Longing for Spring - Reverse Stamping

Hello Darlings!  I hope you have all had a wonderful week and have a fun weekend planned.  As most of you know I live in upstate (I consider it more middle state) New York.  The weather has been cold and miserable.  When its not snowing it is so windy, you can barely stand up with out getting blown over.  I am not a winter person, I don't like snow or cold, and I don't care for winter activities.  I am so done with winter and really want spring to get here.

This week's #nailthattechnique challenge on Instagram is: Reverse Stamping.  For those of you that are unfamiliar with this term, it simply means making a decal using a stamped image.  This is a true challenge for me for a couple reasons; 1) I'm not very good at stamping, and 2) I don't own many image plates, which limits the images I have worth doing reverse stamping with.

I decided to give it a try and after a couple of attempts I created something I was satisfied with...

I started out with a base of Zoya 'Rooney' (from the Tickled collection), 'Dot' (the light pink, from the Awaken collection), and the lovely sparkly 'Binx' on my pinky (from the Bubbly collection).  I don't usually bling out my pinky, so I thought it was time, besides isn't so pretty?!

So as I mentioned previously it took me a couple of tries to get this right.  My first attempt was almost a complete failure, but was workable if I wasn't willing to try it again.  However, I was determined to get it right. 

This is what I did on my failed attempt (starting with the picture on the top left):

• I have a total of four image plates, so not a whole lot to work with.  I decided to use my Konad M61 plate, the floral design to be exact.  You may recognize this from my very first stamping tutorial 'Stamping Into Spring.' Out of the few images I have to choose from I felt this had the most negative space, structured enough to fill in.
• I used standard black polish, Sinful Colors 'Black on Black,' and stamped the full image.  I didn't want all the vines and dots, so I scraped them away using my smallest dotting tool (you can also use a toothpick for this, but I'm currently all out).
• I then used my smallest dotting tool and filled in the flowers.  I used a Yellow Art Club Stripper for the centers and then I used Zoya 'Rebel' (also from the Awaken collection), and 'Rooney' for the petals of the flowers.
• I then used my quick drying Seche Vite top coat to seal the entire design and create the decal.
• Once, it was dry I used a pair of tweezers to peal it of the stamper.

To apply it, I simply added another thin coat of 'Dot' on my ring finger and applied the stamped decal.  I had a hard time getting the image to slide into place where I wanted it, so when I was semi-satisfied with the placement, I used cuticle scissors and trimmed some of the image away.  However, to get rid of most of the access, I used my clean up brush and acetone to wiped it away.  After clean up I applied a final layer of top coat.

So, I call this a failed attempt for a few reasons that might not be too apparent in the pictures.  First, the Sinful Colors 'Black on Black' didn't pick up quit as well as I had hoped, so the image is a little dim.  Deciding to use a quick drying top coat was also a bad idea, it was very thick and even though it was dry seemed very sticky.  I think this is why I was having such a hard time placing the decal, it wanted to curl up on the edges, but stuck firm in the center without and pressure. Another failure on my part was that I had applied two layers of 'Dot' initially and then added a third for the application of the decal.  This was too many layers for my liking and made the finished product very thick.  In the end the image is too light, too thick, off centered, and bubbly/wavy and doesn't lay smoothly on the nail.

I decided to scrape this attempt all together and started over.  For my second attempt, I did a very similar process with a few minor changes.

• This time I used my black stamping polish from bornprettystore.com, item #1381.  You can used code: CREATEX31 to get 10% off your next purchase.
• The other thing that I did differently was that instead of using a top coat, I used 'Dot' to create the decal.  I applied to coats of 'Dot' over the image on the stamper.  For the small flower on my thumb I used Seche Vite Base Coat and gave it ample time to dry before removing it from the stamper.
• For the application, I applied only one layer of 'Dot' to my nail and immediately placed my decal on the wet polish.
• I used a metal nail file to press the image down around the edge of my nail plate, pressed the overhanging edge of the image down over the tip of my nail, and then used my clean up brush and acetone to carefully clean the excess.  After cleaning up, I applied my top coat.

Though this is still far from perfection in my eye, it is significantly better than my first attempt.

This is one of the rare cases where my Cinderella hand (my dominant hand that does all the major work, in my case my right hand) turned out better than my non-dominant hand.  Of course, I did most of the work with my dominant hand since I was reverse stamping.

I really think I am getting the hang of this stamping thing, so it might be time for me to invest in more stamping supplies.  If anyone has any advise on who make the best stamping polishes and images plates, I'd love to hear from you.  How about a little #thumblovin, with a macro shot of the beautiful 'Rooney' and the cute little flower decal.  I think this turned out really nice, how about you?

Between, these gorgeous pinks, all colors from last years spring and summer collections mind you, and the cute flower designs I feel a little warmer already.  Where oh where, fore art thou Spring!  No seriously, where is it, I'm tired of being cold and trapped indoors.  Well at least I have this bright mani to enjoy.  I hope this mani brightened your day, and I hope you found the tips and tutorial helpful.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,