Colour - Bees Knees, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Indigo - Barry M, Dead Heat - Barry M, Watermelon - Barry M, Yellow - Barry M

Help From a Magnetic Seal

Hey space turtles. Tried something a bit different with this look. I've seen a lot of people on Instagram using magnets to create a stripy effect with magnetic nail polish and thought I'd give it a go. I chose my adoptive son Ray to help with this task (my parents adopted a lovely seal for me from the Cornish Seal Sanctuary for Christmas). I've included a picture of my Ray fridge magnet below - looking splendid!

I started with a layer of beige polish to add some opacity. Meanwhile I had some decals drying on my Uber Mat. I placed magnetic Ray under the mat and then painted nail polish over the top in three different shades (colours listed below the pictures). I then added a layer of clear polish over each decal. Once dry I applied the decals to my nails, trimmed them and tidied the edges with nail polish remover before applying a clear top coat.

As you can probably see from the pictures there is rather a lot of bubbling! It happened once I added the top coat but it was too late for me to do anything about it at that point. I found it quite hard to apply the decals flat as they were quite stiff and were not sticky side down. I probably should have applied a sticky top coat to help them adhere better. I think this was a fun look but I could definitely work on my technique!

Colours used: Paradox - Cirque Colors, Dream Within a Dream - Cirque Colors, Mood Ring - Cirque Colors

Cosy and Blue

Hey space turtles! Todays nail art is another Glam Nails Challenge one, this time the theme is 'cosy and knitted'. Very fitting for this time of year but if only they could keep my fingertips warm! I made some decals on the Uber Mat for the ring finger and thumb nails and the little star on my middle finger (actually stamped that onto my mat by mistake but decided to colour it in and keep it and I'm glad I did!). On my other three nails I painted them blue and stamped cosy jumper patterns on in white. All images are from Mo You London's Fall In Love 08 stamping plate. I added the decals and then finished the look with a matte top coat. Ta-da!

I'm happy with the way these came out :) Haven't worn this sort of colour scheme in a while and I like the way the matte top coat makes the colours pop.

Colours used: Blueberry - Barry M, Oyster - Barry M, Grey - Barry M, Essential White - UberChic 

North Pole BAU

Hello space turtles! More Glam Nails Challenge nail art to share today. Todays theme is 'North Pole'. As it's quite a Christmassy theme I wanted to find a way to make it fit but not be too Christmassy since we're in January. I am really enjoying doing these wintery themes and continuing to use my Christmas stamping plates throughout the month! The idea behind this look is that it's the North Pole is having a bit of a peaceful lull after the chaos of Christmas - business as usual!

I started with a base of white and then added images from Mo You London's Noel 01 stamping plate on three fingernails and the north pole sign on my ring finger using their Festive 01 plate. The image on my thumbnail is from their Noel 19 stamping plate. Next I added a layer of quick dry top coat and once dry I used sharpies to carefully colour in the images which was quote satisfying to do! I finished the look with a matte top coat to make the colours pop.

I really like how these came out and their wintery feel. I'd like to try something similar with sparkly roofs on the houses and sparkly snow.

Colours used: A Mantis shrimps favourite colour - Bees Knees Lacquer, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Various Sharpies

How Polarizing

Hello space turtles! It's getting cold again here in the UK and I have some more frosty wintery nail art to share. This one is for the Arctic Animals Glam Nails Challenge prompt and I'm also trying out a new magnetic nail polish I got for Christmas - How Polarizing from KB Shimmer. I couldn't get as a strong a magnetic effect as I'd hoped for but its still a gorgeous polish and I can try again another time.

I started with two layers of the base polish (magnetising the top layer) before adding the images. I used Mo You London's Enchanted 05 stamping plate and silver magnetic polish to add images directly onto three of my nails. On the other two I used a dotting tool to remove the excess image from the stamper and just added the walrus and narwhal images directly onto my nails. I then added some stars from the same plate over the magnetic effect. Much as I'd have liked a stronger magnetic effect I do love these - they're very me!

Colours used: How Polarizing - KB Shimmer, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M

When snow falls...

Hey space turtles! I am wrapped up very warm and snuggly as I write this which feels fitting for the snowy design. Will be a bit less snug during my morning lake swim tomorrow I expect so making the most of this now! This nail art is for Sundays Glam Nails Challenge prompt of Snowman. I think the sheer polishes from Emily de Molly with the white glitter pieces work so well for snowy looks so used three layers of one of them as a base (colours listed below images).

I started with a peel of base coat before the blue snowy polish. I made decals on my Uber Mat using Mo You London's Festive 01 and Noel 01 stamping plates for the snowman, puffin and trees. I also added snowflakes and wording from the Noel 01 plate to my thumb and index finger in silver. I love how still and quiet it can be in the snow so the wording feels very fitting. I like to think the positioning looks like the puffin is listening to the snowman through the trees. I really like these and their wintery vibe - pleased with how they came out.

Colours used: Already Done - Emily de Molly, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Uber Chic Beauty, Tiki Hut - Models Own, Red Hot Rio - OPI