#33DC Day 12 - A Pattern In Your Home - Leopard Print Slippers!

Hi Goddesses

I am really pleased with today's mani.  Not only does it look good, it really DOES look like its inspiration.  Look!

These are my summer slippers.  Beth and I have matching pairs, and we both like them verrrrry much.  I have meant to do them on my nails for quite a while, so today's prompt was a really good excuse!

For the cream we have OPI My Vampire is Buff, and the lilac is OPI You're A Budapest.  I resisted buying Budapest for the LONGEST time (in a rare rational moment, I thought "well I have so many lilacs already"), but I am glad I finally scooped it up, as it has a much colder, bluer tone than a lot of my lilacs.   The grey is China Glaze Stone Cold, and I keep forgetting the pretty shimmer in this.

To get the slipper edging, I painted my nail in Budapest, and then mixed Budapest and MVIB to create a softer, fluffier colour.  I then added this with a small brush, deliberately keeping my strokes messy to create some texture.

Next week we have Chinese, Abstract and Animals as the themes and I haven't started a single one yet.  Argh!

Guest Blogger - A Tape Mani for Northern Nails

Hi Goddesses




I'm a guest blogger today for Northern Nails.

So today I am in charge of Jo's blog while she lazes around in sunny Ibiza or somewhere - it's really not fair, is it ?

It's harder being a guest blogger than doing a post for your own blog, partly because you don't want to let the other person down, but also because you don't know what their readers - that's YOU - will like.  So I'm really hoping you like tape manis, cos otherwise honey, we're screwed!

I love tape manis.  They took me a little while to master, but now that I have, they are a great way to tart up a mani on day 2.   Apart from the whole tape trickiness, there are only 2 rules to a tape mani - an interesting base colour and a top colour that will be opaque in 1 coat.

For this I used a base of Sally Hansen Ruby Slippers, a holographic dark pink, taped over it, and then painted over the top with China Glaze Stone Cold, a matte dark grey.   You'll see I left it matte in some photos and then glossed it up in others.

Tape manis are tricky, and they DO require practice (not my natural setting) so if you're interested I recommend you either visit Nailside's blog or go and watch some You Tube vids - it's certainly worth the effort !

Enjoy :) xxx

Spring Challenge - Maundy Thursday

Hi Goddesses  

Oh boy.   Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy.    I thought Maundy Thursday would be a prettttttty easy pick for this Challenge.   In the UK, it's the day the Queen gives out Maundy Money (special commemorative coins) to certain deserving people, and I was confident I'd have something in my stamping collection that I could use.

Noooooooo.   So that lead to Plan B / panic and a bit of research.   Maundy Thursday was the day of the Last Supper ...... Hhmmmmmm.   Legendary Crumpet nail "art" plus accidental opportunity to offend ??  Nooooooo, we're not going there.  So back to coins it was.

First, I chose CG Stone Cold from the Hunger Games collex for my base.  Wow, did this apply smooth, and only 1 coat too.   And then I turned to my best stamping bud, Barry M silver foil effects for the stamping.

Someone had mentioned the other week in one of the groups I'm in that you could stamp with coins.  So that's what I tried to do.  Emphasis on "tried".  They do not stamp well.  At least not the ones I had in my purse, as the pattern wasn't raised enough, so typically, what I ended up with was a big circle of polish on my stamper thingy.

However, if you look closely, you'll notice the thumb ALMOST worked.  This was blotted on tissue paper, and it left a silouhette of the Queen's head.  You can't really see the top of it, but if you look at the bottom half of the nail, you can just make out her neck, chin and the bottom half of her face.

Dischuffed, I turned to the boyf, and we searched for a more embossed coin, and totally by accident, that's how the rest of the nails happened.  This is the reverse side of a £2 coin which celebrates the work of Isambard Kingdom Brunel .... but look .... doesn't that pattern look like angel's wings ??

Number 1, I can't believe it stamped, and Number 2 - look at that detail.  So, Number 3 I'm keeping this idea for future angel manis, it's perfect.

And finally, Number 4, I'm really pleased, that totally by accident, my Maundy Thursday mani ended up with a religious accent.

Enjoy xx  :)