Day 15 - Delicate Print

Ahhh the half way point... feels good, man!

I promise this stamping was actually very pretty, the pictures just didn't turn out very well.

The purple also didn't seem to photograph very well. The base purple is American Apparel - Imperial Purple and I stamped with a Wet N Wild silver. This is the first stamping I've done about which I literally have no complaints. I just wish the photos showed it better!!

I think it's mainly my cuticles that are making me hate my photos. But honestly I have no idea what more I can do for the little jerks. They just want to be dry and peel-y! 

I was REALLLLLY happy with Imperial Purple. It was actually fun to apply! 

I got some nail art wheels in from Born Pretty Store, so I'll be having fun with those for awhile. Small complaint: They are super hard to do nail art on if you're not incredibly careful. I was not careful. I ended up removing all of the designs I did, even the ones I was happy with, because I screwed up the good designs while working on the other ones. 

Sorry this seemed like such a whiny post! Thanks for reading :)

Another stamping semi-fail

I really liked this zig zag pattern. I'd like it much better over some awesome neons, but I worked with what I had and came up with a white and black zig zag that needed a lot of touching up that I was too tired to do at the time. I did however fix one of the major errors by adding two heart-shaped rhinestones, pink and red. I feel like this has the potential to be a great manicure with a little practice on my end! It's super hard to get straight designs with stamping, or maybe it's just me.

Flash! 

Black stamping polish is a PAIN to clean up on the cuticles. Seriously need pure acetone to do it. I plan on making my own polish remover at some point. 

Cuticle report: These pictures don't show it, but my cuticles are coming along nicely. They were jagged and rough a few weeks ago, but with constant moisture and lots of attention, I am finally pretty proud of my hands. Hopefully some future photos will actually showcase what I mean. 

Thanks for reading!

Skull stamps (possible fail)

Stamping isn't as easy as it looks, nor is it as hard as some people make it out to be, but it is definitely something that takes PRACTICE. I imagine I will be covering all of my old manicures with stamping practice ^.^

I really only have two colors that I know for sure stamp: Black and white. So, I went with those and tried to do a black and white skittles set featuring skull stamps from the Bundle Monster 25 piece set.

I'm sort of satisfied with it in that I know what areas I need to improve to get better results. For one, I need to really pay attention to ROLLING the stamp across the nail (in all directions, really). I rolled top to bottom, but not left to right. I zigged when I should have zagged, ya get me? Anyway, the readers can be the judge I suppose! I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out and White In, and Konad's special stamping polish in black.

I'd like to note that I take all of my photos in direct sunlight when possible as my camera isn't exactly great and that's when I can get the best photos. I'm actually thinking of returning it so if anyone has any recommendations for good digital camera under 100 dollars I'm all ears! Or.. eyes, I guess! Hah

Obviously the weather wasn't as great today so the photos are as close to natural light as possible. 

Thanks for reading :)