Friday, August 5, 2011

Stamping Stuff

Today I have more products which the Born Pretty nail art store sent me for review. They very nicely let me choose which things I wanted to try; I picked some stamping supplies, a double ended stamper and two plates that looked interesting.



Because I wanted to be sure my base color was absolutely positively totally dry before I stamped on it, I applied it the night before, doing a pink ombre with (dark to light) OPI Feelin' Hot Hot Hot, Maybelline Pink Sombrero, Wet 'n' Wild Wild Shine Cotton Candy Delight, and Studio M Speed Dial. I didn't have my lightbox setup, and it was dark outside, so I only have this flash picture with my scratched up clothes dryer for a background. All of these are three coats of color with my usual base and top, except for the lightest pink which was four coats to be safe.



Looking at the plates, I saw that some flowers on the plate labeled m69 (on the right in the first photo) were a similar shape to ones on the plate labeled m66, so I decided to stamp the ones from m69 first as a background image in a not too flashy color then add branches and flowers from m66 in black as my main design. As it turned out, this was entirely too ambitious a plan.

When I stamped the background images (using Sally Hansen Chrome Nail Makeup in Jewel Chrome), my placement could only be called random, and that didn't look so good. I decided to ditch the background idea, so started in on my index finger to remove the stamping. I've done this before; if one is careful and has a thick enough layer of sufficiently dry topcoat, it's possible to get back to a clean slate. I was not careful enough this time, and messed up the pale pink polish to the point where I had to re-apply. Knowing that, I didn't trust myself to touch the other nails, so decided random backgrounds would just have to do for them.

After a break to fix the polish on my index finger, I stamped the black (with Wet 'n' Wild Wild Shine Black Creme). Fail number two of the day: I hadn't allowed enough drying time in the hot & humid weather and ended up with this mess:



I was very tempted to just give up and try again another day, but as busy as I've been with work and other things, I wasn't sure when that day would be, so I pressed on with stamping the black, using portions of the branch and flowers design. I also stamped single flowers with the smaller end of the double stamper, and that worked well—the smaller surface made it easier to place the single blooms where I wanted them. When I was done with the black (which was far from perfect due to my less than ideal working conditions that day), I dotted Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White in the center of the flowers, hoping that would draw the eye away from the mistakes I'd made with the stamping. I fear what that did was draw the eye toward the mistakes I'd made with the dotting tool. (Like trying yellow dots first, then seeing they looked like crap and having to cover them up with extra large white ones. For good dots, go see my friend Canadian Nail Fanatic.)



I do like the plate designs, and they transfered fine when I was paying attention to what I was doing. The double stamper is a nice addition to my kit; that'll make it easier to work with smaller designs. I didn't use the scraper. I tried a metal scraper exactly once and it was like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. An old plastic credit-type card works much better for me.

To sum up: products good, human element needs work. If you use code KARENDK31 you can get 10% off on any products from Born Pretty nail art store from now through October 31, 2011. Born Pretty also has a Facebook page where they do giveaways and share product highlights.

The stamper and plates used for this entry were provided to me for free for review purposes. The content of the entry was not dictated by the provider, and I get to keep the products for my own use.

13 comments:

  1. The ombre is pretty! It's trial and error for me too when it comes to stamping. It turned out cute :)

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  2. I have that double stamper and it doesn't work for me. I have a small single sided one that i like much better. I can't really explain why the double stamper isn't for me- but it always seems to mess up my stamps!

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  3. I have never been able to get a plastic card to work for me. I hate the metal scraper because it scratches my plates but I can not get the plastic card to work.

    I have a habit of not waiting long enough for the base to dry. I am entirely too impatient lol.

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  4. I like the ombre idea! That's always fun. I've never done any of the stamping stuff, I'm too scared I'll mess everything up. haha.

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  5. it's tricky to stamp in this hot weather but you did good!i like the white accents you added to make the flowers pop.

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  6. ombre mani looks great... the stamping is not as bad as you think, i'm sure next time it'll be eve better ;-D

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  7. I hate it when I don't wait for my polish to finish drying before I stamp it. I am so impatient though. Or when the surface of my nail is to slick and the stamp smears.... After all that trouble, I think the mani turned out great!

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  8. Thanks for the code! I really like the ombre mani of yours! Stamping seems like it's a lot harder than it looks. I've yet to take the plunge.

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  9. I keep eyeing that cherry blossom design, but I know I'm going to end up with a mess! I wish they made a smaller cherry blossom design. Love the ombre!

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  10. I love the pink ombre mani! Awesome =]
    And don't worry about the stamping, it takes a heck load of practice to get it right but i'm sure you'l manage it =]
    That said, i still like the stamping you'v done here!

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  11. the pink ombre by itself is very nice. I need more pinks in my life.

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  12. I like the nails background idea with different tones of the same colour.

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  13. Love the ombre! And the stamping looks great too.

    I've found that I get better results with the small single sided stamper...for whatever reason, I don't stamp well with the doublesided one (well, tbh, sometimes it just doesn't matter what stamper I use, its not very good!) lol! I also prefer the white/clear stamper to see the stamping polish better for placement as the eyesights not what it used to be-but again, this doesn't always mean the image is well placed!

    I used to be all bent out of shape about my metal edged scraper scratching my plates and initally, preferred the plastic edged ones, but then, over time, the plastic edge goes dull (if that makes sense) and then they wouldn't scrape the polish off well so reverted back to metal and just have had to live with the scratches.

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Thank you for reading and commenting! I greatly appreciate knowing I'm not just talking to myself here. :) I'm moderating most comments now due to the spate of spammers who claim to be looking for sexy times.