So, I've been waiting a couple of months to place my order with Pet'la as a few of the plates I desperately wanted (correction:needed, you know what it's like!) were out of stock. I was after Caneveras, Spinning, Snowflakes and Three Times in particular but ended up ordering 14 in all. I did get 10% off with the coupon code 10OFF.
The plates I purchased are listed below, along with a brief description of the inspiration behind them (I've underlined the ones most likely to go out of stock due to their popularity in the stamping community!):
- Wishes 2 - inspired by the Pet'la plate community :)
- Three times - triangular patterns
- Spinning - stunning and unusual spiral patterns
- Shenanigans - includes paint spattering designs, newspaper print and leopard print - pretty random but awesome!
- Rising Sun- Japanese patterns
- Oorie- inspired by Hungarian embroidery
- Laces - beautiful, detailed lace designs
- KoyDoodles - based on Indian mandalas
- Golden Russian - inspired by Eastern culture
- Flake no more - stunning snowflakes and swirls
- Fireworks- firework explosion images and Happy New Year images
- Calaveras - inspired by Mexican Sugar Skulls
- Basics 1 - Basic chevrons and lines
About
Petra Prinner is the lovely proprietor of this brand, and she's based out in Hungary. She's a really nice lady and replies quickly when you have any questions to ask her and is another friendly member of the nail stamping community! :) You can buy the plates here and I particularly commend the website- it's fantastic! You can zoom in on the awesome, clear pictures so you can see exactly what you've got on each plate.
The plates I got are described as 'expert depth' so they are very deeply etched; I understand that previous plates were etched more shallow.
Each plate is just €8 each, which is a brilliant price, and made me buy more than I had planned!
The plates are 6 x 12 centimeters (2,36 x 4,72 inches) and are comprable to the size of Moyou and Dashica plates, as well as the new Bundle Monster XL and Born Pretty rectangular plates.
Shipping
Shipping time from Hungary takes a while. It took almost two weeks and I'm in the UK so not sure how long it would take outside of Europe. According to the tracking, it took a week just to leave Hungary.
Delivery was kind of pricey, it cost me €15 for 14 plates, but the prices are listed out on the site here. Having said that, they do weigh a ton!
First impressions
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| Pet'la Plate: Rising Sun |
They came in a padded envelope with thin plastic bags to protect them (no traditional blue film here). I was pretty shocked at how heavy they were - this is mainly because they're made of brass and not stainless steel, and not as I thought, copper.
Why? Not sure. They're very pretty to look at as they're so different from your average plate, but I'm unsure as to why this material would be chosen other than to stand out and be unique amongst other plates.
Why? Not sure. They're very pretty to look at as they're so different from your average plate, but I'm unsure as to why this material would be chosen other than to stand out and be unique amongst other plates.
Pros:
- Unique designs. They remind me of Dashica plates because they're so cool and unusual.
- They aren't full image plates so they're broken down into 12 single nail images, pretty large so if you have large, wide or long nails, you should be fine.
- They are very deeply etched so you get a beautiful crisp image.
- They're visually very attractive.
- They stamp like a dream!
Cons:
- The disadvantage to the deeply etched thing is that they are a son of a peach to clean. I find it a struggle to get rid of the residual stamping polish up in there, even after scrubbing. I also got some fibres from my cotton and lint free pads stuck in the etchings as they are etched so deep.
- Brass care for the plates - apparently we're meant to clean them with brass cleaner from time to time. Think brass turns green after a while, which is kinda nasty.
- There's no backing on these plates but they're not sharp. The brass does make your hands smell metallic though.
Stamping
They stamp really well. I did the above manicure using the 'Three Times' plate with no problems picking up the design. The images are deeply etched so everything picked up crisply and beautifully.
As I said, the only problem I had was cleaning the plate afterwards as polish really got stuck in the etchings and I had to scrub and use a lot of acetone nail polish remover to get a decent clean. No biggie though, it's worth it! Just an unusual thing to encounter in that I have plates from so many other brans and never had this happen before.
Final thoughts
In case you couldn't tell, I love these plates. But I do question, why brass? I'd have been as happy with stainless steel and having the same great plates and designs. I do recommend them though, as you can see, they stamp beautifully and the designs are so unusual and unique.
Do you have some Pet'la plates? What do you think of them?
