This winter I decided to recreate one of my favorite nail art looks of last year, Snowflakes in a Pond of Blue, with a little twist - hand painted red ribbons and bows to look like wrapped presents! hehe. I did enter this in the #celebratewithpueen contest on instagram; but it was on my to do list before I knew about the contest. I've also been putting off posting this because it didn't quite live up to my expectations; but the Polish Party prompt this month is stamping with a three color gradient - pond gradient in this case ;) - so I thought that must be my wake up call to stop hoarding and start sharing!
I used the same blue polish, B Squared Lacquer All Aboard, for the jelly sandwich pond layers. I used Cult Nails Tempest as my stamping polish with MoYou LONDON Kitty Collection plate 09; and Festive Collection plates 01 and 02. This time around I decided to try my hand at "shrinking images" so I could fit more snowflakes visibly on each nail - I'd be happy to do a demonstration if you're interested. Unfortunately, I forgot to add multiple layer of blue between pong layers for a more pronounced pond look as in my original.
After finished with the pond manicure I added a layer of butter LONDON Hardware. Then, I proceeded to hand paint the ribbons and bows using OPI I'm Not Really A Waitress and a small detail brush. Unfortunately, I butchered my last nail (the ringer finger); and when trying to clean it up went through my pond manicure; and then decided to leave it messy rather than botch it more. Ugh! I was so upset I did not take any additional photos; and unfortunately only took two of the base design because I hadn't intended to stop there.
Despite my screw up, what do you think? Are you a fan of the pond manicure alone or the added detail to make my nails look like presents? I hope you enjoyed this recreation, even if there are things I wish I would have done differently/better.
