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Sunday, May 6, 2012

Sunday Stamping: Unnatural Animals

This week the stamping challenge for the group Adventure in Stamping was truly a fun one. The challenge was a stamped manicure with the theme of unnatural animals. I have been wanting to try a rainbow gradient animal print for quite a while, so this was the perfect opportunity for it. What could be more unnatural than a rainbow zebra?


For the gradient I used the technique of layering all the colors on a cosmetic sponge and then sponging them on all at once. I'm so in love with this technique that now I look for any excuse to do a gradient. I stamped using Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and Bundle Monster plate BM-223. I then matted the whole thing using Essie Matte About You. The matte topcoat smudged the stamped pattern a bit, so in hindsight I probably should have used a regular top coat first and then the matte.The good news is that the smudges are only visible up close :)



A few shots of what the gradient looked like before I stamped and matted it. For the base I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, a soft white with a hint of gray. Swatches of that polish are coming soon. For the rest of the colors I used nearly every polish from the Color Club POPtastic collection. Scroll down to see the full list...




Colors used (left to right): Wet 'n Wild Caught Red Handed, Color Club Wham! Pow!, Almost Famous, Twiggie, Chelsea Girl and Pucci Licious. I love this collection when I need primary colors for a manicure. The only thing it is missing in my opinion is a good red hence why I had to use a Wet 'n Wild Polish. The set contains two pinks instead which I didn't use for this manicure. You can see the cosmetic sponge that I used and my "palette" to dab on. The purple didn't actually make it onto my nails since they were too short. Guess there is always next time :D


I would love to know what you think of this! What kind of unnatural animal would you have created?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

30 comments:

  1. I just did my first gradient today using eyeshadow applicators. Love your one! I've not cleaned my applicator yet. Do you reuse your sponge? Does it clean up easily?

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  2. This is an awesome gradient <3

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  3. I loooooove this gradient!!! This is fantastic! :D

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  4. this is so funky and fun and I LOVE how you you went with a matte top coat.

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  5. This is awesome!! And that gradient is flawless!

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  6. very pretty gradient you have here!! did you soak your sponge first? or directly put some polishes on them?

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  7. Looks great!
    What color did you use for base coat?

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  8. This is fantastic, I love it!

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  9. Oooh la la! I love it! Your gradient looks beautiful.

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  10. Lovely, lovely, LOVELY gradient!!! I just love stamping over gradients too!!

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  11. That's really pretty! I love your gradient :)

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  12. I usually don't like matte but for some reason, I love this.

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  13. Well done! Very pretty nailart! I love gradients and I love animal prints, as long as they aren't tacky... Love your rainbow-gradient! Did you wet your sponge before you put the polishes on? I'd love to know before I'll try myself...

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  14. Thank you so much everyone! You are just so sweet with your comments! I'm glad you like the gradient :)

    To answer some questions...

    - I don't reuse my sponges simply because I don't use any expensive ones that are worth trying to clean and save. I use either a faux seafoam sponge and cut off small pieces when I'm sponging each color individually or a cheap cosmetic wedge when doing a multicolor smooth gradient. Neither one is expensive or worth saving/cleaning.

    - I didn't wet the sponge before applying polishes for the gradient. I just apply stripes of colors to the sponge, dab it onto my "palette" and then start on my nails. It works well enough without wetting for me so I not tried it the other way. I will try one of these days just to compare...

    - For the base I used I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. It is nearly white with just a hint of gray.

    I hope this answers some questions, but don't hesitate to ask if something is still not clear :)

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  15. This looks so pretty, I love your rainbow gradient! And making it matte turned out great! :D

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  16. I really need to do a gradient with this technique. I AM amazed at how they all turn out so lovely.

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  17. Hi Anutka ,
    I have nominated you for the versatile blogger award! To accept the nomination, please visit my blog for details : http://macabremanicures.blogspot.com/2012/05/versatile-blogger-award.html.

    Emily

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  18. These are tres cool! I love them so much!

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  19. The color gradient is lovely and with the animal print combo looks very sexy!

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  20. I really like this! And i really like doing the gradient. Super easy, super cool. The zebra stripes really makes the whole mani too. :)

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  21. your gradient is simply fantastic. simply fantastic!

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  22. I'm so glad that you like it! Thank you for all your comments and feedback. I really appreciate it :)

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  23. This is an awesome rainbow gradient! I can't believe you were able to fit all those colors on to your nail :p

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  24. Thank you so much! I was pretty surprised too :)

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  25. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!
    that is all I have to say about this

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  26. Thank you sweetie! You make me blush :)

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I love getting comments and reading what you have to say! So don't be shy... comment! :D