Kads Zoo 009
When I saw this stamping plate I really had to have it, and then haven’t used it, so today was the day for this one.
This is a layered stamping plate so the images of the animals are built up from top to bottom. Think I put it off because I am scared of failing. So, to prevent disappointment, I just don’t do it all. So finally, got all my stamping stuff on the desk and had a go.
Top Left: CJP Hawaii Blue for the base colour. I stamped the white for the bones without realising I was using the gel stamping polish, so I didn’t cure it – hence the smeary mess this ended up. I did the same for the outlines. Then I stamped the white for the dog, followed by the grey, and finally the black.
Improvements for this one: augh, the smudgy-ness of the bones. Next time, I will cure between layers. The background of the bones is visible through the dog and the lines don’t match up as well as I would like, but the dog is passable, unlike the bone background.
Top Centre: The base colour is TGB B23 – just like Juliet, light pink with subtle shimmer. Again, I used the Moyra stamping gel polish and didn’t cure before stamping, so we’ve got that lovely smudgy effect (not) on the bones background. Better line up of the layers on the dog, but I was too heavy handed with the gel outline, and I didn’t cure before stamping, or clean the stamp up enough, so there’s a line on the face that shouldn’t be there and some smudging around the face, and a couple of black spots on the top bit that shouldn’t be there either.
Top Right: Same base coat, TGB B23. I used the Moyra smart stamping polish in grey for the leaf background. Mental note – the grey is too dark and draws too much attention away from the giraffe. The background stamps on this plate are tiny and do not fill, or even nearly fill, these nail tips. I tried to add more leaves, but it looks a mess.
I stamped the smart stamping polish in orange for the giraffe base, and you can see the leaves through it, so, again, no good. I added dark brown spots, which look black, rather than brown, and pink for the nose area. This time I did cure the black outline for 5 seconds before cleaning the excess of the stamp and applying.
I love how the giraffe lined up on this one, pretty near perfect. I went back and added the white for the eyes – this would be better reverse stamped and added to the stamper, rather than onto the tip directly, as it doesn’t look right.
Bottom Left: TGB Gold Coast for the base. I love this pale yellow with a subtle shimmer. I didn’t think I was going to, and nearly didn’t order it, but thought what the hell as it was 70% off and I am so glad I did. This time I used the white stamping gel for the leaf background, cured, and then fully cured the top half before adding more leaves to the bottom half.
The background patterns on this plate don’t repeat, so they are not great for nails that would be larger than the little stamp designs. I cured the background leaves fully before moving on to the giraffe.
This time I did the background in yellow, the spots in orange, the muzzle in pink again and the outline in the black stamping gel. I did the eyes after again and they still look bad, so do need to do the eye whites on the stamper and reverse stamp them with the outline.
Points to note: The stamped leaves in gel are raised and are visible through the giraffe again, despite being in white. I lined up the orange on top of the yellow perfectly this time, but totally balsed up the outline. I also didn’t clean the stamp properly, so there are black marks on the top half of the nail. On the next design I cleaned the tip after stamping and before curing to remove any black bits I didn’t want.
Bottom Centre: Same base colour, TGB Gold Coast, decided not to have the background design at all this time, so tried two of the other face designs. This time I cleaned up any black before curing, and then after setting the black outside used a tiny tip with alcohol to remove some of the image that hadn’t been captured within the black outline. I really like how this one turned out.
Bottom Right: CJP OMG for the base shade on this one, and I wanted to try something different so tried the banana base. As you can see – it’s a small design, and non repeatable so I just did the bit I could in one stamp and didn’t add any to the bottom part of the nail tip. I used the Moyra smart stamping polish in yellow for the bananas.
Then I used the black stamping gel for the banana outlines. These were hard to line up, but I like the finish on this, it’s not too perfect, not too messy. I cured and top coated in shiny no wipe and then buffed again to give that nice smooth surface for the animal stamp.
I was dying to try the whale, so I did, even though whales have nothing to do with bananas. White gel stamping polish for the base. I’m rolling over the plate with just the lightest touch to avoid smudging, curing for 5 seconds, cleaning anything I don’t want off the stamper, stamping then curing for 30 sec to set it.
Then I added the smart polish grey layer which looks pretty good and used the stamping gel in black for the outline – which, sadly I missed all down one side of the whale. Doh!
I thought the background looked pretty cool with a matte finish so I added top coat only to the whale part and I love how this ended up.
Think I would wear nails 5 and 6, and would bin the others. Not a bad little practice session at all.
Here’s the plate:
