Blooming

I feel like a florist. Smile

China Glaze – “Gothic Lolita”
Konad Plate – m9

Stamping Shortcuts

A lot goes into stamping. It’s much more difficult than all the konad enthusiasts, nail polish bloggers, and tv commercials let on. I have much more respect for stampers now. For real.

I couldn’t keep the stamping straight (I tried so hard!) haha…so I had to add some tiny dots to try to distract… lol. I hope it worked.

OPI – “Tutti Fruiti Tonga”
Konad plate - m15 (white special polish)
white acrylic paint dots w/super small dotting tool

I think this is the most delicate design so far.

Now for the shortcut!

I realized that I would be using WAY too many paper towels, cotton squares and ENERGY at this pace. So, I came up with the idea to use an acetone soaked sponge to clean the stamper, scraper and plates…as I stamped.

The apex of this idea came from the Butterfly! She suggested I use a soapdish as the container to hold the sponge!!!!!! This child is a genius. GENIUS!! It’s the perfect shape and the shallow depth accommodates easy swipes of the plates and holder. No paper towel or cotton square waste! And when not in use, I can cover the top. SOLUTION!

Easy Cleanup for Nail Stamping

Butterflies

Jul8 by Cheryl Cheryl

The Butterfly and I hung out. Smile Of COURSE we did our nails…and practiced more stamping! And this stamping thing definitely takes practice.

She chose a really pretty blue: OPI – “What’s With The Cattitude”

Konad plate – m4

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I finally settled on a color to match my dress for the party I attended later that evening. (The Butterfly picked out my shoes).

OPI – “Black Onyx”
Konad plate – m54

And we didn’t even use the butterfly stamps at all?!?!?

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Signed, Stamped, Delivered…. I’m Yours

Jul6 by Cheryl Cheryl

I can see this stamping thing getting out of hand very quickly. lol

I am in love with the idea of stamping now. So many choices!! I’ve used my stamping kit twice – TWO TIMES – and I have already started searching for more plates. I’ll have them ordered by the end of next week, I’m sure of it. This will be fun! Smile

China Glaze – “Concrete Catwalk”
circle: OPI – “So Many Clowns…So Little Time”
Konad Plate – m36

I dragged my mother into my manicure practice. Surprisingly (PLEASANTLY), she went all the way in…. and even let me practice stamping. YAYYYYY!

OPI – “Bubble Bath”
Konad Plate – m4 & m21

I’m A Stamper!!!

Jul4 by Cheryl Cheryl

Okay, Normally I don’t do this… *B2K/R. Kelly remix voice* (yes, that’s a link, lol)

IMG_3604[1]

but Amazon got me!!!! I was looking for nail tapes… which I, in fact, did order, but they haven’t arrived….. I think they are coming from somewhere in Hong Kong. The Konad Stamper kit and plates arrived much more quickly.

OPI – “Gouda Gouda Two Shoes”

I was against doing my own stamping and resisted this purchase…. but all things in time, I suppose. Here I am practicing my first stamping mani. Starting off gently:

I do love it already! The Butterfly and I are going to have a BLAST doing manicures with this!

One day I may graduate to the mind-blowing stamping that heartNAT does. Her creations are works of pure art! For example:
, , or .

Till then….

~~Happy 4th of July!!!~~

It’s the Little Things

Jun30 by Cheryl Cheryl

My sister is the best! She stopped by this afternoon and brought me the cutest little automatic nail dryer.

It’s adorable. It would be even cuter if the air blew from the little monkey’s mouth… but the air actually blows from a space at the monkey’s “neck”?? I love it already.

Now I need to do my nails tonight so that I can use it.

Thanks Shelle Shelle!!! Smile

Color Picnic

Jun29 by Cheryl Cheryl

Napkin or tablecloth?… All the way down to the stitching.

Summertime fun.

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All these colors (painted in this order) and white acrylic paint (with a size 5/0 precision paint brush) for the “stitches”.

Maybe it’s just a colorful plaid. lol

Florals

Jun28 by Cheryl Cheryl

I had to upgrade my iPhone.

Concomitantly, I had to search for a new phone case. The cases in the store are ALWAYS UGLY! Wait, hideous might be more accurate. And EXPENSIVE! as if the phone didn’t cost enough! I’ve resorted to the deeply discounted and diverse case designs from Amazon.com. And for the price of ONE in the store, I ordered like 7 assorted designs online. (But why do I need 7 of them??! Smile )

I saw this one…. and instead of purchasing it, I thought I’d try the design on my nails. LOL.

And once again, I didn’t look at the picture before I started painting my nails. HAHAHA. I don’t know why I do that. I literally just forget about the picture even though in my mind’s eye, I feel like I see the picture clearly. I am going to start printing pics out and create a stack of potential manicure designs that will be right next to me at my manicure “station”.

All that to say, my nails didn’t quite turn out like the phone case…

Sinful Colors – “Black on Black”

… but I like them anyway.

I used a medium sized dotting tool and dipped it in both the white and dark pink acrylic paint at the same time to create my flower petals. Then I used yellow acrylic paint for my flower center, and a fine liner monogram art brush with green acrylic paint for my little leaves.

A Few Stripes

Jun25 by Cheryl Cheryl

China Glaze – “For Audrey”

OPI – “Did You ‘Ear About Van Gogh”

OPI – “Jade Is The New Black”

a la Renee

Jun23 by Cheryl Cheryl

So now that I’ve spent wayyyyyyy too much time viewing Love4Nails youtube videos….. [THANKS RENEE!!!]

I went out and purchased a couple new brushes.
When I got home, I realized I already had one of the brushes Love4Nails uses in her nail art…. one I NEVER use. (I have about 21 nail art brushes… and I use dotting tools more than anything. Twenty-one. I probably didn’t need to purchase ANYTHING.)

I also made a few realizations….. I like synthetic brushes better. Liners are better than spotters. Acrylic paint is easier for me to control because the consistency doesn’t seem to change. And I need to practice….. on others.

I wanted some graphic art of my own because I really liked Renee’s:

OPI – “Heart Throb”

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And I practiced a little on my crazy sister’s nails. Yes, crazy. This crazy girl didn’t even want color on her nails (WHAT?!?!)….. well, with the exception of her thumbs. And she wanted smiley faces with their tongues sticking out on those. She LOVED the one I made a mistake on…. because it looks like a smirk expression instead of a smile. SMH. I love my sister Smile .