Nail Stamping!

I am still having creative block on the holiday card front.  I know, I know, not many days until Christmas to get those cards out.  I think I have come up with a concept.  It involves dies and making Christmas trees out of triangles.  If I can pull it off, they should be easy to mass produce and pull together by Thursday to be mailed out in time for Christmas. 

I finally did something creative on Sunday.  Nail Stamping!  You know we stampers love to find any new medium to stamp on, so why not our nails? 

I received my Salon Express (AS SEEN ON TV) nail stamping kit this weekend. They sell them at CVS for $9.99.   I picked up some chrome nail polish that I thought might work well when I was at CVS.  I decided to try Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polish in Shoot The Moon.    The stamping process was fairly easy.  I really like it and can't wait to experiment with it.

After I did my regular gel manicure including top coat I just did the following:

1) Apply Shoot the Moon to the stamping plate image.  ( I chose a zebra print pattern.)

2) Scrape excess polish from the plate using the scraper tool.

3) Press the stamping tool onto the image to pick up the polish design

4) Roll the design onto the nail

5) Let dry ( Shoot the Moon dried instantly.)

6) Apply Gel Top Coat and Cure

7) Clean the scraper and plate with alcohol or nail polish remover with a cotton pad or Qtips

8) Repeat steps for each additional nail

My experience is that you get better results with having the polish stick to the stamper when you file the stamper gently with a nail file.  I think it is the same concept as rubbing a new rubber stamp with an eraser to get the ink to stick better.

Fellow papercrafter Kristina (as in kwernerdesign)  has a great video here on how to do it.  Some of her manis or truly fab!

Pictured-  Sephora by OPI Gelshine Leotard Optional, Red Carpet Manicure Brilliance Top Coat, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Shoot The Moon