FREE Konad B Kit! Enter to Win it HERE!

So, last week I posted A contest for the Konad B Kit Collection. I'm thinking my post got burried by all the other blogs post you subscribe to? But I really wanted you to know about it...so I thought I would do another post to tag your reading list. CLICK HERE for full details & to ENTER TO WIN

As you can see, the B kit is pretty awesome. It would be a great starter kit for those of you who don't already have Konad, and a super addition to your current collection if you already have Konad.

Anyone can enter! Just follow the simple steps....& goodluck!

BTW...this SHOULD go with out saying-but sadly not so: Only ONE entry per person....& non-bloggers, USE YOUR OWN IMAGES! It's really uncool of you to STEAL someone elses work. Really?...REALLY!

Oh yeah, & your entry won't count anyway...as I will delete it :0)

Lace Leopard Trim

This was ACTUALLY "the first" konadicure I took a photo of. My girlfriend came over one night to watch the Bachelorette, I begged her to let me do her nails. We laughed about how Keith-my hubby- has an aversion to crazy nail colors. So, as I selected the colors for my konadi...we both laughed. Laughed louder- no actually quiteER with each following selected color....the kind of laugh where your mouth is open, but nothing comes out...my nostrils flair when I do this! (NOT prettyyyyy) But anyway- we laughed knowing Keith would think the colors were QUESTIONABLE!

Here it is! And as I promised Sweet Little Angel , I posted my version of this same image-that we BOTH independently decided to stamp on the diag! (click the link above to see her version) Great minds...right?
What you will need. One base color, an accent color, a color for the stamp & image plate m57.

The steps:
1. Paint Base coat. Here I used China Glaze in Watermelon Rind
2. Paint accent color on a diagonal...paint the line just as thick as the brush-not too wide! You want it to fit INSIDE the lace "track" Here I used Savvy in Deep Amethyst

3. Stamp image from plate m57 OVER the accent stripe. Run it over the stripe like a track? Does that make sense? It is easier to do than to explain!

Oh...don't forget the toes! here I used the same colors...just a different image.

For my toes, I used plate m50. I first paintedthe base coat. Then, I painted an X in the middle of each toe in the accent color. Stamp the butterfly over the X. I used the big butterfly one on the big toe, and the smaller butterfly on the other toes.

Konad "B" Kit Give Away Contest

How lucky are you?! Today is the official kick off of my Konad "B" Kit Give-Away Contest!
The contest starts today, and will continue for 2 weeks. If you are reading this...you can enter to win (yes, even the BIG blog owners)! You have until Wednesday August 5th to enter. The winner will be randomly drawn "from a hat" and announced Friday August 7th right here! The winner will receive the full Konad "B" Kit compliments of Kathleen & ocnailart.com
Contestant entry rules to follow......but first, let me show you what the lucky winner will get!
Image from Konad website.

The B Kit includes

* 4 Image Plates
* 3 Special Polishes (11 mL / 0.35 Fl.Oz)
* 1 Stamp
* 1 Scraper

Image Plates: M4, M8, M15, M21

Special Polish: White, Red, Green

Here is a closer look at the plates included. Here are some examples of Konadicures I have done with image plate m4So, this is how to enter to win:

1. Create a NEW POST ON YOUR OWN BLOG.Tell your readers a little bit about Konad Stamping Nail Art & what YOU like (or LOVE) about using it. If you don't have Konad or have never used Konad, then tell your readers why you want to try it! If possible, include a picture of a konadicure you have done.

2. Create a LINK TO MY BLOG.Introduce your readers to my new blog. How did you find my blog? What do you think about my blog? (I'll take the good & the "otherwise")

3. Comment at the bottom of this posting "this is my entry" (AFTER completing steps 1&2 ) so I know you have entered, and I can check out YOUR blog too!

4. Subscribe to my blog. If you are not already a follower, just click the "follow" link @ the top right of this page

If you do not have a blog then

FIRST) send me an email jdrunchkin@aol.com with your response to 1, & 2 (concerning my blog & what you think) ALONG WITH A PICTURE of a manicure/konadicure you have done. Ths means YOUR WORK, no stealing images! Really. Non-blog owners must include a picture (only 1 please) in your email to qualify. Be sure that you reference your "posting" nickname in your email so I know who you are (in the next step)

THEN) post a comment below " this is my non-blogger entry"....

FINALLY) Sunscribe to my blog. If you are not already a follower, just click the "follow" button @ the top right.

Your official entry IS your post below, whether you have a blogger or no-blogger entry. THIS is the list I will use for the drawing....so make sure your name is on it....& and that you have either posted to your blog or emailed me.

Good luck...& enjoy reading my blog in the meantime. Hey, you may even "become an addict" see link on right to become a follower.

Killer Swirl-m63

3.jpg"> I have been seing this image on nails ALL OVER THE NAIL blogs. It is a pretty cool plate, but I've only ever seen it done in the fantastic black pearl & silver combo. In the "basic blue rocks" blog I considdered doinga konadicure where the image was more muted. So, I did this konadi with colors in the same family. The image would have been more subtle, but the Nicole polish has some real FIRE to it. I have always loved this Nicole color...have 3X the bottles becaise it used to be my standard toe color. Anyhow, here's how to do it.
You will need m63 & two polishes. A darker base, I used NYC Canal street. Then for the stamp use a dichronich polish...(China glaze has many that work with Konad...see sassy's blog, link right) in a similar color family. If it flashes in the light, even better! 1. Paint base coat.

2. Konad over base with image from m63 in your 2nd color.

FAST...Amazing!

Pimped Out Purple!

I Love the way this konadicure turned out. I originally did this back in June for the ocnailart.com contest (sorry no step by step pics). Typically, I would have never even HAD this image plate in my collection...and I didn't. I borrowed it from a friend just to have something from the Konad "B kit." To my surprise, I loved this plate! There are a lot of designs I wonder about, seeing them on the computer is very different from seeing them on your nail...in a practical ,approachable, and "do-able" konadicure. So, my point is...many designs I have snubbed-actually work well on the nail. If you are ever wondering about an image...search the Internet blogs for a konadicure featuring that image plate. Or, you could always just request one from me. Hey, it would give me the opportunity to work with a design I haven't yet!
How to create this Konadi
You will need two base colors (an extra for the accent nail). I used Savvy Deep Amethyst & Orley Dazzle. You will also need two stamping colors ( here, black & silver) and image plate m4.
1. Base coat & color all nails, paint the 4th nail an accent color.
2. Apply the first image to the top 1/3 of nail, I used silver on all but the accent nail. Black for the ring finger.

3. Apply the flower just below the first image on all nails in the same stamp color as the first image. Make sure they are parallel to the first design.
4. Apply crystal to the center of each flower.

Done & done!

Doesn't take much longer than a regular mani, but I think it looks awesome! Totally pimped out!

Gotta Have It!

I want to address the questions I have had regarding some key image plates I think you "gotta have!" There are a few plates in the Konad series that appeal to me the most because they have MORE THAN ONE design on the plate I would use. There are many plates I have purchased just for ONE DESIGN ALONE....but I wanted to share with you the plates I have used over & over again, and done so in different ways. I think the plates above also include many tip designs, whether used for a stamped tip, french tip, or tip with a stamped smile line. I have highlighted in green those designs I think work great on tips.

m9) the swirl design ALONE is reson enough to buy this image plate. The star shaped flowers look great too. I like the design highlighted in green, as it works great on tips.

m36) You have to have this because of the arched design I love to use on the smile line ( highlighted green.) But I aslo love the center design & the butterflies!

m57) The entire thing rocks! Who doesn't love animal print! I love the two designs that can be used on tips too....gotta have this one!

m71) I just love the lacy veiled look. The fishnet flower one is amazing too, you'll recognize that from a previous post. Finally all the lace scalloped edges work amazing on tips, or when stampe on white over a shher pink nail , can substitute for a french manicure...much fast too!
So give my picks a look...you might decide you gotta have 'em too! Pair these discs with some basic colors of special konad polish like white, black, silver, black pearl, or even gold.

And don't forget to take advantage of the ocnailart.com coupon!

Basic Blue Rocks!

Ladies you can do this! Pick your favorite color of polish....& Konadicure it. A tip for images that POP is to pick colors and finishes that contrast, your design will appear more sharp. This Konadicure is done with just a simple stamp..embellished on the thumb with crystals. here's how to do it.

You will need a base color, (I used Claire's.. no color name!) white konad SP. & image plate m4.

1. Apply base coat and color.

2. Stamp flower image from m4 on all fingers. & finish with crystals.

See, not too hard! Again the overall look will be different based on your color choices. I usually try to do konadicures where the image stands out. But, recently I have contemplated trying designs where the design doesn't contrast as much...making more of a watermark design. Look for future postings with this technique.

Another Basic Layered Design...That Looks Anthying BUT Basic!

Here is a mani I did a while back. I think it is the second one i took a photo of....I was quite proud of it & decided I should take a picture before all my hard work chipped off! O.K. it may look complicated, does it? Well it's pretty easy, if you can do one stamp...why cant you do a second stamp?
You will need a base coat and gold & black polishes for the Konadding.
1. Apply your base coat, I used Orly Minds Eye for this mani
2. Using gold, stamp the fancy scalloped design on m57 along the bottom of nail, close to the cuticle. When I saw this design, I felt a little left out. My nails are so short, I thought it wouldn't work at the tips, but here's a great alternative!
3. On your thumb, use the butterfly on m25. It looks good centered on small nails because it covers a pretty big area.
4. then for nails 2-4, use the larger butterfly on m36. I stamped it on at an angle on the outside of each tip. This butterfly is too big for my pinkie, so I decided to use just the mini butterfly for the pinkie.

to pick up only one butterfly at a time, just paint that image on the plate, & scrape AWAY from the other butterfly. If you accidentally pick up some of another image, wipe it off the stamp before transferring to nail.

In 4 steps, your done with a layered konadicure. Very fancy...and easy...shhhh, no one will ever know!

OMG...Totally not the nails I would normally wear, but after doing them on Lois (mo-in-law)...I decided I LOVE them & I have to do them! Believe it of not... this SPARKLY pink polish is from Claire's Boutique.

Here I used the sparkle pink, a sheer pink, Konad SP in white & black, and ONLY ONE PLATE...m39. I think it is very versatile and really has what is now, my favorite butterfly. It is even small enough to fit on my 6 year old's nail.

So here's the steps to create this...our your own style tips.
1. Paint tips & accent nail (2 coats) with sparkle polish. Hooray you don't even have to clean the line, because the stamp on smile is wide enough to cover a sloppy smile (ha ha) Notice how the middle finger isn't perfect?
2. Paint bottom 1/2 of nail with the sheer pink.

3. Apply the arched stamp across the smile line so that the stamp "straddles" both the pink sparkle & the sheer pink. Notice above I highlighted the thumb. You may need to stamp your thumb twice. The design is so forgiving, any small overlap or gap shouldn't be too noticable.

4. Stamp one white butterfly on the tipped nails, and two white on the accent nail. I like to stagger them and stamp at a slight angle. Perfect for those of you who have a hard time lining the stamp up!

Finally, add one black butterfly to each nail, again I like to position them @ an angle. Finish with a top coat, careful mot to smear! If you like bling...the stamp on the smile line is PERFECT for adding a little crystal on it.

Now it's your turn, go try it & send me your pic's (to my email please) I'd love to see & share them!

Full Nail Design, M71

This full nail design is super fast and super easy! Because this image is quite detailed, even though you are using only one stamp, it looks more complicated. If your going to polish your nails, why not Konad them if it takes LITERALLY 3 minutes longer?! this image looks great even on short stubbies like mine.

You only need a base coat, a color, and a stamp in Konad SP.

here I used Sally Hansen Grape Idea, image plate m71, and a black SP for design.

Here's how you do it:

1. Base coat & polish entire nail with your fave color ( visit my links for blogs that have excellent color reviews!)

2. Stamp entire nail using m71. On your thumb you'll need to stamp 2X.

Because this image has such FINE LINED detail...you need to work FAST FAST FAST, otherwise your image might not pick up all the way. The step you need to do fast is the image pick up after scraping. If you don't pick up your image RIGHT after scraping, it will dry on the plate. Then, when you pick it up, you'll notice that not all of the image is there. I always give a quick peek @ the stamper to make sure all the image IS there..if not, I wipe it off & try again.

4 Steps to an Easy Stamped Tip Design.

Here is and easy stamped tip design, because there really isn't a lot of drying time involved. Use the same techniques as the other tip manies. This only takes ONE plate & ONE SP color, but you can still layer.

I used plate m4 for this design. Again, this image was taken for the OCNAIL Art contest, so I didn't take a step by step photo story...but refer to the "french tip" design post dated July 12th for step by step detail.

1.Polish tips. Don't worry about perfection, you'll clean the smile line later.

2. Stamp tip. How cool is this, you don't need a full nail image....just one that is dense enough to show on the tip only.

3. Clean the smile line (with a flat brush dipped in acetone)...because you are not covering this with a stamp or polish pen, take your time to create a nice smile line.
4. Stamp flower on bottom 1/2 of nail. Finish with a clear coat. Easy peasy!

Green Tip...Full Nail Design

Here is one of my favorite french mani's. These nails are my mother-in-laws. I love this mani because it is so different from others I have done in the past. I designed this one as one of the entries for the OCNailart.com contest. I wanted to use several plates & techniques. I had also seen on another website, the "accent nail" idea (that's not really what it was called, but what shall we call it?) so love the ring finger being the whole nail, rather than just tips. This tip design is created the same way as the posting below. The only difference in steps is that instead of sing a glitter pen on the smile, I use a stamp to finish the smile line.
I really like doing this, because it can cover a less than perfect smile. So, as the mani before, the main steps are:
base coat on tips
color tips (and full accent nail)
stamp over color
clean tip smile
apply blush to bottom 1/2 of french
stamp lower nail design
stamp smile line

So here are the plates I used. Of course, you can use the plates you have. If you don't have a full nail design, use one that can be duplicates to cover full nail and tip.
I used plates m25, m36,m57. I really like the m36 curly arch like design, it works great on the smile line. There are a few others I recommend too, ill post them separate.

Because I already took photos of these LONG before the birth of my blog, I don't have a step by step photo story. So, here I numbered the steps on the nail and below are the corresponding plate images.
Hope it's understandable.
1. Paint tips & accent nail. Cover with full nail stamp m57. On tips, use 1/2 of the image. ( if you work FAST you can use 1/2 on tip, then RUSH to the next tip & use the other 1/2). Cover entire "accent nail."
2. Clean smile line and polish bottom 1/2 of nail with a clear blush (see previous post on how to make your own)
3. Stamp flowers from plate m25 on lower 1/2 of nail.
4. Use m36 to stamp over smile line. It is easier if you line up, then roll from one side to the other while peeking to make sure your lined up. It takes practice, so do that a few times before attempting this mani. Sucks to spend all that drying time to muff it up on on stamp!
5. Apply butterfly from plate m25 to the accent nail.
6. Finish nail with a black nail pen, dotting centers of flowers. I like using the same color as the smile design because I think it ties the colors together. Don't forget to finish with a clear coat! (careful not to smear your hard work!)

Try this mani and let me know how it goes. If you have any questions...post them, I'm happy to help....because I'm SUCH a Konaddict!

French Tips...Using a Full Nail Plate Design

So, the gunmetal mani lasted exactly two days before I took the polish remover to them....date night warranted a more "conservative" mani. This pleased my husband-plenty. Here I want to show you how you can use a full nail design for your tips only. You don't have to purchase the fancy tip plates for a tip design. Plus, this way you can use any full design or design that is dense enough to cover the tip. You can try this same technique with any tip color & any stamp color. I'm using my NEW s9 image plate...THANK YOU KATHLEEN from OCnailart.com!

What you'll need:

1. Tip color

2. Sheer pink for bottom 1/2 of nail

3. Silver polish for image designs

4. Glitter pen polish for smile line detail. i used silver here

5. Gems

Prep nails by base coating THE TIPS ONLY. you will have to clean off extra image from smile...so base over entire nail is not needed.

1. Paint tips free hand using a horizontal motion, inside edge to outside edge of nail. It doesn't have to be perfect, as you will wipe this clean on the smile with a flat brush dipped in acetone.

2. Apply stamp to tip of nails. Some of the image will cross the tip, and cover your bottom 1/2. OK you'll clean that next. :0)

3. Clean tip, remove overlapping image from bottom 1/2 of nail....make a nice arch @ smile. Don't work too hard, this too will be covered by the glitter polish later. Follow by painting the bottom 1/2 with a sheer blush pink color. I make mine. to make your own, start with a clear polish, dump some polish out, add a few drops @ a time of burgundy and an opaque peach/light tan. Mix, and add more till desired color is reached.

(below see a review of steps 1-4 on each nail)

5. After the pink sheer has dried, apply flower stamp to bottom 1/2 of nail. I used silver here.

6. Finally, add a little gem to the center of the flower....I did the thumb...but heck do them all, that would look cute too! After all you just spent a few minutes doing your nails...go crazy.

Some of you may be wondering if these mani's take a while....the only thing that makes the process longer is the drying time of base polishes.

So try some tip, & layered designs using the same process.

Layered Gunmetal Mani

My Husband will be so happy when I take the nail polish remover to these nails! He is more of a fan of the “main stream” French tip. But let me tell you how I created this nail design. Use any base color you’d like.

For this look I used plates m32, m39, & m51 and a variety of colors.

Gunmetal by Sally Hansen

Silver, black, & Konad black pearl (though I think its really difficult to tell the difference between black & black pearl?)

1. Paint base coat
2. using a silver polish, apply plate m39 design to tips. On your thumb, you will need to apply the design 2X. If you don’t line it up perfectly, don’t worry- you'll cover this with the m51 leaf swirl.
3. Apply m32 design in black at bottom of nail, close to cuticle
4. Top the outside corners with m51, using it to cover any imperfections

It goes without saying, always prep with a base coat, & finish with a top coat.

Tada !!! Hope you like this layered design.

I have used the very cleaver idea ( I read on sassy’s blog?) of using a wallet picture holder for my extra discs. I went to the Konad webpage, and printed the discs I hace, cut them out, & slipped them into the front of the picture sleeve.

On the back side, I put the disc. I think it is easier to see the image & image plate # on paper- rather than the disc. Here is how it looks.

I have Most discs m1-66 and discs 71,73, s9. I also have many of the "special polishes" in basic rainbow colors, some pastel & pearls too. I dont have any Princess Special Polishes. But thanks to Sassy's blog, i can test out other non-Konad polishes. Please see her blog link to the right.

This is My Collection

Over the years I had collected a few plates, and colors, just the basics. It wasn’t until recently that my addiction came to the forefront. I have 2 daughters, and now that they are old enough to tolerate me polishing & designing their nails, I do it all the time. I have a standing mani’s & pedi’s appointment with them every week. I just love doing their nails….oddly enough, I find it relaxing?!

My wonderful husband has been more than patient with my revived Kon-addiction. In fact he is an ENABLER! He surprised me 2 weeks ago with the ENTIRE Professional Salon Kit! OC Nail Art (wwwocnailart.com) was having a contest…I did nails everyday to create enough designs for the entries, hoping I might be lucky enough to win the grand prize of the Pro-Salon Kit. Sadly ;0( I did not win. He felt so bad for me, as he new I was anticipating the results and hoping I may get lucky. He collaborated with Kathleen @ oc nail art to surprise me with my own salon case! Aren’t they awesome? Kathleen did her best to help make sure I didn’t have any duplicates. I now have a VERY complete kit. I’m a very lucky girl.