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| March Birthstone - Aquamarine March Flower - Daffodil |
Yes, you read the title correctly - Theme of the Month for March. I did complete this design last month. Really. You may recall, I included a sneak peak in my previous post uploaded just before midnight EST on March 31st out of desperation to prove it.
Anyway....Let's dive in, shall we?! I have loads of pictures to share...
Alrighty...some of the particulars...last year (ok, it was the year before) I started a project of creating nail art using each month's birthstone and birthflower as the inspiration. Each design shows the birthstone on my "outer" finger nails (thumb, index & pinky) and the flower on the "middle" nails (middle & ring). I had completed 10 of the 12 designs so far.... (yeah, I'm a snail blogger).
If you remember all of this - I'm sending you a virtual cookie for being a dedicated Kimett Kolor fan. If you would like to catch up on the previous posts, you can use this link - Theme of the Month Designs.So, a reasonable question might be...why didn't you create the last two designs before going back and creating a do-over for the March design? Well....it has been bothering me that I really flubbed that one the first time around. So every time I review the collection, that one stands out as a sore thumb for me. My attempt at making the aquamarine nails wasn't too terrible - but my free-handed daffodils looked like fried eggs. Pfft!
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| Happy (belated) Birthday to March babies everywhere!! |
And, another reason to recreate this design is because March happens to include the Birthday of my #1 fan - yes, my Mom! So, I just didn't want to let another of her birthdays go by without trying again, with newer goodies of course!
Yes, I bought polish and a stamping plate as a birthday present for my Mom....I'm aware of how that sounds. And, of note, both of these purchases are from brands that are appearing on this blog for the first time. Yay!
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| Indirect afternoon sunlight makes for glowing glitter!! |
A delightful and talented Indie polish maker caught my notice when she came out with her Harmonious Gemstone collection of micro-glitter polishes. The brand name is Love Angeline and the owner is Natosha. Her first batch of these particular beauties was released in the Fall of 2014 and the second batch in the Spring of 2015. Some polishes from this collection are still in stock - if you like this one, you're in luck!!
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| Bottle shots with reflection in black granite |
Rhythm in Aquamarine is described on her website as "a sea-foam aqua based gemstone". In all the different lighting types I used and when combined with my skin tone, it pulled a little warmer than in the photos on her website. But I do think hers are more accurate even though this is a bit of a chameleon and does look different in different light.
I have placed two orders with Love Angeline and have been super impressed with their products and service. I hope you check out her website if you are looking for some unique polishes - she just launched a few new collections including one celebrating her 3rd Anniversary. I will be showing more and trying out her famous topcoat soon!
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| Ah, my favorite and most comfortable hand pose - the flowers aren't upside down when I look at my hand. I go back and forth on which direction should be "up" - the nail edge or the nail bed. Do you have a preference? |
After using UNT's easy glitter removal base coat, I applied two coats of a pale blue creme polish called Sky by Picture Polish to all of my nails. While these dried I worked on my decals.
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| Letting the decals dry before applying topcoat on them. |
These darling daffodil images are from the Yay Spring! stamping plate from UberChic Beauty. (Sorry, I didn't get a picture of it this time around.) I had been on the lookout for daffodil images and when I saw this design by Serene of Copy Cat Claws. I placed an order that moment - and it arrived almost as quickly (which was good since Mom's birthday was the very next day).
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| Halogen bulbs and flash made this glitter and nail art pop! |
I applied three thin coats of the glitter (one with the brush and 2 with a sponge). I left these nails to dry textured - no top coat. I was going for a druzy look, as I know my Mom likes those types of jewelry pieces.
Then I placed the decals on my accent nails. Here is where I made most of my mistakes - it's been a while since I've made decals and well, I'm glad this experience is behind me. All in all, without time to re-make and re-do the nails, they are passable. And other than in these macro photos, they looked pretty good.
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| You can see the accent nails were topped with a glossy top coat. |
Even though these were stamped, they took about the same amount of time as the first March birthday design I did because of dry time with all of the layers and decals. But I'm much happier seeing these next to the other designs. And, I know I've said it before - there will be a post with all 12 when I finish November and December's designs - I will feel a nice sense of accomplishment on that day!!
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| Don't these nails just shout Springtime!? |
So - what do you think? Did I do a proper Birthday tribute to Mom (even if it is a month late)?
And to make this an extra fun post - it just so happened that I had some daffodils blooming at my house when I made these. Here's a fun little video with ten more pictures of these whimsical and cheery flowers:
Till Next Time,
Kimett