Konad M95 Review

Hi everyone!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

If you know me, you know I love stamping, and when talking about nails, it is not out of the question. Such fun, and intricate designs can be attainable by just doing a little stamping on your nails. It's quick, and much easier than you might imagine.

I always love experimenting with my nails, so when I saw this plate, I knew I had to try it. Can you guess why? Well, of course, it has an owl on it!!!

So this is what the new Konad M95 Plate looks like: 

 I love the fact that the full nail designs are much bigger than the older Konad plates I own. I've paired the new plate with one of my old ones (Konad M51), so you can see the difference in the size of the design. I was super happy to see the bigger size on the new plate, because that means I won't have to worry when stamping, about the design not covering my entire nail. That is a BIG relief, because you don't want to know how many times I messed up a manicure because the design was too small for my nail. With this new plate, that is a problem of the past. Yay!

I started playing around with the designs and here are some of the shots I took.
For this first picture I used L'oreal's Haute Couture Red, and for the stamping Essie's Good as Gold. I have discovered that I don't always need to use special polish to stamp my nails. Metallic polishes seem to work really well too.

On this next picture I'm wearing Essie's Naughty Nautical which I stamped over with Konad's White special polish.

At this point I couldn't stop playing, so to that, I added Essie's Penny Talk for the design of the other nails.

 Here's a closer look to that other design on the plate using Penny Talk by Essie.

In this next one I used Essie's East Hampton Cottage, and Sally hansen Instadri in Pronto Purple.

I will continue trying the rest of the designs, and I'm very happy with the nail plate. If you are not an accurate nail stamper like me, these designs are perfect because you can get away with not having to stamp perfectly every time, and the designs don't end up looking crooked, or misplaced. Maybe the design with the lace print in the middle might be the most difficult to stamp, considering you might want to keep the design from looking slanted, but pretty much all the designs I tried were pretty fool proof.
One thing I will say however, is that you need to be careful when wipping your plate before tranfering the design to your stamping tool.  You don't want to remove a lot of the polish from the solid parts of the designs. I found this to be a little bit of an issue with the more solid designs on the plate, specially with the multiple hearts design. I found that I needed to be extra caredul just to get get an even looking stamped image. Overall, I think this is a super fun plate, with great designs. The possibilities with it are endless. I could layer that owl anywhere I tell ya'!
I have a tip for you too! My friends over at NailPolishCanada.com are holding a Nail Art Giveaway! The prize is for all 5 of the new Konad plates that have recently been released, and guess what? (Free shipping IS INCLUDED!
If you are interested in entering for a chance to win you can enter here: http://www.nailpolishcanada.com/categories/konad-nail-art.html
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today, I hope you enjoyed my nail stamping post for today, and I encourage you to try some nail stamping. It's so fun!

Fluttering Butterflies

Hello everyone!

Summer is almost over, can you believe it?! My summer has been packed with tons of activities, and lots of cool little trips. I've definitely been busy, have you? 

Now, all the talk is about back to school, and getting organized for the new school year. Everyone will be going back to their regular routines, and then barge into getting ready for the holidays! Amazing how time flies bye these days.

Today, I wanted to share with you this card I created using Lindy's Stamp Gang Products. When I look at it I see August...what I mean by that is, I usually envision the months in my mind having some sort of color theme, and to me, this is how August is, rich, colorful and super bright!

 I used many different Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Stains to make the background of the card, as well as the color on the butterflies. The method of applying color however, on those two things were completely different. I sprayed the background, and I painted the butterflies using a thin brush (two different methods of applying color, but both very effective). Can you see all the shimmer? I embossed the butterflies using black Versafine Ink, and Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powder in Magic Moon Pearls, so the ebossing comes out black, but with a pearlescent finish. I love it! The pictures really don't do it justice.

The Starburst Stains I used were the following: Wake Me Up Before You Go Gold, Pretty In Pink Pink, Ponderosa Pines Green, Fuzzy Navel Peach and Bayou Boogie Gold.

I used a Prima Stamp set as well as Hero Art's Antique Engravings Stamp set, for the butterflies. The Sentiment of the card is from and Inkadinkado Stamp set. The background resist was done using the Hero Art's Raindrop Background stamp, as well as the Magic Moon Pearls embossing powder from Lindy's Stamp Gang.

The white you see behind the butterflies, is a piece of white vellum which I dry embossed using a Stampin' up embossing folder, and glued down to the card using some paper lace from my stash.

I added some Gold Stickles in some areas of the butterflies, specially the biggest one, just for some extra bling. I hope you enjoyed this card, as much as I did making it. Take care everyne, and have a safe end of the summer!

A tag using Lindy's Stamp Gang and My Favorite Things Products

Hello there!
I'm so glad you are joining me back here again for another project share. Today I want to show you a tag I created using Lindy's Stamp Gang (LSG) products as well as My Favorite Things (MFT) Stamps. Today is the last day to take advantage of the code SMFRIENDS at the MFT store to get a 10% discount of your entire purchase. Sweet, huh?
This is a super colorful tag I made for the LSG's August Color Challenge. Every month, LSG Hosts a color challenge on their company blog, and all of the designers, share some inspiration for those who wish to participate. The challenge goes live at the beginning of each month and it's super fun to watch what everyone comes up with. Check out the LSG blog every beginning of the month to see how to enter, and be a part of it.
I used a stamp from the  MFT's Distressed Background Blocks set, as well as some stamps from the Dandelion Wishes Set from MFT.

I used different LSG Flat Fabio Sprays, Starburst Stains, and on of LSG's fabulous embossing powders which I love. The Flat Fabios I used were: Tears on My Pillow Tangerine and Rizzo's Rowdy Red. The Starburst Stains I used were Open Arms Amethist  and Tainted Love Teal. For embossing powder, I used the color Imperial Crown Purple Gold.

I added tons of fibers like I always do on all the tags I make, used MFT's Stamp Ink in the color Factory Green to create the shadows of the flowers behind the dark stamping of the flowers in my favorite black ink, which is Versafine.

Super colorful tag for a super fun color challenge. Remember to Visit the LSG blog for more details on how to enter, and take advantage of your 10% discount on the MFT Store using the Coupon Code: SMFRIENDS.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed today's project share!

Projects with My Favorite Things Stamps and Dies

Hello everybody!
Today I wanted to share with you a few projects I created using My Favorite Things Stamps and Dies.  I have a coupon code you can use to get 10% off of your entire purchase. Just enter SMFRIENDS at checkout, and enjoy the discount. Right now they are also having a great sale on some of their stamps and dies, so you might want to check that out too. The discounted prices are great!
Anyways, lets get to the projects, shall we?
The first thing I made was this altered glassine bag. I used Echo Park's This and That Collection, which is super colorful. I stamped the MFT's Pure Innocence Dress up Diva Stamp, and used one of the sentiments of that stamp set as well. I also used some MFT Dienamics when altering this bag, specifically the Laina Lamb Design Dienamic Accent it- Celebrate die, and the MFT Dienamics Wonky Scallop Border. I cut the banner where the stamped sentiment is myself using my scissors. I colored the image using my Copic Markers, and I also did some paper piecing. To add a little bit more interest, I also added some gems and flocking to her outfit. She's totally a diva in my opinion, ha!

 The next thing I created was a card, using the Wendy Burns Design stamp set for MFT called You're so Special to me. the image is super whimsical, and I totally love her cuteness. I colored her with my Copic markers, and paper pieced her outfit, boots, and purse. I used the My Mind's Eye Collectable Unforgettable collection on this card, and also used two different MFT Dienamics Dies: Jumbo Cloud Stax , and the Farm Fence Die. Isn't she totally adorable? I love that image!

Finally,  I also made a cute Tea Holder, perfect to use as a gift favor, or just to add to a care package. In the picture below you can see the front, back, and inside of the holder I created using the MFT A la Mode Stamp You're my Cup of Tea. I used the My Minds Eye Honey Collection, as well as the MFT Dienamics Well Worn Greetings Die (the Oval die of the set). I used the die to create the opening where the tea bag is inserted in the holder.

I really had a fun time working with all these products, and I have one more project to share with you in a few days from now. If you don't want to miss it, please remember to click the "Follow my Blogposts" button at the top right of this blog screen and be the first to know when a new post is up! Remember to take advantage of the sale, and the coupon code: SMFRIENDS for your discount.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and see you back here in a few days for another fun project. Have a great day!

BLOG HOP: Basic Grey, Glue Dots, and Lindy's Stamp Gang

Hi everyone!
So happy you can join us today for this super exciting Blog Hop brought to you by Basic Grey, Glue Dots, and Lindy's Stamp Gang products.

I had a super fun time creating my project, and I can't wait to see what all the other designers were able to create with all the great products we had to work with.
I created a 12 by 12 scrapbook layout using Basic Grey's new Carte Postale paper collection. It's the perfect paper collection to use for all your summer travels. I made a detailed video tutorial on how this project came together, and in it, I show you exactly how, and which  products I used (video at the end of this post).
I created a lot of texture using my distressing tool, as well as some the Lindy's Stamp Gang stains, and embossing powders. All the different Glue Dots products I used made the layering of product on my layout much easier, and you'll see what I mean when you watch the video.
Here's what I created:

You  can see the color and texture created by the Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powder, and sprays (the word First was sprayed with Lindy's Stamp Gang Startburst Stain in the color Tibetan Poppy Teal, the word Flight was sprayed with Lindy''s Stamp Gang Flat Fabio in the color Magical Mai Tai, as well as the color Tears on My Pillow Tangerine. Flight was also lightly embossed with Lindy's Stamp Gang's embossing powder in the color Cleopatra's Copper. The journaling you see in the background was printed on my inkjet printer, and embossed with Lindy's Stamp Gang's embossing powder in the color Magic Moon Pearls).

 I cut out many images from the paper collection and layered them as embellishments on the page, using several kids of Glue Dots: mini, XL sheets, lines and pop up 3D dots.

I also drizzled/dripped some Lindy's Stamp Gang's Startburst Stain in the color Teeth Chattering Teal, in the background of my layout for another layer of texture. You can see the wonderful teal shimmer showing through the white stain, in the picture below.

I used Basic Grey acrylic stamps from the Hello Collection, to add the date, and design on the small white banner I added towards the bottom of the layout.

Please watch the video below for more details on how this layout came together. The links to the blogs participating on the blog hop will be listed below the video as well, so go and visit each link so you can take a look at what all the other designers  have created, and get in on a sweet giveaway.

Here's the video:

You next stop is Jana's Blog  
http://janaeubank.com/

Here is the entire Blog Hop line up, just in case you want to make sure you visit, and comment on each post participating:

Glue Dots Blog 

Smitha 

Samantha 

Erin

Lindy's Stamp Gang Blog

Jessica 

Kate 

Sharon  <<<<<<<<<<<<< YOU ARE HERE

Jana

Kelly 

BasicGrey Blog

 Thanks for stopping by today!

It's almost the middle of summer already!!!

Hello everyone!
Wow, summer is really a busy time for me! I barely get a chance to stop on by, and sit down to share for a few minutes what I've been up to! Shame, shame I tell you, but hopefully things will go back to normal soon.
I have a huge project I need to undertake in the next couple of months, and that is to go through all my computer's documents, organize, trash, and back up many of my files. It's an intimidating job, but someone's got to do it before something goes terribly wrong, right? I've been going back and forth on the idea for a few month's now, but my time has been so busy lately, I barely even get to touch this computer most days. That's definitely summer for ya! My Emily has been loving going swimming, and she recently started dance classes, so little by little more stuff has been added to my schedule. She's growing up so fast!
I don't want to leave you today without sharing a project. I made this card a while ago, but for some reason I can't seem to recall blogging about it here, so this is the perfect time to share. I used one of Sweet Nothing's Stamp Co. stamps for it, and I love the simplicity of it. I colored her using my Copic Markers and I used some Prima paper on it.
I hope you like it, and I look forward to sharing with you many new projects and tutorials soon. In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying the summer with your family, and making the best out of the hot weather. Stay tuned!

A Mermaid's Summer Tag 2013

Its summer time, and I don't know about you, but I am enjoying mine very much so far. Summer is all about fun, beach, water, and hot weather.
Hello everyone!
I know I've been gone for a few weeks, but I've been on vacation, and I've just got back. I've been enjoying my summer so far, and I wanted to share with you a summery tag I created using Mermaid Sophie, from Sweet Nothings Stamp Co.  She looks too cute sitting by the water, I could not wait to color her.

Like always, I colored her using my Copic Markers and I added some distress, as well as regular Stickles to her tail, for a little bit more dimension, and shine. I used some felt clouds from Katscrappiness.com as well as some die cuts I made using a grass Impression Obsession die.
I totally got out all my fiber, and added quite a bit of it to the top of the tag, because I always like adding fibers to my tags.
The background, I embossed using a Cuttlebug folder, and I used paper by Echo Park, from last year's Summer Collection in the background of the tag. A touch of a few real mini shells finished off the tag, and I really like how it turned out. Do you? The banner I cut freehand and added a sentiment from one of those dollar stamps from Michael's or Joann's---Inkadinkado I believe is the brand.
I hope you enjoyed this project, and give Mermaid Sophie a try. She's really fun to color with her long hair.
Hope you enjoy your summer!

Mixed Media Canvas: Prima & Lindy's Stamp Gang

Hi everybody!
Today I'm sharing with you a canvas I created using Prima Products, as well as Lindy's Stamp Gang Products. For those of you who love tutorials, I'll be uploading a complete tutorial on how I created it, this coming Friday, May 24th, so stay tuned for that.
I used Prima's Lyric Collection, as well as some of their stencils, flowers, trim, and more. For color, I used tons of Lindy's Stamp Gang products. Please see the list, and links to all of them at the end of this post, and remember, stay tuned for the video coming up in a few days! I hope you like it.

Lindy's Stamp Gang products used:

Starburst Stain in Golden Sleigh Bells 

Flat Fabio in South Shore Sand

Flat Fabio in Aloha Avocado

Flat Fabio in Kissin Kenickie Coral

Glitz Spritz in Blazing Sun

Embossing Powders in Magic Moon Pearls and Byzantine Bronze

Faber Castell Design Memory Craft Tutorial #4

 Happy Monday friends!

Today I wanted to share with you  a video tutorial on how I created this artsy tag, using Faber Castell Design Memory Crafts products. Enjoy!

For more information, techniques and ideas on these, and other Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft products,  please check out the links below:

Website: http://www.designmemorycraft.com

Blog: http://designmemorycraft.typepad.com/design-memory-craft

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/designmemcraft

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DesignMemoryCraft

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/designmemcraft

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/designmemorycraft

Repurposing!

Hello everyone!
Today I wanted to share a little tutorial on how to repurpose the containers of candles. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that I'm addicted to candles for my home, and my favorite seem to be the three wick candles from Bath and Body Works. I go through those all the time, and hate throwing the container away, because they are so pretty, and I know they could be used for other things after I've burnt through the candles. I have to be honest, and tell you I don't repurpose all of mine, since I use many of these a year, and don't need a house full of glass containers lol. However, from time to time I do repurpose them, and here's a picture tutorial on what I do to get them looking perfect, and ready for their new way of use.
1. Take your burnt candle holder container, and remove all the stickers you can take off the glass. Put the container in your freezer for about twenty minutes. The cold temperature will make the leftover wax shrink and firm up.
2. Take the container out of the freezer, and gently with a knife, break the wax and take it all out, as well as the three metal wick holders in the bottom of the container.
3. With a nice sponge, wash out the container, and get rid of any stickiness  you have left in the bottom, or side of the jar. If you have issues removing the adhesive of the stickers, just spray the glass with Goo Gone, and it will come totally clean. Rinse well.
4. Let air dry, and that's it! Your container is ready to be repurposed.
5. I use my clean containers to hold small things, such as lipsticks, lip gloss as you see in the picture, candy, even nail polish! You can definitely embellish (or not) your container if you like, and use it in your craft area too. The possibilities are endless!

I hope you enjoyed this quick and simple tutorial. A different post from my usual paper crafting posts. I hope it is useful to you.
Thanks for stopping by!