Spring Challenge - Unicorn Day - Max Factor - Fantasy Fire

Hi Goddesses

Today is a special day.  February 29th - we only see it once every 4 years.  Man, I always wanted to be born on Feb 29th.  But then, I love anything special and rare, which meant there was only 1 thing I was going to choose for today's mani .....

Well, it took a long time but I FINALLY got my hands on Fantasy Fire thanks to one of my nail BFFs Kerrie.   Every post I've seen of it has been over purple, and reluctantly I decided to pass up purple and see what it looked like over something different.

Step forward Zoya Dakota, one of my favourite reds.  This is deep and ruby coloured - nicely dark but still red.  Looks like blood.  I love this red :)

So 2 coats of Dakota and 1 layer of FF later and oh, colour me disappointed.  The red had turned to chestnut (very nice) and had zillions of sparkly dots on it (also very nice) but ... but ... no colour change.  Gorgeous vampire nails, yes.  Holy molies ?  Nope, nada, none at all.

I bitched and moaned for a while, wondering whether this was why everyone had posted it over purple, because it's the only frigging colour it works on!  Sufficiently dischuffed, I went downstairs to make a biiiiiig glass of Snowball and .... holy halogen miracle!  Look at what the kitchen lights did!

Wow, look at all that fire .... and sparkle .... and greenish glow (not loving the green tinge, it makes it look like it's rotting).    Ooooooh. God bless those halogens.

The next morning, even daylight made it sparkle - it seems FF plays hard to get :)

I really like the subtlety of this.  I'm tempted to try it over all sorts of colours now, but it's such a tiddly bottle, I'm scared to.   Despite living in England, I still cannot find this polish lol.  That's what you get for living in the countryside!

Enjoy xx  :)

New Crumpety Things

Hi Goddesses

Sorry I've been a bit quiet the last few days - I have had a nasty pukey bug which hasn't been very fun.

Howeverrrrr, things in Crumpetland are still ambling along, so I wanted to update you on a few things.

The Giveaway - have you entered ?  If not, click here to win a bottle of OPI Mad As A Hatter.  Oh and tell all your friends too :)

Secondly, I have a lovely new background and header courtesy of Jamie at Nails Adored.  I love it - it's so cheerful.  No doubt I'll get bored of it soon, but it's certainly appropriate for Spring to Summer.

Talking of Spring, have you been following the Spring Challenges - there are some great ladies taking part - see the bottom of this post for details.

Pinterest - for those of you who haven't yet explored it, Pinterest is perhaps my favourite social media invention.  EVER.  It's like a pinboard, on the web!  I love it!!  Best of all, a couple of times a week, I update mine with my nail art, and the best art I see amongst my blogger friends so one of these links is a great source of inspiration, and the other is good for a laugh lol!

http://pinterest.com/thecrumpet/thecrumpet-blogspot-com/

http://pinterest.com/thecrumpet/nails/

My stash!   I spent the weekend counting and categorising my polishes.  This taught me -

* I have over 600 polishes

* I have a LOT of purples

* I have a lot of polishes I am unlikely to wear or haven't worn for a whole year

* I have a lot of similar polishes

However, I do now slightly feel in control of my stash, rather than my stash being in control of me.  It was also really interesting (hey, I'm a geek) to see some of those babies again and it gave me a LOT of ideas for comparison posts AND ....

That leads me on to one of my newest features.  There will shortly be a tab at the top of this here blog called OVER TO YOU.   Oh, what's Over To You, Crumpet?  Well, Over To You is your chance to tell me what you'd like to see on the Crumpet, or give me any feedback.   

* Dying to know how 2 polishes compare?  Post it on that page

* Wondering what certain combos or patterns look like ?  Post it there.

* Want to set me a challenge ?   Post it there.

* Got any other great ideas ?  Post it there!

Wow, we can be like *interactive* lol.

Whatever you're doing, enjoy the rest of the week :) xxxx

Fancy Phalanges

Gnarly Gnails

Only Always Soccermom

Purple Fairy Dust

Nail Newbie

Angelina's Nails and More

MeMa's Manis

Pish Posh & Polish

The Crumpet

Geeky Owl

Of Knit and Nails

Bee Polished

Fanning the Fumes

Color Splash Nails

Okay Now Joy

Manicurity

Confessions of a Nail Polish Junkie

Obsessive Compulsive Nail Painting Disorder

Happy Nails

The Girl with the Rainbow Hands

No Junk Nail

Munia's Nails

Spring Challenge - Lilac - Butter London MUGGINS

Hi Goddesses

Mmmmmm Butter London.    Mmmmmm Mmmmmmuggins.

I've resisted Butter London for a long time, but now that I've reached 600ish polishes, I'm becoming a bit more discerning, and trying to only buy ones I either really love, don't have a dupe of, or ones that are classic.

Step forward Mmmmmuggins, which falls into the classic category.  It was also a "bargain" on eBay at £10, which is what pushed me over the edge.  Yes that's a lot, but for a Butter London, it's a STEAL.

The photo that was with this on eBay showed a more blue polish - like a pastel periwinkle - and as I seem to be on a blue kick, that was why I bought it.  I'm not sure if I'd have made the effort to buy ANOTHER lilac, to go with my other 18 or so, but this is a very specific lilac indeed.

In fact, for once, I'm going to call this lavender rather than lilac.  Why?  I have no idea, but I feel this should be set apart from other lilacs due to the amount of blue in it.  This is a very blue-toned lilac indeed - so lavender seems a gooooood word to use.

This really is delicious.   It's creamy, it's soft, it's a little bit dusty, a little bit haughty and just a little bit upper class.  Things it reminds me of -

* Models Own Beth's Blue is a powdery indigo toned pastel blue - this is like the opposite of that, an indigo toned pastel lavender

* Zoya Jo and Caitlin get it on, have a baby and then smother the baby in cream.  They then put the baby in the blender and voila, they get this

If you own any other lilacs, you'll immediately notice the difference.  Here's a photo from my Spring Lilacs post to highlight what I mean

Mmmmmmm Mmmmmmmuggins, you so yummy :)

Enjoy xx :)

Stamping - It's An Evolution!

Hi Goddesses

Some of you may remember that one of my goals for this year was to become a Stamping Goddess.  Now, I am not there yet, but I am certainly better than I was, more confident AND more adventurous.

This blog post is in praise of Adventures In Stamping.  It's a Facebook Group I created just before Christmas which now has over 300 members and which has just been one of the most unexpectedly brilliant things that has happened to me in the last year.   Wanna know why ?

10 Reasons Adventures In Stamping Rocks

1.  It is filled with some AWESOME ladies, who are not only brilliant, but supportive.  Initially I thought 1 or 2 people might want to pool misery stories - I did NOT expect the holy awesomeness we've ended up with.

2.  the group is international - I've made friends with and become aware of the nail art of literally dozens of ladies I would never have "met" before - thank you.

3.  the ladies in the group take stamping to a new level.  Did you know you can stamp on multi-coloured bases or use more than 1 colour or more than 1 stamp to stamp with??  There's a WHOLE new world out there.

4.  the group has a great mix - from people looking to get into stamping, to nervous amateurs to old pros.  What's great is that everyone wants each other to do well

5.  We share.  That means all our knowledge, our tips, our hints, our tricks, what works, what doesn't work - such a wealth of experience in this group

6.  We have our own pimps.  Seriously.  We have some dangerous enablers in our group who tempt us with new products and amazing new plates.  They're wicked, aren't they?  But we wouldn't have them stop, don't dare stop!!

7.  Had you ever heard of Cheeky, DRK, Chez Delaney before this group?  I hadn't.  Turns out stamping plates aren't just made by Konad and Bundle Monster, there's LOADS of brands out there, and Sarah Smith owns them all!

8.  these ladies inspire me.  Every day someone does something that takes my breath away

9.  It's like a living, breathing Ask.com.  Got an obscure stamping question ?   Someone in the group (usually Sarah) will know the answer.  It's a great resource.

10.  And finally, it's such FUN.  Stamping Rocks, especially if, like me, you can't draw without scaring the pencils.  Stamping allows you to do things with your nails you never even dreamed of.

Oh, and we ALWAYS Stamp On Sundays.

This blog post is a thank you to the ladies who help make my life what it is - thank you to each and every one of you, for your camaraderie, for your enabling, for your advice, and for even "liking" the photos that suck.

Salut !

(If you want to join in, click here).

Stamping Sunday - 3 Colours

Hi Goddesses

I'm in Stamping Hell at the moment.  I STILL haven't played with all my new plates and then, to top it all, my Cheeky 2012 set arrived this week, along with 3 large Cheeky Plates (you can see them in my haul post here).   However, because I am brain deep in the Spring Challenge, I'm not getting chance to play with them, which means that when I DOOOOO, such as today, there are Too Many Ideas screaming in my head.  Arrrggghhh lol.

So today's challenge was 3 colours.  You can do anything you want, as long as it's 3 colours.    I did the perfect mani on Thursday - lovely gradient, then stamping - and then ruined it by adding a 4th polish, a glitter topcoat.  Hence why this post is so late.

All I could think of today was "colour clash" - some sort of sponging or combination that matched, yet also clashed.  Eventually I settled on a paleish blue and a dark pink - Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream which is *almost* opaque in 1 coat, and CG Its Poppin, a fabulous fuschia.

I sponged the Its Poppin on with an eyeshadow applicator, and love the "splodge" shape I ended up with, a bit like an ink blot.   Here's a shot of how it looked before the stamping (sorry for the bad lighting) - good enough that I would try this again.

I then used Cheeky Plate B and my trusty Barry M silver foil (of the crisp butter fame).  I wanted a stamping pattern that was pretty but which allowed the pattern of the pink to shine through - I think I got the balance just about right.

Loving this a lot actually, it's really vibrant.   Oh and the Cheeky plates ?  Awesome for big nails, awesome!   In fact, I love this so much I'd like to keep it on, but more Springery Challengery awaits.  More quality time with the pukey pastels.

Enjoy the vibrant colours while you can!   xxx :)

China Glaze Laser Lime & DL Mermaids Dream dupe ?

Hi Goddesses

Ugh, I've had this lying around for the LONGEST time.  I'm bad like that.  After a while, I just don't see the thing anymore and then, usually, I can't be bothered to do anything about it.

So why my "meh"ness ?  Well, this just underwhelmed me on every level.  It's holo, so it should be great, but the truth is that the formula was really thin, it was patchy, and I just didn't like the colour once it was on.

I initially bought it for nail art - I'd seen a couple of fab manis where this had been used to great effect, but really, it just left me cold.

Also, I really don't rate the CG holos.  They just do not do it for me.  They don't compare in any way to Glitter Gal or the OPI DS holos, and I think that is partly why I go all meh on them - they really suffer by comparison.

So, this post was unlikely to ever see the light of day.   So what on earth changed my mind?   Well, swatches of Deborah Lippmann's new mermaidy polish Mermaid's Dream, that's what.

Because, after I shrugged my disappointed shoulders on Laser Lime, I decided to see if I could spice it up with some glitter, and daubed on some Wet n Wild ColorIcon in Cost Is No Issue.  It didn't go well.  It was an experiment in disaster.  It looked like snot smeared over guacamole - not good.

And yet ... well,it reminds me of all the swatches of Mermaid's Dream .....  So there you go - a cheap way to do it, and a lesson that even failures have a purpose.






Enjoy / shrug xx  :)

February Haul

Hi Goddesses

You may remember my amusing January no-buy haul.  Well, luckily in February I WASN'T on a no buy, and I have purchased wisely my friends.  Oh yes, wisely indeed.

Are you ready ?  Let's go :)

So, first up we have the China Glaze Prismatics which you've already seen on the blog.  Although they were super pretty, I just couldn't imagine wearing them very often, so they have now gone to a better home.  I did invest in re-buying one of them, Liquid Crystal.  It was the blue one, and by far the prettiest.  Everyone seems distinctly underwhelmed with them, which is a shame.

This month, I have invested a lot in independent polishes, mainly from Etsy.  They seem more unique, more cutting edge, and more in tune with what most of us are looking for.  The first set I am going to show is from Cult Nails.

Look !!  Look, how they get wrapped.   Swaddled, like little babies.  Oh, sooooo exciting. I have wanted to own this brand for so long, but when I first looked they didn't do international shipping, so I stopped lusting after them.  Now I find they do, (and probably have for ages knowing my luck) and I just couldn't wait to take advantage of that.

What you see above is The Inaugral Collection - Quench, Living Water, Iconic and My Kind of Cool Aid.   These came direct from polish heaven, I know they did.

From Etsy, and an amazing shop called All That Glitters come these .....

Can you believe ??!!!  Cha Cha Twist and Plum and Plummer.  I think CCT may be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and I have literally stroked the bottle today, so stunning is its beauty.  Here's a close-up.

You can buy from All That Glitters here.

Next we have Barielle, a brand I have loved for a long time.    Because I am dumb, I had no idea they had a UK website, until someone posted that all their polishes were half price, so these were all £4 each.

VERY excited to try these. - Falling Star, Polished Princess, Myrza's Meadow, Jess' Champagne Toast, Thrilling.

FINALLY, I get my hands on Fantasy Fire.  Seriously, I live in the UK, and I can't get a UK only polish ??!!  WTF.   So, thank you Kerrie.  Oh, I'll be posting my swatch of this this week - I did something verrrrry different with it to what you will have seen so far.

My Hollands, which I bought off eBay - Herring, Dutch Ya Just Love OPI, Wooden Shoe, Gouda Gouda Two Shoes, Rotterdam and the unseen Vampsterdam.

My 2 prizes from polish bingo!  Another Party of 5 (I use it loads for frankening) and one of the Essence Vampire polishes.

12 metallic KleanColors, for stamping.

2 Lippmanns I've wanted for a while - Good Girl Gone Bad and Razzle Dazzle - I just stumbled across them at the right price.  That's called e-con-o-mis-ing :)

My first Bettinas :)  courtesy of a swap with my polish Momma, Elizabeth Stern.  The top 3 are older ones, 28, Iron and 47, and the bottom ones are from a recent collex - Boogie, Hustle and Hippie.

These also came from Momma.  They are my birthday present.  My birthday isn't til August, and neither is hers, but we were so excited with what we'd bought for each other, we decided to "accidentally" post them early.

Do you know what I really love about Models Own?  That the more you buy, the cheaper they are.  They have great discounts when you buy 5 or 7 polishes, so I always wait til I need to buy a few.  This is Mystic Mauve which has been out of stock for YEARS and Endamame, the only one I wanted from their Spring Collex.

Look at these - aren't they amazing ??  Mainstream glitter is FINALLY figuring out what we want.  Bee got these for me - Bronze Fest, My Superstar, and Sequins, which is the one I am most excited about.

OK.  So I love me some stamping, and the latest Ooooooh in the stamping world is coming from Cheeky plates.  Really awesome designs, made worse by them going out of stock really quicky.  So a lot of us have been stalking Amazon, and as soon as they came into stock (for all of about 48 hours) I ordered their 2012 set of 26 plates ..

and 3 of their large plates - A, B and D - they look to have some awesome designs on them.

And there you have it.  It's the Etsys and the Cult Nails I'm most excited about, plus all the ones that are still in transit to me.  My first Manglazes are on the way, my 12 HITS Flakies, LOTS of NerdLacquer AND Dollish Polish, some metallic LA Girls  .... aaah, it's all soooooo pretty :)

What's a girl to do ..... but I really do need more hands. Or at least more fingers.   Too many preciouses, so few nails!

Enjoy xx :)