Psych Zebra!

I'm a little late on the Wednessday post...hope I still get some love!

My fellow Konaddicts, i feel as though I have "fallen off the wagon" so to speak.  I miss blogging and having my nails pimped out in a fantastic konadicure!

 Here is a super fun zebra nail tip.  It is so fast and easy...you better try it!  Change the colors if you wish.  I think Im for this non-traditional look though, because it is still wearable!

                             

I think the tips are a little high, could have covered the smile line better-as my nail is showing through. 

Here is the basic supplies to create the look:

                                  

Sally Girl mini polish in "pea-body", Konad image plate m69, konad princess polish in psych pink, Konad top coat, and of course a stamper scraper.

Follow these steps to konadiclone this look:

                                    

1) Paint tips.  I do this free hand, but for shorter nails you can use Konad image plate m19 for tips that dry almost instantly...no waiting before applying the zebra tips.

2) use the LONG side of the image on plate m69 to "hug" your smile line right over the green....if you slightly arch the stap when you roll it, it will make a nice C on the smile rather than a sraight across tip.

I hope to do videos of this soon.  ( be patient though, still learning hoe wo edit video)

3) cover and protect with Konad clear top coat.

so go do your own funky zebra!

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Poor Unlucky Irish Bastard!

Yeah...See what I mean?!
Hello My fellow Konaddicts!  How to like that for the luck O' the Irish!?  Polished up my pretties, forgot to photo them before we gutted the garage of the old cabinetry.  Sadly-my nail was a casualty or the garage remodel, and we are't even close to being done.

                                                                    

Wish I could take credit for the "kiss me" I'm irish idea- BUT I CAN"T.  My sister did a manicure and told me about it.  So I kloned it.  I have her Konadicure below, you will see how funny it is that ours are so different!

Lets just tuck that nasty broken one away, shall we?  Try to envision the a complete set of painted digits.

                                                                                      

See?

Anyhow, here is what you would need for this Konadicure

                                                                                                

Pretty straight forward.

A Black base color, Konad image plates m4, m22, and m56.  Konad Princess Polish in Apple Green

Simply paint your base color, stamp the tips, and the extra clovers here and there.  Pretty basic right?

Let's have a look at the uber darling Irish Konadi my sis is sporting.

How dainty is that!?  Yes, I agree- very cute indeed!  And VERY wearable I might add.

Here's what you'll need.

Konad image plates m4, m22, m37, & m80.  Konad Princess Polish in Apple green, Konad Special Polish in White, and A Konad top coat for good measure;)

Do it like this...

And don't forget the Irish!

                                                                                                  

So....get a little green this St Patty's Day!

Good luck! (hope you don't end up with an unlucky little stubby like mine!)

'till your next fix...

m79 & m80 (New Konad Plate) Valentine Nails

Konaddicts! I have another swatch of the new plates Konad is coming out with...
I lovethe new polka dot FUUL NAIL design plate.  The other 2 polka dot designs I think can be either too far apart or too close.

                                

Here's what you need

                              

Konad plates m79 & m80.  Konad princess polish, sheerblush polish. and any white for the tips.

 The Tutorial

                             

1) paint blush color oer nail

2) Apply polka dots over full nail

                                                         

3) paint tips white or stamp french tips with konad m19 .  I just did free hand

4) apply the red hearts tip image over the white.

super cute, super fast, super new design!

untill next your next fix................                        

m45 Black & White

I have only ever done this plate design once, but i definitely like it. It could be done 2X in different colors, slightly offset to make it look like plaid. I plan on trying this technique for Christmas.

Here's what you will need: m20, m45, a sheer blush ( I used china glaze here, but i have added more red to it so it has a more blushed color) any white for the french tip, SP in black, and a polish pen stripe brush for the aqua line & dots on flower.

Here's how to do it:

1. Polish your tips white and stamp tip design m45 over the white.

2. Clean the smile line to wipe off any extra white. Paint sheer blush on the bottom 1/2 of your nail.

***** If you have a steady hand, and can paint a french tip freehand WITHOUT having to clean up the smile line, then go ahead and start with the sheer, then paint the tips, and follow with the stamp....actually, because you will be painting the stripe over the smile area, you don't have to be perfect. I originally planned on just doing the tips, that's why I did it in this particular order. The stripe was an afterthought.

4. Stamp m20 flowers on your thumb

5.Finally use the polish pen/skinny brush to paint a line along your smile. finish with dotting the center of your flowers with a co-ordinating color or the same color.

Halloween Happy Nails!

Cant help it...I just think these nails are happy!that's why I called them Halloween Happy nails. I used elements from the new Boo! Kit and the Coraline kit. I think any of the Coraline kits are great for Halloween too.

Here's what you need:

1. Plates m28, m13, & co6
2. you will also need a sheer base pink/blush

3. A konadable black polish, and any orange color for the tips and accent nail. Again I used a color from the tattoo taboo OPI kit

1. Paint sheer blush over all nails

2. Paint orange on the tips and over entire accent nail. I used 2X coats.

3. Stamp black Coraline tips. I used 2 different tip designs and alternated them every other tip ( not including the accent nail)

Follow with a spider stamp on each nail. I added two for the thumb so it would cover more. It make for an interesting design if each spider is in a different angle.

4. Use the Jack-o-Lanteren for the accent nail.

This is a pretty fast design if you freehand the orage tips over the blush. If you are not as fluent with painting your tips...you could do that FIRST, then clean the smile line with an acetone soaked brush, then pain blush on bottom 1/2 of nail. But I think here the Coreline tips help cover any small imperfections,
and it is a very forgiving design because of the space inbetween each graphic. Some of the other tips HAVE TO BE PERFECT and can be trickier.

Blue Petal Tips

I did these a while back...early this summer. Just now getting around to posting it. I wanted to try out a Konadicure with china glaze. Sassy is always using it to come up wit new designs.

I have to say that while I like this manicure, and the style of the "water mark" konad looks good on this mani.... I am not impressed with he strength of the imprint. The design isn't strong enough to qualify this as a "truly konad compatible" color. So, do experiment with China Glaze, but don't expect it to reveal a dark design.

And don't forget the toes! Actually I used a different plate for the toes, but using the same colors can make the two look cohesive. Because of my skin tone...I don't prefer the blue on my toes, not very flattering. But, perhaps it would look better on a lighter peachier complexion?

What you need: Plate M24, base color, I used China Glaze for Audry here. A nail art polish w/skinny brush, stamping color (china glaze) and a sheer blush (my franken)

The Steps:

1. Paint tips free hand from left to right in a horizontal motion

2. Stamp on image onto tips. Here you can choose a tip design, OR any design with a dense pattern.

3. Clean the smile line to remove extra polish & overlapping design.

4. paint sheer blush on the bottom 1/2 of nail.

5. cover smile line with a purple nail art polish, making a thin line

Gotta Have It!

I want to address the questions I have had regarding some key image plates I think you "gotta have!" There are a few plates in the Konad series that appeal to me the most because they have MORE THAN ONE design on the plate I would use. There are many plates I have purchased just for ONE DESIGN ALONE....but I wanted to share with you the plates I have used over & over again, and done so in different ways. I think the plates above also include many tip designs, whether used for a stamped tip, french tip, or tip with a stamped smile line. I have highlighted in green those designs I think work great on tips.

m9) the swirl design ALONE is reson enough to buy this image plate. The star shaped flowers look great too. I like the design highlighted in green, as it works great on tips.

m36) You have to have this because of the arched design I love to use on the smile line ( highlighted green.) But I aslo love the center design & the butterflies!

m57) The entire thing rocks! Who doesn't love animal print! I love the two designs that can be used on tips too....gotta have this one!

m71) I just love the lacy veiled look. The fishnet flower one is amazing too, you'll recognize that from a previous post. Finally all the lace scalloped edges work amazing on tips, or when stampe on white over a shher pink nail , can substitute for a french manicure...much fast too!
So give my picks a look...you might decide you gotta have 'em too! Pair these discs with some basic colors of special konad polish like white, black, silver, black pearl, or even gold.

And don't forget to take advantage of the ocnailart.com coupon!

4 Steps to an Easy Stamped Tip Design.

Here is and easy stamped tip design, because there really isn't a lot of drying time involved. Use the same techniques as the other tip manies. This only takes ONE plate & ONE SP color, but you can still layer.

I used plate m4 for this design. Again, this image was taken for the OCNAIL Art contest, so I didn't take a step by step photo story...but refer to the "french tip" design post dated July 12th for step by step detail.

1.Polish tips. Don't worry about perfection, you'll clean the smile line later.

2. Stamp tip. How cool is this, you don't need a full nail image....just one that is dense enough to show on the tip only.

3. Clean the smile line (with a flat brush dipped in acetone)...because you are not covering this with a stamp or polish pen, take your time to create a nice smile line.
4. Stamp flower on bottom 1/2 of nail. Finish with a clear coat. Easy peasy!

Green Tip...Full Nail Design

Here is one of my favorite french mani's. These nails are my mother-in-laws. I love this mani because it is so different from others I have done in the past. I designed this one as one of the entries for the OCNailart.com contest. I wanted to use several plates & techniques. I had also seen on another website, the "accent nail" idea (that's not really what it was called, but what shall we call it?) so love the ring finger being the whole nail, rather than just tips. This tip design is created the same way as the posting below. The only difference in steps is that instead of sing a glitter pen on the smile, I use a stamp to finish the smile line.
I really like doing this, because it can cover a less than perfect smile. So, as the mani before, the main steps are:
base coat on tips
color tips (and full accent nail)
stamp over color
clean tip smile
apply blush to bottom 1/2 of french
stamp lower nail design
stamp smile line

So here are the plates I used. Of course, you can use the plates you have. If you don't have a full nail design, use one that can be duplicates to cover full nail and tip.
I used plates m25, m36,m57. I really like the m36 curly arch like design, it works great on the smile line. There are a few others I recommend too, ill post them separate.

Because I already took photos of these LONG before the birth of my blog, I don't have a step by step photo story. So, here I numbered the steps on the nail and below are the corresponding plate images.
Hope it's understandable.
1. Paint tips & accent nail. Cover with full nail stamp m57. On tips, use 1/2 of the image. ( if you work FAST you can use 1/2 on tip, then RUSH to the next tip & use the other 1/2). Cover entire "accent nail."
2. Clean smile line and polish bottom 1/2 of nail with a clear blush (see previous post on how to make your own)
3. Stamp flowers from plate m25 on lower 1/2 of nail.
4. Use m36 to stamp over smile line. It is easier if you line up, then roll from one side to the other while peeking to make sure your lined up. It takes practice, so do that a few times before attempting this mani. Sucks to spend all that drying time to muff it up on on stamp!
5. Apply butterfly from plate m25 to the accent nail.
6. Finish nail with a black nail pen, dotting centers of flowers. I like using the same color as the smile design because I think it ties the colors together. Don't forget to finish with a clear coat! (careful not to smear your hard work!)

Try this mani and let me know how it goes. If you have any questions...post them, I'm happy to help....because I'm SUCH a Konaddict!

French Tips...Using a Full Nail Plate Design

So, the gunmetal mani lasted exactly two days before I took the polish remover to them....date night warranted a more "conservative" mani. This pleased my husband-plenty. Here I want to show you how you can use a full nail design for your tips only. You don't have to purchase the fancy tip plates for a tip design. Plus, this way you can use any full design or design that is dense enough to cover the tip. You can try this same technique with any tip color & any stamp color. I'm using my NEW s9 image plate...THANK YOU KATHLEEN from OCnailart.com!

What you'll need:

1. Tip color

2. Sheer pink for bottom 1/2 of nail

3. Silver polish for image designs

4. Glitter pen polish for smile line detail. i used silver here

5. Gems

Prep nails by base coating THE TIPS ONLY. you will have to clean off extra image from smile...so base over entire nail is not needed.

1. Paint tips free hand using a horizontal motion, inside edge to outside edge of nail. It doesn't have to be perfect, as you will wipe this clean on the smile with a flat brush dipped in acetone.

2. Apply stamp to tip of nails. Some of the image will cross the tip, and cover your bottom 1/2. OK you'll clean that next. :0)

3. Clean tip, remove overlapping image from bottom 1/2 of nail....make a nice arch @ smile. Don't work too hard, this too will be covered by the glitter polish later. Follow by painting the bottom 1/2 with a sheer blush pink color. I make mine. to make your own, start with a clear polish, dump some polish out, add a few drops @ a time of burgundy and an opaque peach/light tan. Mix, and add more till desired color is reached.

(below see a review of steps 1-4 on each nail)

5. After the pink sheer has dried, apply flower stamp to bottom 1/2 of nail. I used silver here.

6. Finally, add a little gem to the center of the flower....I did the thumb...but heck do them all, that would look cute too! After all you just spent a few minutes doing your nails...go crazy.

Some of you may be wondering if these mani's take a while....the only thing that makes the process longer is the drying time of base polishes.

So try some tip, & layered designs using the same process.