Day 12: Stripes

Didn't want to be toooo boring today so mixed it up a little with a 'French Tip'-esque design. Funnily enough, the design kinda reminds me of France with the pink and black colour scheme I ended up going with. What do you think?

Apologies for the poor lighting and, therefore, photo quality!

Not sure why the hot air balloon...it just felt right :P

Polishes used: Mode "Ooh Baby"
Stamped with: Konad Special Black
Image Plates used: Konad m44, Konad m19, Winstonia W117

Day 11: Polka Dots

Wow...so much for not falling behind! Never mind the dates of the posts to come..it's all going to be well out of whack from here on in! Prepare to be bombarded with a whole heap of catch-up posts...my bad :S

And so begins the next third of the 31 Day Challenge: Patterns.

Day 11 was all about polkadots. Lucky I have a stamping image plate to help me out with this one as I'm still mastering the dotting tool! Kept it simple this time around...

Polishes used: Revlon "Plum Attraction"

Stamped with: Konad Special White

Image Plates used: Konad m79, Konad m59

Day 10: Gradient Nails

This post may or may not be two days late...*note to self, must not keep falling behind!* I did complete the challenge on the actual day but wasn't happy with it, so decided to re-do it. So here are both...

Polishes used: Covergirl "Lav-Endure", Mode "Luv-A-Lot", China Glaze "Harmony"

Stamped with: Konad Special Black

Image Plates used: Konad m76

Polishes used: China Glaze "Emotion", Christina Fitzgerald "Peace", Mode "Racy"

Stamped with: Konad Special Black

Image Plates used: Winstonia W102, Bundle Monster BM03

Not 100% happy with either design but no time to do them again as it is on to the next challenge!

Day 9: Rainbow Nails

Didn't end up doing any stamping today as I just couldn't bring myself to cover up all the hard work it took to achieve this rainbow gradient! I wanted to do a tie dye sort of look, but realised this was a bit beyond my skill level! I thought a coat of glitter should do the trick to make up for it ;)

Polishes used: Mode "Racy", Chi Chi "Hot Stuff", Ulta3 "Honolulu", Mode "Cool As", Revlon "Tropical Teal", Sally Hansen "Blue It", Covergirl "Lav-Endure", China Glaze "Harmony", Revlon "Primal Purple", China Glaze "Fairy Dust"

I'll put this one down as good practice for tomorrow...

Day 8: Metallic Nails

Had this idea in mind since I first looked over the challenge for the month ahead, and have to say this is (for the most) actually how I had pictured it in my head! Went with a Steampunk theme..the metallic gold and bronze were just asking for it. Read more about the concept of Steampunk here, but I think this picture sums it up quite nicely:

Source (Book Cover): Steampunk: The Art of Victorian Futurism by Jay Strongman.

Now onto the nails!

Polishes used: Mode "Blackjack", China Glaze "Delight"

Stamped with: China Glaze "Passion", China Glaze "Devotion", Konad Special Black

Image Plates used: Winstonia W112, Bundle Monster BM12, Bundle Monster BM03, Winstonia W109

Day 7: B&W (Black & White)

Evening!

I'm cheating today and posting two challenges in one day. To be fair, I did start this design last night, just didn't get around to posting it in my sleep-deprived state! For Black and White day, I couldn't resist this gorgeous panda image from the Winstonia 1st generation of stamping plates. It bears (pun intended!) a great likeness for the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) logo - an incredible conservation organisation dedicated to protecting the natural world (Get amongst it! Click here to learn more).

Polishes used: O.P.I "Alpine Snow", Mode "Blackjack"

Stamped with: Konad Special Black, Konad Special White

Image plates used: Konad m91, Winstonia W110, Winstonia W115

These paw prints in no way reflect the actual shape of panda tracks, I just thought it was cute! They in fact belong to a cat and come from a new Konad plate (m91). Incidentally, the literal translation of the Giant Panda's scientific name, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, is "black and white cat-foot" (thanks, Wikipedia!). 

So there you go :)

Day 6: Violet Nails

Today's design comes from another Nailz Craze plate - NCO2 ("Magical" plate). Was looking forward to today as purple has always been my favourite colour (just in case you hadn't noticed from my blog template :P) and I love this dark shimmering violet by Revlon.

Polishes used: Revlon "Primal Purple", Mode "Rock Me Sweet"
Stamped with: China Glaze "Harmony"
Image Plates used: Nailz Craze NC02

For the swirly image I used another polish from the China Glaze 'Romantique' collection - which all stamp superbly. This is easily my favourite from the collection (I wonder why....).

Day 5: Blue Nails

Have been wanting to try out this image for a while now, and today presented the perfect opportunity. It's a peacock feather which comes from the NC01 image plate created by Nailz Craze (check out her blog here and the store where you can purchase her plates here - these plates are awesome and have some really unique designs!).

Polishes used: Revlon "Midnight Affair"
Stamped with: China Glaze "Adore", China Glaze "Cherish"
Image Plates used: Nailz Craze NC01, Bundle Monster BM15

I also added a blue rhinestone on the ring finger for good measure ;)

Day 4: Green Nails

4 days in...I'm starting to think this is all a bit ambitious! Maybe it would have been wiser to start with a 7-day challenge :S Nevertheless...

I cannot think of anything greener than a bamboo forest :) So that's what I've tried to represent for Day 4: Green Nails.

Polishes used: Naturistics Super Shine "Carrot Top Frost", Mode "Vicious Venom"

Stamped with: China Glaze "Cherish"

Image Plates used: Konad m66

It's difficult to make out in the pictures, but the polish I've stamped with is a metallic green from the China Glaze 'Romantique' collection - a beautiful range of soft metallic colours that all stamp amazingly well. Although Konad Special Polishes are recommended for Konad nail art stamping, there are a number of regular polishes that work just as well (if not better). As a general rule, I've found that the best stamping polishes are the ones that are highly pigmented and need only one coat.

Until tomorrow..

Day 3: Yellow Nails

Today's design was inspired by the name of the nail polish used itself: 'Honolulu'. As the third day of Spring here in Australia, the beautiful warm weather didn't hurt either :D Furthermore, a couple of my best mates return tomorrow from 2 weeks away in Hawaii (so jelly)! With all of this in mind, here's what I came up with for Day 3, "Yellow Nails"...

Yep, they are pineapples!

Polishes used: Ulta3 "Honolulu"
Stamped with: Konad Special White, Konad Special Black, Konad Special Green
Image Plates used: Konad m29

Have to say this is probably my favourite Konad stamping image plate...works well stamped in/over pretty well any colour and it's just so much fun :)

Day 2: Orange Nails

I was instantly a bit worried about this one when I first saw the themes for the challenge..The only orange colour I own is a very lurid, almost neon orange that I picked up for Halloween last year. I didn't have much time (hence the lateness of the post) to do anything too fancy, so went with a simple tiger stripe pattern. Enjoy!

Polishes used: Chi Chi "Hot Stuff"

Stamped with: Konad Special Black

Image Plates used: Konad m57

Day 1: Red Nails

First up, 'Red Nails'. For whatever reason, I immediately thought of strawberries. This design is certainly not original, and there are some pretty cool fruit-inspired manicures out there that inspired this one.

Polishes used: Mode "Racy", China Glaze "Ruby Pumps"
Stamped with: Konad Special White, Konad Special Green
Image Plates used: Bundle Monster BM07, Konad m79, Winstonia W118


There are a lot of things I would change about this but for a first attempt, overall, I was pretty happy with how it turned out :)

Welcome!

Greetings and welcome to Phoenix Nails :)

I have created this temporary blog as a means to take part in a nail art challenge. I first took an interest in nail art around a year ago when a little market stall at my home town's annual Show caught my eye. "Konad" nail art stamping is a revolutionary technique of creating intricate designs on your nails with very little effort (for more information, see this instructional video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzEuVNvE5i0). 

I've found that with a little creativity and a lot of patience anyone can create amazing nail art. With this new-found interest (okay...addiction), I have since discovered a whole world of nail art and, thanks to other blogs I've been following, have recently come across the 31 Day Challenge 2013. I'm hoping through taking part in this challenge (or at least part of it, time and motivation permitting!), I'll be able to improve my skills a little and also be inspired by others. 

Behold...