Mmm, just can't get enough of it!
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| Fluorescent lighting in my cube at work . . . makes it look almost chocolatey brown. Weird. It is very dark like this when not in sunlight. (just not really this color) |
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| Eeek! Look at that deplorable tip shrinkage! I'm shrinking back from the screen in HORROR. |
After taking some shots of just Malaga Wine by itself, I decided to do some stamping since I haven't for quite some time and my plates were feeling neglected. Poor plates. :-(
I used Pure Ice Silver Mercedes (NOT Mercades, like the darn shelf said at WM!) and Bundle Monster plate 201. If you've never tried stamping before, it does take a bit of trial & error to get the hang of it and to discover what polishes work (if you don't shell out for the Konad special polishes - I only have the white). But you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly & it allows for some seriously awesome nail art! My roommate asked me if I did this by hand. LOL!!!!!!!
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| Pretty accurate color shot, and not too shabby for featuring my right hand! |
You can purchase sets of Bundle Monster plates here. They are really very reasonable (I think I paid $19.99 + free shipping for my set) as compared to around $6 a plate for Konad, the original stamping plate brand. There are LOTS of other plate makers now: Red Angel, Shany, Cheeky, Mash, Gals . . . etc. Ebay and Amazon are good places to get the other brands, or individual Konad plates.
Konad is obviously going to be higher quality (the impressions are usually deeper, thus giving a crisper image), but my Bundle Monster set does a pretty darn good job! My sister got a Red Angel set for Christmas, and hers look about the same quality as mine - and there are really awesome designs in her set.
One last parting image:
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| Drinking limonada in León (Spain) last year during Holy Week. Limonada is a regional drink made with wine and some really sweet lemony stuff. :-P |
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| I guess this is technically water from the Bay of Biscay, north of Spain. My friend was living in the city of Gijón (Asturias) when I visited her last year. We took a quick bayside walk just before hopping on the bus to get me back to the airport. |
I LOVE to travel!!!! And I love SPAIN!!!! ¡Viva España! :-D
Do you have a favorite travel destination?
My favorite travel destination these days is Blogger to read AWESOME posts like this! :P I love this color! But it really does look like blood. Should it disturb me that I like it so much? And I'm not really a nail art fan, but I like this a lot. It looks very tasteful. I just have a problem with little animals and stuff like that in nail art. I keep imagining myself losing clients if I showed up to work with bunnies painted on my nails.
ReplyDeleteAnd tip shrinkage? Ugh...story of my life!
Awwwww! :-D Thank you! I'm glad you liked the post of mani done especially for you. ;-) Yes it is definitely a blood red! Nahhh. Vampires are the "in" thing right now, so by proxy, liking blood is "in." Logical, no?
ReplyDeleteNail art is SUCH a broad term! Could be anything from bunnies to colorblocking or those fimo clay thingies. Nail art is whatever you want it to be!
Yeah, the whole Seche Vite shrinkage issue is getting old. Too bad I already bought a backup bottle a couple months ago, so I have a ways to go before I can get a different topcoat!
I found an alternative to Seche...CND Air Dry. I think the only difference is that it doesn't dry quite as shiny as Seche. But there is less shrinkage.
DeleteAhh! Okay, thank you for the recommendation!
DeleteLOL.. "bend and SNAP". This is really pretty. I may try stamping some day...I need a little more coaxing.
ReplyDeleteHehe, yes, one of my clever moments!
ReplyDeleteJust try it! It's really very easy...try stamping on paper first if you're testing what polishes make the best images. Metallics are usually the best, and of course, the thicker formulas. Oh, when you're actually going to put the design on the nail, hold you hand like you do in your swatch photos then position the stamper just how you want it above the nail, then gently roll the image on from the R to L side of the nail. Voila! You'll most likely end up with some of the image on your skin, but it comes off SOOO easily with a little remover. :-) Kinda cool cuz it looks like a tattoo! Hey, there's an idea, since your girls' nails are still probably quite small (too small for most of the designs), you can just give 'em temporary tattoos! ;-)
Hmmmm, you are tempting me :)
DeleteDO IT!!!!! :-D You won't regret it!!! I'm sooo close to buying this set:
Deletehttp://www.amazon.com/PUEEN-2013-Nail-Stamp-Collection/dp/B00CDGR29G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369359013&sr=8-1&keywords=pueen+stamping+plates