The Digit-al Dozen DOES Neon - Girly Bits Leopard Gradient

Hi Goddesses

Hurrah!  We made it to the end of the week - well done :)  I had a real dilemma about which mani to post today.  I did quite a lot of manis for this week, so all the ones I haven't used will be coming very soon!

We end as we began, with me showing you my Girly Bits.  This is a gradient featuring the blue-purple-violet trio from the Girly Bits Hoop! There It Is Collection - 

I've Got High Hoops
Get Indie Flow
Hip Hoop Hurray!

Ok, cards on the table first.   I do NOT alter my photographs or PhotoShop them.  However, with this mani, I was really bummed that my camera faded all the neon - and the purple - away.  I've therefore played with the controls a little - to try and get the polishes to look how they would if you were wearing them.   I've managed to get the bottle shot accurate, but it's harder when there's flesh involved and your fingers can start looking dead or zombiefied!

I then stamped using Konad m57 - a real blast from the past.   It's still the best looking leopard stamp I have, however it doesn't fit my thumb.  Now, I'm pretty sure that my thumb hasn't grown, so why didn't I notice before?   Lol.

This mani reminds me of Jacki from Adventures in Acetone.  I can't be certain, but it FEELS like she's done this mani before, so thanks for the inspiration!

I hope you've enjoyed this week.  I've LOVED playing with all the neons, and playtime ain't over yet.   My neons and I have much more fun ahead of us - see you with more greetings from the Neonosphere soon!

An InLinkz Link-up

Digit-al Dozen DOES Animal Week - Purple Leopard, Then ..... and NOW

Hi Goddesses

So, this week, you've mostly been seeing 9 month old manis on Digit-al Dozen Week.  They had sat in the vault for yonks cos there was never the "right" time to post them.  Anyway, the 4th set of photos was a bit meh, so I decided to do a Then and Now piece.

The purple extravaganza you are seeing is the NOW version, just so we're clear.  OK ?  It's sublime and I love it.  The base is Smitten Polish Beautyberry Gumdrops (coming to a Work Wear Wednesday sooon), with a Different Dimension Whatever gradient, topped off with Konad m57.

And THIS ^^  is what I did 9 months ago.  Same stamp, different base.   For this I used 2 CG Neons - Flirty Tankini and Beach Cruise-r.

For me, the old version is quite ghastly.  The photos are a bit horrific and I don't like the nail shape.

The NOW ones ... aah, now these I love.   This is just 2 polishes that were born to live together.   Side by side, they look dissimilar tones, but sponged together, wow .... the gradient from Bliss.

Also, when you're rocking the shorties, is there ANYTHING that looks cooler than purple leopard print ?  Maybe a hot red mani, but that's about it.  This mani was born for short nails.

The very interesting thing about this mani is how the stamping has smoothed the gradient out :)  True!  I think the pattern takes your eye off the colour change and compensates for it in some way, making it look even awesomer than it is!

I hope you've enjoyed Digit-al Dozen this week.   Personally, I've been a bit shocked to discover half my friends seem to have an unhealthy obsession with frogs lol but ....   

Tri Polish kicks off again next week and I do not have a single mani prepared.  Crapping myself does not even cover it!

Have a great weekend xxx :)

Stripe Week - Purple Sparkly Zebras !!!

Hi Goddesses

I'm back ... I think.  I am so sorry I left you in the lurch for 2 days but my sinuses have well and truly kicked me to the ground this week.  Thankfully, the anti-biotics rode into town on Thursday, so I'm hoping I'm back on the road to normal (well, as normal as a Crumpet gets).

So ... where were we?  Well, halfway through Stripe Week, and this was the post I was due to make on Wednesday night but couldn't.   I wanted Stripe Week to be lots of different things, and one of the first things I thought of was zebra stripes.  However, I didn't want to do any ordinary zebra, nooooooo.  I wanted out of this world zebras !!!

Step forward Cosmic from Claire's Starstruck range, an inspired and oh so perfect gift from the lovely Katee.  Wow, this is an amazing polish.  There's so much depth and glitter and effect going on.  Really dazzling, really gorgeous.

I decided to stamp with silver, to get maximum contrast.  Can you imagine living in a world where these are your zebras??  Ha ha.

I stamped with good ole Barry M and Konad m57.

On Wednesday, I should also have linked up with other British bloggers - go and have a look at them :) and also see what Ashley is up to.

Enjoy xx

Happy Birthday Crumpet !!!!

Hi Goddesses

Well, today is my birthday, and I thought it would be fun to do a little tongue-in-cheek post about ..... Crumpets !!!  And look, I did Crumpet nail art too !!!

So, first of all, what IS a Crumpet?  Well, in England it has 2 meanings - it is either a breakfast food OR the name for a hot tottie :)  Today's post is all about the BREAKFAST variety lol.  This is what a Crumpet looks like - 

It's basically a round thick lump of loveliness that you put in the toaster.  It has a semi-thick / chewy consistency - imagine a really thick pancake.  I prefer to toast them twice - this way the outside gets really hard and I just find it has a better texture all round.

Most people just put butter on theirs.  I also use marmite.  Butter and sugar can be quite nice.  Butter and jam, or lemon curd.   Oh, and if you're patient, you can even make the equivalent of eggy bread with them.   

Personally, I think the best UK brand is Warburtons - nothing else compares; they have the texture PERFECTED !!!

Ok .... on to the mani!  Lol, this actually took a lot of care and attention, especially for me, so I'm going to show how much effort I put into this !!!

1.  base coat then 2 coats of OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh ?

2.  this didn't quite give a pale enough base so I layered it with 1 coat of Nails Inc Colville Mews, a milky jelly

3.  I then used my Konad m57 leopard print stamp and stamped twice, not one over the other, but across, so that you could see both colours.  I used CG Desert Sun and OPI Wooden Shoe Like To Know

4.  I then used CG Call of the Wild to add some random darker patches, very irregularly, and then I did frames using the same polish, as the rim of a Crumpet always gets nicely burnt mmmmmm

5.  When THAT was dry, I made my butter.  This was done using 5 parts clear polish, 2 parts Colville Mews and 1 part CG Lemon Fizz.  And I added it sloppily, like real butter

See, for me that's a helluva lotta work !!!  I love how the butter glaze is uneven, just like real butter.

I hope you can tell it's a buttered Crumpet, Beth really wasn't so sure!

Lol, enjoy xx :)