Celebrating Spring

Even though it feels like we jumped straight into summer, spring is in full swing here -- the lilacs and wisteria are blooming, the birds are mobbing the bird feeder, and my kid screams when I try to get her to go back inside. In honor of the season, I wanted to do something "flowery." I found the cutest houndstooth/floral design on Pinterest by Fall In NaiLove  (-you can see my inspiration here).

I used NOPI "Always a Silver Lining" as my base, and stamped on Funky Fingers "Gesso" with Bundle Monster plate #BM322. I used two pinks from The New Black pink ombre collection along with "Gesso" to paint the flowers, and then used acrylic paint in black and green for the leaves and to give the design definition. Acrylic is definitely easier to work with on more intricate lines.

I definitely feel inspired most by spring. What is your favorite season?

Halloween Skittles! Part I

Halloween is always a fun time of year for nail art peeps. There are so many cute ideas! I couldn't pick just one, so I decided to mix it up with a Skittle mani. I used 6 different stamps and 18 polishes, so I'm going to be breaking this up into 2 posts.

•     I painted my thumb with NOPI "Always a Silver Lining" and stamped the adorable "Scary" stamp from My Online Shop stamp MJ#XXII. I sponged on a light black glitter polish (WnW Fergie "Rock N' Roll") around the stamp.
•     The pointer is painted with Kleancolor "Neon Purple" and stamped with Salon Express white using stamp #m13. 
•    My middle finger is a base of Essie (sorry no name on it), topped with Funky Fingers "Varsity Blue." I really like this glitter topper; it was too pretty to put anything over it. 
•    The ring finger is Fresh Paint "Winning" stamped with Fresh Paint "Spruce Street" using Pueen stamp #PUEEN33. I added the little fimo Jack O' Lantern. I wanted it to look like a pumpkin patch, but it's kind of hard to see the vine stamping. Oh well. I still love the little pumpkin!
•     Finally, for my pinky I used Whet "Facetious" with a light coat of the WnW "Rock N' Roll." I placed the little sequins on and topcoated them in. 

I don't normally wear skittle manis - I think they are cute, but something about the lack of symmetry on my own hands irritates me. I guess we will see how long this stays on :)