Birthdays and Stamping

So this past Tuesday (the 24th) was my birthday-my 24th birthday actually. It was sort of an in-your-face-you're-an-adult-now kind of day. Long story short, it could have been better but you do what you have to do.
Anyway, I had this experimental manicure on my nails that day (Zoya Yummy with Zoya Trixie used to Konad stamp on top- I didn't photograph it, sorry!). I liked the idea of it but the stamp pattern came out really light. But it reignited my love of stamping on nails. Considering the actual celebration of my birthday was yesterday, I decided to take matters into my own hands and do a fun, girly, sparkly manicure. It came out softer than I envisioned but I really like it. Plus, I have to say it's my best stamping attempt yet.

I used Color Club Fashion Addict as a base and then using Zoya Mira and Konad stamp plate m63, I made the design. Note the gorgeous holographic goodness of Fashion Addict.

Just another photo of the design- a little blurry, but it'll have to do.

For those of you reading that do not know what Konad or nail stamping is, let me explain. Konad is a brand that specializes in nail stamps. You get a metal plate with images etched into them. You apply a thick nail polish on top of the image you desire, use the scraper that come with the set, scrape the excess polish off. Then, with the rubber stamper that comes with the kit, you pick the image up and then transpose it onto your painted nail and voilà! Maybe I'll do a step by step stamping tutorial for anyone interested? Let me know. If not, I'll just keep posting finished designs.
Hope you enjoyed!

New Year and New Ideas

       Happy (Belated) New Year! Although I've been keeping up with my manicures, I've been lax in my photographic documentation of them. I had a really cute pink and black tiger stripe manicure earlier in the week and just didn't get around to taking a picture of it. Really? How hard is it to just snap a picture? Apparently...difficult enough! But anyway, here is the manicure I've been rocking the past 2 days. Please excuse the tipwear and chips, as I wore it to work yesterday and hospitals are just barbaric on nails. I'm just thankful it photographed as well as it did.
       So, I wore a Zoya polish that I received from their promotions last month (woo!), and used an amazing nail art brush. I cannot sing enough praises for this brand. It's called Stripe Rite and available through Sally's Beauty Supply stores. I just love how smooth the polish was, and how precise the brush was. Anyway, there I go rambling again. Back to the design. First, here it is:

I started with a base of Zoya Yummy, then took my white nail art brush and began the flare design. Then I took my black nail art brush and added a few lines to add depth, and then added some silver glitter for some glitz. This was something fun and a little different for me. I'm not sure why, but it reminds me of art deco style. Hope you enjoyed!