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.