My Favourite Crumpet Posts of 2012

Hi Goddesses

So today we turn to my final wrap up of the Year.  For posterity as much as anything, I wanted to feature what had been my highlights of the Crumpet year.  There will also be a companion post about what I've learnt this year - wow, it's hard trying to keep that one to just 10!

So, here are the manis that made me smile :)  They are in chronological order so that we can check whether I *did* get better :)

Purple Rainbows - 126 views.  2nd Jan 2012

Aw, I so loved this mani!  I was really proud of it and thought it was so creative.  I was gutted when it didn't get more views.

Zoya Sooki Dances The Polka - 177 views - 10 Jan 2012

Aw I loved this so hard.  The perfect red, and then a perfect black and white glitter combo.  When I did this, I thought it was the best mani I had done up to that point.

The Ultimate Purple Holo Comparison - 721 views - 23rd Jan 2012

Lol - at the time I did this post, I owned 14 purple holos!!  14 !!  Who the hell needs 14!! lol.  Epic.

Sponged Lilac Jigsaw - 275 views - 4th Feb 2012

This was the first thing I learnt from the wonderful Sarah at Spellbinding Nails - how to stamp on a sponged base.  It just somehow adds more magic, and this is still her favourite mani of mine :)

Spring Challenge - Blossom Trees - 117 views - 16th Feb 2012

The mani that Beth did!!  Altogether now, aw !!!  Sadly, her interest in polish has waned a bit over the year, but I think she did a cracking job here :)

Spring Challenge - Bulb to a Flower - 69 views - 13th Mar 2012

Beth did this one too and I think she did a CRACKING job, certainly way better than I could have done, bless her little cottons.  

Spring Challenge - Ducks - 131 views - 20th Mar 2012

Ok, this mani made me smile at the time.  I thought the little duck fella was really cute.  Now, I look at it and want to scream "Clean up in aisle 9 please, STAT!"  

Spring Challenge - Butterflies - 210 views - 24th Mar 2012

I was, and am, so proud of these nails.  Proud of how well they turned out, and my nail art skillz, and also proud of the inspired choice to do this mani with a duochrome.  

Easter Bunny - 120 views - 31st Mar 2012

Cute !!  Fluffy tail!  Fluffy !!!

Spring Challenge - Maundy Thursday - 148 views - 5th April 2012

Maundy Thursday is the day The Queen gives out Maundy money to specially chosen people in the UK.  I was so proud that I stamped with a coin for this, and then so gutted that no one seemed to care.  Yes, I am sobbing.

Teal-tastic - 430 views - 6th April 2012

It's a standing joke that I hate teal, so when I did a guest mani for the teal-obsessed Missy from Gnarly Gnails, there was really only one way to go.  Again, super proud, and I thought I'd hit on a mani style that would sweep the world. So I did one for every day that week, in different shades every day.  The green one got 65 views.  Bah.

Petrol Leopardy Thing - 137 views - 15 April 2012

Bettina gradient magic, I almost couldn't stamp over this and had to be bullied into it. Glad they did - I still love this :)

Marvel Hero - The Hulk - 224 views - 14th June 2012

I was VERY proud of this mani.  I really liked it, especially the fact that I limited it to 4 colours.  

Scarlet Mermaids - 133 views - 17th June 

I LOVED these.  I was deep into my Recycled Nails habit here, but I loved everything about the construction of this mani.

DC Comics Hero(ine) - Wonder Woman - 635 views - 21 June 2012

One of my finest mani moments.   LOVED this.

Summer Challenge - Day At The Zoo - 196 views - 25th July 2012

Oh wow I loved this mani.  Still do.  I smile every time I see it, especially the nellyphant tail lol.

Summer Splatter - 96 views - 1 Aug 2012

Not even a 100 views.  Oh wow, this was such a happy mani.  This is a fight all the boo hoos off mani!

MSMD - Britishness - 349 views - 13 Aug 2012

I really loved this splatter / abstract Union Jack, based on the design on a box in my nail room.

Summer Challenge - Fruit Salad - 444 views - 18 Aug 2012

Agh, I loved this.  Rather than make the fruit coloured, I made the base coloured.  Happy dance all the way with this mani.

Pulsating Pink n Purple - 175 - 26 Aug 2012

Super simple, not complex, but the colours together?  To die for perfect.

Summer Challenge - Hothouse Flowers - 174 views - 4 Sept 2012

Man this challenge went on forever, but this is one of my favourites.  I love the total garish clash of the colours.  And that stamp from Bundle Monster is just the dogs.

Teal Mani for IC Awareness - 206 views - 8 Sept 2012

For the daisies.

31DC Day 27 Inspired By Artwork - 278 views - 27 Sept 2012

I loved the bold brightness of this mani.  It took a little while to do, yet somehow looks so simple.

The Sat-ART-Day Club 1950s - 244 views - 13 Oct 2012

I would love to wear 1950s fashion all day, and I would totally have worn the dress in this mani!  

Depression Awareness - Blackness Descending - 330 views - 16 Oct 2012

I am very proud of the posts I have done on depression on this blog, and more touched than you can imagine that they seem to have had a positive impact on so many of you.  This matte gradient was my favourite.

Go Pink Wednesday - Flowers - 165 views 24 Oct 2012

Simple, but oh so cheerful.

Autumn Fishbraid - 345 views - 30 Oct 2012

I was so happy with how this turned out, because I had been so nervous about whether I could pull it off.  Now I know I can, I love them.  So simple and effective.  And somehow, the colour blend here is just perfection.

30 Days of Purple !!!

My favourite challenge EVER.  I loved doing it so much.  It was also really liberating as I had no rules, or structure or plan.  I just played with my purple polishes.  The Contrary Polish Purple Smoke Fishbraid is probably my favourite, closely followed by the splatter - look, I did you a collage!

Graphic Equalizer - 331 views - 5 Nov 2012

This was a really popular post, and had more reaction on my Facebook page than most posts I do.  I think you loved the simplicity of it, and so did I :)

ABBA - 283 views - 7 Nov 2012

Well I thought it was bloody genius :p  :) x

Snowfall - 300 views - 10 Dec 2012

I just love the delicacy of this gradient.  I find it really soothing.

Abstract Christmas Wreath - 220 views - 11 Dec 2012

Red, green and gold, it just never gets old :)  Fabulous colour jumble.

And there you have it.  What a year!  I hope the above reminded you of some of your favourites, but most of all, I want it to be a reminder to you of how much you CAN improve in one year (or less!) and that just because some of your manis may be sucky now, doesn't mean they'll be sucky forever :)

Here's to a fabulous 2013 everyone - love xx :)

Top 10 Most Viewed Nail Art Posts 2012

Hi Goddesses

Yesterday we counted down the most read swatch posts on The Crumpet, and today, we're going to look at the most popular nail art posts.

It's a real sadness that the nail art posts don't match the swatches in terms of views, but then nail art is a funny thing, and so personal - what one person likes, another might dislike.  It's a constant source of amusement / gggrrr to me how I can be really proud of a post and it gets very few views, OR I do a post that I don't consider special in any way at all, and it gets a lot of traffic.  Oh well ha ha.

Ok, here's our Top 10 - remember, these are the ones you looked at the most, NOT necessarily my favourites, or the ones I'm proudest of. 

10th equal - Fruit Salad - 439 views 

This was for the summer challenge and actually, I WAS really proud of this one.  The base is the first "splodgerama" base I did (tutorial incoming) and the stamping worked perfectly on top of it.

10th equal - Fish Eggs! -  439 views

I resisted this type of mani for the longest time, but then decided I should really buy some nail art accessories.  I found this amazing mix of caviar on ebay, and that's how the mani was born.  Originally, it was only going to be one accent nail, but the colours of the caviar then inspired the swirls n whirls.

9 - Mr Men - 461 views

Ah, I was proud of this one.  Some real art and I tried really really hard!  

8 - Purple Birthday Ruffle - 502 views

Ah yes, still a big fan of this one.  The ruffle is so easy to do!  It originally came from Chalkboard Nails, and it's a great easy to do / at a loss / what shall I do type of mani.

7 - Happy Birthday Crumpet!  579 views

I was really proud of these nails.  I thought it was an INGENIOUS idea to do Crumpet nail art on my birthday lol, but I don't think many people "got it".  I am sure the number of views is more to do with Happy Birthday than with the nail art!

6 - Acid Wash - 579 views

I think I expected this to be a lot more popular than it was. Jamie from Nails Adored had done one shortly before and it lit pinterest up like a fuse.  Mine ?  A squib ...

5 - Olympic Outfits - 580 views

Now, I don't think this one has anything to do with the nail art.  One day this got about 200 views, and the traffic source was a Google search for "hideous Olympic outfits", a photo of which was in this post.  Ha.

4 - DC Comics Superhero - 625 views

This came from a Challenge of Heroes and Villains I did in the summer.  I really struggled with it, as I'm not *that* sort of geek, but I really do think it pushed my art forward, and I'm really glad I took part.  It's also possibly my favourite nail art of the year.  LOVED this mani.  Soooo proud of myself lol.

3 - DRK-A plate - 625 views

I have nooooo idea why this post is so popular.  The mani itself is unexceptional.  It might be because people were obsessed with this plate when it came out, and were anxious for any glimpses of it.  Who knows.

So, we reach the final 2.  Interestingly, these are the only 2 manis that got as many views as swatch posts :(

2nd - Olympic Torch - 819 views

This was my opening mani for the Summer Challenge.  I was so proud of myself when I did it as I put a lot more time and effort in than usual, AND I used a big girl nail art brush lol.  I still like it, mainly for the flames echoing the Olympic colours.

and DUM DUM DUM, the most viewed art post is ... well, I'm surprised lol ...

1 - Disney Hero - 1038 views

This was a collage of Disney Princess dresses - ah.  Lol.   It's quite nice, quite cute.  What's weird, is that I don't ever remember seeing this post being popular in my stats, so maybe it's grown little by little - maybe it's The Shawshank Redemption of nail art posts lol.  I certainly don't think it's my best art work of the year.

It's quite "funny" to me that other than the Ruffle, there is nothing in this Top 10 that is a technique eg a gradient, tape mani, splatter etc.  I wonder why that is ?

And which of your favourite posts is missing ?

Enjoy xx :)

Best of 2012 - Polishes of the Year, Part 2 aka the Indies !!

HI Goddesses

So here we have the 2nd half of my favourite polishes of the year - the indie half :)  I have to admit, I bought WAAAAY more indies than mainstreams this year, but in the end, this wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, mainly because I duped myself a lot and recycled a lot of them through my blog sale.

First of all, you're not going to see 2 very important polishes in this post, and I want to explain why.   For me, no other polish had the impact that Floam had in 2012.  To say everyone went shitnuts for it is an understatement.  It was created by Amy, but is now licensed to Ninja Polish who have made some awesome variations.  Why is it so important ?   Because, in the immortal words of Phoebe Buffay, "what the hell is this crap?"  Lol, and I mean that affectionately.  A matte glitter ?  Glitter that does NOT shine ?  Seriously ?  Yup, seriously.  And once Floam was unleashed, everyone started experimenting with matte glitter, and I do believe our polish choices are all the better for it.

Why isn't it on my list ?  Because it took me 48 minutes to take it off.  Maybe in these PVA times I should reconsider, but ... scarred me, it did.

The 2nd polish you won't see in this list is the white polish with coloured glitter.  A trend started by Pretty and Polished's Jawbreaker, and perhaps most popularised by KBShimmer Oh Splat, EVERYONE released a white glittery polish this year.  I think they look great .... as long as they're not on me.

And then the final caveat - as I mentioned in my Fave Indie Polish Maker post, I've bought so many bloomin' indies that I haven't been able to try them all.  That means that in this post, you won't see Nail Pattern Boldness, Nail'd It, Shimmer, or any of the other fabulous brands.  I will wear them soon, but for now I can only stroke them in the bottle. 


Ok, is ya ready and does you have popcorn, cos this is going to be fun !!!!

10 - Enkelini - Lainey Lou

An orange holo you say ?  What's that, a PERFECT orange holo ??  Oh yes, oh yes.  This is an absolute belter.  Just wow in every way.

9 -  Crows Toes - Morticia

Ah I love this, it could have been made for me!  The only thing that stops me loving it more is that other than the obvious red, black, white, silver / grey, I get stuck on what to layer these red / black / silver glitterbombs over.  Maybe I just need to go mental !!

8 - Rainbow Honey - Hoof Wrassle

I was so excited when I placed my first Rainbow Honey order, and in the end, this was the only one that really grabbed me (that I tried, there's er still some on Mount Vesuvius in the corner).   This is a fabulously deep and murky shade of orange, and it's the colour more than the glitter that wins me over.

7 - Ninja Polish - Caribbean Reef

Ninja Polish, as well as being a fab stockist, started making their own polishes this year, and this aquatic stunner was my favourite.   It's like diamonds in the Bahamas.

6 - KBShimmer - No Whine Left

There were almost more KBShimmers in this Top 10, and to be fair, I loved Don't Teal Anyone just as much.  So you get both photos, cos I'm good like that.

5 - Glimmer by Erica - Drizzt

No, not Muy Caliente as many of you will have expected, but this, the perfect purple, red and black glitterbomb.  Truly breathtaking.   I wore this as my birthday mani.

4 - Crows Toes - Hell Hath No Fury

The only indie to get 2 polishes in my Top 10, the Crows Toes Halloween collection was twisted and transcendent.  This orange and purple outrage was my garish favourite - I'm going to have a lot of fun with this in the summer.  Hot hot hot.

3 - Contrary Polish - Purple Smoke

I can see me wearing this polish out.  Basically, this is Zoya Kelly, but better, and it's also pretty much the colour of Bluebelle :)   I was reluctant to buy more of her polishes as they were *just* cremes, but now I wish I'd bought them all.  Just look at that shimmer!

2 - Whimsical Ideas by Pam - Seuss

I still remember seeing this for the first time and how it took my breath away.  This was going to be the winner til I realised another polish was NOT released last year lol.  Super bright, cheeky, cheerful, childish - wow, so playful, so wonderful.

Dollish Polish - Random Dancing

It's glitter, and it's squares !!!  Square glitter !!  I bought this polish in the Spring, but thought it was one of Dolly's older polishes.  I was delighted when she told me it had been released this year, because frankly, there's no polish that makes me happier.

In a year when I bought too many indies, especially glitter toppers, this is one of the few / none that I have worn more than once, AND I have back-ups.  Plural.

This polish makes me happy, and at the end of the day, that's exactly what I need my polish to do.  Thank you Dolly :)

Enjoy xx :)