Filing Your Stamper
I forgot to mention this last time, but this goes along with the teal spiral nails from that post...
Before stamping the nails I tried a sample stamp on paper to see how the design would look in black. It did not turn out, tons of breaks and gaps in the print. I tried again and again using different techniques - plastic & metal scrapers, pressing lighter or harder, scraping the polish from different directions - and I still could not get a good print. You can see all of the failures across the top row & the paper in the back ~
I started getting pretty frustrated and worried, so I searched around online and a few sites recommended filing down the surface of the stamper a bit with a nail file, I suppose to give it a little more grip. I did a little filing, wiped the stamper clean (nail polish remover), and the next prints turned out lovely & crisp! You can see the two black stamps on the bottom row (ignore the dark gray, I was trying out a polish that ended up being too thin) and the last stamp was done in the silver polish I used on the nails. Such a big difference!!
Before stamping the nails I tried a sample stamp on paper to see how the design would look in black. It did not turn out, tons of breaks and gaps in the print. I tried again and again using different techniques - plastic & metal scrapers, pressing lighter or harder, scraping the polish from different directions - and I still could not get a good print. You can see all of the failures across the top row & the paper in the back ~
I started getting pretty frustrated and worried, so I searched around online and a few sites recommended filing down the surface of the stamper a bit with a nail file, I suppose to give it a little more grip. I did a little filing, wiped the stamper clean (nail polish remover), and the next prints turned out lovely & crisp! You can see the two black stamps on the bottom row (ignore the dark gray, I was trying out a polish that ended up being too thin) and the last stamp was done in the silver polish I used on the nails. Such a big difference!!
Often there is nothing left on the stamper, sometimes just a tiny piece of polish, sometimes more ~ If you are using a full pattern print then whatever did not attach to your nail stays on the stamper, so stamping a pinky nail can leave a lot behind!
At first she couldn't get it to work at all, but once she let the paint sit for a bit after scraping it (to dry a little bit) she was able to pick up the image on the stamp, but the paint was a bit squishy. (She may have also let it sit on the stamper?)
I think it could be done, but you'd probably have to experiment a bit before it would work - thick paint, thin paint, waiting different amounts, etc. Or maybe you could even add the designs with nail polish?
You mentioned using a card for the scraper before - I tried switching between the two & seemed to get a better print with the Konad scraper. (I wish it didn't leave light scratches on the plate, but it doesn't mess up the print so I can deal with it.)
I'm glad you didn't give up though, because those bottom swirls look GREAT!
I can't wait to see more designs from you!
:)