Reverse Stamping Decals

I'm so excited about these nails!  I recently bought a silicone nail art mat (I have the Bundle Monster Lotus mats in the small sizes) and was excited to have a go at making reverse stamped decals. My first attempt was really bad, and my second attempt was pretty bad, but I think that third time round, I've managed to crack it. 

I used this tutorial by MoYou London, but there are loads of similar tutorials out there.  By the way - it's so much nicer stamping using the mat instead of bits of kitchen roll!

I started with a base of one coat of Pantone  14-1220, a nude colour with a very thin consistency. One of my early mistakes was using Barry M Gellys, which are quite thick, and made me end up with a super thick and claggy decal. I then stamped using Konad White and MoYou London Pro XL 26, stamping onto the mat over dried topcoat. 

I then used a variety of colours, including Barry M Sugar Apple, Sugar Plum, Blood Orange and MoYou London Bahamas Punch and Spring Green, and a tiny brush to fill in the details in the pattern. I used 5 different designs from the stamper so that each finger was different. Instead of sticking the design down with topcoat (another early mistake, adding another extra layer) I added the second layer of my base colour, and then applied the decal while that was still tacky.

I love the thumb design best! And I match my shower curtain! (Ikea, Cath Kidston design)

I really like the silicone mat - I didn't need it to keep my desk clean, as I already have a glass placemat - but it's great for stamping, nice for swatching and testing designs, works really really well for decals, and just cleans up with acetone and folds up to put away if you want to. I'm surprised at how few of my stamping plates are suitable for making decals though, as very few have a pattern that can be filled in. I'll have to buy some more! What a pity...