... AN Monday - Hearts ...

It's been awhile since I did one of these ...

Todays theme was heart and I've been wanting to try out the hot technique of using a hole punch to make designs. Glad I did. That stuff is addictive!!

So this is 3 coats of the stunning Mellow Yellow from piCture polish with hearts made from piCture pOlish Ocean, Kryptonite and Shocked.

I was really surprised on how simple and easy this was ... and also surprised that no one came up with this sooner!!! Basically I painted 3 coats of polish onto baking paper [parchment paper] and let it dry. Then cut the heart shapes out with my heart hole punch and then stuck them on [the baking paper just falls off when you cut! YAY!]

I'm really please with how it worked out! I'll definitelly be using this one again in the future!

For more pretty Aussie Nails check us out on Instagram using the tag #anmonday or check out the following ladies!

Elissa - Ten Little Nubs

Bec - Nail Gun XS

Marie - Marie’s Manicure Madhouse

Sarah - Shatter Me Claire

Chantelle - A Polished Prance

Teneil -Shades of Phoenix

Nicole - The Epitome of Superficiality

Bec - Lacquer Dreams

Naomi - NananaisNails

Eboni - Enamoured With Enamel

Adelle - Adelle1985 (Instagram)

Kelly - Kelly's Kolors

Rebecca - Polished Peripherals

Rosemarie - Every Little Polish

Melissa - Mel My Issta

Natalie - Walk In My Eyeshadow

Jennifer - JennLojko (Instagram)

Erin - Erinzi’s Nails

Astrid - Lovessweetas (Instagram)

Jasmyn - Jas’ Blingtastic Nails

Kate - Mckfresh (Instagram)

Jessica - Maedaynails (instagram)

Elizabeth - Lili_Bete (Instagram)

Cassandra - The Reluctant Femme

Tammy - Lacquer and Leather

Julia - Messy Mansion

Ann - Nailovelogy

Ronda

Theresa It's All About The Polish

Katie - Pretty Polish Please

Melissa - polished_off (Instagram)

Jennifer - jennersx (Instagram)

Rachael - thepolishedclaw (Instagram)

Julz - Julzperrinails

Caylah

Tash

Jane - Nails In Oz

Jasmine - Nailed By Jasmine

Sylvia - lilyandjinks (Instagram)

Genna - Eternal Dreamer

Tammy - http://ohmygoshpolish.blogspot.com.au/

Stacey - @staceymeldrum (Instagram)

Jess - radjecca (Instagram)

Shannen - shannen_arrowsmith (Instagram)

Sarah - lilyloveslouise.blogspot.com

Tracy

Kate - Pimped Out Nails

Casey - Drama Queen Nails

Holly - nails_by_holly (Instagram)

... Franken Week - Beautiful on the Inside ...

Unfortunately I am leaving Franken Week with a failed franken - I was really hoping to have time today to create something fantastic and new but unfortunately I fell on my arm last night and owie :( I'm pretty sure it's not broken but man it hurts - currently it's all puffy [and oddly not bruised], very sore and achy and my fingers keep having pins and needles which totally sucks. What even more sucks is that I did my dominant right hand and I'm now struggling with having to do things with 1 hand [and very much struggling writing this as it's so slow and my fingers just want to touchtype again!!]

This blurry mess is another shatter I created which I've named "Beautiful on the Inside". It's a pretty pale pink and the bottle is actually full of spectraflair ... because I forgot that shatters dry matte. So it's beautiful on the inside of the bottle as it's full of holo goodness but on the nail - meh.  Also the spectraflair made the polish rather thick to apply ... so yeah - don't do it!!!

[For everyones records this is Ozotic White Mosaic mixed with spectraflair and True Coral pigment]

And as I've had a few emailed questions about frankening shatters here are my top tips and I hope they help someone out in the future.

* Start small! It doesn't work like regular frankening - you can't just dump everything into a bottle with this one. It's a lot easier to get the formula right and then slowly add more on top.
* Don't use clear - it doesn't mix together with shatter/crackle polish nicely and you just have a bottle with a layer of clear on the top and the shatter underneath
* If you decide to try to mix with polish - again try in super small form first. You'll know if it's not going to work [I couldn't get any polish to work but hey - maybe someone will have better luck]
* If you use pigments - add them into your bottle first and then slowly add your shatter polish on top. SLOWLY! Mix regularly and test often to see if it actually crackles on your nails - if not you need more shatter added.

Oh and before I go and rest again check out a fun guestpost I did for Manicured Monkey :) CLICK CLICK CLICK

... Franken Week - Don't try this at home ...

Todays franken I've simply named "Don't try this at home".

If you are like me ... you wonder what would happen if you tamper with those holy grail of polishes. You know the ones I mean! The ones that people would walk barefoot over hot coals for in it's original form and then frame it when they get home.

And it got me thinking ... what if! Now I don't own Channel Peridot but I am curious to whether you can make that beautiful duochrome a multichrome - you see where I'm going?? I did warn you not to try this at home.

So I've pulled out the extremely close dupe of Chemistry 507 to tamper with - I'm sure I'm heading to some circle of hell now for this. Enjoy!

For comparison purposes my middle finger is the original 507 while the others are the franken!

Starting off looking similar

The red starts to shine through while the middle finger remains golden

A bit blurry but you get the idea. The original is green while the others shine on through red

** Recipe **
1 bottle of Chemistry 507
Scoops of Red-Green colour changing pigment [I have no idea how many I used ... enough to make it turn red]

... Franken Week - Aussie Shatter ...

Making a duochrome shatter/crackle/mosaic etc seems a reasonable idea in theory but OMG this was seriously the hardest thing I've ever made ... and after 4 failed attempts wasting my day yesterday here it is.  I'm still not 100% happy with it but I'm sure it's the best I'm going to get with a black base. I figured I should at least share what mess I've created.

The main issue is the shatter itself - add too much of something and that formula disappears out the window and you just get a lump of colour that doesn't crack at all. Ugh.

I've named this "Aussie Shatter" simply 'cos it's Green and Gold and I suck at creative names! The green is really dominant though but it's slightly darker than what's shown here [think Glitter Gal Lizard Belly - it's that dark green] and oddly the gold seems to like to stay to the edges of the green and not a constant colour change. It's really intriguing and I'm sure there is some chemical thing going on h

So here you go ... this is shown over Royal Red Jelly which has a green to red colour shift pigment added.

I'm sure I'll never be able to make this the same again as it was so hard. If you are game enough to give making a crackle a go then I'll give you this tip. Don't use clear polish at all as it doesn't bond with the crackle formula at all! You just end up with gloopy mess.


** Recipe **
Start off with 3 scoops of green to gold colour shift pigment into a 5ml bottle [buy it from Cathy HERE] and then add in some black shatter polish in 1ml drops - shake and test and then add more black as needed. It's totally green to start with and doesn't shatter but as you drop more black in then it starts to be more consistant. Slowly is the key - I ruined 2 going too fast and then having nothing but black with a few shiny particles visible *sad*. For the record I've used Ozotic Black Mosaic as my black polish.

... Franken Week - Royal Red Jelly

** Post #2 for today - Enjoy **

Something I've always wanted to know is ... can you make a Jelly duochrome? While I'm still not sure of the answer on that - still I'm definitely happy with this jelly that I've created. So pretty.

Now on it's own BYS Garnet is a deep red jelly but added with the colour changing pigment turned it into a fantastic deep red jelly with a red shimmer throughout! I've really struggled to actually show this in photos so bare with me. I also struggled with a name since most of the things I associate with red shimmery polish have already been used by corporations so I don't want to be sued or anything.

[Edit] Some sun appeared this afternoon for like 5 minutes so I quickly grabbed my phone for some more shimmer ... all those spotty shimmer bits are the green trying to escape but they honestly look more gold than green. Pretty regardless though. Oh and the top picture is closer in colour than the bottom.

** Recipe **
1 bottle BYS Garnet
4 spoonfuls of Green-Red pigment [available from Cathy HERE]

... Franken Week - Golden Sunrise ...

** Damn you Blogger ... when I schedule a post I expect it to appear *end rant* Grrrrrrr  - This was supposed to appear yesterday. Sorry about that - you'll have 2 lovelies today to make up for it **

A gold holo? Why not :) I had this gorgeous pigment from TKB Trading for awhile and I was hoping I could get away with it mixed with clear but it was going way too bronze for what I had envisioned in my head. So this is 2 coats of golden goodness.

** Inside**

** Outside - this is more like the actual colour**

** Recipe **
2 tiny straw spoonfuls of Aztec Gold pigment from TKB Trading
4 tiny straw spoonfuls of Spectraflair [available from Cathy HERE]
3/4 bottle of clear polish
1/4 piCture pOlish Goldfinger

... Franken Week - Not so Frappé ....

Welcome to Franken Week here on Shatter me Claire!! I've been wanting to do this for awhile but haven't had the time to sit down and experiment but this week is the one!

So kicking off is "Not so Frappé" which I've made from NYC Crappé Frappé ... which I reviewed a few weeks ago HERE.

The problem with Crappé Frappé was that it was sheer, streaky and full of polish just waiting to smudge which is a shame as it was such a pretty colour!

So ... the challenge is on. To make Frappé less Crappé! Here's my attempt! Firstly I'm really happy with how the colour turned out. It's pretty similar to the original.

This is 3 coats and the silver polish I added seems to have helped the sheer problem and even using the tiny mini brush I definitely didn't have the streaking problem. Unfortunately it's still prone to being a smudgey mess :(

** Recipe **
2/3 bottle NYC Color Frappé
1/3 bottle Face of Australia Molten MetallicsTitanium

... mmmm - mars bar ...

This is an old attempt at nail art that I found while cleaning out my photos off my memory card. I figured if I didn't load it here then it'll get lost and I won't have anything to compare future attempts of creativity too.

So ... mmm ... Mars Bar!! From memory the colours I used was Rimmel 60 Seconds 800 Black Out, Face of Australia Molten Metallics Gold and some non-named red that I had in a tiny sample bottle.

Obviously I need a lot more work on this type of nail art! But now I really want a Mars Bar :D *heads off in search of one*

... nail stamping attempt 1 ...

Finally I got around to getting a Konad plate and stamper. This is just a random posts so that I have something to look back on where I started. Obviously I need more practice but a girl needs to start somewhere.

I've been using Konad plate m69 in 2 different designs on OPI La Paz-itively Hot

Attempt #1 - Face of Australia Molten Metallics in White Gold.

Attempt #2 - Pointer finger in Face of Australia Molten Metallics in Iron Ore. 

All other fingers in Rimmel 60 Seconds 800 Black Out

I'm quite pleased with myself for a first attempt. Hopefully I'll be able to improve from this! Tips and hints appreciated :)

... first dot attempt ...

When I first started on blogger I saw someones suggestion to use a pin in the end of a pencil to do dots [if this was you please let me know - I want to give you credit!!!!] - I finally got around to locating some pins and raiding the kids pencil stash and voila.

I'm quite pleased with myself [although I know I really need to buy some actual dotting tools] and I guess you have to start somewhere and that practice makes perfect.

Base is Bourjois 17 No Chips

Dots are in Rimmel I ♥ Lasting Finish 280 Sunshine

I'm quite enjoying this look to be honest. It's different for me and it's bright and happy on a cold winters day.

... splatter attempt 2 ...

I'm seriously loving the splatter look and it's so easy to recreate! There are plenty of tutorials out there so this is just answering the questions I was asked last time both from here, via email and from friends.

[My nails are still painted in Inglot 627 that I reviewed earlier and my splatter polish is Face of Australia Molten Metallics in Gold]

What straws do you use?
Personally I've just been using the kids drinking straws. These are thin straws that I'd picked up from Ikea - they are nothing super special. I wouldn't recommend those bigger straws like the ones from McDonalds but I've heard people have had great success with straws from fruitboxes/poppers/juiceboxes. For the official record these only have a 1cm diameter.

How do you get the paint onto the straw?
From all the tutorials I've seen most put a tab of polish onto a plate or some foil and dab the straw in it. I'm pretty slack so I've just been putting the straw into the actual polish bottle.

Be warned ... if you do it this way you need to make sure you don't have a lot of polish hanging on the outside of your straw. Gravity will be your enemy if you do and you'll end up with giant splotches of where it's just dropped off your straw. If that happens then when you are finish just scoop up the extra polish with the brush and put it back in the bottle

What do your nails look like after the splatter?
Well messy is the simple version. I know others wrap tape around their nails to stop the excess run off onto the nails but I don't bother. Cleanup is really simple and easy after you are done and especially if the nails are still went. I grab some nail polish remover and cotton buds/q-tips and get to work. Should be pretty simple unless you are using glitter then you'll need to get scrubbing!

I've just realised that this looks like chunky baby poo - ewwwww. Sorry about that. Grab your polish brush and pick up some of the extra polish and put it back in the bottle. Then put a clear top coat on and it should be nice and flat with no lumps and bumps :)

Voila - Final product! Ooh ... pretty!

... First attempt at mummy tape mani ...

I wasn't going to upload this but as someone pointed out - if I don't record where I started I won't have anything later to compare my efforts too.

I decided to give the mummy tape mani from Nailside a go while I was feeling half creative and wasn't in the mood to wrestle my existing polish off.

So here is the result - not the clearest of lines so I'm not totally happy with it but it's a start! And I figure you have to start somewhere!

Colours used were Picture Polish in Heavy Metal [left over from my last post!] and BYS in Garnet

I actually really like these colours and want to do it again [although I might go for a feature nail the other way around with colours]

Any tips and handy hints appreciated :)

... Franken Fun ...

I've only really started to come back to polish in the last few months. Before that I'd buy one every now and then if I had an event but nothing serious. Years and years ago I had a massive collection of every colour under the sun - some I've still got floating around the place in various containers that I've been meaning to sort. I'm glad I've returned though - it's like reuniting with an old friend.

A mate in passing mentioned the blog "More Nail Polish" to me awhile ago - in particular this post with the fantastic homemade polish!. I'd never heard of this "franken" before and I was intrigued and then my children fell ill and I totally forgot all about this contest until a few days ago when I was finally getting around to adding blogs now that I pulled my finger out and got a Gmail Friend Account thingy ... so I set to work making.

I only had 2 bottles spare that I could use so I wanted to make it count! I'm sure if I had thought about it I could have gone to google and found out tips and suggestions but I just went for it.


Here's my mixing "plate" and spoons :) I found it a lot easier to just try it like a painters palette and put a dob here and a dob there and get mixing with a wooden toothpick. The spoons were handy for if I needed to make a bigger batch.

It was actually really quite relaxing and therapeutic. I quite enjoyed it. I just lined up all the bottles in a row that I was willing to sacrifice and took a dab from here and a bit from there. Really you can't go too wrong with this way - you know straight away if it doesn't work. There was only one attempt I did that made me go "Wow" and oddly enough I didn't get around to making it as I ran out of bottles [let's hope I remember the formula for later!]

My first attempt involved 4 polishes with 3 of them being glitter. Lets just say that it didn't work out. Looked great on me spoon for a test but when I tried it full size it was sheer and nothing that I would use as main coat. I won't lie - I was disappointed but determined to press on. So I shelved that effort for another time when I'm feeling creative and may be able to salvage something from it and pressed on.

So after discovering that glitter polish wasn't the best option I decided to go for one of my other fave things about polish - shiny!! I pulled out a bottle of Maybelline mini Colorama in "Fruit Roll Up" that I picked up awhile ago and only used once and the Maybelline mini Colorama in "Wonder Violet" [side note - I wish more companies made minis ... I find them so handy as I can probably count the number of bottles I've fully used up on one hands with most of them being top coats]

The other colour I only picked up this week as it was on the bargain rack at the checkout at the chemists when I went to get the kids some cold medicine. It seemed to yell "BUY ME!". It's from the Face of Australia Molten Metallics range and it's called "Titanium". I don't know if I own any silver polishes but this one just grabbed my attention with it's shine and sparkle.

And here's my final result. I've called it "All about Sass". It's definitely a shiny metallic and it's in a pinky/purple colour. Personally I'm quite pleased with myself as it's a colour I'd definitely personally wear [and am wearing!]