Stamping Overview and Tutorial

Hello!

So, after my first post, my grand foray into the world of blogging, I broke two nails. And because I had just started my blog I obviously had no back log of things to post, and then I got lazy when they finally grew back out :) But, in order to get into the habit of blogging regularly and getting better at my nail art, and also starting the Amateur's Glossary, I'm going to be starting the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge shortly. If you haven't heard of it, there will be more information at the end of this post.

So, today I want to talk about nail stamping, also called Konad by many bloggers because that's the most prominent company that makes the products needed to stamp with. So, onto those products!




In order to stamp, you will need the following:

• Stamper and Scraper, pictured below
• Stamping plates
• Opaque polish 
• A surface you can get polish on, or something to cover up your work area with
• Patience!

Stamping plate Mash #45 

Scraper and Stamper 

So, the first things you will need are the stamping plates themselves, and the tools needed to stamp with them. Stamping plates, as pictured above, are metal discs usually, with images etched into them. They are available through a number of different companies with various price points. I got mine on Amazon.com. I have one set of Mash plates and all three sets of Bundle Monster plates. Usually you can find similar images throughout the different companies plate collections. I like Bundle Monster because I feel like you get good quality for a decent price, they ship quickly and their customer service is great. You will also need a scraper and stamper, which I also got on Amazon.com - this exact one if you follow the link. You can get these in sets for about 5 or 6 bucks.

So, let's move on to the actual process! There are TONS of videos on Youtube showing this process, so feel free to skip on over there because they are great. But in the meantime, I've got a brief overview for you, and if you have any questions feel free to leave me a comment.

So, first paint your nails whatever color you want to stamp your design over. They will need to be completely dry before you can stamp on them. Place the plate on a surface you can get polish on. I use a paper towel or a newspaper/ad that I don't need anymore. The first thing you want to do is take an opaque polish, meaning one that will give good coverage in just one coat, and cover the image you want to use in that polish. There are "special" polishes that you can buy to use with stamping, but I don't own any of those. Certainly there are polishes that work better and some that don't work well at all. I will be compiling a list of the polishes I know for a fact stamp well for you in the future, and it will be in the Amateur's Glossary. 

Next, you want to take your scraper and remove the excess polish from the plate. This takes a little practice, because you don't want to press too hard or you will take off too much polish. You also don't want to press to lightly or you will leave behind excess polish. Basically, keep trying until you get a feel for how hard to press down. You also want to scrape at an angle from the pattern to make sure all the polish gets into the pattern. You do have to move fairly quickly throughout the process because if the polish dries you can't transfer it from the plate to your nail.

Once you've scraped your polish, you want to take your stamper and roll it over the image. Again, you don't want to press too hard or it will smear, and you don't want to press super lightly or it won't transfer. Just gently roll it over, with slight pressure, and you should have an image like the one below on your stamper.

Yep, I changed the color. 

So, obviously I switched the color I was using when I took these pictures. I was using the red on the cherries for my Nail Challenge, and taking pictures for this while I was doing it, and I realized the cherries don't show up very well on the stamper because it's pink and the polish is red... anyways, basically you should be able to see the image on the stamper. This one isn't perfect, but because the image is too big to completely cover any of my nails anyway, I would go ahead and use the part I wanted to. You want to take the stamper and roll it gently over your DRY nail. I can't stress enough that your base color polish should be dry before you stamp. It will all smear, or bunch up when you press the stamper on if it is not completely dry. Even if you use a fast drying top coat like Seche Vite or similar ones, let it set completely. And that's that! 

Trust me, with this, practice makes perfect (I'm not there yet) and patience is a virtue. Happy Stamping! Let me know how it goes!