LIVE ♥ laugh ♥ love - fanbrush stripes & stamping nail art - pastels from Deborah Lippmann's "Spring Reveries" Collection - Valentine's Day nails #10

Hello everyone!

Stage 4

I started with pastel mint green nails. Then I used a fan brush to make stripes in pastels (yellow, lime green, blue and lavender). I used all the nail polishes from Deborah Lippmann's 2014 limited edition "Spring Reveries" Collection, except for the pastel orange. Instead I used Ruby Kisses: Lavender Dream, that I've showed you earlier.

I stamped with China Glaze: Adore, BM- 405 (text) and BM- H16 (flowers).
BM-405 is from Bundle Monster's 2013 "Create Your Own" Collection, and BM-H16 is from the 2013 Holiday Collection. But now it's possible to buy individual plates too.
Adore is from China Glaze's Romantique Collection from Spring 2009. Shades from that collecion are Messy Mansion's favorites for stamping, so I wanted to try it. I found this teal on eBay, and it worked very well for stamping.

This manicure kind of evolved, so there are different versions of it below.

Here you see the palette. I've fallen in love with these pastels. You'll find their names in the product list. I was very pleased with the result you see below,

Stage 1

but sadly I had to redo the ring finger nail, so this is what it looked like before the stamping:

Stage 2

More photos of the "LIVE ♥ laugh ♥ love & 4 flowers" version:

Stage 4

Stage 4

I made this manicure for a AIS Sunday challenge in March, when I was very happy to see these spring flowers.

Stage 3

This version is with only two flowers.

Stage 3

Then I accidentally removed too much when I tried to use tape to do the clean up. So I applied the DL shimmer (La Vie En Rose) from the same collection on some of the nails. And then I filled in the flowers with the shimmer, but it didn't look good, so I took the flowers off. (No pictures of stage 5)

The last version is with the text on all nails and shimmer on all nails except the middle finger nail:

Stage 6

Stage 6

Products used:

Deborah Lippmann: Flowers In Her Hair (pastel mint green creme)
Deborah Lippmann: Build Me Up Buttercup (pastel yellow creme)
Deborah Lippmann: Spring Buds (pastel lime green creme)
Deborah Lippmann: Blue Orchid (pastel blue creme)
Deborah Lippmann: La Vie En Rose (sheer nude/ pastel pink with copper shimmer)

-all from Deborah Lippmann's "Spring Reveries" Collection from spring 2014

Ruby Kisses: Lavender Dream (lavender creme)

A fan brush
Palette (the back side of a Messy Mansion plate) 
XL stamper (black with white soft and small red hard stamper)
Stamping polish: China Glaze: Adore (teal metallic)
Stamping plates: BM- 405 (LIVE ♥ laugh ♥ love) and BM- H16 (flowers)
Lint roller to clean the stamper
Scotch tape to remove my mistakes/ for clean up, (which minimised the need for clean up with a brush dipped in acetone)

Duri Rejuvacote as base coat and Seche Vite top coat.


As I've mentioned before Deborah Lippmann products are not tested on animals.

Stage 6

I haven't swatched the Spring Reveries Collection, but I've used Blue Orchid for nail art. Just click here to see it.


Lani

Penguin nails - freehand nailart - inspired by Stefan Christmann photos

Hello everyone!

Matte version

This was supposed to be shared on Penguin Day (April 25th), but I really struggled making penguin nail art, until I finally made something worth sharing. This is the second design attempt, and it took forever to paint.

I started with a white creme nail polish; IsaDora #603 Tip White. To paint the penguins I used acrylic craft paint and a detail brush. Although the grown up Emperor Penguins have a little yellow on them, I chose black and white only to make them easier to paint. 4 photos are with Seche Vite top coat, and 3 photos are with Gosh Matte top coat.

Matte version

I was inspired by amazing penguin photos taken by Stefan Christmann while he lived in Antarctica. You can see his work on his site: NATURE IN FOCUS or on facebook: Stefan Christmann Photography.

Like last time, I made two types of penguins, Emperor Penguins & Adélie Penguins. Every year around this time, penguins start their northward migration to escape the cold. Only the Emperors stay on the south pole during the coldest "summer" months.

Did you se what I made for Penguin Day in 2012? Click here to see it.

I applied matte top coat before I started painting, as Cutenails tells us in one of her YouTube videos.

Matte version

The detail brush was bought from Fab Ur Nails Shop, and I liked that it has a little resistance to it, if you understand what I mean.

My problem when using acrylic paint on my nails is that I can't wipe it off with water. What do I do wrong? Should I dilute the paint more? If you have any advice, I'll be very happy.


Lani

Bundle Monster Easter

Hello everyone!

As you probably see, I've used 4 Bundle Monster stamping plates with Easter images, and added some dots. Yes, candy is still a big part of my Easter Holidays! My favourite Easter image is the one with the bunny in the egg with the flowers. The base is a- england Briarwood, bought with a 40% coupon code when many online stores celebrated Tristam's birthday, a few weeks ago! :-) Tristam is of course Adina's (the creator of a- england) beautiful cat. He is 3 years old.

Products:

a- england: Briarwood
Dotting tool
Bundle Monster stamping plates:
Index finger: BM- H09
Middle finger: BM- H10 & some added dots
Ring finger: BM- 302
Pinkie: BM- 306
China Glaze: Passion -gold -used for stamping
XL stamper
& base-, and top coat

a- england is not tested on animals.


I actually made this before Easter, but as usual, I'm behind on the blogging. I even have lots of photos from 2013 that I have to go through. :-( And I still haven't showed all the nail art I did the last 6 months... and I keep swatching and making new nail art... What do you think I should do?


Lani

Easter chicks (free range) & feathers. Stamping & water decals. TPC April

Happy Easter!

"Easter" is the nail art theme in some of the groups I'm in, and blue and yellow are two of the colors for Tripolish April. So this is also for the Tri Polish Challenge, and therefor you will find thumbnails at the end of this post.

My entry to Nail Polish Canada's Easter Nail Art Challenge

Hello everyone!

I was very happy when I was invited to participate in Nail Polish Canada's Easter Nail Art Challenge. This is my entry.


You can look at all the entries and vote for your favorite here.

You can find details about this manicure and more photos here.


I wish you all a happy Easter Holiday! And good luck if you are participating!

Lani

Ruby Kisses: Lavender Dream

Hello everyone!

Lavender Dream is a nearly pink pastel purple cream nail polish from Ruby Kisses. I've been wearing LD twice on my nails, and on my toes for a month. I'm not showing photos of my toes, although LD made my white feet look like I had a tan (as if it was a neon)! :-) I even got a compliment. Here you see what it looks like with a coat of Seche Vite in the sun and in the shade. I don't remember if I used 2 or 3 coats, but the formula was good.

GOT Polish Challenge: YELLOW/ PEACH

Hello everyone!

Helena Rubinstein: 'Lemon Heat' was one of the old bottles of polish that I looked forward to use when I first heard about the GOT Challenge. I don't remember when I bought it, but I think it can be considered vintage. Do you know how old it is? Maybe 15 years? Still no need for thinner.


You can find Lemon Heat swatched here, and my tiny vintage collection here.


For the stamping I used Konad: SN Yellow, and flowers from two Moyou London stamping plates: 08 (small) and 10 (XL), both from the Pro Collection. (I couldn't find 08 now that I wanted to link to it.)


The first photos below are of a shiny Lemon Heat with stamping, the next are with top coat (Seche Vite), and the rest are mattified (with GOSH #600 'Matt Effect Top Coat').