Practice makes perfect, right?

I tried out the Konad stamping system last night. I didn't realize it was going to be such a messy pain in the butt! Everyone makes it look so damn easy. I was getting pretty frustrated, then again i was trying it at 10pm, and decided instead of doing all of my nails i was only going to do a couple accent fingers. Before i received my kit I searched google on what brands of polishes work with Konad, as i did not buy any of the special polish. The list i used can be seen HERE.

A lot of the Sally Hansen Xtreme wear colors were listed so i tried a few of those first. I tried Black Out and found that it was too sheer for me. I happened to have another black, it was an Art Deco nail art bottle. I figured why not give that a shot and it actually worked a lot better. The Art Deco polish was a lot thicker than the Black Out. 

I used Konad plate M56. I chose the middle image as well as the heart shaped pattern on top. For my base coat i used two coats of Xtreme Wear in Twisted Pink. I then applied the Art Deco black to the heart shaped print and applied it to the tips of my index and thumb on both hands. It was really hard trying to figure out the best way to line up the stamp to my nail but after a few tries i started to get it straighter and straighter. I have a feeling this stamping shiznit is going to just take a lot of practice but eventually i know i will make it my bitc....female dog.

I then used Xtreme Wear White On to apply the bow. I placed it on my nail so that it was overlapping the heart pattern just a tiny bit. The white polish i used was a little sheer as well but i had no other whites to try. You can see a bit of the black hearts underneath the bows but nothing too crazy. Ontop i added a layer of Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope and then added a top coat of Seche Vite (I LOVE THAT CRAP!).

Once again this photo was taken on my phone.... I do have a nice camera i swear! It seems every time i do anything with my nails i am either running out the door after wards or going to bed. I guess i really don't have an excuse to go to bed early anymore, as i am jobless. Maybe i will end up being the next Nick Twisp and have a rebellious alter ego, hopefully without the gross mustache.

My corneas are on strike.

As some of you may know i have recently become jobless, my choice of course. This decision has ended up leaving me extremely bored which has ended up forcing me into intense hours of web surfing. I'm talking really intense, when you've gone cross eyed and you get that burning sensation in your eyeballs. Probably not healthy for someone who is already as blind as a bat. 

There was one positive thing that did come out of all the hours of frying my brain cells, i somehow stumbled upon many blogs focused on nail art. It was weird i was so intrigued as i have never really been interested in my nails, especially intricate designs & applications that would usually involve going to a nail salon for hours. I think what appealed to me most, a lot of the techniques i used when i painted canvas i could use on my nails. Weird to compare two totally different things, but it's true. The reason i gave up painting was because of time constraints and the fact no one ever wanted to pay you for the amount work you put into each piece. It was so frustrating but with this new found love of nail art i can still express my creative side which really has been trying to escape for a long time.

After reading many tips and tricks i went out and bought the supplies i needed, tried a few techniques on my nails and ended up getting a lot of compliments on the results from friends and strangers. People keep asking me "HOW DID YOU DO THAT!?" so I decided why not start a blog that every one can see so i can share my experiences with others!

Anyways, enough rambling (there will be a lot more to come don't you worry). Here are two pictures of my first attempts at some nail designs. I am sorry these pictures are so awful, both were taken on my phone.

 First attempt at water marbling. I followed tutorials here: http://www.youtube.com/user/SimpleLittlePleasues. The videos are super easy to follow and the result is always a lot of fun. For the colors i used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Black Out" & L.A Colors Color Craze in Live and a deep hot pink.

Here i used Love & Beauty in "Unique" as the gold base coat and then when that was dry i did a dark glitter purple tip in L.A Girl "Dark Purple". I did not like how it looked so i created a fade down my nail using the tip of the polish brush like a sponge. I added a top coat of Wet n Wild "Kaleidoscope" and then stuck on small round loose glitter i bought at Michaels on the tips. It created a gradient effect with the glitter which is kind of hard to see in my awful picture.

After seeing so many awesome designs made by using nail stamp sets,  I ended up ordering a Konad stamping set off eBay, which arrived today! I am going to play around with that and hopefully come up with something worth showing off. =)

Thanks for reading everyone!