Trying New Things! Konad Nail Stamping

The other day I was looking for items to promote my Pink Zebra business, and I came across this lovely image...

(source)

Um...what?  I've seen the nail stickers, but being $8-11 bucks a pop I haven't been willing to spring for them.  This design, however, was done by nail stamping.  Obviously I immediately looked it up on YouTube, followed by a prompt purchase on Amazon.

I bought a kit which included the stamper, swipey blade thing, and the M69 plate which features the zebra print.  Only $11 with free shipping - SCORE!  Fast shipping at that!  My kit was in my paws within a few days and off I went on my first nail stamping experience. 

I used the prettiest, brightest, most obnoxious flamingo pink I could find at Ulta for my base coat.  Orly Va Va Voom.  This is a matte color, and YouTube suggests doing a clear coat under the design anyway, so I topped it with a basic clear to make it shiny.

I didn't want to try the zebra print right away because I want to sport it at my first Pink Zebra vendor show, so I chose the swirly print next to the zebra option.  Actually I'm not a huge fan of the other options on the M69 plate, but I think this plate will be my gateway drug to a plate collection.  Here are the items laid out:

For the design I picked a solid white, which I realized I need to throw away.  It was workable but I think a newer polish would be easier to manage.  Not that stamping wasn't easy, in fact I was super surprised at how easy it was!  All you do is load up the design you want to use with the polish, scrape the excess to the side with the blade thingy, roll the stamper over the design to pick it up, then roll the stamper on your nail to transfer it.  It's really quite cool how it works.  I don't know if it's just that my nail polish was so old, but the design comes right off the stamper when it goes onto your nail.  I did rub my stamper on a cotton round with nail polish remover in between nails, just to make sure each nail had a nice clean design.  I topped the design with another clear coat.  Here is the finished product!

(neon colors never show up as vibrant in pictures.  shame, this is so bright and pretty!!!)

You can see that a couple of my nails show beginner's experience (my left thumb and right middle finger), but overall I think it came out pretty damn cool, especially for my first try.  I cannot WAIT to do a zebra design for my vendor show.  I just have to figure out what combination of colors to use!  So many possibilities!!!