Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Recreate Someone Else's Mani

Hello!

I've done it! I've completed the 31 Day Challenge! ^_^

The final challenge prompt is "Recreate Someone Else's Mani". I picked the simple design from Joyluscious' Day Six post to recreate. She used her toes for this one, which is awesome, but I did my fingers. I've got some things coming up at work this week that I'm not looking forward to, so I wanted to use a bold, strong color to hopefully boost my confidence. I also needed a simple look that would be office appropriate. Normally, I don't need to mind what's on my nails, but this coming week is different. Joyluscious' design fit what I had in mind perfectly.

Copycat Challenge Prompt!

I started with a one-two punch base coat combination of Duri Rejuvacote and Sinful Colors Nail Hardener. I layered on two coats of my favorite bright red creme, Zoya Sooki, after that was dry. Then, I used one coat of Orly Sec n' Dry for the topcoat. I stamped part of the floral design from Konad plate m60 with Konad Special Polish in white. The glitter dots were fished out of my bottle of Candy Lacquer Candy Dots with a toothpick. I sealed everything with a final coat of NYC In a New York Minute.

Hopefully, this mani will get me through the week! Can it be the weekend all over again? At least Game of Thrones is on in a few minutes!

More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Your Favourite Nail Art Technique

Hello!

Today's prompt is "Your Favourite Nail Art Technique". Mine is stamping! But you knew that...

I started with one coat of Duri Rejuvacote, and three coats of Essence Peach & Cream. That was followed with one coat of Essence Space Queen and Seche Vite. Once dry, I used China Glaze Snap My Dragon to stamp the image from Bundle Monster plate BM-206. I finished this look with one coat of NYC In a New York Minute so as to not smudge the design.

Indoors, natural light, no flash.

Stamping today went pretty well. As you can see, I had some issue with the entire image transferring all the way to my nail tip. I learned as I went along and realized this was due to lack of even pressure when rolling the stamper across my nail. My left hand went much better.

More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Inspired By a Blogger

Hi!

Today's prompt is "Inspired By a Blogger". I read a LOT of blogs, but lately, I have been loving what A Girl and Her Polish has been up to. She does some great nail art and wonderful stamping. Her designs are cute and clean. I chose this design as my inspiration.

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I started with a base coat of Seche Clear followed by two coats of OPI Party In My Cabana. I topped that with one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. Once dry, I stamped the floral image from Bundle Monster plate BM-210 with Pure Ice Ice Merlot and topped that with another coat of NYC. I added dots with Cult Nails Vicious using a bobby pin.

Stamping went well today. I did try a different polish for stamping first, so in this macro shot, you can see my mistake (on my pointer finger). That one didn't provide enough contrast in color, so I switched to the Pure Ice. Iced Merlot is a nice polish for stamping, and this design didn't give me any trouble. Yay!

More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Inspired By Your Favourite Colour

Hi!

Today's prompt is "Inspired By Your Favourite Colour". My favorite nail polish color is pink, especially deep, saturated fuchsia-type pinks. Beyond nail polish, I love blues. So I used both as my inspiration for this simple accent nail mani.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, and added two coats of China Glaze Snap My Dragon on all but my ring finger, which got two coats of OPI Russian Navy. I didn't have any sunlight to capture this with, so you can't see the gorgeous pink shimmer in Russian Navy, but trust me, it plays off the pink of Snap My Dragon beautifully. At this point, I felt it needed a little something else, so I grabbed Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing and added one coat to create dual accent nails. A quick coat of Seche Vite, and this was good to go!

More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: A Mani Inspired By Me!

Hello!!

Today's challenge prompt is "Inspired by You". For this challenge I took the little "About Me" blurb, and turned it into a mani!

"I'm just a nerdy girl who loves nail polish. And make-up. And video games. And baking. And quilting. And puppies."

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

My thumb represents the love for polish and make-up because anyone who loves nail polish will be aware of the indie polish trend and be up on the latest and greatest collections. I've used one coat of Candy Lacquer Candy Dots, a well-known indie brand, over two coats of China Glaze Snap My Dragon, the newest from China Glaze. 

My pointer finger gave me the most trouble, idea-wise. It's the finger for 'video games'. As I planned out this mani, I had no idea what to do. I'd already done Pac-Man nails and didn't want a repeat. Once I decided on the color palette, Princess Peach immediately came to mind, but I knew I lacked the skills to draw her. Good thing I remembered that I have her namesake polish from Dollish Polish! So, I used one coat of A Peachy Princess over two of China Glaze Snap My Dragon.

Middle finger is for my love of baking. I wanted a sweet, sugary look, so I used three coats of Nicole by OPI Kim-pletely In Love and stamped the cupcake image from Bundle Monster plate BM-307 with Snap My Dragon. 

Next, is quilting! I used the same polish combination as the previous finger, but stamped the cross-hatch, quilted pattern from BM-310 .

Lastly, puppies. ^_^ Snap My Dragon provides the background for a paw print stamped in Konad Special Black from BM-323.

I chose to use pink polish for this one because it is my favorite polish color. Pink nails are happy nails! 

More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Inspired by Your Country

Hello!

I did some simple red, white, and blue nails for today's "Inspired by Your Country" prompt.

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I started with a base of Seche Clear and two coats of Contrary Polish Santorini on all but my ring finger, which got one coat of Zoya Sooki plus one of Orly Star Spangled. I used the stars and stripes images from Bundle Monster plate, BM-20, stamped in Konad Special Polish in White.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I had a terrible time stamping today. I knew from past experience that the larger star shapes were not opaque in Konad Special White over blue. That attempt, it looked like I had scraped away too much of the stamping polish, so this time I tried a lighter hand when scraping the image. That did not fix the problem at all. The stamped images sort of 'ghosted' from too much polish being left. They turned out rather blobby without crisp edges. The whole thing looks messy. :( So, it's either not quite opaque or sloppy? What to do? Anyone have advice for stamping large images? Help!

More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Inspired by Your Childhood

Hello!

Today's Laid-Back Challenge prompt is "Inspired by Your Childhood". If there's one thing I remember clearly about being little, it is watching a lot of the Care Bears. So, I've taken my inspiration from that for this prompt. My Care Bears inspired skittles represent one bear each. This mani started with a base of Seche Clear and finished with a thick coat of NYC In a New York Minute.

Outdoors, natural light, no flash.

On my pointer finger, Grumpy Bear is represented by two coats of OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam! and one coat of Nail Pattern Boldness Boop-Oop-A-Doop. I used a dotting tool and Contrary Polish Santorini to make the cloud and raindrops. Two red heart-shaped rhinestones finish the look.

Next is Funshine Bear with two coats of Sinful Colors Unicorn and one coat of INM Northern Lights. A round, yellow rhinestone and sun rays done with Barielle Lemondrops complete it.

Zoya Arizona plus one coat of Nail Pattern Boldness Boop-Oop-A-Doop for Friend Bear on my ring finger. Yellow flower-shaped rhinestones and a few swipes of Zoya Midori for stems complete the flower design.

Tenderheart Bear is represented on my pinkie finger. I started with two coats of Zoya Sooki topped with one coat of Nail pattern Boldness Boop-Oop-A-Doop. A red heart-shaped rhinestone mimics the red heart on his belly.

This was a fun challenge prompt. It brought back lots of fond memories! More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Inspired by a Game

Hello!

Today's challenge prompt is "Inspired by a Game." Oh, the possibilities... When you say "game", I naturally think of video games -- a favorite past time of mine since I was a child. So, since I'm not so good at freehand nail art, I had to come up with a simple idea that I knew I could pull off. This one has been done many times before, in fact, I had the idea during the last challenge but opted for more traditional ghosties. Pac-man ghosties have been on my "to do" list of nail art since then! So, here are they are!

Pac-Man Ghosts! Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde are all here in Zoya Sooki, OPI Party In My Cabana, China Glaze For Audrey, and Zoya Arizona, respectively. I started with a base of Seche Clear and then used craft scissors to cut the wavy pattern into the tape I put at the tips to create their ghostly shapes. One thick coat of each polish followed. I used the end of a bobby pin to make the eyes with Konad Special Polish in White and China Glaze Splish Splash. It may not have been an original idea, but I think they turned out rather cute!

More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Inspired By Nature

Hello!

Today's prompt is "Inspired by Nature", so I took that to mean anything naturally occurring in the world. My inspiration for these nails is rutilated quartz.

Rutilated quartz! Image source: Geology.com  

A little background first: I love rocks and minerals (I have a degree in Geology). I find the chemistry involved in their creation fascinating. Rutile and quartz are minerals, and rutile can form or 'grow' in quartz, looking like needles trapped within the clear quartz crystal.

Outdoors, natural light, no flash.

I started with a base of Seche Clear, and stamped directly over that with Zoya Cheryl, Orly Luxe, and Konad Special Polish in Black. I mostly used the image off of Bundle Monster plate BM-319, but did small bits off of the image from BM-316 as well. I topped it off with one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. I love how this turned out!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Check out the other's below! More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Inspired By Fabric

Hello!

Today's challenge prompt is "Inspired By Fabric", which I think is a great idea. Tons of fun things to do! I've been dabbling in quilting, so I have a small fabric stash I raided for inspiration. I picked two bright and sunny patterns to translate onto my nails.

Fabric inspiration from Jo-Ann Fabrics.

I started with a base of Seche Clear, and two coats of Zoya Arizona on all but my ring finger, which got two coats of Barielle Lemondrops. A quick coat of Seche Vite and some dry time, and I was ready to stamp. I stamped the floral pattern from BM-201 with Konad Special Polish in White on my ring finger. The rest got the image from BM-214 stamped with Rimmel Tequila Sunrise. I sealed everything with one coat of NYC In a New York Minute.

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Stamping these two designs was a breeze! I was so happy with this result! What a fun, fun, fun challenge prompt!!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon!! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Merge or Melt

Hello!

Today's 31 Day Challenge Prompt is "Merge or Melt", so I did a gradient of polishes merging together!

Outdoors, shade, no flash.

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener and two coats of Essie Sand Tropez. Then I used a make-up sponge to make the gradient with Sand Tropez and China Glaze Fast Track. I finished this off with one coat of Seche Vite. The gold shimmer in Fast Track is gorgeous, but I couldn't get it off my fingers! Messy clean-up couldn't be avoided... some is STILL on there after scrubbing!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Once dry, I stamped a coral butterfly over my neutral gradient. I love the colors in this mani. Color Club Wildflower was used for my stamping polish, and the butterfly came from Bundle Monster plate BM-303. I messed up index finger pretty phenomenally, so she got cropped out. I didn't have an easy time stamping. I'm not sure what the issue was today, and I was too impatient to experiment to figure it out. So, maybe that was the reason! Better luck next time!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Let's see what the others did! More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Texture

Hello!

Today's prompt is "Texture". Now, this could have been really easy. I've got several bottles of textured finish nail polish just sitting there in the drawer, but I wanted to include stamping. When I saw this image on Bundle Monster plate BM-224, I couldn't help but think about the way the top of a pool of lava crusts over and cracks. The final result reminds me of crocodile leather, too. Either way, texture achieved.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base of Seche Clear, two coats of Layla CE53, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. Once dry, I used Konad Special Polish in Black to stamp the image. I think this turned out just okay. It does look textured. I left the stamped polish without topcoat to enhance the textured idea. This may have been better had I used a monochromatic color scheme and just stamped matte polish over shiny.

Outdoors, shade, no flash.

I had all sorts of issues stamping this time. I had originally planned to use China Glaze Stone Cold as my stamping polish, but the polish dried way too fast. I could not scrape, pick up the image, and get it to my nail fast enough. It just dried on the stamper, so I switched to the stamping polish. I had a little more success, but I had to be really quick about it. I'm guessing that the low humidity we've had here lately is the culprit.

I'm curious to see what everyone else came up with because I had a hard time coming up with an idea! More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Your Favourite Polish

Hello!

Today's prompt is "Your Favourite Polish". I perused my stash, and it turns out that I have about a dozen 'favorite' polishes! They are Black Cat Lacquer Trick or Treat; Candy Lacquer Fluttershy and Sugar Skulls; Color Club Warhol and Wildflower; CrowsToes Absolum; OPI DS Extravagance; Trelly's Cauldron Bubble; and Zoya Blaze, Charisma, Ibiza, and Sooki. But I had to pick one for this challenge, so I went with Color Club Warhol. Warhol is a shockingly bright, neon pink. I love this color. We have some history, Warhol and I. If you read the original swatch post, which was one of my first, you'll remember I was lemming this polish way before I knew what that meant!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener, two coats of Warhol, and one coat of Seche Vite. I stamped the lace design from Konad plate m57 using Konad Special Polish in Black. Everything then got a quick coat of NYC In a New York Minute.

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash. Holy Brightness, Batman!

This is a copy-cat mani; I tried to emulate this mani found on Pinterest. It was one of the first nail art photos I ever re-pinned, and was one reason I bought stamping plates. If I remember correctly, it was the first mani I did with my then new plates way before I started blogging! That first try didn't turn out great, so I wanted a re-do. Happily, this time it came out much, much better! I didn't have any issues with stamping this time around, and I think I'm getting better at placing the images on my nail.

Let's see everyone else's favorite polish! More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Your Oldest Untried

Hello!

Today's challenge prompt is "Your Oldest Untried". You guys, I have no idea which polish is my oldest left untried. I don't keep them separated... they all just get organized by brand and put in a drawer. So, I went through the drawers and picked out several polishes I knew I either hadn't worn as a full mani before (just swatched) or couldn't remember using. From that assortment, I chose Zoya Sooki. I felt like red nails this week.

Sorry for the cellphone pic. This is outdoors, in direct (noon) sunlight.

I started with a base coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener and two coats of Sooki. Gorgeous on it's own, but I wanted a little more. I layered one coat of Nail Pattern Boldness Boop-Oop-A-Dupe over Sooki on my index finger. I then attached some small heart-shaped rhinestones and topped it all off with one coat of Orly Sec n' Dry.

This one was taken with my usual camera. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

No stamping this time, but this simple, gorgeous look is exactly what I wanted. Love! More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: A New Technique

Hello!

Today's challenge prompt is "A New Technique to You". I decided to try my hand at needle drag nail art or what I think is also referred to as 'dry water marbling'.

I started with a base of Seche Clear and one coat of China Glaze Lighthouse. Once that was dry, I worked on one nail at a time to create the flames. I did this by painting another coat of Lighthouse on and then dabbed a few drops of OPI Burning Love and OPI Socra-tease Me. I ran a needle through the polish to mix it up and create the design. Once each nail was complete, I topped it with a generous coat of Seche Vite.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

For my first attempt, I think it turned out really great! More soon! ^_^

Let's check out the other participants' too:

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Colour Opposites

Hello!

Today's prompt is "Colour Opposites", so I chose red-orange and blue-green!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base of Seche Clear, then one coat of Color Club Wildflower and Zoya Robyn. A thin coat of Seche Vite to speed up dry time, then stamped the floral image from Bundle Monster plate BM-12 with Konad Special Polish in white. NYC In a New York Minute sealed everything up and this was good to go! I love how this turned out -- bright and simple!

More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Water Colour

Hello!

Today's challenge prompt is "Water Colour". This is a new technique for me and my first attempt at it!

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I started with a base of Pretty & Polished Cheer Camp. I used small dabs of Zoya Robyn, Sinful Colors Let's Talk, and Zoya Shelby then dabbed acetone over that to create this tye-dyed look. Once dry, I topped it with one coat of NYC In a New York Minute.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Stamping

Hello!!

Today's prompt is "Stamping"! Yay! As a personal goal, I am trying to incorporate as much stamping into this challenge as I can. I hope this will help me get better at it, so for today's mani, I went all out and used a three-layer stamped design.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base of Seche Clear, and two coats of China Glaze Fast Track. Once dry, I used Zoya Cheryl to stamp the background image from Bundle Monster plate, BM-314. After that, I used China Glaze Agro to stamp the leafy fern design from BM-03. Finally, I used Konad Special Polish in black to stamp the cute owl from BM-309. I sealed it all with one coat of NYC In a New York Minute.

Indoors, natural light, no flash.

The only trouble I had with my stamping today was the owl design. I had first tried to stamp with Color Club Wildflower, which usually works for me, but that was a no go. I even tried it out on paper first and it worked, so curvy nails caused fail? In the end, I was able to stamp over the failed image with another color and loved this look.

More soon!! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Your Cheer Yourself Up Mani

Hello!!

Today's prompt is "Your Cheer Yourself Up Mani". How fun!

I went with my favorite type of mani for this one (the purple one in this post is one of my most favorite mani's I've ever done). My favorite types of mani's are usually the two accent nail type with good stamping, so I picked super happy neons and the smiley face from Bundle Monster plate, BM-304.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base of Seche Clear, and two coats each of Color Club Warhol and China Glaze Sun-kissed. Then I stamped the smiley on with Konad Special Polish in Black. A quick coat of NYC In a New York Minute, and this mani was all kinds of shiny.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I did have some issues with stamping today. The bigger the stamped area, the harder time I have of getting it to transfer cleanly. I ended up touching this up with a small brush to try and salvage it. The smile worked okay, but neither eye transferred the first time. I'm starting to think this is due to my black stamping polish -- it did the same thing on smaller images until I added a little bit of polish thinner. I may add a bit more and see how it goes....

More soon! ^_^