Stamping Sunday - Gothic Nails !

Hi Goddesses and especially Emily

Today's Adventures In Stamping theme is one our dear friend Emily has been waiting for for the longest time - Goth!   Any mani with a bat or a skull, and Emily's there, and she was gutted a couple of weeks ago when Goth was the narrow loser.

So, with Goth now being the winner, all week we've been picking Emily's bat-winged brain to find out what a stamping-loving Goth would wear :)

I knew black would be in there somewhere, and skulls was the only image plate I could think of to use.  It was also quite a late decision to add in some blood (who, meeeee) and well ... this did not end up how I intended, but in a good way I think.

I was actually extremely lazy with this and painted the black base on top of ANOTHER mani I had just done in black and white.  I then decided to splatter on some red (SH Right Said Red).   Then one of those lovely accidents.  As I was cleaning up my "blood" I accidentally rubbed off some of the black, revealing part of the black and white underwear.  

And an idea was born.   I kept washing some of the layers away to create a 3-coloured dappled effect.   What I liked (but didn't expect) was that because the base was black with a white pattern, rubbing away the black top coat only revealed random patches of white - all the more interesting.

I then stamped using Barry M Silver Foil and Mash29 and .... yes, it just soooo needed some matte top coat.

Et voila.  It DOES look grungey and dirty .... whether it's a success or not will be decided by one woman.   More than anything though, this reminds me of the Return Of The King, when all the dead kings return to help Viggo Mortensen.  Mmmmm, he was yummy.

Enjoy xx :)

Acid Wash BRIT Nails

Hi Goddesses

I've just done a guest post for Love for Lacquer - here it is xx.

OMG I'm on Jess's page.  This feels like that scene out of Pretty Woman when Julia goes to the opera and "nearly crapped my pants" lol.   

I am Debbie, from The Crumpet.  Mine is a smaller blog, and I call myself a "splodger".  I love writing, and painting nails, but I'm not a master swatcher like Jess (I'm just not that tidy or perfect).  So, for my guest post, I wanted to do something British (with all the Jubilee jubilations going on) and also something that was messily arty (it's my favourite kind, because then no-one can tell if you went wrong!)

I went for Acid Washed Brit Nails.  If you've got an hour to spare, these are really fun nails to do, really easy, and very effective.

To do acid wash nails, you need to build your colour up in layers.   This started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen White On.  Once that's try, you need to top coat it to seal it.  You don't want the acetone we're going to use later to eat through this layer.   You then add layers of whatever colours you choose.  As I wanted to do a British theme, I used SH Right Said Red and then finished off with CG Blue Year's Eve (wow, what a sensational blue).  Do NOT add more top coat at this point.

Once all the layers are dry, you take a cotton bud, dip it in acetone, and then start making patterns on your nails.  The more pressure you apply, the more the acetone will eat through the layers.

I wish I had varied my tools and used a small brush too.  I tried to do a Union Jack on the thumb, but it's a little clumsy - it might have worked better if I'd used something smaller.

I also like to play and so I varied the patterns I was creating - the middle finger is definitely my favourite, and the one I'll be using next time.

Phew, how did I do?  Was I ok ?  

Lots of love, and enjoy :)  xx