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| Are there really purple peacocks?? |
I admit after doing these, I did spend a few minutes looking online to see if such a dazzling bird existed in purple...turns out there is!! Although, they do not look exactly like my gal here. Yes, I know the males are more colorful, but the silhouette image I used on my ring finger looks feminine to me - so she's a she. Cuz I said so.
Want to find out more about this craziness? Of course you do, so please read on....
Challenge Info
Two fabulous nail gals put on this bi-weekly challenge on Instagram called Mani Swap Circle. Natasha (@natasha_dauncey) and Angela (@glacewing) organize this dazzling display by collecting names of those interested ahead of time. Then, they create the assignments so that every artist has another artist - making a circle of names. And each challenge (done every two weeks) is to be created in a designated color. We submit our designs and patiently (or not) wait for our leaders to present the group's collage. Then we get to post!Did I explain that right? (If you're unclear and/or interested in joining, please check out either of the ladies accounts above for more information.)
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| Top Left: the final results of everyone's purple recreations Top Right: My recreation Bottom Left & Right - originals (I used two designs as my inspiration) |
My assigned artist for this go-round was Andrea (@midnightnailsnbeauty). She makes all kinds of fabulous designs, stamps, paints free hand, and often uses very pretty charms. And, she uses a lot of purple! So - I pushed myself to try and find a design that she did that wasn't in purple and that I had a chance at recreating. Well, I thought I was so clever picking her peacock design (the one on the left). Then when scrolling again through her account, I saw that last year she did a purple peacock design (one on the right)! Nonetheless, I stayed my course and used both of them for my inspiration.
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| Look at all those purple creations!! I had so much fun looking through to see the one that was inspired by me...the suspense was killing me! LOL |
Design Details
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First off, I painted all of my nails with this pretty pastel purple creme. Then I applied the holographic glitter polish to my ring finger as an accent (see bottle in very first photo of this post). While waiting for my nails to dry...
I made stamping decals on a mat. First, I applied a layer of clear top-coat and let it dry. Then, I stamped the different images in the purple duo-chrome stamping polish (it has a shift of magenta that shows in certain light).
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| See how the peacock feathers and the outline to the silhouette change from purple to fuchsia with the light? Also seen on the edges of the bottle. |
Once the stamping was dry, with the decals still on the mat, I filled in the gold of the feather and body accents, as well as, put a layer of the pastel purple for the background of the silhouette. Once that was dry....
I applied the decals to each of my nails. Here's where I ran into technical difficulty. I got lots and lots of bubble bumps. Bummer. But - they're only visible in these super close photos - so I'm still calling this one a win. (Will investigate the reason for my issue - I was using a new top-coat...not sure if that was the culprit or my technique, or lack there of.)
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| Close up of the accent images |
Some of you know that purple isn't my most favorite color...I steer away from it with clothing or house decor. But, I like ALL nail polish colors!! And I really had fun having these on my nails, even with all this purple!
I thought about trying a matte top coat over these to see if it hid the bubbles, but I was too afraid to lose the tiny details of the images. Another thing to investigate...
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| These stamped images came out so vibrant and detailed - loved them!! |
Both the stamping polish and the glitter polish are from new-to-me Indie makers and I was quite impressed!! Looking forward to trying more of them!
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| Look at that glitter shine!! (Fuzzy focus on purpose, of course!) |
Products Used:
- Stamping polish ~ Purple Reign by Hit the Bottle
- Pastel purple polish ~ Lavender Lotus by Rica
- Purple glitter polish ~ I Aim to Misbehave by Pirate Princess Polish
(from their Space Pirate collection based on Firefly/Serenity - yes, I HAD to buy them all!!) - Gold polish ~ good as gold by Essie
- Stamping images on middle & ring finger ~ Uber Chic plate 1-02
- Stamping image on thumb, index & pinky ~ Vivid Lacquer VL-038
- (Not in picture) Silicone mat ~ Simply Neat Miracle Mat by Bliss Kiss
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| I loved the feather pattern on my three outer nails - lifelike and abstract at the same time. |
During the course of the day that I was doing these nails, we were having thunderstorms and in a tornado watch...so, needless to say, no outdoor photos that day!!
But, I was lucky enough to get out into my yard the next day and capture all the newly blooming flowers!! Hooray!!
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| Early summer blooms...and my nails. |
Well, I gotta know - did you like these nails?
And, have YOU ever seen a purple peacock (or peafowl)?
Till next time,
Kimett