It's been soooo long!

Dear Readers,

Sorry I have been away so very long.  We were away on a great family holiday to Turks and Caicos, right before the hurricane hit! Here is a pic I took while we were away.  My hands are so dry - sorry for the flaky skin! Anyhow, I figured, better late than never....

This is a stamp from BM 212 in Avon Mirror Shine "glisten" over Finger Paints "To-teally Chic".

Even though I swam and applied lotion to the kids and then swam some more, re-applied lotion, did snorkelling, jet-skiing, laundry, etc., this mani lasted almost the full two weeks we were away! (My pedicure wasn't quite as resilient, so no pics of the toes.) I think that Seche Vite topcoat is awesome and combined with Orly Bonder base coat, it's a winning combination!

Hope you are all enjoying the last few days of summer....

Last week's mani with BM stamping

Good Morning Dear Readers,

Here is the mani I wore last week.  It features Finger Paints "Curator's Coral" (2 coats) as the base colour. I really love this bright reddish-orange for summer!  

Then I added the full nail pattern from Bundle Monster's new plate BM-224.  I used Konad Special White polish for the stamping design.

As usual, I topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite Quick Dry Topcoat to seal the deal.

The colour doesn't look quite right in either pic, but this colour does look different depending on the lighting.

Hope you all have a super weekend.  Please leave me some comments because I read every one, and I really love hearing back from you!

Change of Pace - S9

Hey everyone,
for this manicure, I felt like keeping it simple. I used Finger Paints "Curator's Coral" which is a bright reddish/orangey/pinkish colour.  I only stamped a design from S9 on the ring finger and added a small green rhinestone I got from the free sample package Viva La Nails sent me.

If you're a nail blogger, go to this link on the Viva La Nails website, and simply request the sample package. They sent it for free and it came pretty quickly!

I put a dot of Seche Vite topcoat in the centre of the flower and placed the rhinestone on it.  I sealed the stamped design in Konad Special White and the rhinestone with a thick coat of Seche Vite.

The weather here in Toronto is so awesome the last few days, and this manicure seems to match the hot, sunny weather to me.  Hope it is sunny where you are! Have a great weekend, everybody!

Silver Zebra

This is the konadicure I just wore when I went away for a romantic anniversary weekend with my husband. I figured it would look "wild" but still match with everything, including my new black sandals that have silver chains on them!

I used Finger Paints "Easel Come, Easel Go" as the base.  It's a really bright shiny silver, and I really love it.  

I used the zebra pattern from m57 that we have all used and seen many times before, but, let's face it, animal prints just never get tired, do they?

Hope you are having a wonderful week. Any fellow Canadians out there? If so...are you looking forward to Canada Day and a long weekend?

Konad New Plates!

Designs from Konad IP m77 in Special White

One Coat Finger Paints "Tangerine Tint"

One Coat China Glaze "Bare if you Dare"

Sally Hansen (glitter) "Encore"

Yay!  My new plates arrived from OCnailart.  I didn't want to do a new konadicure until I got these plates, so when they arrived, I jumped right on it!  The only problem was, I had too many choices, and it took forever to decide which plate and which pattern to use first.

Unfortunately, I did this late at night and woke up to find one smushed nail.  DRAT!  Also, I'm not totally sure I like the colour I ended up using as the base, but I love these gems and pearl strands! After all, your nails are jewels - not tools! Ha, ha, ha....

Hope you enjoy this new design...I'll be doing more from the new patterns soon.

Please leave me some feedback - I love your comments!

Valentine's Konadicure #2

In artifical light - at night

Konad IP m59 in Special Red and White 

Finger Paints "Art District Delight"

In natural light - it's sunny today!

detail

Here's an all-out Valentine's day konadicure.  I layered various designs from m59 over the pale pink base.  I used Konad Special stamping polish in white and red, so it took a lot of remover and Q-tips to keep the plate and scraper clean between colour and image changes.

As usual, I used Seche Vite topcoat because I find it doesn't smudge the stamped design like many other topcoats do.  I should mention that I started off, as I always do, with Orly Bonder basecoat.  I think it works the best and my manicures usually last even longer than it take for me to get bored and want to design a new konadicure!

To add a little shimmer, I topped it off with Orly "Prisma Gloss" which I like because the glitter is very fine and doesn't take away from the stamped images.  You really need to shake it up first, because the glitter all settles to the bottom of the bottle. 

As usual, I used Seche Vite because I find it doesn't smudge the stamped design like many other topcoats do.

I hope you all have a romantic, happy and healthy Valentine's Day!

Please leave me some feedback!

Orange Juice

Finger Paints "Tangerine Tint" - 1 coat

Sally's Girl "Amped"- 1 coat on top for fingers

juicy orange design from Konad IP m55 in Special White

I did this when it was warm outside.  Ah, bare, happy feet....I miss not wearing shoes and boots and having cracked winter heels!  But I digress...


I wanted a really neon orange, so I started with "Tangerine Tint" and then added a coat of "Amped" which really brightened it up.  I added the orange slice stamp in Konad Special White.  Big toes got two orange slices.


My feet look kind of veiny and bloaty....sorry it's not a very flattering shot of the little piggies. 


This polish colour makes me want to go put on some "Morange" lipstick by MAC which is a totally bright orange.  It's not for everyone, I must admit, but I do love it.  I usually wear MAC "Redd" lip pencil with it.

Would you wear bright orange lipstick?


Please leave me some feedback.  I love getting your comments!

Pink Piano

Finger Paints "Art District Delight" (2 coats)

musical design from Konad IP m73 in Special Black

Sally Hansen "Encore" - subtle glitter on top

Another pink post. I just love the detail in this Konad image, so I was really excited to use this design. I decided that black on white was a bit predictable, so I chose a pale pink for the background, to keep the contrast but soften the finished look a bit.

Finger Paints is a brand I just recently started using, and I really like the consistency and opacity of their polishes. I get them at my local Sally's.

It was a bit tricky getting this pattern to be crisp and lined up just so, but it was worth it, I think. When the design has very fine lines or dots like this one does, I sometimes add a few drops of thinner to the Special Polish to make sure every detail gets picked up onto the stamper.

I added a bit of subtle glitter with this Sally Hansen Hard As Nails polish I picked up when there was a $0.99 sale at my local drugstore awhile back. "Encore" has a very sheer peach tone with fine green and gold glitter in it.

I'll admit it; I couldn't wait to go to work and show this konadicure to the music teacher at my school. It tickled her pink - sorry, but I couldn't resist the bad pun. She honestly tried to hum the tune from the musical staff...how cute is that?!