Thursday 24 May 2012

After a short break. . .

I had my last ever uni exam yesterday! How weird is that?! So revision was the culprit for the silence on the blog. I think the exam went ok though, so hopefully it will be worth it :)
During my silence, I've worked on my Chantilly dress a little and have finally nearly finished it! I need to finish sewing the yoke lining down, insert the invisible zip and finish that seam, and sew the hem. So close! Also in sewing news, my pre-order of the gorgeous Cambie dress pattern from Sewaholic arrived! I think this will be my next sewing project. Though I've been thinking about sewing up some quick and simple maxi dresses, as I'm seriously lacking summer clothes. 
In knitting news, I've made great progress on my Lauriel cardigan and it fits wonderfully! I've now almost finished the first sleeve, but here's a photo of the body:
Also, if you're wondering why there is no hair on my shoulders, I got it cut! It's been a couple of months now, and I still like it ;) There'll be photo's when I finish Chantilly :)
I've also taken an interest in my nails, and the wonderful world of nail art! I came across a thread on Ravelry where they were showing off their manicures. I discovered dotting tools, and nail stamping and fell in love :) I also discovered quick dry top coats. They work like magic and I haven't smudged my nails since using it! Here's my first attempt at nail stamping :
The shininess of the top coat and the gold I used to stamp with made this quite a challenge for Dom to photograph ;) Click the photo for a closer look. I need to get better at being neat and cleaning up, but I'm still pretty impressed :) If you're interested, here's what I used and how many coats:
Base coat: Sally Hansen Double Duty
Colour: Rimmel Lasting Finish, in double decker red. Two coats.
Topcoat: Sally Hansen Instra-dri anti-chip top coat. The top coat sped up the drying time and made it solid, so the stamping didn't smudge the colour.
Stamping: Stargazer Chrome nail polish, in gold. The nail plate is Konad M73.
Topcoat: same as before, but I did three coats to make it extra strong.

As a first attempt, I think it went pretty well :) It's very pretty and very subtle. Stamping is very fun to do, and I'm slowly building up a decent nail polish collection. I also bought a Bundle Monster 25 piece set of nail plates which is a great starting point, as well as a few Konad plates that caught my eye. So lots to choose from :)
Have you ever tried nail stamping? I've never heard of it before now, so thought I'd share in case you haven't either :)
Ashley x

3 comments:

  1. Nope, never heard of nail stamping. I don't think I'd have the patience, though - to be honest, I don't even have the patience for a single coat. It takes out your hands for half an hour!

    More importantly, CONGRATULATIONS on finishing your degree! I hope you are doing something to celebrate :-)

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    Replies
    1. Ah, well that's where a decent top coat comes in! The one I use claims to be dry in 30 seconds, and it actually is! I find it surprisingly relaxing :)
      Thank you! :D Well Dom still has two exams to go, so we might do something when he's finished too :) Not sure what though.

      Delete
  2. Welcome back! Your jumper is looking amazing, as are your nails! I'm a big fan of nail polish and try to paint my nails as often as I can without ruining them ;o) I like the stamping idea...must look into it!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for the comment!

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