Sunday, August 30, 2009

Miss Popple is a prop

Hello ladies,

I did promise a special Coraline treat this weekend...I had some assistance from a couple ladies. One is wee and fuzzy. Cassandra and I met this afternoon for brunch, shopping and Konad play. It seems Miss Popple, a peachy rat, wanted to join our reverie. 






Miss Popple loved helping us display our Konad manicures. She made little purring sounds of joy and kept one curious eye on the camera at all times. In the second picture, Miss Popple did a little grooming to join with the pampered theme of the day. 

The mouse stamp is from Coraline Kit A, plate C05. On my nails, I used Konad special polish in dark orange over Sephora by OPI Run with It. Cassandra is wearing OPI Maine-iac Mauve with stamping in white special polish. I found the design a little challenging to work with, primarily for positioning. For shorter nails, I would encourage letting the curve of the tail drop off the nail on a couple fingers. The entire mouse wouldn't fit on her pinky, so I set it similarly on the index finger for balance. The mice could be stamped at various levels to look like they are performing in Mr. Bobo's Remarkable Mouse Circus from the Coraline story. I think it's a fun design to encourage adventure with asymmetry. Shh! Let's not tell Miss Popple we had mice (and not rats) on our nails. I think there is enough artistic ambiguity in the embellishment to go beyond question.

Sephora by OPI Run With It has been lost with my untried colors since last fall! It's interesting. There's gold shimmer mixed with the grey so it reads like flashy putty on the nail. I feel like the amber rhinestones added some zest. I prefer this grey to the creme formulas that look like plastic encased wires. I think olive toned skin would do well with this grey since the gold shimmer would highlight the complexion. It's neutral enough for my fair skin too. 

I love the SOPI formula. It's opaque in two coats and smoothes on the nail effortlessly. It was a very clear comparison painting Cassandra's nails a little after mine. Regular OPI needs three coats to fill in sheerer areas remaining after two. I really wish the SOPI formula will eventually be of influence to improve pigmentation in standard OPI colors. I was surprised how pretty Maine-iac Mauve appeared on the nail. The gold shimmer was very much on display. I was pleased to see that the shimmer translated from the bottle to the finished manicure. 

I had such a fun afternoon with many thanks to Cassandra and Miss Popple. The only being made cranky by the experience was my cat Fortune, who smelled me with supreme irritation. He looked at me like I had enjoyed the best lunch ever and didn't share. He kept sniffing my neck and scowling. Hilarious!

Just a reminder: This is the last week to win Coraline Kit A. The contest ends September 4th. Enter away if you haven't had the chance. The kit would also make an attractive gift for a sister, friend, or niece who loves to do her nails. I will be showing more Coraline manicures through the week. 

Happy painting, ladies! 




  


15 comments:

  1. Great post Diana! I love the mani's (especially the gems for the end of the circus mouse tail) and Miss Popple is very cute. Great name for a pet rat! My cat Gustav is going to LOVE these pictures when I get home. He's one for sitting right on my laptop and staring at the screen while I blog! :)

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  2. Miss Poppie is so cute! I love the nails too!

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  3. Aww, I want Miss Popple! She looks a bit like my gerbil!

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  4. oooh i just got run with it, such a GORGEOUS color!!

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  5. oh this is sooo cuteeee,its adorable,i love the added gemz there so cute,and i just love ur fury friendd hehehehe u and your friend did a great job being hand models hehehehe

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  6. I love both sets of nails, and the little rhinestones are perfect. Miss Popple is just adorable and I love the shade of her fur :)

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  7. So cute!! It's fun to see the same stamp in two different color schemes and with two models. I also had no idea rats could have peach tinted fur :D Also what I really want to know is why the heck is the Opi color called a "mauve"?? It looks like an orange brownish color to me. I always think of mauve as a dusty muted purple/pink shade.
    -Lisa

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  8. Oh my gosh, Miss Popple is TOO cute! I love her name, and that picture of her grooming is just adorable. Haha. I squeed quite a lot looking at these pics.
    I too appreciate seeing this konad in two different sets, both of them came out so adorable, I quite love the mousie.

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  9. Aw, Miss Popple is a cutie pie! It was great to see the mouse on both long and short nails, as mine are short and I have been debating whether I should cut the tail off the mouse when I use that design! Great touch with the rhinestones as well :)

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  10. Danielle: I am glad the manicures entertained both you and Gustav. Success! Cassandra would have liked gems too, but she wore this look to work today and thought rhinestones would be a little much. I'm glad she enjoyed a day of rats on the keyboard.

    gildedangel: Miss Popple is definitely inspiring!

    Amy: Miss Popple has the sweetest personality! She was very cordial and posed for pictures in the sun with great joy. You should take some nail pictures with your gerbil. :)

    kelliegonzo: Thanks! I can't wait to see Run With It on your nails. :)

    skye: All three of us extend our appreciation. It was such a fun afternoon. :)

    Mary: Thank you. She's such a pretty rat. Her fur is a soft ginger shade.

    Lisa: I will definitely be up for stamping your nails soon too. Maybe we could go off in search of flower rings. It was my first experience with a rat having peach coloring. She's lovely. Maniac Mauve has a slighter darker base than what to me would be a traditional mauve. It leans towards a light berry shade. The gold shimmer really takes over in sunlight. I think the ginger fur brought out the gold even more. I'll bring the bottle with me so you can see. I wouldn't call it a duochrome, but I would characterize it as having bold shimmer on the nail.

    Nicole: It was the first time I ever tried using the Konad on anyone else. It was a more challenging stamp too. I'm glad you like the look. I had so much fun with Miss Popple. There was lots of girlish excitement over cute pets and manicures. :)

    beautyjudy: To do over again, I think I would play with the movement of the mice. I might do just a tail on the pinky and position the mouse at different points on each nail. I was really experimenting. Getting the whole stamp on a shorter nail was challenging, but it was my first time trying too. Glad you like the rhinestones. Cassandra was considering them too, but she wanted to keep the manicure on for an extra day at work. I am having so much fun with rhinestones lately!

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  11. Oh my goodness, Miss Poppie is SO cute. My daughter Emma will squeal with delight when I show her this post. Great job - that mouse is one of my favorite Coraline images!!!

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  12. Kathleen: Thank you so much! I'm glad Emma will love Miss Popple as much as I do. Feel free to use any of the pictures for your site if you like. :)

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  13. Cute manicure. I love the base colors. Those Coroline stamps are adorable. Now you have a real life stamp! Eek Eek, I couldn't hold it but the mouse looks cute.

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  14. Lucy, you are so funny! I thought Miss Popple might be giving you a bit of trouble. I am glad you liked the stamping and our manicures. She really is a cutie, but she's still adorable at a distance too. :)

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  15. I'm late to the party but I must say, Miss Popple is beautiful! Wonderful pictures.

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