More DIY Decals Using the Essence Stampy Set!

I started thinking a few days ago, which isn't necessarily a good thing. But this time I started thinking that hey, if I can stamp onto my nails, why couldn't I stamp onto plastic and make decals.

Well, the main reason I could think of is that there's just so little polish deposited. And yet... This definitely needed experiments.

I pulled out my stuff: a small zipper-top plastic bag, some masking tape, some styrofoam, my Essence Stampy kit and some nail polishes. I figured it would be helpful to stabilize the plastic, so I used the masking tape to adhere the bag to the styrofoam very tightly. That kept it from slipping and sliding, and kept me from cussing and beating my head into the wall.

So, I picked my polish and did some test stamps. They looked fantastic, but when I tried to take pictures about halfway through, I realized that white nail polish on clear  plastic over white styrofoam is really hard to see. I added some red stamps and finally got a somewhat visible photograph.

After filling up my little piece of zipper baggie, I realized I'd done about as much stamping as I could. I was now starting to run into previous stamps, which just will not do!

So give the decals a bit more thickness and stability, I put a layer of clear polish over them, waited until those were thoroughly dry, then added yet another layer of clear topcoat. I hoped this would help them to join together into one layer of polish I could just peel up.

Did it work? Oddly enough, it did! I think I'd be much more careful with both the stamping and the brushing on top coat in the future, but these came out adorable! The best part is that if you screw up a decal, you wipe it away and start again. There's no manicure to worry about messing up!

I noticed that my clear polish seems to have reacted a bit with the white polish, causing a bit of cloudiness to form. I'm hoping that's not a huge deal. Tomorrow I'll be working on doing my nails, so I'll let you know what I find out!

Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering why on Earth I would stamp onto plastic to make decals, rather than just stamping directly onto my nails. Several reasons, actually. First off, and this is a huge part of it: I'm not very good at stamping yet. This way, I'm getting practice in without actually having to redo my nails every time I mess a stamp up. But not only that, there's another benefit to making stamped decals: you can flip them, so that you have a mirror image of your stamp. It gives you more freedom to design, and I think it's a fun idea. You might even be able to trade stamped decals with friends who have different image plates than you do!


So give it a try! You may find you enjoy it lots! If you do try it, let me know in comments, I'd love to see what you can do!

Again with the giving away of things? Already?

I'm in the strangest of moods today, so bear with me while I try and get out the fabbo news I have. This post is HUGE, so I'm going to put a jump in it,just to spare your brain, and my looking at it on my front page. But please, keep reading- I've made a heck of a discovery on how to make Konad & Essence stamps come out more nicely, more consistently, and darker than before! All that's after the jump, though.

First off, the uber-wonderful KellieGonzo of Also Known As is having a giveaway! Whee!! She's giving away a sweet little collection of goodies that I think anyone would love to receive. Just look!

Seriously, just look how cute this stuff is! Honestly, I can't imagine people not wanting to get this stuff. It's not like you have to go out to the mall, find a parking place out by the road and then schlep all the way inside the mall where now it's too cold, what with the air conditioning, then have to walk all the way down to the Sephora store just to pick up the items you see here, that is if they're even still in stock!

No, Kellie has saved you the effort of all of this. Instead, all you have to do is fill out her cute pink little form. (And yes, it really is pink, with really cute little paler pink flowers all over the background.) She asks three little questions, and then gives you extra chances to win!!

Now really, could it be any easier than that? I mean, sure, she could just decide out of the blue to send things to your house, hire a private investigator to get your address and then send it to you, so that you answer the door one morning to find your mail delivery person standing there with a package for you!

But that's not going to happen. This giveaway is, though, so go on, go enter! I can wait til you get back to share my news.

*waits patiently for you to return, organizing her polish box. Man, it's messy, I needed this!!*
*ponders organizing by color or by brand. Then again, my collection is so small, I can just organize by polish. "This is a polish. This is not a polish. Ohhh, this goes with the polishes... those don't, those go with the paints..."*

Oh, you're back! That was FAST! I told you! Ok, are you sitting down? This could be exciting for you.