Green Mosaic

Hi Goddesses

I really do hope you're enjoying these mosaics as much as I am.  They're so easy to do, and so striking.   Now, whisper this, but the green one may be my favourite of all!

There's just "something" about the colour combination here that works like a dream, it's that congruence I was talking about before.

For this mani I used - 

* base of OPI Stranger Tides

* Color Club green foil - Perfect Mol-ten

* a-England Dragon - the holo

* CG Glittering Garland

* Orly Ancient Jade
* Sinful Colors Green Ocean

Don't they look beautiful together ?   I also mixed up the style of patterns a little, and I'm liking that too, especially that sliver on the middle finger.

Now, here's a lesson in congruence.  Remember I said to start with your darkest shade ?  Well, doing this really helps you get the build right.  I was down to the last 2 polishes and I really REALLY wanted to use Barry M Lime Green - but it became obvious that it wouldn't work.

Here's a little swatch I did at my desk - see how the lime green is just totally the wrong tone for the other colours ?   So, that was a disaster narrowly avoided.  I also couldn't decide whether the Orly was a good idea, and again, the napkin helped prove it was (it's the one on the right).

So which is your favourite mosaic so far ?






Have a great weekend, and enjoy xx  :)

Spring Challenge - Easter Egg Hunt

Hi Goddesses  

We're getting near the end of the Spring Challenge now.  Just another week or so to go, and then what will I do lol.   Luckily, the Summer Challenge is all written and looks very manilicious, so that's the next few months taken care of :)

Easter Egg Hunt.  It seemed so simple when I imagined it, but I've had a really hard job visualising it, and it didn't turn out exactly how I wanted.   Also, it took a SHITLOAD of polishes. Now, the nail room and nail desk is messy enough without needing a gazillion polishes to do just 1 manicure - :(

The sky is Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream which is ALWAYS my go to sky colour.    The greenery came from CG Glittering Garland, Barry M Lime Green and Revlon Toad (lol I LOVE that name).

The Easter Eggs were CG Lemon Fizz, OPI Planks A Lot, and there was some CG For Audrey for the patterns.  I then mixed SH White On with Planks for a lilac, and also added it to Nails Inc Malibu Cosmo for the pink eggs.

The collecting bucket is Malibu Cosmo au naturel :)  Finally, some of the fingers have "grass"  (read: fail) with Orly Ancient Jade.

Finally, here's a shot of them before I "hid" them :)

I'm a bit disappointed with this one - it could have been much cooler - but if I'm honest, I'm a bit psyched that I'm nearly at the end :)

Enjoy :) xxx

Spring Challenge - Spring Splatter

Hi Goddesses  

Happppppppppppy Weekend!   I have had the week from hell, so I am planning a whole weekend of relaxation, food, films and polish :)  I have been a seriously bad Crumpet this month, which is bad for the bank balance but AMAZING for the haul post (soon) and play time :)

Anyways, back to the splatter, Crumpet!  Soz.  Yes, so I LOVE splatters.  Love them, love them, love them.  They fit into my "perfect" category of "structured mess".  You can't go wrong with them really, and even if you do, there's so many way to fix them.

I decided to heed the master on this one.  I was going to just pick 5 pastels, and basically do the same on every nail, but I remembered Sarah from Chalkboard Nails stating that a splatter works better when you use black or white in it (creating greater contrast).  And lo, an idea was born ....

So the nails all have a base of a pastel colour, a splatter of white, and then a splatter of the darker version of the pastel, which I think is kinda neat.  The white was my staple, SH White On.  Here are the other colour combos -

thumb = OPI Sparrow Me The Drama, and CG It's Poppin', which has a little bit of shimmer in it which looked awesome in the splatter

index = SH Lacey Lilac and OPI Planks A Lot

middle = Barry M Blue Moon and Orly Snow Cone

ring = OPI Stranger Tides and Orly Ancient Jade

pinkie = CG Lemon Fizz and OPI The "It" Color

Now, I know I'm biased, but I LOVE how this turned out.  It's so happy and colourful, and just, ah, I just LOVE IT.

So, let's talk technique.   Usually, I take the polish brush and swoosh it inside the straw before I blow.  However, lately, I've found this creates a splatter that's too big, especially as I can't find thin straws in England.   This time, I again listened to the Chalkboard, and dipped the straw INTO the polish bottle.   Now, this DID create better splatter, but oh man, I made myself really messy.   Next time, I'm going to try an old Bic pen, as the hole is narrower.

So, what do you do when you splat too much ?  Well, I took one of my cheap eyeshadow applicators that I use for sponging, and sponged IN some of the excess, to make it look more mushy.  I also used a tissue to soak UP some of the excess, and again, it didn't matter that the tissue pressed into the polish, because the effect you are creating is so random.

I love splatters.  Love them.  Yes you make a bit of a mess, but every single one has some wow factor to it.

I can't wait to see what the other girls on the Challenge come up with today - it should be a very pretty day :)

Enjoy xx :)

Spring Challenge - Pastel Patchwork

Hi Goddesses

I was soooooo looking forward to this mani, and aarrrgghhh how I disappointed myself at the final hurdle!

I was really looking forward to this one, as I have never braved a patchwork mani, and the ones that I like, ROCK.  Then I saw an amazing pastel version, and that was what I decided to do.   And that, Dear Reader, is not what I ended up with!  Grrrrrrrrr.

So, technical stuff first, the nail bases are -

thumb - Color Club Sheer Disguise

index - Essie Cocktail Bling

Middle - CG Pelican Gray

ring - CG Light As Air

pinkie - CG Kinetic Candy

And the patchwork was done with a white stripe and OPI Sparrow Me The Drama, CG Lemon Fizz, Orly Ancient Jade and Orly Snowcone, all of which I applied with a thin nail art brush.   I mapped out my sections with the white striper, applied about 3 coats of colour, and then redid my white lines for emphasis.

And this is where it all went wrong.  The thing that makes patchwork manis cute is those lovely little cross lines on the long lines - do you know what I mean ?    Sort of like this - ---++------.    And because of how I'd done my pattern, I couldn't work out where to do those cute little lines.

I am also disturbed at how these seem to look like the Picasa logo - not intentional, but highly amusing seeing as the icon sits on my toolbar all day!

From a distance, I actually really like these, I just also hate them because they don't look like a patchwork.  Maybe I should retitle the post Pastel Aztec, then I'd win both ways :)

Enjoy xxx :)