The Digit-al Dozen DOES Halloween ..... Zombie Blood Splatter

Hi Goddesses

So, Halloween Week ends pretty much as it began, with me disappointed with most of my manis, and slapping my forehead at how inspired and creative all the other bloggers have been.  And not just my Digit-al Dozen lovelies; the Crumpet Nail Tarts have also been doing a Halloween Challenge, as have a few other groups, and I just don't understand how my head is soooooo blank on this subject lol.

I hit on the genius idea of not doing a blood splatter mani, but doing a Zombie blood splatter mani.  I even had in depth conversations as to what colour zombie blood would be - red?  black ? purple?  And again, the execution, whilst "nice" is just not what I wanted.

I'm going to start with the base.  I was so proud of this base, but you just can't see any of the complexity of it in these photos.  This had 3 or 4 different colours in there, mostly sponged to show aging and decrepit skin - there was white, beige, light grey and pale green.  I topped it with matte coat and it looked ROCKING - but then look - it looks like smooth pistachio in the photos!  Tut!

The splatter.  Well, eventually I decided on purple.  I thought that if blood decayed it would darken and move from red to black, and purple seemed a great contrast to the greenish skin.  I used KIKO 278, a medium-dark metallic.

I didn't quite get the effect I wanted - mainly I think because the polish is not opaque enough - but I do love the clash of those colours.  I also love how some of the nails look like butterflies!

So, not my most triumphant week, although I was quite proud of my spiders.   We're going green for Depression Awareness for the next couple of weeks - swatches, indies, depression-inspired nail art, autobiographical posts, the whole works.  There'll also be more Crows Toes and a LOT of Halloweenies.  There's a lot to cram in before the month ends .... cos something special is looming for November .....

Enjoy xx :)

The Digit-al Dozen Does Halloween - The Haunted House

Hi Goddesses

I'm very torn by today's mani.  Some of it is pure beauty, some it is wank, and none of it has photographed half as good as it looked in real life :(

The base is Crows Toes Murder By #s which I have already blogged tonight.  It's a sensational soup of colours, and it looked like purple twilight to me.

Around the edges I sponged a silver holo - a thin and cheap one - and then I stamped my house in the middle.

The house comes from plate OB26 and is the same one a lot of the spider mani came from.

Although my stamping has gotten pretty good this year, my lack of spatial awareness still trips me up, hence we have the WONKY house on the hill!   Is it straight on ANY of the nails ??  I don't think so ......

This has also photographed quite dark, which loses some of the impact.  In real life you could see much more clearly where the holo ended, giving the house a deeper sense of foreboding.

Also, now that everyone has entered these Halloween contests, I realise my house should probably have had at least one lit up window .... oh well, there's always next year!

Enjoy xx :)

The Digit-al Dozen Does Halloween - Skeleton Man

Hi Goddesses

As soon as I got my small Dashica plates and saw this cute little guy on Dash17, I KNEW he would be making a Halloween appearance.  I also knew I didn't want to do a standard white skeleton, so here he is - black on white.

Isn't he funky?  That's what I love about him most - he's a dude with attitude :)

The base is Crows Toes Bunny Slope which you've already seen tonight - a sparkly, snowlike white glitter.  I then sponged around the edges with Barry M Block Orange to add some Halloween colouring.

I like to call this my homage to Spellbinding Nails.  Sarah does great stamping, and she always embellishes, so after I had added Mr Skeleton, I added some dots in the suitably Halloweeny It's Alive from China Glaze.

One coat of matte top coat later and here he is in all his boney glory lol.

Enjoy xx :)

The Digit-al Dozen DOES Halloween ..... Witches

Hi Goddesses

Today's post is soooooo simple, anyone can do it, and I really mean that.   There is no freehand involved, just some sponging and stamping.

I am also quite disappointed.  This is where my skills don't match my imagination.  I LOVE witches.  They were always the books I read when I was a little girl, and I am convinced I was a witch in a previous life.   But draw a warty nose on a nail ?  Nah, not happening.

So, this started life as China Glaze No Plain Jane, one of their new Bohemians.  It's photographed nicely, but I really didn't like it on me.

I then sponged around the edge with a dark purple - possibly KIKO 334 - to give it that distressed vintage look.

And then I stamped.   The witches came from one of the new mini Dashica plates, Dash3 (although I've seen pretty much the same design on other plates I've got), and the pussycat came from Dash12.   I wanted a really scary skinny pussy, but I just didn't have one.

And finally, the hat is from BM-209.   Slap on the top coat, and you're done.  As I said, no great complexity, but I do think the sponging makes it look a little more interesting than it actually is!

Enjoy xx :)

The Digit-al Dozen Does ..... Halloween ... Spiderssssss

Hi Goddesses

For our 2nd Challenge, the Digit-al Dozen this month are tackling Halloween.   I must admit, although I LOVE seeing everyone else's Halloween manis, I really struggle for inspiration with this one.  I don't know if it's because Halloween isn't (or wasn't) such a big deal in the UK, but I lack the emotional connection with this "holiday".

So, today's nails I actually like.  I warn you though, they get worse as the week goes on ha ha.  

This started with a base of OPI A Roll In The Hague, pretty much the perfect Halloween Orange.   In truth, it's possibly a little too bright for me, but I still like it, and you've already seen it a lot in nail art, where it really just pops.

Applied beautifully, as you would expect.

I wanted to do something slightly different with all my Halloween posts, so they are all framed with sponging.  To be honest, this started as an accident - for this mani, I thought it would add to the dusty cobwebby feel - but it's proved really effective.

This was sponged with Bettina Iron.

And then we have the smorgasbord of Halloween stamps.

My favourite of all is the one on the thumb and middle finger - this is from plate 30 which you can get from My Online Shop.

The big scary spiders are from ... oh.  I know I put it down here somewhere.  Coooo-eeee stamping plate, where are you ???  Truth is, there's so much crap on my desk it could be anywhere.  Ggrrrrr.  Sorry, gonna have to update you.  Fail. :(

Overall, I do love this mani - I love the clash of the orange and the grey and the stamping just pops.

Don't forget to check out what everyone else has done :)  Enjoy xxx