Cosmic Twins!

Hello Dahlings!

 

If you've been following my Inky adventures of late, you may have seen my guest post at I'm Still Thinking... earlier this week. When I discovered Jenna's blog last autumn, we both had blue hair at da time. As we got to know each other a bit, we learned we had many things in common besides our hair color & nail blogging. Things like similarities in our names & our birthdays being 2 days apart along with more common things like animals & crafting. So I quipped that we must be cosmic twins hatched from da same nest in another dimension/alternate reality. (I say nest cuz there are several years between us in age & eggs don't all hatch da same time. LOL)

 

Moving up to da present...last week Jenna posted that her laptop had been invaded by gremlins (my term, not hers LOL) & she was having a Mystery Package Blog Sale to help raise money for her new 'puter fund along with requesting guest posts to help fill da void until she got something set up so she could post again without having to abscond with her hub's 'puter. I immediately volunteered to send her a guest post & having bought her Mystery Packages before & being quite pleased with da contents (She has an awesome polish collection!) I Paypal'd her pronto. My package arrived & my guest post got posted on Tuesday! When I opened da padded envie I got all squee'd up cuz it had all sorts of polish treasures & embellishments in it...da best treasure of all was a fanken Jenna had made for me called 'Cosmic Twins'! Guest what I put on my nails next?

 

 Da line up: Sally Hansen Glow & JennaFroggy Cosmic Twins along with a China Marker that I'll 'splain in a mo'.

 

This is 2 coats of glow. I could tell that Cosmic Twins would be semi-opaque & didn't want to waste it by having to put on 3 coats for opacity, so I picked Glow to use as undies cuz I though it would offer a contrast to make da blingy bits pop.

 

KAPOW!!! Look at all that sparkly green goodness! Cosmic Twins is a lovely pale golden lime green with fine gold holo glitter & random bits of lil gold, green & red glitters.

It went on like da proverbial butter!

 

I didn't want to cover up da goodness, so I opted for just adding lil lime green open hearts that have a green/pink iridescent finish on my ring fingers. Showing da love I have for this polish & my Cosmic Twin for sending it to me! Oh? You want to know what da white pencil looking thingy in da line up is for? China White pencils are basically a translucent white wax pencil that can be used for masking among other art uses. I saw someone use one to pick up & apply nail bling on their blog (I am SO sorry that I can't remember where! If I remember, I'll add da info here.) & thought I'd give it a try. BRILLIANT!!! Da wax tip was just soft enuf to make da hearts stick to it, but not hang on when I pressed da hearts into da wet polish. I've never placed nail bling so easily!

A new tool in my nail art tote for sure!

 

Looky at all da sparklies! I want to wear this beauty on it's own & try it over other base colors cuz I think it will add dazzle to whatever it goes over.

 

Big Thanks to JennaFroggy for such a lovely home made polish!

Now go check out da awesome value of her Mystery Package Blog Sale & buy yourself a couple so she can get a new 'puter!

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weird Wednesday ~ Office Max pens & DIY Decals!

Hello Dahlings!

 

Today you get a 2-fer! I wanted to test da metallic pens I recently picked up at Office Max AND I wanted to give Gnarly Gnails DIY Nail Art Decals another go using a plastic bag

& a different clear polish.

 

 These are da pens from Office Max & they cost about $6.

 

 

 This is da bullet tip da pens have. This style of tip isn't so great for detail drawing or coloring in tiny spaces, but for dots or larger filed in areas, they work great.

 

 Da line up: Milani Glosse' Top Coat & Scandal Modern Black along with da blue, purple & silver pens.

 

 One coat of Modern Black. Yes indeed, this baby will stamp!

 

 I used this image from Cheeky's 2013 Jumbo Plate 5 ~ Musical Nails. I'm loving these plates! Each one has dozens of images that can be used together or not.

 

 I pulled several 4"x5" zip bags out of my zip bag drawer (yeah, I know I'm OCD when it comes to organization LOL) & made a reusable template for making decals from a piece of card board that fits in da bag. (da back of a pad of paper or cereal box works just fine) I measured my nails & drew lil rectangles in those sizes for each hand on da card board. Doing this takes a few minutes, but it also takes away da guess work when laying out da base coat for da decals as well as where to stamp & color. Once da clear polish had dried, I stamped using da Modern Black & sorta randomly colored in da lil shapes using da pens.

 

Ta Da! My coloring inside da lines kinda sucks, but da pens worked great & so did da decals. Last time I used NYC clear polish and it curled, wrinkled & lifted off da plastic as it dried, making it hard to stamp or color. It also dried so thin that some of da decals tore when I tried to apply them to my nails. Da Milani Glosse' worked perfectly! It dried slowly as one would expect from a non-fast drying polish. Da decals were thin enuf to easily use, but they were sturdier & didn't curl or lift or anything annoying. Another point in it's favor? I found it at The Dollar Tree for $1!!! Sure, da NYC costs $1 too, but da Milani usually costs more than that, tho I didn't have to pay more for it.

I added a coat of SV to seal it all in.

 

I can definitely see more DIY decals in my future!

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More fun with texture polish!

Hello Dahlings!

 

Your Monday Quickie is more nail art with texture polishes. Last Monday I showed you da Milani Texture polished I had just bought & this week I have 2 of those polishes plus 3 of da new Sally Hansen Sugar Coat texture polishes I found at Target last week.

 

 Da line up: Sally Hansen Cotton Candies, Milani Spoiled in Fuchsia,

Sally Hansen Bubble Plum, Milani Purple Streak & Sally Hansen Razzleberry.

 

 After last week's KSM, I opted to try a braided skittle mani. I started with 2 coats of each polish. Only da dark purple & blue were able to be used in one coat for da individual 'strands' & even then I needed to go over them a 2nd time on a few nails. All of da pinks & da light purple needed 2 coats to be opaque. I thought I was going to leave them without top coated cuz tc defeats da purpose of using texture polish, but alas, all those layers of polish were thick & kinda lumpy with lil bits of scratchy polish sticking up

& snagging on fabric.

 

 So I added a coat of Seche Vite to tame da pokey bits. I could have used a crystal file to remove them, but I was worried that would leave spots where da color underneath would show thru. So yes, you can use texture polishes for nail art, I just recommend you limit da layers unless you like lumpy, scratchy nails.

 

OH! OH! OH! I'm guest posting over at I'm Still Thinking... today!!! Jenna Froggy's 'puter is having gremlin issues & she asked for guest posts to help her out while she works on slaying those gremlins. My Cosmic Twin (we have many odd things in common LOL) has a great blog full o' fun manis, pet pic spam & nifty crochet projects! She can custom crochet anything you desire, like da perfect Winnie da Pooh she made for my BFF. <3 font="">

So go check out my post & say 'Hi!'.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

Beauty Blogger Tag!

Hello Dahlings!

 

I've been tagged a few times in recent months, but was too busy with work stuff to do them at da time. So I'm taking a break today from Does It Stamp? to get a lil caught up. Today's tag:

 

The Beauty Blogger Tag!

 

My beloved Mistress of Nail Art, Mimi from Mimi Manicures tagged me for this one. 

 

 

1) Is your hair naturally curly or straight?

Both! Da hair around my face & nape has some curl to it, but da rest is straight.

So straight that peeps ask if I use a flat iron on it.

 

2) What is your natural hair color?

Um...let me think...some of it is still medium brown, some of it is silvery white.

Think cinnamon & sugar like you put on your toast.

 

3) Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?

I'm a DIY gal! I bleach da browner areas & color it wildly (pinks/purples/blues)

with some help from Mr. Inky. It's a bit of a challenge to do da back by myself.

 

4) Do you wear the same hair style every day or change it?

While I have a simple blunt bangs & back, my hair might be up, down or

somewhere in between on any given day.

 

5) Do you do your own mani/pedi or do you go to a salon?

I do my own manis cuz frankly I do a better job than any salon mani I've ever had. I do get pro spa pedis tho' cuz I'm chubby enuf that reaching my feet means I can't breath.

I only do my own feet if I want nail art on them for a special occasion.

 

6) How often do you change your nail polish?

Usually every other day tho' I do skip a mani or 2 on weeks that I have camp prep to do.

 

7) Do you polish your toes in winter or just in summer?

I keep my toes polished year round tho' nobody but me, Mr. Inky

& my pedi pro get to see them.

 

8) How long does it take for you to put on your make-up?

Maybe 5 minutes & usually less than that. My skin doesn't like face make-up

& my allergies make wearing eye make up awkward, so unless its a really special occasion, I don't bother. I do wear lip stick &/or colored gloss maybe once a week.

 

9) What do you do first, face or eyes?

If I'm bothering at all, I do my eyes first.

 

10) Do you collect make-up or just buy what you need when you need it?

I have to admit to stock piling lip stick & gloss. I'm a total ho when it comes to fuchsia lip color! As for my collection of polish...let's just say that when da zombie apocalypse starts, I won't have to worry about having nekkid nails...ever.

 

11) How often do you wear false eyelashes?

Never. My own are rather long tho' invisible without mascara.

 

12) Do you do a full face of make-up every day?

Oh hell no!

 

13) Do you wear make-up when you're home alone or with family?

Double hell no!

 

14) Will you leave the house without make-up?

Yep! If I made wearing make-up a condition of going outside, I'd never leave da house.

 

15) How many high-end products do you have?

Not many. I can't see da point on spending big bucks

on something I will rarely, if ever, use.

 

16) Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you're getting dressed?

If I have to get up early, I'll plan my clothes out da night before,

otherwise I do it when I get dressed.

 

17) How often do you change your handbag?

At least seasonally, but whenever da mood takes me.

 

18) What time do you get up & go to sleep?

I do like my 8 hours of snooze time tho' I don't generally use da same hours of

da clock most peeps use. Bedtime is rarely before 1am & may be as late as 4am.

If I don't have to set my alarm, I'll sleep my 8 hours. 

 

19) Do you work out? How often?

Nope. Why do you think I can't easily reach my feet?

 

20) Left-handed or right-handed?

I'm a lefty tho' I can do many things with my right hand,

like do nail art on my left hand.

 

21) How tall are you?

5'3"

 

22) Do you speak a foreign language?

Nope. I've tried several times & just can't wrap my tongue around it.

 

23) How many pets do you have?

4 cats & Mr. Inky

 

24) How often are you on Blogger?

At least 4 times a week to post, more if I get comments.

 

25) Do you read comments on blogs?

Sometimes.

 

26) Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts?

Yes, tho' it isn't very long.

 

27) How did you come up with your blog name?

I've gone by Inky Whiskers for many years & I'm prone to pondering about stuff...

musing, if you will.

 

28) What kind of camera do you use for photographs?

I have a digital camera, but getting da pics off it is such a pita that I use da camera on my phone 99% of da time. Mr. Inky set me up with Dropbox, so getting my pics off my phone & onto my 'puter is easy. 

 

29) How often to you clean your house?

Ideally, every week. Realistically, as needed.

Nobody gets to da end of their life & wish they spent more time cleaning house.

 

30) What is your favorite color?

Violet! No, black! Oh, but what about fuchsia? I can't live without fuchsia!

All of the above?

 

31) Do you swear?

Like a sailor when da moment calls for it,

tho' if there are kids around I just say 'BAD WORD!"

 

32) What are you doing with the rest of your day?

Call my mom, tidy a few things & tonight...paint my nails!

 

I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you do this tag on your own,

let me know in da comments, please?

I'll do another Does it Stamp? post next Sunday. Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

 

 

Orly MegaPixel FX KSM

Hello Dahlings!

 

I wore this mani at da same time I had the Milani Texture polishes my left hand on cuz I wanted to compare them. Why? Well, the Orly on site info said this:

 

“MegaPixel FX

 

Slip on some sparkle this spring with six new shades of pixelated perfection from the MegaPixel FX collection. ORLY’s innovative 3D formula provides millions of glitter pixels for a multi-dimensional finish. Just two quick drying layers create a long-lasting, hi-res manicure.”

See that? It says 3D & multi-dimensional...so I though this collection was Orly's bid in da new textured polish craze. Nope! Here's what it really is...

 

 Da line up: Orly Pink Pixel, Plum Pixel & Black Pixel

 

 This is 2 coats & they could have passed with one thick coat. They dried fairly fast too.

 

I did the same patterns on my right hand that I did on my left. Since I thought they would be more like da Milani, I didn't add tc. Textured they are not. They're more of a hybrid between a glitter bomb & a foil polish. No more textured than most glitters,

but they are uber blingy!

 

A coat of Seche Vite pretty much removed any texture & made these polishes shine even more. So while I was surprised to learn that they didn't have 'texture',

I wasn't disappointed in da bling factor.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

Weird Wednesdays ~ Meow Graffiti Nail Art ala Gnarly Gnails!

Hello Dahlings!

 

This is my 2nd attempt to make my own nail art decals, da 1st was an abysmal failure due to using overhead acetate as a base to put under da polish. Da polish bonded to it & wouldn't come off! This time I followed da instructions & used a plastic bag like Missy says to do in her tutorial: Tokidoki Graffiti Mani & Tutorial.

My technique still needs work, but at least I got usable results this time. LOL

 

 Da line up: NYC Long Wearing Extra Shiny (it's a slow drying top coat); Finger Paints Black Expressionism & Paper Mache; Orly La Vida Loca, It's Up To Blue & Close Your Eyes.

 

 Da left hand has 1 alternating nails of one coat of Black Expressionism

& 2 coats of Paper Mache.

 

 Da right hand has da same polishes on da opposite fingers. (Da 2nd coat of Paper Mache was to smooth it out. BE went on just dandy fine in one coat.)

 

 I put da black stamped decals over da white nails

& da white stamped over da black nails...

 

 and da opposite again for da left hand.

I like da black base color nails more than da white ones.

Maybe da black hides flaws better?

 

 This is my best nail. Both PM & BE stamp pretty well. Where I ran into problems was my clear decal base. As da NYC dried, it curled up & off da plastic. This did make sponging a bit of a challenge, but doable by pinning da edge down with tweezers. At least getting them off da plastic was a no brainer this time. LOL Next time I'll try putting 2 coats of clear polish down to see if da thicker base is less prone to curling. To put my DIY decals on my nails: I applied a very thin coat of da NYC on a nail then stuck da decal over it. I gently patted da decal down & used da flat end of my wooden cuticle stick to press da decal to da edge of da nail. I applied them to one nail at a time then I used da pointy end of my C stick dipped in acetone to remove da excess.

I added a coat of Seche Vite to seal it.

 

I used da cat images on my brand spanky new Cheeky Jumbo plates #8 & #9 for da stamping & they worked just fine. My stamping needs practice, but that's not da fault of da plates. Alas, I discovered da hard way that da decorative plaid Cheeky has printed on da back & front edges of these plates can be removed with acetone. If you look next to da butterfly, you can see da light aqua stripe. There used to be stripes next to da cat face

& da panda too. #8(

 

I will be trying this technique again! I just need to practice my stamping a bit more.

Thanks for stopping by for Weird Wednesdays!

~ Inky

Milani Texture Polish Nail Art!

Hello Dahlings!

 

Your  Monday Quickie is all about texture! I picked up 2 Milani Texture polishes at my local Fred Meyer & another at Milani's web site during a half price sale the had last month. I haven't been too sure about this texture fad. I know when I have flocking, fish eggs, studs or other 3D embellishments on my nails, I tend to get distracted by it...running my finger tips over the raised bits almost obsessively.

How bad would my OCD get when da whole nail is covered with texture? Let's find out...

 

 Da line up: Milani Texture in Spoiled in Fuchsia, Purple Streak & Shady Gray

 

 This is 2 coats of each. The texture becomes more obvious as da polish cures.

 

 TA DA! Yeah, I know...I just can't leave well enuf alone. LOL I added Double Line French Tips to both pinky & thumb, dots using my largest dotting tool on both index & ring, & stripes using my short striper on da middle finger. I had to go over everything twice to get good coverage, but getting the texture was worth it! While I enjoyed the sand papery feel of it & da semi gloss finish, I wondered...

How much would top coat eliminate the texture?

 

Not as much as I thot it might!

While it did soften the effect, the coat of Seche Vite mostly just added high shine.

The polish still had texture, just more like textured walls than sand paper.

 

I don't how far into this current fad I'll get, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky 

Does It Stamp? ~ More Specialty Polishes!

Hello Dahlings!

 

Today's Does It Stamp? is about Glow-in-the-dark polishes

metallic known as chromes & foils.

 

G-I-T-D ~ Born Pretty Store Hello Kitty #27, Claire's & Blue Cross pumpkin.

Alas, while my testing showed that some glow-in-the-dark polishes can be used for stamping, they don't glow in the dark if you use them this way. I think da polish layer that gets transferred to da nail is too thin for da magic to work. I choose to test da HK #27 over the other HK g-i-t-d polishes I have cuz it was almost a one coater when I used it in da past. The others I have, while they glow just fine, needed 3 coats just to even out da streakiness & had more of a jelly quality to them.

 

Chromes & Foils ~ NYC Foil'er Up, Sally Hansen Fuchsia Sapphire,

Sally Hansen Quick Color Fuchsia Chrome (polish pen) & Wet N' Wild Precious Petals.

I think pretty much any of da polishes in these lines will work for stamping.

(I chose these to test so da samples would coordinate.)

 

While these drug store brands are well known, these particular lines are no longer in stores. You can find da NYC & Sally Hansen polishes at Cassie Cosmetics on eBay The Wet N' Wild Chromes were out last summer & you still may be able to find them at some retailers or on eBay.

 

Have you been testing your polishes to find new stamping gems?

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

 

 

My Version of Chalkboard Nails Camouflage Nail Art

Hello Dahlings!

 

I had my last regular camp of da SU catalogue year last Saturday & wanted some fun nails for da event. Even tho' most of my rubber stamping peeps don't seem to notice my nails, I still like to do something fun that relates to da theme of each camp. I do it for me! I had recently seen Sarah from Chalkboard Nails Sally Hansen tutorial for Camouflage Nail Art

& thought I'd give it a try...

 

 Da line up is all L.A. Colors in: Live 571, Sparkling Fuchsia 459, Perfect Plum 471, Wired 566 & Black Pearl 472

 

 This is 2 coats of Live. It really is a one coater, but I like to use 2 coats

to smooth out da brush strokes. It works for stamping too!

Me thinks my technique needs practice! I didn't do a hideous job of it, but my colors are more blobby than Sarah's. I used the smallest ball tipped dotting tool I have, but next time I'll try da pointed tip on da other end & see if that helps.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

Weird Wednesdays ~ Smooch Your Nails!

Hello Dahlings!

 

Today's adventure into da weird is all about Smooching your nails!

 

Da line up: China Glaze Liquid Leather plus Clearsnap Smooch Pearlized Accent Inks in Moonlight, Grape Soda, Silver Fox & Plum Twist.

 

 Smooch inks are opaque, permanent, dry fast & can handle Seche Vite Fast Dry top coat! The 'brush' is more like a marker tip than a polish brush in that it has no bristles, just a soft formed point. I had pretty good control while dotting away, tho' more practice will be needed before I feel comfy enuf to freehand images. 

Ta Da! I did a dotted line of each color, going in a different direction, using the 'brush' in da bottles. I did this over 2 coats of Liquid Leather. Da Plum Twist doesn't show up well against da black polish, but it would over a slightly lighter color. I so enjoy discovering crafting supplies (that I already have) that will work for nail art!

 

Smooch inks are available online & in some craft stores. Check the rubber stamping aisle near the stamp pads & other ink supplies. To learn more about these nifty inks & what you can use them for, go visit Clearsnap.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky 

Monday Quickie!

Hello Dahlings!

 

Here's your Monday Quickie...

 

 Da line up: Blue Cross Mardi Gras (all da colors had this name on da bottom & no #s) & Stanford Uniball Gel Impact gold pen. Blue Cross also makes those cute pumpkin & snowman seasonal LE polishes seen in drugstores.

 

 This is 2 coats of Mardi Gras. 3-4 coats or undies are needed for full opacity,

but I had something else in mind...

 

TA DA! I used da pen to add a faux French tip over da VNL.

 

That's it & thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

Does It Stamp? ~ Specialty Polishes!

Hello Dahlings!

 

So after going thru' my main polish stash & testing like a fiend, I got to pondering about whether some of my specialty polishes would stamp...

 

 Magnetic polishes ~ Nabi dark red, Finger Paints Hypnotic & Sinful Colors Captivate Me

 

 Finger Paints Cop An Attitude, China Glaze Bond-tastic & Attraction

 

China Glaze Con-fused?, Claire's blue, Finger Paints Electro Magnet & Magnetix blue

 

 China Glaze Instant Chemistry & Drawn To You, Essence Magic Wand

 

Mood polishes ~ Claire's Peaceful/Confident & Calm/Wild

 

These types of novelty polishes can easily end up in da back of da drawer

& forgotten about, but they can be used as a regular polish 

as well as possibly be good for stamping too!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky