I had the inspiration for this pinned for SYTYCD Fashion Friday, but it fit so well with the AIS theme this week, I just had too use it.
This was inspired by Cat's dress for the top 14 episode.
Flashback to the 70's anyone?
This started with 3 coats of Ulta Snow White stamped with PUEEN21 dotted with the following colors:
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lightening (yellow)
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lickety Split Lime (green)
Zoya Sharon (orange)
The last time I looked for Zoya Sharon on their site, I couldn't find it. I am pretty sure it is a discontinued color, although I did just purchase it from their site this past spring. It's too bad because this is the BEST creme orange in my stash and works great for stamping.
One last look for comparison. What do you think. I think this stamp was PERFECT for this!
With all the challenges I have this month, I have been neglecting my So You Think You Can Dance Fashion Fridays :(. Now that the Black & White challenge is over, that is going to change! Here is the latest.
This was inspired by Mackenzie Dustman's elimination dress during the top 14 episode.
Per normal, it was hard to find a decent image of this dress. The image on the right is/was more color accurate, but the quality sucks, so I added the other so you could get a closer look. Aren't they all gorgeous!
I started with two coats of PIXI Luminous Lilac. Please forgive the pre-clean-up pics. This is one of those colors that can't decide on what it wants to be in life...purple?....pink? In some lighting it is definetely pink with a delicate silver twinkle. In others it looks like a pink tinged lavender. The formula was pleasant, self leveling and good coverage with one coat. In fact, this might make a good stamping polish.
Next I stamped with Layla Retro Pink and PUEEN44.
Next I stamped with QA46 and Finger Paints Black Expressionism for the black lace at the top. Finally I added the flowers with MM07 and China Glaze Poetic.
Final look for comparison?
What do you think? Pink? Purple? Pirple? Thanks as always for looking and commenting! Tina
It's Fashion Friday with another installment of So You Think You Can Dance inspiration!
I am having the hardest time finding images for the beautiful costumes. Come on SYTYCD bloggers....someone should create a site dedicated just to the costumes/costume designers right? Since I can't find a good image, how about a video instead? Think the dress beautiful? the dance is even more so!
This started out with three coats of Avon Ballerina. (How appropriate!) You have seen me with Ballerina before, one of my favorite nudes. I used three coats only because I am growing out some horrid staining and couldn't stand it showing.
Next I stamped my thumb and ring with MJ XX and Finger Paint Expressionism. Here is the full plate and a close up detail. I really didn't expect this image to stamp as well as it did...all those little tiny lines in the netting. I found that a light touch rolling onto the nail was just what it needed. Only wish there was more detail in the flowers, but I can't complain with one more lace image to add to my growing collection. You can purchase these directly HERE, or from Llarowe HERE.
Finally I stamped randomly 1-2 times with QA46. I purchased this from Born Pretty. Right now they have several of their stamping plates on sale 33 - 67% off! Check it out HERE.
What do you think, lovely readers? A good representation?
Thanks for looking and commenting! See you next time. Tina
My life is filled with frustration at this point. So frustrated that I can't spell frustrated (don't look to closely at the title)! Remember how I said that I got a "new" computer? It is a used laptop purchased from Ebay. Computer is great, but the charger went out. With hubby currently laid off money is tight and I had to wait until we had some cushion in our budget to purchase a new one. All that to say that it has been to long since I posted. Guess the blogging fairies have not been on my side. Please forgive me (if you even noticed tee hee) I will try to make it up to you. (Watch for a post later with one of my all time favorite manis).
But lets start with what is posted on Monday's. Yes, it's another monkey! For today I have something a little different. Monkey See Monkey Do does not have to only be inspired by other nail artists, it can be inspired by anything. Since I wasn't able to do my So You Think You Can Dance Fashion Friday post, I am going to show you it now (cause I have even more SYTYCD inspired manis...I think I could do a whole month of these!)
The first thing I have to say about this is....don't look to closely! I LOVED this on my nails (and hope to do it again with different colors), however, with the dreaded macro shots all of the flaws show. Bear with me (where did that saying come from?) and I will explain why it is all a little messy.
This was inspired by Amy Yakima's rehearsal tank.
Please forgive the quality of this pic...it is direct off my TV. Plus I had to do some color correction to get close to how neon and vibrant that purple was..still didn't get close...and her skin tone is totally off. This started with three coats of Revlon Decadent. It was a really good match for the actual purple in the tank. This is one of many "burples" in my stash, and it is burple for a good reason. It is a lovely violet base with this amazing shimmer. LOVE this color....however....I wasn't happy with the polish itself. It had a horrible tendency to drag. (See the bald spot on my pinky?. Plus, if you look at the first image, you can see some dramatic tip wear...well, dramatic for ONE DAYS WEAR! Yes, I did what I normally do and painted my nails in the late evening (or early morning in some cases :) and then did the nail art the following evening. Three coats of polish, tip wrapping, a coat of Seche Vite and less than 24 hours...this is horrible wear time in my world! I thought about adding another coat to cover the wear, but decided against it to show you how bad this was. Any of you know of a better polish with this color/finish, I would love to hear about it! Any of you indie polish makers out there...well you know what I want.
Now here is where it got crazy. You have heard me talk about my A type personality before? My desire for perfection? (Although I rarely achieve it.) My OCD tendencies? Here is total proof of that! I started by using 4 stripes of striping tape down the center of the nail. I could have then just painted the blue and black across my nail bed....but no, I wanted the lines to be straight, so I went crazy with the painters tape!
The craziness did not stop there....oh no! The only blue that was a "as close as possible" match to the blue in the tank (although you can't tell from the crappy TV pic) was China Glaze Splish Splash, a lovely matte neon robins egg blue. The problem was that it required 3 coats so that the base wouldn't show through, and you know how thick matte polish can be. Then, when I started peeling off the painters tape it pulled the striping tape right off with it, which caused some mangling of the not quite dry enough blue. All this to say that if you like this look, please make it easy on yourself and choose one coaters for the accent colors....or don't use painters tape. Gah...sometimes I make things a lot harder than they need to be! On top of all that....the Seche had some shrinkage, which happens rarely for me.
Despite all of this manis' faults, I loved it. None of the blemishes were noticeable IRL...I loved the design....I loved that I haven't seen it previously in all my blog hopping....it was just different and I love different.
Well, what do you think? Winner or loser? Let's see if there are any other Monkeys today.
So I am going to change some things up for Fashion Fridays for the next several weeks. I wanted to start this two weeks ago, but with all my computer problems it didn't happen. Here is the new theme: So You Think You Can Dance! This is my favorite reality show and the only one I watch every season without getting tired of it. If you haven't watched it....for shame! Tune in to Fox on Tuesdays and see the amazing and sometimes moving choreography.
There are not only great dances/dancers, there are also great costumes! Each Friday I will do SYTYCD inspired manis. Today's is inspired by Cat Deely's "costume" from the first top 20 episode. Here is what inspired this:
I oh doesn't this look lovely. Fortunately this pic does not show the bottom of this outfit. It was a hideous pair of skimpy and shapeless shorts from the same "fabric". Didn't like the whole outfit, but loved the sequins, so I thought it would make a good inspiration.
This started with one of my favorite silver "speckled" blacks, NOPI Totally In the Dark. I really don't know how to describe the glitter in this as it is almost like micro flakies that do not overpower the black like some silver glitters do. This is two coats plus top coat. The first coat applied VERY streaky, but a second coat covered all flaws.
Next I dotted with Orly Rose Radiance. When I look at this now, I wish I would have been more random with the dots....but you know how I am with randomness! Oh well. Finally I created a french time with Rose Radiance and topped finished it all off with top coat.
What do you think? The pink is not spot on, which drives me crazy, but it is what it is. Not a total fail, but definitely not my fav fashion mani. Hopefully the next one will make up for it.
Thanks for looking and commenting! Hope your 4th was great and your weekend even better. See you next time! Tina
