Stamping Archives - Page 6 of 16 - Of Life and Lacquer

Category: Stamping

Of Life and Lacquer > Stamping

Stamping Saturdays #38

Posted on 27 September, 2014 by Cynthia

Hey guys. I hope the weekend is treating you well. I’ve been pretty lazy today, so excuse the late posting for today’s Stamping Saturdays. I wasn’t feeling too inspired today so I had to dig through my melmers a bit to figure out what polish to use. Well, I found a pretty one that I hadn’t played with in a long time.

This pretty is the Sephora + Pantone Universe Jewel Lacquer in Parachute Purple. This type of lighting doesn’t show just how amazing this polish is. The formula is pretty nice, but it does tend to dry a little dull. I also noticed that the polish dries super fast so you can overwork it very easily.

Here I used different lighting to show you the beautiful blue shimmer in the polish. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Then I went ahead and ruined the polish by stamping this busy pattern over it. I should have used a pattern that doesn’t cover up the gorgeous base. Something about this pattern and how it transferred looks sloppy to me. I don’t like this at all. In case you were wondering, this pattern is from Cheeky plate CH33. I feel like I’ve been producing more fail manis lately than usual. Yeah, I know that I tend to be hard on myself but maybe the issue is that I haven’t felt super inspired lately. Maybe I just need to KISS…Keep It Simple Stupid.

So what are you doing today? I’ve been catching up on Project Runway, Scandal, Hell’s Kitchen and How To Get Away With Murder. To be honest, I was expecting to like HTGAWM much more. I’m pretty meh on it right now which sucks because I LOVE Viola Davis. Maybe it’s going to be one of those shows that takes a while to grow on me. I am planning to watch a bunch of Sons of Anarchy tomorrow. I noticed that there was an article about SoA creator Kurt Sutter so I’ll be reading that soon. Anyway, I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Loading InLinkz ...

The Lacquer Ring – Supernatural

Posted on 25 September, 201424 September, 2014 by Cynthia

I’m going to say this up front: I do not like how my mani turned out today. You know when you imagine a mani and it looks so awesome in your mind but then when you actually execute it, it falls short…way short? That was me last night. I really thought that this was going to look awesome but somehow it just didn’t quite work out. Today’s The Lacquer Ring prompt was Siobhan’s choice and she chose “Supernatural” which includes mythical creatures and of course I gravitated towards mermaids. Let me show you how this manicure started out…

For my mani base, I used two polishes from the Disney Ariel Collection Whatcha-Nail-Callit Mini Set which was a gift from Amy. The first one is Devotin’ To Floatin’ and the second one is called Ariel.

Sephora X Devotin’ To Floatin’ is prettier than I thought from the bottle shot. It’s a little too frosty for my linking, but the formula is nice. I used two coats for my swatches above.

Sephora X Ariel is a green tinged clear polish base with tons of glitter. This made the polish look a lot more green in real life, but the curse of my camera continued to make this look more blue.

I then used Layla Flash Black and plate MASH 39 to simulate scales.

Do you see what I mean? This just does not look good. It looks very muddled. I’m sad about this mani fail but hey–you can’t win them all. Hopefully you’ll forget about this mani once I show you the beautiful polish I have lined up for tomorrow. hehe

Anyway, don’t forget to check out all the awesome submission from the other ladies who make up The Lacquer Ring. Thanks for stopping by today and I will talk to you soon!

Loading InLinkz ...

Stamping Saturdays #37

Posted on 20 September, 201420 September, 2014 by Cynthia

Holy shitballs. I can’t believe I am currently enjoying day 1 of my 4 day weekend. And how am I enjoying today, you ask? By watching episode after episode of Sons of Anarchy, of course! I completely blame Emma for getting me started on this show, and she was 100% right–I love it. I am just starting season 2 and I suspect that I’ll be able to get through a couple of seasons over this long weekend. Next week is a big TV week for me because 2 of my favorite shows are coming back: Scandal and The Blacklist!! My TV life will be complete when The Following comes back, but it seems that I will have to wait until next year for that. I think I might have to stop watching so much TV, but to be honest I tend to watch while I do other stuff like cleaning or doing my nails so at least I’m being somewhat productive. For today’s Stamping Saturdays, I decided to go extra glittery so let me show you what I did.

This gorgeous polish is NYC Blue Majesty (press sample) from the Crystal Couture Collection. It’s a very opaque glitter with a very pigmented blue jelly base. Unfortunately it stains something fierce so make sure that you double up on base coat. I didn’t use any base coat and ended up having to buff the staining away because it was so bad that not even pure acetone worked. You may also have noticed my super short nails. I don’t normally like having my nails this short, but since I broke my pinky nail I just decided to file them all down.

Because there is nothing more gorgeous to me than a white and blue mani, I stamped this image from plate MoYou London Pro Collection – 02 (press sample). I really like how this mani turned out despite my nubs.

So what are you up to this weekend? I’m really happy that the weather has cooled down dramatically. Earlier in the week it was around 100 degrees and now I’m enjoying upper 70’s and low 80’s which is heavenly. I just hope that it stays this way so I can enjoy my mini vacation. I hope you’re doing well, and thank you for stopping by today!

Loading InLinkz ...

Stamping Saturdays #36

Posted on 13 September, 2014 by Cynthia

It is so incredibly hot today, so I have no idea why I decided to focus on dealing with my serious make up hoarding problem. You see, before I even started getting obsessed with nail polish, I was even more obsessed with make-up. My make-up collection grew so much and so quickly, that it got to the point that I became disgusted with the amount I was collecting and also the amount of money I had wasted on everything. I say “wasted” because there is no way I can get through all the make-up I bought before it goes bad. Who needs 15 NARS blushes? I only have one face, right? A couple of weeks ago I wanted to use one of my favorite lipsticks: Bobbi Brown Cocoa Berry. Well, it had gone rancid. Almost $30 for a lipstick and it went rancid. I then checked Bobbi Brown Heather Mauve and it was rancid as well. And that is how the great make-up destashing of 2014 began. I’ll share a little more about that below but first let me show you what I did for Stamping Saturdays today.

Illamasqua Poke is such a gorgeous polish. Please excuse the bad pictures and the bad polish job. The truth is that I had to use my non-swatching hand today because I broke a nail on my swatching hand. I didn’t mean for my skin to look so greasy, but I had to use some serious moisture because my cuticles were a total mess. Are you as sad as I am that Sephora no longer carries Illamasqua??? I think that Nordstrom carries the brand now, but I have kind of fallen out of love with them because of the price hikes. I have a lot of Illamasqua polishes in my collection, so I will probably only buy new ones if the colors are really unique.

I then used Pure Ice Silver Mercedes to stamp this chain link design from one of my MoYou London plates. I wasn’t feeling too inspired mostly because it was such a pain to do this on my non-swatching hand…I wish I was ambidextrous!

Now, let me show you all the stuff that I junked today…

I want to cry just thinking how much money I just threw in the garbage. Some of those items were used maybe once or twice. The worst offenders are the NARS lipglosses because those definitely went bad quickly. I think that it’s just the nature of the product, but at 20-some dollars a pop, I will not be buying lipglosses in this quantity. I have a lot more make-up that I should probably get rid of but I just can’t bring myself to do it just yet. This is probably 1/4th of all the make up I have so there is plenty more to sift through–I am definitely not looking forward to it.

So, what do you think about collecting make-up? Are you also a make-up collector or do you focus on nail polish? I think that the fact that polish doesn’t truly every go bad (thinner to the rescue!) makes me feel a little bit better about my collection. Anyway, I hope you’re staying cool today if the temperatures are infernal where you live. Unfortunately, we are entering wildfire season here in OC so I’m always sad when that starts up because so many people end up losing their homes and all the brave men and women firefighters are put in such danger. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Loading InLinkz ...

The Lacquer Ring – Gold

Posted on 11 September, 201411 September, 2014 by Cynthia

Today’s post is full of my most hated color: gold. I hate gold everything. I hate gold jewelry, I hate gold nails…I just hate gold period. Yep, I’m a gold hater. Every time I think of gold, this is all I can see in my head:

I pity the fool who doesn’t wear enough gold to feed a small country! However, this is Siobhan’s month to choose the color and design for The Lacquer Ring so I must respect the gold masta. I’ve probably mentioned before that despite hating gold in every incarnation, I actually really like OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby from the Gwen Stefani Collection. I think that the satin finish won me over as well as the fact that it’s not an obnoxious yellow gold. In any case, let me show you this pretty polish.

This is two smooth coats of OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby. Pretty, eh?

Since I just couldn’t leave well enough alone, I stamped an image from MoYou London Back To The 70’s plate 3 with my black Konad polish. I think this turned out great! It’s such a grooooooovy design, right? I just love how it pops against the gold.

Well, what do you think? Do you like the design I ended up with? How do you feel about gold? Don’t forget to check out the other designs below. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Loading InLinkz ...

Stamping Saturdays #35

Posted on 6 September, 2014 by Cynthia

Happy Saturday and welcome to another installment of Stamping Saturdays! I can’t believe that I stayed up until like 4 am last night and then I woke up at 8:30 for no apparent reason. Now I’ve just been watching Project Runway and putting off doing the cleaning I need to do. I’ve always loved Project Runway but I still sorely miss Michael Kors. I do like Zac Posen, but Michael was in a class by himself. I was having a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do for today’s post, so I looked through my melmers and decided to use Chanel Taboo. I’ve only used this polish once since I bought it mainly because it wears like crap on me. It basically stared completely peeling off my nails the same day. Anyway, let me show you what a did for my stamped mani today.

Yes, Chanel Taboo is gorgeous. Yes, it is too expensive. No, it’s not really worth it if the brand wears poorly on you. I think that body chemistry has a lot to do with how polish wears on you so I’m sure that Chanel wears perfectly fine on other people–just not on me. I guess this is a good thing because I only have one Chanel in my collection but that doesn’t keep me from admiring others from afar. My wallet is happy.

I then used this flowery image from plate MASH 42 and Pure Ice Silver Mercedes to stamp this design. I’m feeling a little meh on this overall, but it has this laid back island feel too it that I’m kind of enjoying.

What are your plans today? It’s pretty freaking hot here today so I’m probably just going to be lazy and do some cleaning…and maybe watch a bunch of zombie stuff on Netflix. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Loading InLinkz ...

Stamping Saturdays #33

Posted on 23 August, 201423 August, 2014 by Cynthia

This week I lost my last living grandparent. Part of me is angry–angry at myself for not being able to see her before she passed, but I know that she was surrounded by all of her children (all 9 of them!) on her last days including countless great great great grandchildren. You see, my grandmother was 100 years old and she was lucid up until her last day when she fell asleep and didn’t wake up. As sad as our whole family is to have lost her, we know that she lived a long and full life and we are consoled by the idea that she is no longer trapped in a body that just wasn’t able to keep up with her sharp mind.You might think that it’s silly that I am here showing you a manicure after such a sad loss, but nail polish has always been an escape for me: it helps me stay focused, it calms me. When I saw a picture of my grandmother that I took many years ago, I was inspired by the pattern I saw on her dress for my Stamping Saturdays mani.

I started with two coats of OPI Umpires Come Out At Night (press sample) from the MLB Collection. This is a gorgeous and opaque blue that dries to a shiny finish.

I then used a pattern from Konad M61 and Konad’s special white polish for the flowery design.

That was my grandma. I was able to sneak in this picture since she always hated being photographed. She was never without her rebozo (a type of shawl/scarf hybrid) because she did not like to show her hair. She had the most amazing completely white hair that was so plentiful that she had a hard time managing it. I always loved seeing her brush her hair out before she covered it up. Thank you for all the stories you would tell me, the candies you would sneak into my hands and for being the woman who raised my mother to be a loving and compassionate mother in turn. I’ll miss you, abuelita.

Loading InLinkz ...

Stamping Saturdays #32

Posted on 16 August, 2014 by Cynthia

Last night I stayed up until like 4 am binge watching Orange Is The New Black so I didn’t get up this morning until like 9 am. I had so much cleaning to do today since my brother is a pig and rarely helps out with any of the house cleaning which pisses me off but I feel like I waste more energy bugging him about helping more than to just freaking clean everything myself. Even when he does help, he does such a half-assed job that I end up being pissed and cleaning everything again. Maybe that’s his strategy? Ugh, whatever. I also couldn’t find my gloves so my hands and nails took a beating after I got through the kitchen stuff. Fortunately, I was able to do my Stamping Saturdays mani last night before all of the abuse happened. Last week I showed you an awesome glitter by Kiara Sky, and today I have a lovely creme for you. Let’s take a look at it, shall we?

Holy mother of God! Kiara Sky Blue-letproof Vest is one of those perfect blue cremes that make your heart skip a beat. This polish is seriously perfection in a bottle. What you see here is ONE coat of polish and one coat of Seche Vite. I was obsessed with the color, the formula and the shine. You all know how I feel about cremes so this polish made me super happy.

I then used a geometric pattern from plate MoYou London Pro Collection 18 for my stamped design.

I knew it was going to be hard to center this pattern and while the pattern didn’t come out *perfectly*, I’m not too annoyed by it. There is nothing better than Konad’s black stamping polish for a big design like this because it transfers so crisply.

So what are you up to this weekend? I was thinking about going to watch The Giver or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but maybe I will just spend my whole weekend swatching. I have so much polish to get through, but I’m excited because there are so seriously gorgeous polishes in the mix. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Loading InLinkz ...

Stamping Saturdays #31

Posted on 9 August, 2014 by Cynthia

I am super late today with my Stamping Saturdays post but better late than never, right? This morning I was supposed to go watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but I totally overslept and ended up going to my nail places. It was a total waste of time because two of my favorite stores were closed. The only good thing was the coffee macaron I had at this awesome Vietnamese-French bakery I like to go to. Anyway, once I got home I started planning my mani. I decided to use Deborah Lippmann Let’s Hear It For The Boy.

Deborah Lippmann Let’s Hear It For The Boy is a streaky nightmare, but it sure is pretty. If I had paid full price for this, I would be pissed but I got it on clearance on HSN so it’s ok. This is three coats and it’s still kind of streaky.

Have you heard of the brand Kiara Sky? I had not until I saw a huge shiny new display today. I picked up one glitter and two cremes to try the brand out. This is Kiara Sky Serene Sky.

This is two coats of Kiara Sky Serene Sky over Deborah Lippmann Let’s Hear It For The Boys. The polish is full of glitter and is very easy to apply. Isn’t it pretty?

I then used an image from Konad M51 to stamp with Mentality Black Opaque. I just recently purchased this polish for my stamping needs and it’s a decent stamping black. I noticed that this polish dries a lot quicker than the Konad black so you have to work fast before the image dries on the stamper. The image on my pointer finger did not transfer nicely because I waited too long to stamp it. Once thing I like is that the polish isn’t a huge pain to clean up. If you get the konad black on your skin, it is a PITA to clean up because it’s so incredibly pigmented. I will have a more in depth review of the two Mentality stamping polishes that I purchased in a later post.

So what do you do think of this mani? I’m not in love with it, but it’s ok. I can’t wait to try the other two cremes I bought from the new Kiara Sky line so I’ll let you know how they work out next week. Thank you for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Stamping Saturdays #30

Posted on 2 August, 2014 by Cynthia

I should have gotten this post done last night, but of course I didn’t. I ended up catching up with a friend and didn’t get home until late. After that I was watching the Robocop remake which wasn’t that good but you know me and action movies. This morning I thought I was going to sleep in but I ended up waking up at 7:30 even though I went to bed around 3 am. Ugh! I went to my nail place early, and they only had ONE new collection I wanted which I’ll be swatching today. Whoever thought i was a good idea to close 3 out of 4 lanes on the main street to get there is a freaking genius considering there is always tons of traffic there no matter what day of the week it is. Can you sense how annoyed I was? haha! I need to chill out and just relax. Let’s move on from my complaining to my Stamping Saturdays mani since that is the main purpose of this post.

I started with 2 coats of Cult Nails Let Me Fly. Don’t let my crazy camera fool you: this polish is a lot more teal than what my pictures show. Still, it’s a gorgeous polish and that shimmer is just perfect.

I have used this image from Konad M64 many times, but I never get tired of it. I used my new Mentality Opaque White stamping polish for the design. I’ll be reviewing the two stamping polishes I recently purchased soon so watch out for that.

So how is your Saturday going? I hope it’s relaxing and fun. Let me know what you think of this mani cause I always love to read what you think. Thank you for stopping by today!

P.S. A little update on my blog sale grab bags: For this weekend only, they are $22 instead of $26!

Loading InLinkz ...