31DC2014, Day 07: Black & White Nails

I'm going through the topics of last September's 31 Day Challenge - why not use them as the inspiration for your next mani? :) Here are my black and white nails:

For this mani I followed "Dabbed Floral Nail Art" tutorial made by Lindsay of Wondrously Polished. She is one of most talented and creative nail art bloggers out there and I'm a huge fan :).  I used acrylic paint for the dabbed flowers/drops.

Since I still cannot control my brush perfectly, my mani not perfect, but I still like it. I expected the painting to take ages, but it was quite ok. The most important thing was to find the right brush - I went for medium sized nail art brush, not the thinnest I have.

Base color: one coat of Cult Nails Fetish
Dabbed Pattern: white acrylic paint

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[AiS]: Stamping over a striped background

There was an interesting challenge in Adventure in Stamping FB group for today: stamping over a striped background. I thought combining stripes and stamping would not be easy, so I decided to try it :)

It was a tough job to think of a style with stripes and stamping. I didn't want to stamp hearts, bows or kisses, so I ended up with this. I cannot say I love this mani, although it'd be probably a cute look for a holiday at the beach.  But hey, a challenge is a challenge, and I'm glad I've managed to think at least of something :)

Base color:  p2 Gel Look Crazy Beauty  (matches perfectly to the MdU stamping polish!) and Cult Nails Tempest (white)  for my middle and ring fingers.
Stamping: Stripes from MoYou Pro XL 01 plate, stamped with Mundo de Uñas #49, Lavender. Flowers from MoYou Pro XL 06, stamped with MdU #29 neon pink.
Studs: 1mm neon studs from Ebay Read More......

The Lacquer Legion: Weird Science

Once I saw the next topic of The Lacquer Legion I just had to participate. Being an IT consultant, it's clear what science instantly came to my mind: computer science!!! So here I am, with my IT inspired mani:

Admittedly, I wasn't very creative for the "Weird Science" topic, but I wanted to use the BM-415 and my new MoYou Sci Fi 06 stamping plates for ages! For more realistic look I also added some golden dots with a toothpick.

I used Mundo de Uñas stamping polish called Avocado (#39). As for me, MdU have the BEST stamping polishes - great color range, most bright colors stamp even over black. Unfortunately, MdU - a Mexican retailer -  stopped shipping internationally. The whole nail art community is anxiously awaiting their shop to resume international service. Let me know, if you hear any news there!

Base color: Cult Nails Fetish (one coat!!!)
Stamping: Bundle Monster BM-415 and MoYou Sci Fi 06 with Mundo de Uñas  Aquacate + some random dots with Essie Good As Gold and a toothpick :)

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31DC2013, Day 27: Inspired by artwork

The end is near for my first 31 Day challenge. This time my mani is inspired by art, by Piet Mondrian to be exact. Currently there is a Mondrian exhibition in Hamburg, so posters with this picture are everywhere. After seeing the posters for a couple of weeks on my way to work, I basically HAD to do this! :)

I used acrylic paint, a striper brush and a very thin detail brush to fill out the squares. For my other hand I created decals as shown here. Perfect solution if you, like me, are not very good with your non-dominant hand.

I loooove how they turned out! I think black is the perfect complimentary color here - it lets the pattern really pop. It took me some time to do this, but apart from getting the lines straight - this was annoyingly difficult as always - it was actually quite easy.

This mani was a huge success at work. Even my male colleagues recognized the pattern and asked me about my nails! And lets be frank, normally software engineers are not the type of men who would even notice nail polish! ;)

Base color: white Cult Nails Tempest and black A-England Camelot, both in just one coat!

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31DC2013, Day 23: Inspired by a movie

Hey there, I went skiing, but came back with all limbs still attached. Phew! ;)

I'm on day 23 of the 31 Day Challenge. So no way I'm giving up now! The movie topic was a tough one. I've seen so many Nemo, Despicable Me and Superman manis, I had to think of something else. How convenient that my hubby gave me the James Bond stamping plate for Xmas!!! ;) I had it on my wish list and since my dearest is a big fan of 007,  he was instantly convinced that I really need it :D

Aren't they fun? I think I love these blood splatters the most! Some of my friends instantly started humming the Bond-theme, when they saw my nails :D

And this is the VL-007 stamping plate by Vivid Lacquer I used:

I had a tough time to decide which images to stamp and how to combine them. The wave pattern on the top is too wide even for my nail shape, so I positioned more to the left on my ring finger.  It would surely cover your nail completely, if you wish so. 

 

I was too eager to stamp, so I didn't even think that Mr. Bond would end up being upside down ;)

Base color: white Cult Nails Tempest and Cult Nails Fetish for my pinkie
Stamping: Vivid Lacquer stamping plate VL-007 bought on Etsy with delivery to Europe, stamped with Konad black stamping polish; blood splatters with Rapid Red Insta Dri by Sally Hansen (got it on sale in a TKMaxx outlet store in Hamburg)
Top Coat: matte top coat Wax That by Cult Nails

Which patterns from this plate would you combine? I'm not sure about using other colors... What do you think?

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31DC2013, Day 20: Water Marble

Last year I decided to join the 31 Day Challenge to improve my nail art skills. The challenge was for September 2013, so even the last nail-snail (lol!) has finished it, except me ;).  I never manage to do more then two or max three manis in a week, so I've just reached the Day 20!

With most water marble designs I see, I don't get this "Gimme polish, I wanna play NOW!!!"-feeling. I'm not into swirly things, I guess. But challenge is a challenge. So water marble it is!

I really like how Meghan from Will Paint Nails For Food has adopted the water marbling technique to her own style for example in this mani. Unfortunately I couldn't manage those frayed color stripes. Basically my water marble is terrible... I said "Whatever!" to myself and added the studs :-D

To match my ring finger I covered the studs with the same dark purple polish. Check out this blog entry from Lucy's blog to see how to create custom colored studs  - it is really easy!

Base color: pale pink Cult Nails Enticing (bought in Cult Nail's online shop with shipping to Europe). The color is beautiful, but the formula is a little runny and I kept flooding my cuticles. Dark purple on my ring finger is China Glaze's Crimson, which was a part of purple Ombre Grape Expectations set I bought on Ebay.
Water Marble: mix of the base colors
Studs: 2 mm round studs, bought online at Borne Pretty Store (all prices are with shipping), topped with Crimson

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31DC2013: Day 07, Black & White Nails

I must admit, I went a little bit crazy on stamping since I got my Cheeky stamping plates. It's so much fun to stamp with them, that I just cannot stop :D. As you can clearly see on my black-and-white day of the 31 Day Challenge ;).

Except for my index finger, on which I used striping tape, all other patterns come from the fantastic Cheeky stamping plates I ordered online here.
Base color & stripes: Cult Nails Tempest (the "easiest" white I own, bought directly from Cult Nails with delivery to Germany) and Cult Nails Fetish: oh my, it's the grungy, almost matte black. It looked mega cool on its own, so next time I'm feeling like a rock babe, I'm wearing it with studs!
Stamping: Patterns form Cheeky Jumbo plate A and 2013 Plate "Musical Nails" , stamped with Jolfin black stamping polish. Read More......