Whimsical Winter Scene!

Almost three weeks ago Marta of Chit Chat Nails announced a nail art contest that she is hosting with a stamping plate maker Pueen. I was instantly intrigued because it features two of my favorite things, stamping and holiday nail art. I rarely enter contests, partly for lack of time, but largely because I disagree with the 'judging' process. Marta's contest, however, has actual judges which makes the process about talent rather than popularity. For me that makes the contest a challenge and I love challenges...

I've been thinking about what I want to create for the contest for the past couple of weeks and have been coming up blank. I knew I wouldn't be entering the contest unless it was something I was really proud of, so that I wouldn't kick myself later and think "I could have done better". That way loosing would mean someone created nail art that is better or more creative than mine, not because I didn't give it my best shot. Also, win or loose, I had a blast creating this manicure and at the end of the day that is what really matters to me...

I woke up in the middle of the night a couple of nights ago when a storm knocked out our power. As I lay awake in pitch-black darkness listening to the howling wind and rain I started thinking about manicures (what else, right?) and celebrating the holidays, which happens to be the theme for this contest. For me, celebrating the holidays is always about being with family. I wanted to create that feeling in my nail art. A cozy home all lit up with people celebrating inside, a decorated tree, and the deer family the decided they wanted to join the celebration...

Majority of this nail art was crated with the use of decals. The base of manicure is piCture pOlish Whimsy, a beautiful baby blue with a golden shimmer (see swatches below). I topped that off with a layer of InDecisive Nail Lacquer Specked White. It makes for the absolute perfect sprinkling of snow. I then added a few small snowflakes from Born Pretty Stamping plate BP-01 using Essence Stamp Me! White.

The rest of the stamping is decals and the snow is SinfulColors Snow Me White...

Index finger: Trees from Mash plate Mash-68 double stamped with white then Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Jumpin' Jade. Each tree was individually cut out and placed. The lake was an afterthought to avoid floating trees and I used blue acrylic paint for better control outlining the trees.
Middle finger: House from Bundle Monster plate BM-224 double stamped using white then Zoya Louise. I bet you didn't even recognize the haunted house from this plate! The snowy roof tops really make all the difference. Golden windows are KleanColor Metallic Yellow done on reverse side of the decal. The two trees are from the same image as on the index finger.
Ring finger: Tree from Winstonia plate W222 double stamped white then Jumpin' Jade. Decorated with bullion beads from ebay and a star from a local dollar store glitter mix. Deer are double stamped white then brown using Zoya Louise and Born Pretty Store plate BP-01
Pinkie: Deer is double stamped white then brown using Zoya Louise from Bundle Monster plate BM-214.

Phew! Did you follow all that above? I will show you what I mean by 'double stamped' very soon! It is a technique I've been playing around with to get vibrant colors when stamping with regular polishes and involves first stamping in white and then the desired color to make them pop...

My favorite nail. I just love the bullion bead ornaments. I did not topcoat the bullion beads since the colors run with a top coat...

piCture pOlish Whimsy
A baby blue filled with golden fleck shimmer. This has a fairly thin/runny formula and I found it easiest to apply thin coats to avoid flooding the cuticles and/or leaving bald spots. At three coats it provides great coverage. The golden shimmer and the whole polish is just gorgeous. Swatches are with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: piCture pOlish Collection: Blogger collaborations shades Color Name/Number: Whimsy Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

If I missed anything or you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
I'd love to know what you think of this manicure!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

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