Digit-al Dozen DOES Monochrome - Pink Mosaic

Hi Goddesses

How are you?   I know it's Monday, but it's DD Week:)  This week's theme is monochrome, which was harder than it sounded.  Also, we have an amazing Giveaway - be sure to check it out.

So, I start the week with pink.  I was going for a mosaic design, but I think I *may* have accidentally ended up with a zebra lol.

My polishes are -
* OPI Steady As She Rose
* OPI Sparrow Me The Drama
* Layla Soft Touch Neon Pink
* ILNP A Few Shah (holo)
* Elevation Polish Ave Secretan

I did this mosaic differently to how I've done others, and as long as your base colour allows it, I'd say this is easier.  Previously, I've drawn black lines on my nail and then coloured them in.  This time, I painted my nail the palest colour, and then added random shapes on top - no lines.

I really love the simplicity of this - the colours also work beautifully together.

And finally ... I promised you Baby Crumpet would be more involved this year.  Well, her first contribution is Editorial, and this week, she will be giving her opinions on my nail art.  So, what did you think Boo Boo?

Lol, don't forget the Giveaway, and don't forget the other awesome ladies of the DD xx

GOT Polish Challenge - Pink

Hi Goddesses

And welcome to the first ever GOT Polish Challenge!  

For those of you who don’t know, GOT Polish stands for Golden Oldie Thursdays.  Each week we have a theme, and the only requirement of the challenge is that the polishes you use must be at least a year old (or as old as you have).  Hopefully this way we’ll all get to reuse those lovely polishes that just gather dust on the shelf!

This week’s theme is Pink, and I have chosen 3 OPI polishes – Steady As She Rose, Koala Bear-y and Kiss Me On My Tulips.

SASR is a lovely subtle pink, barely there, and I really don’t use this enough.  My skin tone isn’t quite right to be able to wear this on its own, but it’s a gorgeous polish.

I then did a gradient using SASR and Koala Bear-y, and finally added polka dots using Tulips.  I love this design – I’ve done it previously, and whatever colours you use, it always looks fresh and effective.  

Finally, I added a coat of OPI Matte top coat to reduce the glare.

Please see below for all the other ladies who have joined in, and if you feel like joining us each Thursday, or even some Thursdays, click HERE to join the Crumpet Nail Tarts.

Digit-al Dozen DOES Book Week - Wibbly Pig

Hi Goddesses

After yesterday's Kipper mani, today pays homage to another Mick Inkpen character - Wibbly Pig.

 Everyone Hide From Wibbly Pig was probably Beth's first "favourite" book.   The entire family hide, and Wibbly Pig has to find them.  Are they behind the curtains ?  Beth lifts curtain flap ..... Doh.

Are they behind the sofa?   Beth pulls down sofa flap and shakes head.  Doh.    Maybe in the shower?  Doh.

The best bit would be when she got to the final page and she knew exactly where to find her piggy and she would get more and more excited until with barely controlled glee she would exclaim "Dare he is!"

As an illustrator, Mick Inkpen is just incredible.  Every book he has created is heart-warming, and I can't thank him enough for giving Beth such an exciting introduction to books.

This mani was brought to you by w7 white, OPI Sparrow Me The Drama and Steady As She Rose and some acrylic paints.

Enjoy xx :)

Go Pink Wednesday - Reciprocal Gradient

Hi Goddesses

Today is the final mani for Go Pink Wednesday - I hope you've been checking out the thumbnails every week, there are some seriously fabulous ladies involved.

A little earlier in the week, I mentioned a new blog I had fallen in love with - Globe and Nail.   A couple of weeks ago she had an awesome gradient mani where she added tape and then reversed the gradient - fancy, eh ?

So here is my mani, in 2 halves.  I did a normal gradient, which I wore all day before I then added the reciprocal element.  Let's look at the basic gradient first.

This was a gradient of OPI Steady As She Rose and Sparrow Me The Drama, with an added top coat of Northern Lights.  There was just something twinkly perfect about this - so girlie and pretty!

I then added tape, and did an opposing gradient.  I used thicker tape than Emma did, because well, I'm not delicate, but I still like how it came out.  I love how it's almost an illusion, and quite hard to see exactly where the colours collide.

I think next time I'd like to do this with a bolder colour scheme - it's VERY fancy.  Go Emma !

Enjoy xx :)

Go Pink Wednesday - Saran Wrap

Hi Goddesses

Today's post is a simple look, and one that I was going to take a bit further, but I was so ill at the weekend, I literally could not be bothered.  So, apologies!

This is a saran wrap mani using 2 very contrasting shades of pink - anyone else think the finished product looks like one of those yoghurts where you mix the fruit in yourself ?  Lol.

This is a base of 2 coats of China Glaze Traffic Jam, a fabulously intense fuschia.

For those of you who haven't done a saran wrap before, I'm going to take the next steps slowly - 

1.  Once the polish is dry, the important thing now is that we are only doing 1 nail at a time.  It is vital you do this while the polish is wet, so you can't paint the whole hand.  1 nail at a time !!

2.  I then layered 1 thick coat of OPI Steady As She Rose on top of my DRY thumbnail.  Thick and sloppy.

3.  You then need something to "dab" with.   Choices I've seen used are - a roughly scrunched up bit of paper, wadded tissue, some scrunched up saran wrap (hence the name) or (and this is what I used) some scrunched up bubble wrap from that day's nail mail lol!

4.  You then need to quickly and roughly dab at your wet polish.  As you do so, it lifts up in random patches, exposing the colour underneath.

5.  Be aware of The Tipping Point.  There is a point in this process where 1 more dab is a dab too far!  Keep an eye on what you're doing.

6.  Gone too far?  I thought I had too much Traffic Jam showing on one nail, so I just added another thick stripe of SASR and dabbed a teeny bit more and  - bingo!

7.  top coat = smooooooth and lush

I really love these manis.  They are so simple and they are perfect for "splodgers" like me.  I love the texture they create too - they look like woolly fluffy clouds!

Enjoy xx :)