Cherry Blossom Nails & Operation Nail It's Recent Giveaway

Checking the mail was extra fun today because I learned the day after Christmas that I was one of Operation Nail It's winners for her recent giveaway!  Take a look at what I scored:)

Nicel, it was my pleasure, girl!  And thank you for some excellent prizes.

With the arrival of the e.l.f. polishes, I admit I kept eyeing the Metallic Blue.  The other colors are Metallic Orange and Metallic Magenta.  So, I cleaned off my Pink Lace French Tip nails and prepped them with some Julep Nail Therapy and polished my nails with two coats of Metallic Blue.

Have I mentioned that, second only to glitter polish, blue polish is one of my few addictions?  I think I have more blue and teal polishes than any other color!  This color turned out so vibrant that I decided to try out some cherry blossom branches to to showcase the blue base color.

So with these nails after painted a near perfect swatch with the Metallic Blue, I first took a small nail art brush and drew in branches starting at random points on my nails with Gold Coin.  I then used a dotting tool to place small center dots in Snow Me White as a center point for the blossoms.  Next, I applied petals to each dot using a small nail art brush dipped in Snow Me White again.  I used a dotting tool again to place a small center of dark pink in the center of each blossom with Metallic Magenta.  Last, I used Julep's Fast Drying Top Coat to set the polish and protect the nail art. 

In order to see how far I've come in my nail art the past several months, I have to post my first attempt at Cherry Blossom nails.  Talk about a fail!

I think I did these with a toothpick and they look more like something from a horror film, instead of cherry blossoms.   A small nail art brush and practice has made a world of difference!