Tag Archives: Stamping

02 Feb

Caronia Stellar and PUEEN Stamping

Hi!
I’ve got a just quick post for you today. I finally got my hands on Caronia Stellar this week. It was so pretty in the bottle that I just had to put it on ASAP.

Caronia Stellar swatch

It did NOT disappoint! I used two easy coats here. The formula of Stellar was identical to Trance (check out my review). It dried quickly and it is so shiny and vibrant. It is definitely an eye-catching shade. I think it would be perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Caronia Stellar and PUEEN Stamping

I decided to add some stamping and settled on this lace and roses image which is off of plate 27 of the PUEEN Love Elements set. I didn’t use stamping polish so the black isn’t as pigmented as I would like but I still love how they turned out.

What is your ideal Valentine Mani?

Here is hoping you have a great weekend!
Hugs,
Rach

 

12 Dec

Snowflakes on L.A. Colors Aztec Orange

Hey gals!

This has been a great day. My parents arrived today from their few weeks stay in the US and as if having them home safe and sound wasn’t great enough, they carried some epic nail mail with them from the lovely Jacqui of Craftynail (please do go check out her blog). My first nail swap was officially a smashing success! Thank you soooo much Jacqui! I love the polishes you sent… Especially Alcatraz Rocks! Lemming CRUSHED! 

It sure felt like Christmas opening up my package from Jacqui and I’ve got a Christmas themed mani to share with you today. Snowflakes! I’m so thrilled with how these turned out. What do you think of my artsy photo? I adore this snowflake ornament my wonderful mother-in-love sent me.

Snowflake stamping over L.A. Colors Aztec Orange
L.A. Colors Aztec Orange with snow stamping and dotting
Yeah, I know there are a lot of snowflake designs going around but I just had to do one of my own.
I started with one coat of Caronia Tea Rose which, by the way, I highly recommend if you are in search of  a great red for the holidays. (Note: Don’t confuse Caronia Tea Rose with Chic Tea Rose) I added two thin coats of L.A. Colors Aztec Orange which I received back in July when Pure Beauty came to Cebu for a promotional event. As soon as I laid eyes on it I knew I had to use it for a Christmas mani. Here it is by itself. Isn’t it gorgeous? 
 
Swatch of L.A. Colors Aztec Orange

I used the OB19 stamping plate which is full of Christmas themed images. I purchased mine from My Online Shop and I used the Fab Ur Nails white stamping polish which I won in a giveaway to add the snowflakes. I’m still getting the hang of stamping so it can be hit and miss with some attempts. I used a dotting tool and the same stamping polish to add the dots. With all that has happened in the past couple of months I have quite spaced out about taking pictures of the prizes I won the last few months. I will try to get them up soon. So much to do. 

I’ve also included a shot of the freehanded snowflakes I sported last year. I only have one shot of it as I wasn’t blogging yet at that time. I’m sharing in honor of throwback Thursday. Ha! So please bear with the poor quality photo. It’s nice to see how far I have come in the past year in the photo department. (By the way, I also post old manis and some non nail related stuff on my Instagram account. If you want to come check it out, the link is in my sidebar to the right.)
 

Well, that is it for me for today. I do hope you have a blessed day or evening depending on where you are in this big wide world. Make someone smile today if you can!

28 Oct

Girlstuff Lov Lav with Double Stamping

I’ve got a Halloween inspired look for you today. I sat down with black, purple, green and orange and thought I had decided what to do for some skittles. After I set to work though, I decided on a simpler more classy look and I really like what I came up with.

I started with 3 thin coats of Oh My Golly Hematite on my pinky and 2 coats of Girl Stuff Lov Lav on the others. I stamped with Oh My Golly Purple Passion and then black stamping polish. I used my brand new Fun stamping plate 8 by Fab Ur Nails that I won in a giveaway (I got Lov Lav and the stamping polish in the giveaway too. I’ll have a post about that soon) The Stamping plate worked like a charm.

While I was surveying the finished product I could not help but be reminded of the Wraith hive ships in Stargate Atlantis. Anyone out there get that vibe too? I think it could also pass for some spider webs.

I hope you are having a great start to the week.

10 Oct

Klik Burgundy and Cobwebs

Hi everyone!
I’d like to say a special welcome to all the new faces *waves*! I’m thrilled to have you here.

I’m so excited to see all the entries coming in for the giveaway that started yesterday. If you haven’t already joined, you really should. There’s lots of great stuff up for grabs and it doesn’t cost a thing to enter. Not even much effort if you already follow me via Bloglovin, Twitter, FB, GFC, Instagram or anything like that.

What I have to show you today was a pain to create so you had better leave me a comment saying you love them as much as I do. Ha! Just kidding. (No really, you should say something nice. It would make me smile.)

I started off wanting to swatch Burgundy from Klik’s holiday collection, (swatch is at the end of the post) and it turned out to be a lot more work than I had anticipated. Upon my inspection of the polish, I thought it would need just 2 coats. But after 2 coats it was very streaky and showed bald spots. I waited quite a while before adding the third coat since it was raining in Cebu and the added humidity always seems to cause bubbling. Despite the long wait, I still ended up with bubbling after applying the third coat. Meh! On top of that, in certain light you can still see some thin spots and cleanup was a pain. After several hours, more bubbles showed up and I was so sad that my manicure had gone from pretty and polished to pretty awful.

As I sat down to remove this, I had an idea to try and salvage the look. I grabbed my awesome MJ XIII stamping plate that Meann of My Online Shop sent me and selected this cobweb design. After several failed attempts at color choice, I stamped with Color Club Harp On It. and I love how it turned out. Mr. Nailinator and the 4 year old boy both say this looks like a Spiderman mani. Do you love it? I do. I’ve included a shot under the lamp so you can see the holo shimmer. I’m pleasantly surprised how well the CC Halo Hues work for stamping.

Do you have a favorite non stamping polish to use for stamping? Do share and have a great day!

Over and out!

Under lamp
Swatch of Klik Burgundy before most of the bubbles popped up
18 Sep

L.A. Girl Brilliant Blue

It’s going to be another short post today, ladies, as I’m not really feeling well. I’m hoping that I’ll pull out of this funk soon and be back to doing some super fun designs in the near future. The Shutterbug is wanting a Dr. Who design so I’ll probably be busy with that in the next couple of days.

In the meantime… Day 17 of the 31 day challenge is Glitter and I’m popping in again to submit a glittery design as an entry. 🙂 I can’t get enough of these L.A. Girl 3D Effect polishes. First off is the swatch!

This is two easy coats of Brilliant Blue with no topcoat. Just look at it! This first caught my eye when the lovely Jacqui of Craftynail made this post. So so so pretty! I had to have it! When I saw Jacqui’s post, my jaw dropped because this looked to me like a dupe for my ultimate lemming at the time, Picture Polish Cosmos. I don’t own Cosmos but from the swatches I’ve seen and the way this polish looks, I am absolutely satisfied! It’s the more affordable and accessible solution. I have nothing bad to say about this polish at all except that it’s not available in the Philippines. Perhaps soon? If not, it would make a great pasalubong from the US. (Pasalubong is what those of us in the Philippines call a gift for someone that you bring home from a trip somewhere.)

I’ve added some stamping with Color Club Harp On It. Yeah, you guys can tell I’ve been having fun with my new polishes I ordered from the US.I think what I ended up with looks like snowflakes. What do you think?
I hope everyone is doing well and having a great week.

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