31 Day Challenge - Black and White

So I've decided to join in on the new 31 Day challenge! So excited! I do my nails pretty much every day anyway, so this challenge shouldn't be too stressy for me.

The first one though? Argh! White looks like death on me. Or it makes me look like death, or something. So a black and white mani kinda' gave me the heebies.

After some thought I decided to cheat a little and add some sparkle to break up the white. And here it is, black, white and some sparkle care of China Glaze "Make a Spectacle".

Happy New Year!

Loved doing this mani! ChG "Liquid Leather" stamped with Color Club Halo Hues "Harp on it". And Messy Mansion image plate MM02

Had the best New Year ever.. dancing around the loungeroom with my 2 little boys as the fireworks went off on TV.  

Christmas Tree mani!

I had 2 goes at this mani to get it right.. the first time around it was OPI basecoat, 2 coats Sinful Colors Envy, followed by a thick coat of Sinful Colors Kissy, then stamped with ChG Passion and dotted with ChG Ruby Pumps.  This chipped like crazy.  The second time around I swapped out the OPI basecoat with ChG "First and Last" and we are now 3 days and going strong... maybe the OPI doesn't like the Sinful Colors!?

Other folks that did the "Christmas Tree Mani" challenge...

A few recent manis

Just a quick post of a few recent manis. I suppose I should put them each in a separate post.. but it's been hectic around here, and no time!

Here's the first one.. I made a little decal from nail varnish for this one.  I was really pleased how it turned out.  I've used XL Plate D, MM03 and a QA plate for this valentine-zy  look.  The base coat is the pink one of the new CC holos.  They are just beautiful!

This next one uses the MM03 plate.  The base coats are from the CG OMG collection.  Much subtler holo but still really beautiful!  My black went a bit gluggy for this one.  :/  Luckily Seche Restore arrived a few days later and I was able to resuscitate the stamping polish!

This is my first New Years Eve mani... the base is CG "Cheers to You". The plate is MM02.

Here's a mani I did to work through the China Glaze Holiday Joy collection.  I really want the Cirque de Soleil collection too, but I have decided to only get that one once I have used all the polishes in the Holiday Joy collection first!  The basecoat here is "Cranberry Splash".  Its a really lovely orange/red colour, more complex in the bottle (and redder) than on the nails. 

Here's the manicure I sported for my husbands Christmas Party.  Used one of the CC holos again for the base.. they are just luminous!    The red is the ubiquitous "Ruby Pumps" by China Glaze, and the plate is MM01.

messing with Holos

So my new holo polish arrived, my very first one!  Of course I had to get it on my nails as quickly as I could.  But then I couldn't take photos of it for days and days!  It was CLOUDY here.  Grr.  Anyway, I finally got a few shots off.. and here they are!

Its China Glaze "QT" from the OMG collection.  I've ordered some more and can't wait for them to arrive.  Can't wait for the Color Club holos to arrive, too.  It will be interesting to compare them.

The image stamping plate is.. you guessed it!  MM02 our very own Messy Mansion New Year Image plate.

The New Year plate has arrived!

All the pre-orders are shipped.  I had all the envelopes addressed already so I just had to stuff the envelopes. :D

I'm so excited about this plate.. hopefully things will calm down and I'll be able to actually get to use it soon!  LOL

It's available here.  $7 AUD, free shipping in Australia, $2 internationally.

Christmas Wreaths from MM01

Having fun with the new MM01 Christmas plate.  Here are a couple of Christmas wreath designs I did with them.

Both of them have dotted red 'bows" done with dotting tools.  So easy!  Such great results!  (Dotting tools are available in the store here.)

China Glaze "cast a spell"sponged with CG winter holly and stamped with CG "passion".  Red dots is "Ruby Pumps".

Base is Essie "good as gold" stamped with special polish black and dotted with CG "ruby pumps".

Kitty Cat nails from the Halloween challenge!

Kitty cat nails… had so much fun with these….  and got to use matte on black too!

Spring has Sprung!

Today’s mani was spring inspired…. used plate M83 and M65

Halloween Challenge - "Trick or Treat!"

I had so much fun doing these!  I used those old-fashioned 'Love heart' lollies for inspiration. :)

Practicing for Christmas...

Soo..  I'm practicing for Christmas.  Loved how these turned out.  I'll have to recreate it sometime closer to the day! 

The only issue with this mani was that the CG Velvet Bow I used as a base colour was really tough to get off.  It kinda' stained my nails, cuticles and hands all kind of reds.   I guess it's OK to have hands that look like something chewed by dead zombie rodents this close to halloween.  :)

Halloween Chinese Takeaway!

Glitter Goblin from China Glaze Halloween set, 2012.  So gorgeous on the nail with all that holo goodness going on... so hard to photograph!!

Mermaid Nails!

Used a lovely topcoat from www.zanynailz.com as the topcoat.  It really made these glow!

Testing out China Glaze Deviantly Daring

I really love how this one stamps!  All of the bohemian collection seem to stamp really well.

This Mani:

• OPI basecoat
• 2 coats Savvy green tea martini
• Stamped with China Glaze Unpredictable
• 1 coat Seche vite

Stamped with Image Plate OB 27

DUPOLOGY:

China Glaze "unpredictable" = Nicole by OPI "Mer-Maid For Each Other" according to the Nail Blog.

Gothic Snow Bride Nails

I have no idea where I got the inspiration for this.. I just knew I had to use my China Glaze Lux and Lush somehow!!!

This mani:

• OPI base coat
• 2 coats OPI "My Boyfriend Scales Walls"
• Stamped with Revlon "Stiletto"
• 1 coat China Glaze Lux and Lush
• 1 coat Seche Vite topcoat

The full nail was stamped using Image Plate M71 and the wiggly gothic line is from Image Plate M62

DUPOLOGY:

Luxe and Lush is a due for Color Club's Covered in Diamonds.  Read more about it at Crystal Visions.