I'm officially calling this my first stamped manicure that I am actually proud of. It didn't start out perfect but I modified it to make it look presentable.
I started with Sinful Colors 'Snow Me White' and applied a quick drying topcoat.
Using Konad image plate m63, and black stamping polish (item #1381) and rectangular stamper (item #15851) from bornprettystore.com I practiced stamping the houndstooth pattern on all of my nails. As you can see I had some trouble. My nails are curved, some refer to my shape as a baseball curved nail, my nail is rounded both horizontally and vertically. This makes it difficult to transfer an image completely. You can see that the pattern did not transfer too well to the tips and edges.
So, instead of filing his under a complete fail and starting over, I decided to modify it slightly to salvage what I could. I ended up changing my pinky and thumb to solid black using Sinful Colors 'Black on Black'. Then using a black nail art stripper, I framed the houndstooth pattern on my ring, mid, and pointer finger. This helped give the image a completed look, turning this fail into a win.
Since, my last stamping post I have discovered two things that were causing me problems. The first problem I was having was with the scraper(s) I was using. The metal scarpers that come with most stamping kits don't work well, and either leave too much polish or take to much out. I believe this is because of how inflexible they are. This time around I used my Ulta rewards card as a scraper and it worked just right. The other problem I was having was with picking up the image. Believe it or not applying too much pressure is just as troublesome as not applying enough pressure. In all my frustration, I would really bare down on the stamper and still not pick up an image. I discovered that by applying moderate pressure I was able to pick up a much cleaner image.
I think with future stamping that I will be better off using reverse stamping methods and creating decals so that I can get the full image. I would also like to purchase a squish stamper so that I can practice shrinking and enlarging images. I have a very wide thumb that is difficult to cover with a full image.
Though this manicure didn't turn out exactly the way I hoped it to, it turned out better than I expected. However, I learned a few things about stamping that will help me out with future projects, and that is why practicing is so important. I hope you enjoyed this nail art design, and found my frustrations helpful with your stamping endeavors. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.
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Your Fellow Plebe,
P.S. If you purchase from bornprettystore.com use coupon code: CREATEX31 for 10% of your purchase.