Bundle Monster - The 00 series

Flashback! Turn back the clock to 2010 and jump in and explore...or revisit!....the original Bundle Monster stamping set. BM were one of the first manufactures to sell plates in sets and with 21 different plates to play with, the 00 series was hot property at the time.  There was a lot to be learnt for BM though as despite the popularity of the plates there were some "cons" that thankfully have dissapeared with each new BM set. So let's explore....

A good way to describe this set is that it was "a good all-rounder". It contained a mix of mostly accent images, some French tip plates, with a few full nail image plates to top it off.

The accent images were cute and girly and stamped well (mostly - I'll explain later). They were a great size and fitted nicely on the nail. 

CON #1 Accent images with very little detail and big patches of space can be very hard to stamp well. You have to be very delicate scraping the polish across as you easily end up with bald patches in the image. Stamping with a plastic scraper or old credit card etc improves this greatly but just be mindful of applying very little pressure as you scrape across so as not to remove too much paint.

CON#2 The whole nail images. Great prints, a mix of girly and geometric but just far too small for the average nail. When customers come to the markets and enquire about good sets for children I point them to the 00 series as they are the perfect size...for kids. They are 1.2cm in height and 1cm in width. You would need to be very precise with your stamping to get them to fit even a medium length nail without having a big empty strip down one side....but a plus if you are good at stamping and have short nails, hardly any cleanup!

CON #3 If you know me you know I am not a fan of French tip nail designs. But plenty of people are. These images can be a little hard to stamp straight. Practice is definitely required. Making stamping decals would be a good way to utilise these type of designs and give you a better chance of applying it straight.

For those taking a stroll down memory lane do you remember when you first got this set....ahhh the possibilities, so many images to choose from and not enough fingers! This was the first stamping set I ever owned and I was thrilled it had a poodle in it. It made me realise that I really loved stamping with full nail images but that I just wasn't going to be able to use these due to their size...sad face!

If you have little nails or kids wanting to get into stamping this is the perfect set! Available now from www.dramaqueennails.com

Bundle Monster - Holiday Collection

Bundle Monster has been a staple in the manufacture of nail stamping plates since the beginning of their popularity. They have evolved with each collection and made improvements along the way to ensure their plates stay modern and ahead of the competition. Their secret? They listen and collaborate with their customers! So lets explore their latest set, the Holiday Collection 2013. Thats right, themed plates for every holiday occasion! Available now from Drama Queen Nails.

The set contains 25 image plates and comes in a small storage box. BM-H01 thru BM-H25 feature 6 designs on each plate totalling 150 designs. BM has included the classics like: Christmas, Easter, and St Paddy's Day,  but they also threw in some other special events like: birthday, baby shower, wedding and graduation for some added flare. None of the images have appeared in any of their previous collections.

When BM released their first collection in 2010 the images were great and stamped well but they were really small so you couldn't use some of the designs if you had longish nails.  Over the next 3 years the images in each collection got bigger and bigger and the french tip plates dissapeared...hooray! The plates are 5.5cm in diameter so will fit into your existing storage folders. The full nail images are 1.8cm height and 1.4cm width. That reindeer is too cute!

Now while there are tonnes of images I will definitely use from this set there are some polarizing plates. When it comes to religion you are either going to use it or you're not. 

I love the originality of the images in the set but I am a bit disappointed by the size of some of the accent images. They are really, really big and far too wide for my nails with the average size between 0.7 - 1cm in width. Most of them would need to be very precisely stamped to get them to fit so in my eyes I see that as a little unforgiving. 

 St Paddy's Day 1 and 2.

I love this plate so much...hooray up Halloween so I can use it!

Love this too, the witch's shoes are awesome and its nice to see something difference in the mix.

Why oh why BM did you make the bunny ears so big? 

Cute!

Again another plate most of us from outside the US will probably never use. What about an Australian holiday themed plate instead with sausages, beers, thongs and koalas?

I love the buddha from this plate, and the fireworks and ribbons, one of my favs from the set.

No matter how many heart plates I collect I still need more...this one is devine!

Love this plate too!

Yessssssss! 

Too cute! 

  

Cant see myself ever using this plate these last 2 plates I'm sure there are lots of girls in the US and around the world who will love it. 

Im sure you will agree that this set is pretty cool but there are some plates that you could live without. Because I must have ALL THE STAMPING PLATES I had to have it and I'm glad I do because finally I wont be scrambling around looking for that one baby shower image amongst my collection. When its a special occasion Ill go straight to my holiday collection! This set is available now from Drama Queen Nails.

Make waves.....with your striping brush!

Since I posted the picture below on Instagram I get asked almost daily for a tutorial on how to recreate this wavy design. I never thought it would be popular so at the time I didn't take any extra photos to show how I did it. But it really is a very easy design and I'm glad so many of you liked it and wanted to give it a go for yourself. Read on a for a mini tutorial.

Today I have substituted the original polishes which were all from the first Zoya Pixie Dust collection with neons. In the original design I used Godiva (nude), Dahlia (black) and London (grey). Pixie Dusts are textured polishes that you apply without topcoat. They give a matte glittery finish that is rough like sandpaper to the touch. The above picture was taken in direct sun and they are really gorgeous polishes alone or mixed into any nail art.

I switched to neons partly because I was dying to use my Lush Lacquer Neon Lights at the time and I thought I could match it with some wavy neon lines. I actually hated the final result and took it off straight away. I shouldn't have put the yellow and green next to each other...anyways as usual with me I put photos away for a while then get them out a few weeks later and I don't mind it now.

To recreate this design you need a medium sized striping brush.  Start with a white base, this is one coat of OPI My boyfriend scales walls.

Pick one of the colours you want to use, put a few drops onto foil or baking paper, dip in your striping brush and start by making a wavy line across the middle of each nail. Starting the lines in the middle vs. at one end of your nail will increase your chances of keeping the design fairly evenly placed across your fingers. Ignore the yellow line on my middle finger, I was testing to see if my yellow was going to be opaque enough.

Clean off your brush in acetone and repeat the first step with another colour. I tend to work from the middle up to the tip of my nail, and then from the middle down to the cuticle area. Keep adding colours until the space is filled. Clean up the skin around your nail with your clean up brush then add topcoat to blend the colours.

If you decide to give this a go I would love to see. Tag me #dramaqueennails on Instagram or share to our Facebook page. Thanks to everyone who requested this tutorial. Please email me any other ideas you would like to see.