31DC - Day 13 - Animal !

Hi Goddesses

I'm quite torn about today's post.  In my head, when Crumpet does an animal mani, I know what I see, and this isn't it.  On the other hand, before I got *suckered* into this challenge, I had been planning to do Animal Week, and I have 5 of those perfect Crumpety animal manis sat waiting to go - and I was determined I wasn't using one of them for today.

So what you've got instead is a freehand tiger pattern I did back on the only day the sun shone this summer, which I was quite proud of til Missy did the tiger mani to rule all tiger manis (HERE).

I felt that too many tiger manis ignored the white element of a tiger's coat, and that's what I really wanted to play up in this one.  I also wanted to show some texture, so 3 oranges went into this, not that I think you can tell!

So this has Zoya Arizona as the lightest orange, CG Life Preserver as the darkest and then a fabulous Flormar (JG453 - is that its name ?) which bears more than a passing resemblance to CG Riveting.

This is a bascically a sponge mani - random orange sponging - then specific white sponging to try and create those stripe free areas.  I then freehanded the stripes with - yup, you've guessed it! - my CG Ink pot.

So there goes.  Laurie's post is fabulous today btw - awesome, epic and all that jazz.

Enjoy xx :)

Summer Challenge Day 34 - Bastille Day

Hi Goddesses

Bonjour, et vive La France!

It's Bastille Day today in France, a day that is as significant as July 4th is for Americans, and as France's colours are also red, white and blue, I went with an idea I'd been toying with for my Independence Day nails.

This is super simple, but still packs a little bit of punch.  Red, white and blue nails, with red, white and blue glitter, making sure you never put the same coloured glitter over the same coloured base.   So, if your nail is blue, it can't have blue glitter on it and so on.

As I did this a few weeks ago and forgot to write the colours down, I'm a little hazy on the base polishes, but I'd bet tonight's Chinese takeaway that it was SH White On SH Right Said Red and CG Blue Year's Eve.

The glitters were Nubar White Polka Dot, LA Girl Glitter Addict in Animate and LA Girl Glitter Addict in Aqueous, which in hindsight was too pale - I think I'd have been better off going for a darker blue than such a bright blue.

Glittered skittles are so easy, and also so summery.  If you're stuck for mani inspiration, pick some brights for your nails and then stick a great glitter on top.   You won't regret it.

Enjoy xx :)

Summer Challenge - Independence Day

Hi Goddesses

And a special Helloooooo to all my American readers and friends - I hope you've all had a great day today.

Behind what I hope you might think is an awesome mani is a tale of hardship and woe.  I did these nails at the end of May, and the technique I used was supposed to be the centrepiece of Celebration 500.  However, with 89 other blog posts to prepare last month, I lost steam, and my "big wow" never made it to the stage.

So today, I'm going to share these nails with you, but try to avoid discussing the technique, and then at the weekend, or next week, I'll do the whole "how to" piece, because how I built these nails is really interesting.  (Well, to me lol, but I would say that because I was ooohing and aaaahing to myself as I did them).

Basically, this mani is 3 layers of polish - SH White On (2 coats + top coat), then a layer of red (almost certainly SH Right Said Fred) and then a layer of blue, which I think is a Rimmel blue called My Denim (which is not deminy at all, but a bright blue).

Once I did the secret jiggery pokery magicalooza, I then stamped over my nails using Konad white, and the star on BM06.   It's the first time I've deliberately stamped off centre, and I really liked how it added to the overall effect.

So yes, colour me chuffed :)  Distressed, shabby, grungey - whatever you want to call them, I like.   I'll try to get the Anatomy of a Mani post up as soon as I can.

Enjoy xx :)

Summer Challenge Day 26 - Euro 2012

Hi Goddesses

So, we're back to the Summer Challenge, and now is the turn of the Euro 2012 Football Championships which have just ended.  

It's one of the many mysteries of my life as to why I decided this particular challenge should happen AFTER the final - surely it would have made more sense before ?  Yes, even I agree with the now-me, so I have no idea what the earlier-me was playing at.

Aaaaanyway, the final was contested between Italy and Spain, 2 fabulous sides who play with flair.  The Spaniards battered the Italians 4-0.   Whoops.

I decided to do my nails half and half for each flag, and decided to go with a sponged gradient.   I used Sally Hansen Right Said Red, CG Starboard and SH White On for the Italian flag.   What was really interesting was that I had planned to do a deep and intense sponging, but when I saw the faded, shabby look of the first layer, I fell in love with it and couldn't bear to make it deeper.

The Spanish flag is missing a teensy bit of detail in the middle, as I wanted a simple, clean look.  This was OPI The It Color for the yellow, and I sponged with Wet n Wild Buy Me A Drink, a deep intense burgundy.

A simple v for "versus" in the middle and voila.  Ready to play ?  Oh, it already finished ?  Oh that's weird.  Well, why is the mani today then ?  I dunno .....

Enjoy xx :)

Summer Challenge Day 10 - Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Hi Goddesses

I write this on our 2nd Bank Holiday of the week in the UK - woooohoooo!

I have to say, there have been some AWESOME Jubilee manis over the weekend, and once again I've been green with envy that so many people have better skills than me gggrrrr.

Anyway, for my Diamond Jubilee nails I wanted to go diamond toned, so I deliberately picked sparkly greys and white and did a diamond version of the Union Jack - you can see it in full on the thumb, and then portions of it on the other fingers.

I started with 2 coats of Giltter Gal Silver Sparkle on each nail, and then used my trusty SH White On and a silver striper from Art Club for the detail.

I did this mani a couple of weeks ago, and it's really made me chuckle this morning, when I've edited the photos, to see me walking all over the house and garden trying to get the sun to shine on the holo!  Elusive English sun lol.

Enjoy xx :) and don't forget to check out the other Purple Crumpet Fairies xxx

Neivys - http://maquiclubgirl.blogspot.com/

Jo @ Northern Nails - http://therockchicksrambles.blogspot.co.uk/

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

Helena - http://nailwish.blogspot.com.es/

Cuti-CLUE-les - http://cuti-clue-les.blogspot.com/

Katee - www.agirlandherpolish.blogspot.com

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

Sarah - http://www.ynails.blogspot.co.uk/

bec - http://lacquerdreams.blogspot.com.au/

Misha - www.enigmatic-rambles.blogspot.com

Sharon - http://whatcolorismycoat.blogspot.com/

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

Laurie http://dressedupdigits.blogspot.com/

Lucie @ Lucy's Stash www.lucysstash.com

Emma @  http://manicurity.blogspot.com/

Caitlin - www.caitlinscreativecorner.blogspot.com

Jane- http://absolutevarnish.blogspot.com/

Amber www.nevernakednails.blogspot.com

Vic @ Glowstars http://glowstars.net

Jackie- http://memasmanis-jackie.blogspot.com/

Rychelle @ Colorsplash Nails- http://colorsplashnails.blogspot.com/

Stella - http://mywetnails.blogspot.com

Missy @ http://missysmanis.blogspot.co.uk/

Kim @ http://apolishedaddiction.blogspot.com/

Christine @ http://lost-in-my-reverie.blogspot.com

Angie @ http://ourpaintedworld.wordpress.com

Bazzia @  http://polishmymind.blogspot.se/

Missy the Manicured Maniac @ http://melissahenderson95.blogspot.com/

Michelle @ http://lacquerorleaveher.blogspot.com/

Nikki @ http://www.lilgreenheart.blogspot.com/

Elizabeth @ http://nailpolishismycrack.blogspot.com/

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

Shayleen @ http://simplyhandyallyear.blogspot.com/ 

Mono Mosaic

Hi Goddesses

So here's the monochromatic one.  It's very 60s, no?

There is a simplicity to this one which is quite appealing.  It's not my favourite, but I do like that it's different.

The polishes this time were -

* base of Zoya Dove (had TOTALLY forgotten how dreamy that was)

* Claire's Galaxy

* Bettina Iron

* Glitter Gal Silver

* a silver metallic by Fearne

* SH White On

I'm not really a black and white girl - I like it in colour, and I like it loud lol, but I can definitely see the appeal of this.  As I said, it's got quite a retro vibe to it.  Maybe it would have looked more awesome with just one tile of red in it ?

By the way, this is also the first one where I redid any of the lines - the paler colours were REALLY unforgiving of any colouring outside the lines.

I have 2 more left to show you - the purple tomorrow - and then the dreamy greeny one.

Enjoy xx  :)

Spring Challenge - Spring Sunrise

Hi Goddesses

Of all the challenges in this challenge, this particular one has prompted a LOT of questions - what's the difference between a spring sunrise and sunset ?  I dunno, I just thought they were 2 cool ideas for gradient manis lol.

Hopefully someone has done what I'm not artistic enough to capture, and tracked the sun rising through the morning sky; for me, spring sunrise was all about pale, limp colours, just before they bloom into life.

Of course, it's quite tricky to see a spring sunrise when you like your sleep as much as a Crumpet, but I love how the sky bleeds from yellow to white to blue with almost no sign of the blending point, and that's what I set out to do ... sort of :)

So this is a Crumpet sunrise - 2 coats of CG Lemon Fizz, an obnoxious and streaky lemon, sponging with SH White On, and sponging and dabbing with CG Electropop Kinetic Energy.

This mani is by no means totally successful, but I do like it. In fact, the further you are away from it, the better it looks.  Hmmmm, did I just insult myself ?   The hardest part was the middle, and this part ended up with white sponging, blue sponging, and then more white on top to tone it back down (sponging's great for that :) ).  I also then filled the corners with Kinetic Blue (which had a lovely thick consistency), and that solidness just grounded the mani a little more.

The part I perhaps love most though, is that after you've finished sponging, it can all look an unholy mess.  Bubbles in the polish, sponge marks, it looks matte cos you've sponged the gloss away ... and then 1 coat of Poshe later - it's a masterpiece!  Lol.  It totally smoothed the bumps away and made the blend so much easier on the eye.

The eagle-eyed amongst you might recognise this as the base of the Insect ... Thingies post earlier in the week - I am totally in love with this as a style for stamping over, it just ROCKS!

Have a great weekend :)




Enjoy xx :)