NOTD: PHD Summer Sponging Challenge (Entry 1 - Summer Sunset)

I'm having a ton of fun participating in these challenges.  This week's challenge was summer sponging, and you can check out PHD's Challenge Gallery HERE.  I decided to do 2 entries this week - and the Black Dolphins of Death on a Sea of Lava were actually a failed version of my first entry.

For my summer sunset, I started out this time with the yellow base that I should have used the first time, BB Couture Pina Colada.  Then I sponged with Tequila Sunrise to the middle, and Sex on the Beach at the tip.  I didn't take a pic of Pina Colada alone, but I wasn't too impressed with it to be honest, it would either need a ton of coats, or maybe a white base to start with, if I were going to wear it alone.  It was very patchy & uneven at 3 coats, but fine for my purpose since the sponging covered most of it up.  For stamping I used Konad Black Special polish & Bundle Monster plate bm01.  This is the exact same color & plate combination as the Dolphins, for a very different result:

I liked it ... but there were still a few things I would have changed.  I kind of liked the sun image more into the yellow, like it ended up on my thumb ... but then I thought maybe I would have liked the actual image at my tip instead of the base, so maybe I should have left yellow on my tips & gradated to red at my cuticle?

Stay tuned for my 2nd entry!  Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: Black Dolphins of Death on a Flaming Sea of Lava

Well ... not really LOL.  It started out as something totally different, a sunset idea for PHD's challenge this week, but being apparently extremely dumb when I am tired, I used orange for my base instead of yellow, and by the time I got done, it was way more red than yellow, and it didn't put me in mind of a sunset at all.  I used BB Couture Tequila Sunrise as my base color (No natural lamp shot because it just looked pink & not even close to color accurate):

Then I sponged the base of my nail with BB Pina Colada, and the tip with Sex on the Beach.  For stamping I used Black Special Polish, image plate bm01, and those of you who own a set of Bundle Monster plates will recognize this as a flame.  When I showed my mom she was quiet a minute & then said, "Dolphins?"  I made an extremely sarcastic remark about black dolphins & red water, and she protested that she didn't have her glasses on, but I got dolphins again at work.  So behold my fire & flames mani, AKA black dolphins of death on a flaming sea of lava:

LOL I don't hate this mani ... I actually kind of like it ... but I do wish I'd stamped the flames the other direction, so they were upright when I display my mani for others to see.  The order I sponged the colors in was also my own fault ... I should have used Pina Colada as my base color to get the look I was going for & I think I'm going to revisit this idea, same colors & even same BM plate, later in the week.  So that adds to an already packed lineup & I hope I get all this up in a timely manner:

• Sunset mani for PHD's challenge
• Zoya haul pic (my package just came today!)
• TOTD Essie Mesmerize
• Possibly underwater mani also for the challenge
• Probably something from out of the Zoya boxes
• Books ... I really should get caught up with books ... but notice how this is at the end of the list LOL XD

Thanks for reading.

~Colette