Spring Has Sprung

Yesterday was the first day of spring! I can’t believe we are already halfway through March; The year 2014 is flying right by. I love spring it means more time spend outside enjoying the warm sunshine. I get so excited to see flowers pushing up through the dirt and fluffy little ducklings and lambs following their mothers.

My mom just converted from acrylics to gel polish this week. We did this cute nail design to add a little springtime fun to her nails. We applied a purple polish with white flowers on the ring fingers to add some spring accent to her nails. Here is what we did so you can achieve the same look. Note: I will be providing instructions on how to achieve this look with plain polish, along with Shellac.Step 1: Prep Nails

View my post on Nail Polish Prep.

Step 2: Paint Nails Purple

Paint all your nails with two coats of purple polish. I used the CND Shellac color Purple Purple.

Shellac: Apply one coat purple polish. Cure 2 minutes in the CND light. Apply second coat of purple polish. Cure again   for 2 minutes in the CND light.

Step 3: Paint Flowers

I painted three white flowers on the ring fingers. Here is the secret. . . when hand painting images on your nails use acrylic craft paints, not polish. You will get crisper lines and much more pop than you would with polish. Some polishes can sometimes dry almost transparent which makes the image hazy and you won’t get the wow factor you are going for. BUT if you are nail stamping you have to use polish.

To paint these flowers you basically paint little triangles for each of the petals and then a big dot in the center. (View the image below; Paint a V then fill in.) Do as many petals as you like. On one of the flowers I did 7 petals, but then found I liked the look of 6 petals best so I did that on the rest of the flowers. Do whatever looks best to you!

Shellac: Do just the same as above.

Step 4: Apply Top Coat

Now apply your top coat. Make sure the paint is completely dry before adding top coat to help avoid smearing.

Shellac: Apply top coat, only after paint is completely dry, and cure in CND light for 2 minutes.

Step 5: Allow to Dry and Apply Cuticle Oil

Allow your polish to dry completely. Apply a cuticle oil just around your nails on the cuticle and rub into the skin.

Shellac: Remove sticky residue on top of nails with a little alcohol or polish remover and apply cuticle oil.

Remove gel polish after 2-3 weeks, check out Gel Polish Removal for the quickest, easiest and best way to remove gels.