Monday, August 31, 2009

Gazing at the pink moon

Hello ladies,

I have another Coraline manicure for you today to gear up for the end of the Kit A giveaway on September 4th.  A pink Moon looks down from the dark purple sky at Coraline and a little friend stares up at me.



What are you doing up there?
I can do that too! 


As you can see, I had a creative assistant in the garden today! It was so nice to model with a praying mantis. My friend David also accompanied me, but he left the modeling to the qualified personnel. Together we saw a chubby catbird, a hummingbird, a monarch butterfly, and a variety of thirsty bees. It amazes me all the wildlife that can inhabit a small community garden at the edge of center city.  

The base color for my pink Moon manicure is Borghese Carnevale Grape. It's a rich purple with a jelly formula. I applied two coats. Three would have given it perfect opacity in all lighting, but I love the stained glass look of jelly formulas in strong sun. In low light, the purple leans towards almost black, as visible with the rose flower ring. The formula is a pleasure to apply. The trademark Borghese brush features a set of two closely placed brushes, forming one wide surface area for collecting and distributing polish. Painting the color felt decadent. There was so much shine even before I added topcoat. The entire process of adding coats of Carnevale Grape to my nails felt like I was in a sumptuous boudoir setting. I am smitten. 

The face of Coraline was stamped from plate C01 using Konad special polish in gold. I tilted the design to position her looking up. The pink Moon rhinestones came from Victoria Nail Supply. See the link at the sidebar. 

Happy painting, ladies!

9 comments:

  1. A praying mantis!!!! i haven't seen one at all this year, i am jealous! :D I managed to find unusual moths in the middle of the day but I haven't seen a praying mantis yet this year until now! And also, love the manicure. :)

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  2. Your nails are gorgeous!Such as cute design, I loved coraline

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  3. this is amazing! i love neil gaiman and i love coraline! i love applying nail polish as well (my officemates and friends even ask me to do theirs) and have recently started doing nail art, though i can only do simple designs like strawberries, flowers, dice, dominoes and watermelons. all these are done manually though since i've never tried using stamps. i would love to though :D i love your blog and started following it :)

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  4. so cute,i love have u add your own little touch,and such a lovely garden u have,flowers and praying mantises 0oo0 how lovely hehehehehe

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  5. That is a lovely color of polish. I've never used Borghese polish. Love the Coraline Konad. I haven't seen a praying mantis in a very long time. Nice to see one.

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  6. Diana has anyone told you you should be an author? I'd definitely buy your books! I love the picture with the praying mantis and I love the Coraline Moon Mani. Coraline looks very sweet in gold against the regal purple background! ;)

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  7. gildedangel: Thanks, love. :)

    sarada: I always think of your Dad when I see a praying mantis. I'm sure you'll come across one too. I thought you would be pleased to see the pink Moon. The mantis joining the pictures added another dimension.

    AllYouDesire: Thanks so much! It was a fun look to put together.

    KatyWilco: I appreciate the compliments. Thank you!

    krissy: Thank you! Take a look into Konad stamping. I have a 20% off code you can use at OC Nail Art to get started. See the sidebar. Creating designs by hand is fun too! Thank you for becoming a follower. I appreciate your comment too!

    skye: Thank you! I had such a great time with my little green friend in the garden. Glad you liked the mani. :)

    Lucy: You must try Borghese! It's a brand that doesn't get a lot of blogger attention, but it's one of my favorites. I was so happy the mantis revealed herself to me.

    Danielle: Thank you. That's so nice. I really do enjoy writing. The mantis was such a wonderful surprise. I don't think I trust your thoughts of Coraline looking sweet. heehee!

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