I'm green with gusto for this post....so on with it...
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| Sniff, sniff...these flowers smell sweet! For me, they must be a treat! |
Yup, I'm sporting some nature on my nails today. Can you tell they have some influence other than mine? They do! Today is Justine's birthday and I had the honor of joining a group of 38 other ladies in wishing her a special day.
Justine has a unique spark that she adds to every nail design; and I'm wild about her in general too. One of many special friends I'm lucky to have been acquainted with through this nail art journey.
This design is my recreation of hers from Valentine's Day - only modified to be less romantic and more celebratory....let's see what you think...
Delia and Silvie, known on Instagram as @iamdeliasnails and @cheekynailmonkey respectively, organized this surprise party. Here is the collage showing everyone's Birthday Nail-Grams:
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| What a splendid Birthday collaboration!! <3 |
I'm looking forward to jumping on Instagram now and seeing all these in full-size!! I'll have this posted with all the links by the time you're reading this if you too are on the ole' IG.And here is the design that was my inspiration for this post:
That hedgehog is incredibly cute!! Now, I do have strong feelings for Justine...but, she is married (and so am I). Considering that, and since this is a birthday greeting (not a Valentine), I switched things up a bit. I moved the text accent nail to my thumb and I swapped out the hedgehog with the heart for a group of flowers and a bunny.
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| Sort of a Spring look - but it's always fun to mix things up with out-of-season nail art! |
I almost didn't make the party deadline because it took me forever to choose which one I would imitate. There are sooo many designs of Justine's that I dearly love. But, I'll share with you my thoughts as to why I went with this one....
- Justine and I both share a love for Zoya polishes. It also happens that I own the same polish she used in her design! Bonus!
- Justine has a fondness for this color palette - some call them the "pretty-uglies". I like that Justine favors the beauty in ALL the colors of nature.
- I was itching to do some stamping and really liked this design of hers because she combines elements I never would have thought to do so on my own. Adding a swirl pattern on top of a wood-grain is one of these combinations that I wouldn't have thought would work - but it does!
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| Great words for the occasion - Love, Adore, Inspire, Beauty, etc. And, look at those pretty flakes gllimmer!! |
Justine is also known for her great macro shots (#upcloseandpersonail this hashtag on Instagram was coined by Silvie @cheekynailmonkey). So, I did my best at capturing these close-up pictures...although I cringe a little as they show way more defects than you could see with 20/20 vision.
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| That tail! It looks so fluffy!! |
Stamp-Chat
Also like Justine, I used my FabUrNails clear stamper and a new-to-me one from Clear Jelly Stamper (because I needed two for the reverse stamping). I've mentioned it before, these clear stampers are so helpful for positioning images!! Of course they still require a learning curve (especially if you've been stamping without them for a while like me - an old dog trying to learn new tricks).I'm also super excited to document my first success at reverse stamping with these!! I've done the advanced stamping (i.e. color in the stamp on the stamper prior to stamping) but until now, I've only been successful getting that image onto my nail using the decal technique (by applying top coat over the image on the stamper and when dry removing it like a decal to then apply to the nail).
This time, I skipped the step of applying top coat to the colored in image on the stamper. Instead, I applied a top coat to the nails, waited for that to be almost dry (giving a very slightly tacky surface) and stamped the image right onto the nail.
I found this technique easier for me than doing decals. In the past, I've struggled with getting the decal positioned where I want it (I know - that is usually why most folks use a decal in the first place...I'm weird). Also, I usually end up with bubbles and awkward edges.
I had tried this one time before, but I think I didn't let them dry long enough because they smeared badly when stamping the colored in design onto the nail. Note to self: try again soon before I forget what I did!
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| I made sure to use a pop of color with the flowers, just like Justine did with the heart. |
Design Details
While my execution on these was far from flawless, I'm so happy with them anyway!! I enjoyed perusing Justine's lovely designs, several times over. And, I had such fun putting all these stamping images together.Here's what I used to get this look:
- Green base polish: Yara by Zoya
- White stamping polish: Whiteout by Rica (for the swirls, flowers and bunny)
- Mundo de Unas stamping polishes: Cream #12 (for the tree/wood grain and the text on thumb), #20 Fusca (pink that I used to color in the flowers), and Light Gray #33 (to color in the bunny)
- Bright Green jelly polish: Simple But Fun by Sinful Colors (to fill in the leaves of the flowers)
- Stamping Plates: Bundle Monster BM-715 (wood grain) and BM-705 (words on thumb) from their Secret Garden Collection, Mash-27 (swirls), and DRK Magic Garden (flowers and bunny)
- Stampers: Clear XL Stamper from Fab Ur Nails (picture in this post) and The Big Bling from Clear Jelly Stamper
- And of course, most important - the inspiration design by Justine! She can be found on Instagram as @beherenail, and on her new blog www.beherenail.com.
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| The shimmer in Yara can look golden or light green depending on the light source - so pretty! |
If you happen to like this polish, it is still available as a core color of Zoya's. I find their description worth sharing:
"Yara by Zoya can be best described as a medium smoky olive drab with an illuminating splash of bright gold glitter. An olive drab that's anything but- it's completely glam."
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Lately, I've been including a collage of "My Flowers and My Nails" in this section of the posts. Except, there really isn't much new out in my yard for flowers that you haven't already seen - and it's been so Hot and Humid here....that I have just the one picture for you today. These hibiscus blooms are worth going outside for!
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| Pretty well color-coordinated - eh? |
But -- I do have a photo collage of another subject to share! It may not be too exciting for my non-nail readers - however, I hope you still enjoy the fun I was having with my camera...
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| Isn't this a pretty tool?!! |
I'm pretty certain that every stamp artist has a love affair with a few of the types of stampers in his/her arsenal. This one quickly has become a favorite of mine!! Not only does it work really well but it is also really pretty!! And, it is the only clear stamper I know of that has a cover not only for the top of the stamp head, but also the bottom to keep dust/dirt from getting on the very clear surface. It's awesome!!
Direct link to the stamper: The Big Bling
Use and care of the stamper: FAQ page.
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So, my friends - what do you think of this design? Did I do Justine's original justice?
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| One more stroll in these happy woods.... |
Lastly, in closing - a reminder to please cast your vote for my upcoming 100th post nail-art technique (found at the top right of my blog page - if not on a computer, choose web view to see it). There are just a couple days left!
THANKS!!
Till Next Time,
Kimett