Hot Off The Stamping Press: MoYou London Pro Collection Expansion!

Hey stamparistas,

I bet your wallets are howling these days.  More and more plates are releasing in an endless sea of win! Clearly today will be no excpetion. lol  Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you see it it's time for the weekly release of plates from MoYou London.  This time it's a six plate expansion from what I feel is MoYou's most versatile collection - The Pro Collection.  Let's see what MoYou is rolling out this week...



Joan is back and she's brought some more shoes with her ;)

I find these shoe plates so cute!  I don't have the other one either but it's on my wishlist! The leopard and bow flats are just adorable.

In true MoYou style they have released the same images in the non-XL and XL formulations.  What I have to say about these images is that they are versatile as is the collection as a whole.  I can imagine doing lots of cool and different things with these images, but (and you knew there was a but coming right?)  these aren't innovative at all.  I mean super new or fresh ideas after all how many floral plates to I own at this juncture?

More florals with a few abstracts thrown in for good measure.  Top row 3rd from the left makes my heart go doki doki, but guess what?  I have almost the same image on a Sugar Bubbles plate I own from the first release.

The two center patterns in the top row - geez they slayed it with these images.  The top row first from the right is also killer.

Well what do you think?  I feel like overall this was a very basic release.  Nothing really struck me as I had to have it right now, but a few will be sliding into my wishlist.  At a time like this I can only say I really like the Pro Collection especially for those new to stamping.  They do a great job of creating a collection that will work well for someone just starting out.  As usual these plates retail for 4.99 GBP and will release this Friday on the MoYou London website. Currently shipping to the US and Canada is free.  Take advantage of that and my coupon code for 10% off "Tamira10" if you haven't already.  Thanks for reading and see you next post...

Hot Off The Stamping Press: New Vivid Lacquer Nail Art Stamping Plates!

Yo lacqueristas,

You have no idea how frantic the stamping world has been lately with releases!  I feel like my wallet and my heart are about to have a major show down.  The end result is that my wallet will walk away defeated and small while my heart will declare itself the master of the stamping dominion.  Meanwhile stomach will complain about the endless sea of ramen lol!  Anyhoo Vivid Lacquer is releasing 4 new plates!  I know you are wondering if I'm sure about this release seeing as Anni only recently released a bundle of plates + 2 bonuses not that long ago, but I guess when the creativity is flowing it's flowing! . So let's see what Anni has come up with now...

This plate is hitting the theme of the times right on stride.  Everyone these days is all about the lace of course you know from the last release we got our first taste of Anni's take on the trend.  This is part duex. I am also seeing a lot of roses rolling out these days.  If you have the Winstonia Store Wedding Bliss plate and a few others you will following the trend.  Love the floral lace to bits!

This will be a great plate for leadlighting particularly the butterflies!  I have one similar image of the butterflies from the Cici & Sisi plates but it isn't nearly as detailed.  The abstract droplets in the center bottom row are also similar to the Messy Mansion one's from MM29, but no less beautiful for their similarity.



For me personally this one would be fairly basic.  A great plate for decaling and to be sure their is always room for general designs which can be embellished in my collection.

Christmas in July! I love it.  I thought about doing a whole month of nail art around this concept this year but I've had extra time this month - boo! It's a shame because I own so many Christmas themed plates.  Because I love intarsia knitting patterns this one is so right up my alley!

So are any of these plates favorites? Which ones will you be getting?  These plates will retail for $8 USD per plate or $29 USD for the entire bundle.  They will be available for preorder tomorrow July 16th at 12PM PST/ 3PM EST in the Vivid Lacquer shop.  P.S. If you are still waiting for VL29 (library book plate) most of them have already shipped out so if you haven't received yours yet go ahead and shoot Anni a message over on Etsy and she will be happy to help you out.  Happy hunting and I'll see you next post...

Hot Off The Stamping Press: DRK Nails Nail Art Stamping Plates Are Back!!!!!

Hey stamparistas,

Yes it is raining plates once again! I feel like we definitely hit surges and waves of plate releases across the seasons and right now we are definitely in a surge.  The plates are releasing so frequently that it's difficult to keep up and even more difficult to decide which plates will be the ones worth your investment and time.  Hopefully I can shed some insight on these matters for you.  I certainly try to keep the reviews and posts coming!  In any case I'm excited to spread the word that DRK plates, a Brazilian indie brand that has been on the stamping scene for a few years, is finally making a comeback and boy oh boy are they doing it in style.

Let me give you a little backstory for those of you that don't know, DRK is a company that produced plates that were initially exceedingly difficult to come by.  Then when Ninja Polish opened their doors, which are now permanently closed, ladies in the US were able to finally snag these plates.  By the time NP closed they had released 4 different XL plates A-D featuring roughly 35-30 large full nail images. As a matter of fact I recently used one of these plates for an upcoming guest post mani and the quality was flawless, but perhaps a more extensive review is in order?  Do let me know in the comments below and I'll whip one up.  In any case now they are back and not only are they launching a new website but they came bearing some new plates that deserve a little attention ;)

 

I'm going to give you a moment to drool.  I know I did when I saw these.  They are unbelievable right! Totally up the alley of anyone who loves leadlighting and totally original.  Kudos DRK for making a comeback like a BOSS!



So what do you think?  Aren't these plates lovely? I want both in addition to DRK A and D - these two sold out at NP before I could purchase them.  The smaller plates will retail for $6.50 USD + shipping. They may be releasing over the next 2 weeks so stay tuned.  You can stalk along with me on the new DRK website here or like their Facebook page here for updates.  Oy after seeing these babies mama needs a cool glass of sweet tea! Let me know if you are interested in seeing a review of the DRK plates I own.  Thanks for reading and I'll see you next post...

Hot Off The Stamping Press: New Winstonia Store Nail Art Stamping Plates!

Hey lacquer ladies,

Winstonia Store is quietly becoming the silent killer in my opinion.  They have spent much of this summer stealthily rolling out stamping plates that are both fun and on trend with recent events and the seasons.  I'm starting to suspect the designers are geniuses and I'm always checking to see what they are going to come up with next.  So why don't we take a look...

This was really the best image I could find of their many new plates bundled all together, and there are definitely a few missing nevertheless you can see they have been quite busy!

The last few weeks have seen several new additions including this adorable golfer plate.  See the tees? How cute is that!

Next up just in time for a little summer sizzler is this cute cute cute barbecue cookout plate! I can't tell you how much I love this one!  There is also another plate called Hunter's Life.  Despite my best efforts I couldn't get one decent picture of it from the website, but you can find it here.  And guess what released today? A new beach themed plate!



Like I say stealthy releasers aren't they? Don't forget they also released the On The Road travel themed plate as well as a Wedding Bliss and Soccer Mania plate earlier this season as well.  You can check those out here and I will have some nail art up for the travel plate shortly.  So these plates retail for $4.95 and can be purchased on the Winstonia store website.  You can save 15% off using this link if you are a new customer!  Happy hunting and I'll see you next post...

Marianne Nails Nail Art Stamping Plates Review

Hey stamperistas,

How's everyone doing today? It's time for another one of my in depth plate reviews which in your heart you totally know you can't resist!  This time I'll be taking a look at a few plates from Marianne Nails. You may recall, if you're a regular reader, that I have been posting about this brand for the last 2 weeks or so. You can read my introductory post to the brand here.   As usual with my reviews information will be divided up into sections.  Feel free to scroll through if you are looking for a particular section. Now let's get started...

Marianne Nails

For a quick refresher this is a France based company run by the lovely Ghislaine Debray.  What's unique about these plates is that for each of the original 56 designs only 200 copies will ever be made, and each Friday 5 new plates will release until the total 54 is reached.  For this review I chose to test 6 of the original 20 plates that were initially released.  I did this as well because swatching out images of 20 plates of this size would have been overkill.  I just randomly selected from the pool of plates I had excluding the XXL plate that I will review in a separate post.

Each plate comes in a signature Marianne Nails sleeve.  As you can see they are are extremely elegant. In the lower righthand corner you will find the plate number i.e. Model No 32 in this case, and if you flip the cover over you see instructions for use of the plate in English as well as the limited edition number of your plate from that model no series. 

For instance on for this one we can see I have Model No. 32 and the 6th copy out of 200 from that series.

The Plates

Each also come with a blue protective film once you remove them from the sleeve.  They are backed by a hard plastic frame similar to those that we have seen from MoYou London and the Dashica Beauty Infinity series.

General Dimensions

The plates themselves measure 13 cm tall x 7 cm wide, and for the non-landscape plates feature 12 full sized nail images at a minimum while others offer smaller images in the upwards of 15 or more.

Full Nail Image Size Comparison

The images do vary a bit as you can see, but the full sized images for these plates measure 2.0 x 1.5 cm (length x width). I think a lot of the longer nail ladies can breathe a sigh of relief since these are about the equivalent of the most jumbo nail sets. Certainly I had no difficulties with the sizing of these images, but you can take a look at the list I compiled below for ease of comparison to some other general brands.

MoYou London Plate Pro 08 (non-XL) - 1.5 x 1.3 cm
MoYou London Plates  Explorer 10 (XL) - 2.2 x 1.6 cm
Bunny Nails HD B -  2.0 x 2.5 cm
MJ Plate VIII - 1.7 x 2.2 cm
Fab Ur Nails Fun 2 - 1.7 x 2.2 cm
Vivid Lacquer 007 - 2.0 x 2.0 cm 
Cheeky Jumbo 2013 - 2.0 x 1.5 cm
Bundle Monster CYO - 1.9 x 1.7 cm
Cici & Sisi - 2.0 x 1.5 cm

The Images

As with all my reviews when swatching out the images I used Wet N' Wild Black Creme and my gold standard XL marshmallow stamper from Bunny Nails (3 years prior).  I only switch to Konad Special Stamping polish or Mundo de Unas in the event I am unable to pick up an image.  For these plates there was no need to switch to stamping polishes.  Don't forget you can click on the images to enlarge them for greater detail and clarity.

Final Impression

So it's clear that the etching on these plates is superb!  Some of the best I've ever come across in fact. Frankly I didn't have to use one trick, change polishes, or switch to a even softer marshmallow stamper. There are very few brands that I've run across that have similar high quality right off the bat on an initial run.  This tells me that Ghislaine was very careful with her tester plates and the manufacturing process.

Again the images are large enough to cover longer nails while also offering smaller elements for the shorties crowd.  I'm further impressed that even the tiniest details transferred without a hitch.  While I chose only 6 plates to stamp randomly, which clearly limits the variety on this post, the collection as a whole offers many unique plates and images so that there's something out there for everyone.  One more facet that I have to add is that this company has some of the fastest shipping and turn around time I have ever come across.  Plates arrived from France to my doorstep in about 1.5 weeks or 9 days.  Not bad at all for an international indie right?  So really I've got nothing but praise to offer this brand.

You can find Marianne Nails plates on either the store here or Facebook.  If you are unable to view the Marianne Nails website it may be because you reside in a country where the site is blocked.  If that is the case you can PM Ghislaine on Facebook and place your order through her directly.  Plates retail for 6.50 Euro + shipping.   I hope you enjoyed this review and stay tuned for some nail art using these pretty plates. Thanks for reading and happy hunting!  I'll see you next post....

Hot Off The Stamping Press: MoYou London Mother Nature Collection Expansion!

Hey stamp champs,

Ugh it's been another brief period of radio silence.  There have been a few obligations at this time that have been consuming a lot of my time that are winding down on one end and gearing up on the other. In any case it's that time once again when MoYou London does their weekly release of plates.  This week the plates are from another collection that I really love - the Mother Nature Collection!  Shall we see what they have come up with this time?

I truly have to admit of love how the Nature Collection plates always seem like this epic to do! The landscape plates always make my heart go doki doki.

I don't know if you ladies have been following the trends with stamping plates, but over the last year a lot of plates have come out with leaves and flowers particularly dandelions blowing in the wind featuring ladies in silhouette.  I've seen these images first on the Sugar Bubbles plates and then again on Vivid Lacquer plates. MoYou's interpretation is also delightful!

This plate is beautiful, but in isolation the images aren't very unique.  What I mean by that is that there are similar plates with cherry blossom-esque flowers and branches and the swirls and birds as well remind me a few plates from a the Dashica Infinity series.  That said I love how they have incorporated rabbits, foxes and other animals into the design.  

And here's that silhoutte I was talking about.  I love this plate to death though the phoenix and the flowers remind me a bit of images from the lasted Pueen Encore set.  The best part of this release is that the woman is shilloute is also made in a smaller version that will fit better on the nails.

What do you ladies think? Despite all my comparisons I really adore this release!  As I said the Mother Nature Collection is definitely one of my favorites so of course I will be scooping these up in the future. These plates will release Friday morning on the MoYou London website.  Plates retail for 4.99 GBP and right now shipping to the US is free! If you haven't already add my discount code "Tamira10" for an additional 10% your purchase.  Happy hunting ladies and see you next post!

4th of July Nail Art #2 - Bundle Monster Stars and Stripes

Hey lacquer ladies,


I know it's rare for me to put up back to back nail art posts, but I managed to squeeze out one more manicure for the 4th of July holiday.  This one was a touch more intricate than the last while still remaining relatively simple.  It's been a while since I broke out my Bundle Monster plates so I decided to finally put my Holiday Collection set to good use.

Mani-louge

Basecoat/Topcoat: Duri Rejuvacote / Poshe Fast Drying Topcoat

Basecolors: Zoya Carter, Zoya Pixie Dust Godiva, Zoya Dream, Rica Whiteout, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky

Stamping polish: Sally Hansen Rapid Red, Mundo de Unas #1 and #30

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster HD25

I chose to accent the french tip using patriotic colored star rhinestones and I think it turned out well.  I kept looking at the pinkie, but thinking hmm I just want to let Blaze sparkle.  Honestly I do not spend enough time using my Zoya polishes so every time I pick one up I'm blown away but the finish and the quality of these polishes.

What do you think? For a simple 4th of July mani I think this came out well especially as I have been really pressed for time these days.  I hope everyone is having a happy Friday and 4th for those who celebrate it.  Thanks for reading and I'll see you next post...