MSMD - Britishness

Hi Goddesses

You join me in a very emotional state today.  I shed bucketloads of tears last night at the Olympic Closing Ceremony, and I was soooooo proud of the show we put on.

I've never really worn my Britishness very loud and proud - I am of part-Polish descent, so I've always seen myself as a child of the world, and to be honest, Britain has never been my nirvana; for the most part it's miserable, cynical and joy-sapping, the very opposite of the things I stand for.  But I have to say, the Olympics have changed that - unashamed joy, gaiety and abandon, and national pride of the very best kind.  Just amazing, and special .... and emotional.   

I'm not going to go into the Closing Ceremony itself, because I'm going to pay tribute to that later in the week, but today, for MSMD, I wanted to celebrate Britishness.  It's a feeling that's been creeping up on me since the Olympics started, and it was the insipration for the launch of the British Nail Bloggers weekly round-up yesterday - let's be proud, and let's celebrate.

So how does that bring us to MSMD?  Well, MSMD was always about inspiration, not just from other people's manicures, but also from the patterns, designs and motifs that surround us, and for the last month, this is what my dotting tools and brushes have been sat in -

It's a metal box that housed some patriotic make-up freebie, but I loved the grafitti effect of the Union Jack.   As I say, it's been staring at me for a couple of weeks, and after all the glorious representations of the flag last night, I thought it made perfect sense to recreate this on my nails today.

I used 1 coat of Zoya Song, an amazing blue I'll feature soon - seriously, opaque in one coat.  I then splattered with OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and then finally, tried to do some scruffy lines with an Art Deco striper in red.

Overall, I love them.  I prefer the thumb, index and middle, purely because they're messier as the splatter worked better - but look, not a bad match for the tub :)

Enjoy, and wherever you are, I hoped you loved the Greatest Show on Earth, and that you take a moment today to praise those who inspire YOU xx :)

Monkey See Monkey Do Monday - Polka Dots

Hi Goddesses

On the nail art scale, polka dots are relatively easy.  So why don't I do them more often ?  Well, because some of the best patterns are more geometric, and we all know I am not good at keeping to a pattern!

However, last week, I saw this on the blog of one of my nail idols, Fingers Polish Mania -

- and as she featured my favourite colour (and one I have been neglecting too much of late, i.e. purple) the die was set :)

I did mine slightly differently, as you would expect.   I started off with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls which is the weiiiiiiiirdest polish ever.  Why?  Well because in the bottle, it's off-white, a really weird paper / marshmallow colour, and yet it goes on to the nail perfectly white.  Weird.   Really weird.

I then chose these polishes for my dots - I wanted them to be tonally similar, but sufficiently different - Barry M Berry Ice Cream, Barry M Bright Pink (that's the pink ice cream looking one), Barry M Shocking Pink and Max Factor Purple Haze.

I used a variety of dotting tools to get my effect, starting with the bigger dots, and then randomly filling in little dots at the end.

Overall, I likey, but I wonder if I missed a trick by not overlapping some of them like Fingers did.   I also did a blue version which I'll show you soon.

So how was your Monday ??  Enjoy xx :) and don't forget to check out the other amazing monkeys :)

Missy @ Gnarly Gnails - http://gnarlygnails.blogspot.com

Melissa - http://www.misadventuresofawannabemartha.com/

Laurie - http://dressedupdigits.blogspot.com/

Layka- http://www.kawaiinize.es

Elizabeth http://nailpolishismycrack.blogspot.com/

Kristin http://www.manicuredmonkey.com

Erin http://erinsbeautybumbles.blogspot.com

Nayade at Toxic Vanity - http://www.toxicvanity.com

Jenn at Polish Crazed http://www.polishcrazed.blogspot.ca/

Jen http://jenspaintedtips.blogspot.com/

Amber www.amberdidit.com

Cristina http://theclockwisenailpolish.blogspot.pt/

Kirsten - http://geekyowl.blogspot.com/

Alyssa at Fancy Phalanges - http://fancyphalanges.blogspot.com/

Ashley http://followtheyellowpolishroad.blogspot.com/

Amber http://nevernakednails.blogspot.com

Emily Esqueleta: http://macabremanicures.blogspot.com/

Misha @ Enigmatic Rambles: www.enigmatic-rambles.blogspot.com

Carrie @ LeSamowen:Life, Love, and Nail Polish: http://lesamowen.blogspot.com/

Basia (or Bazzia) @ polish my mind: http://polishmymind.blogspot.com/

Helena: www.nailwish.blogspot.com

Ana Cris: http://www.estacerradaladrogueria.blogspot.com.es/

Kim @ www.apolishedaddiction.blogspot.com

Emma http://manicurity.blogspot.com/

arlene @ : http://euzefelus27-nailart.blogspot.com

Gwenn: http://www.sugar-nails.com

Ney "Neivys": http://maquiclubgirl.blogspot.com/

Ana at cherrys Sweets http://cherriessweets.blogspot.com.es

Isabel - Little Fairy: http://isaspinods.blogspot.com/

Stella - My Wet Nails: http://mywetnails.blogspot.com

Michelle-Lacquer Or Leave Her!: http://lacquerorleaveher.blogspot.com

Sheila: http://pointlesscafe.com/

Angie: http://ourpaintedworld.wordpress.com

Veronica http://gorgeois.blogspot.com

Angi @ Angelina´s Nails & More www.angelinaswelt.blogspot.de/

Susy @ http://susyincolor.com

Dina @ http://secretarysnailart.blogspot.no

Candace @ http://lifeakandistar.blogspot.ca

Emily @ http://emily-nailtales.blogspot.com

Sandy-http://beachingnails.blogspot.com/

Courtney - http://www.cute-iclechronicles.com/

Rin- http://www.rinsnailfiles.com/

Bee - http://www.beepolished.blogspot.com/

MSMD - Dotted Lines - Kayla's Tribute

Hi Goddesses

This may be my last MSMD for a little while (as I think the Summer Challenge may take a lot of my time, PLUS I've managed to get involved in 2 other week long challenges - I know, I'm nuts; but I will try to post if I can) so I thought I had better go out with a bang and do a mani I have yearned for since I first saw it on Kayla Shevonne here - 

There was something about the pattern that was so cool, but also so .... simple.  Even a Crumpet could do that, I thought.    And I've promptly forgotten about it ever since :/

So here's my version, slightly different, because I am in full on bold summer mode, even if the rest of rainy England is not.  I used 

* 2 coats of Bettina Purple for the base

* OPI Steady As She Rose for the lines

* Zoya Moxie for the dots

Firstly, I have been trying to be a better Crumpet, and I used my new nail art brushes for my stripey lines.  They're not as good as Kayla's, for sure, but they are way better than a Crumpet has ever done before.

Also, Moxie, love ya, but why have you turned red in this mani?   She obviously didn't like sitting on top of Rose cos she got all huffy and took her fab fuchsia loveliness away, so the colour combo isn't *quite* what I envisaged, but I like it anyway.

I decided to mix the direction of the lines, just for fun, and next time, I might even criss-cross them on the same nail.  I just love that this is simple, but looks cool, retro and elegant (when Kayla does it).  See, that's the secret of a grand design, it even looks ok when a Crumpet gives it a go!

Enjoy, and I will do my best to post a few MSMDs before the  end of the summer :)   xxxx