Stamping - It's Not Easy even with Catherine Arley

Hi Goddesses  

Some of you may remember that one of my goals for 2012 was to become a stamping GODDESS.  How's that going for ya, Crumpet ?  Not too well ....

Stamping is a tricky beast.  And there's not just Konad the Barbarian to try to appease anymore, nooooo, there's all manner of brands and makes, each with their own annoying quirks.   I've been on a bit of a downward spiral the last couple of weeks.  Either the polishes wouldn't stamp, or I couldn't lift the whole stamp, or the stamp wouldn't stamp ..... ARGH!   So this post has no other purpose but to encourage you to persevere, because eventually, you do get something pretty cool out of it.

This is a lovely skittle that turned out pretty much how I wanted it, except for the thumb and index finger where there's not enough stamp for the nail :(   The contrast of the white is perfect and the white is WHITE!  Yes, I finally caved and bought Konad white, and I'm not regretting it.

This is a base of Catherine Arley holos in 673, 677, 800 and 946.   The dark red is the most dramatic, but I'm loving it most over the corally orange.

The stamp is Red Angel RA-109, and I'm really impressed with how much detail ended up on the nail, especially the dark red one.

Stamping over a skittle is my new cool thing - it just adds a lovely degree of variation.




So, persevere, and enjoy xx :)

The One With Catherine Arley Holos 673, 677, 800 and 946

Hi Goddesses  

Catherine Arley is a polish name I've heard for a while.  Apparently legendary holos which are no longer made (I think) and I was bummed when I recently slept through someone selling off their entire collection on ebay for £30.

So I did a little digging, and there are plenty on ebay - but they come from Bulgaria.  This alerted my spidey senses, but as the price was reasonable, I decided to give it a whirl.  These were all about £6 each incl shipping.

The ones I bought were -

* 673 - the purple one (obviously)

* 677 - a dark pink

* 800 - a coral one (I figured if I didn't like it, I knew a Florida Momma who would)

* and 946 .... which as it turned out, is NOT a holo.  It's a rich ruby red with embedded sparkle (a bit like Ruby Pumps, but darker)

And my verdict is ?   I love them (except the non holo one, damn my not reading listings properly!)  They are soft, subtle and gorgeous, and remind me of the Glitter Gal holos more than anything.

The purple is a lovely muted dusty shade, the pink is perfect and the coral one is not so coral that I hate it (me + coral = don't even ask).   It's more like a neon orange, and is going to be perfect for summer.

These were all velveteen soft and cashmere cute, totally delicate yet dazzling, subtle and beautiful.

So, colour me holo happy!

Enjoy xx :)