A2Z Series - I Is For 'Inspired'

Hi NaiLovelies!

We're back again with the A2Z Nail Art Blogger Challenge after the two week break over the Christmas period.  This week the prompt is I and the word is INSPIRED.

I am really excited to show you my manicure today which inspired' by not one, but two people....

I'll also get to squeeze in a nail art product review for Born Pretty Store whilst I'm at it!

The first lady who inspired this weeks creation is named Lori - she inspired the colour choice for this manicure - she loves a good brown polish so for me IBD Dolomite was an obvious choice.  I affectionately refer to her as my Fairy Godmother - I hope she doesn't mind.  She is a wonderful person with an amazing heart and her selflessness and generosity are something which always stuns me.  

The second person who inspired this manicure is the exceptionally talented Kim from Ten Little Canvasses.   I was so happy when Kim decided to start blogging in the latter part of 2013.  I had often wondered how she created her fabulous designs so I was overjoyed to discover that Kim generously shares her knowledge of soak off gel polish and nail art. I have picked up many tips from her as she creates amazing nail art tutorials on YouTube, including her creation which inspired this manicure.

To create this manicure, I used a soak off gel polish base of IBD Dolomite (3 coats) - which is one of my top 10 soak off gel polish colours.  I then applied nail art frames to my ring fingers and created a handmade gem by mixing the beautiful multichrome colour shifting polish The Knight by Dance Legend, a dot of Flashy Sparklies by Dark Metal Lacquer and Megamix together to make a curable gel polish for the centre of the frames.  Mixing the two polishes gives so much depth to the gemstone - it glows!  I then applied two coats of the DIY gel polish followed by two domed coats of Gelish Structure to form the raised ball of the gem before finishing the manicure perfectly with three super tiny yet super effective 1.2mm gold metal studs from Born Pretty Store set the accent nail off perfectly.   

 I can barely believe I made that I was able to make the gem myself!!

I added the Born Pretty studs using Kim's tried and true method of setting the studs in gel polish basecoat as it works so much better than using nail glue!  The back of the studs is flat so they sit perfectly on the nail without slipping around in the gel polish before curing.  I then added a single coat of topcoat before stamping the manicure using MoYou Fashionista XL 07 plate and The Knight by Dance Legend - which stamps perfectly!

Dolomite - IBD Just Gel Polish

Round Ball Flat Back Studs - Born Pretty Store

The Knight - Dance Legend

Flashy Sparklies - Dark Metal Lacquer

Fashionista XL 07 - MoYou 

Nail Art Frames - Ebay

Gelish Structure

Megamix

You can check out the fab manicures created by the other bloggers participating in this challenge by clicking on the Inlinkz below and by visiting the hub to see all the manicures created in this challenge series.

 Don't forget I now have a discount code for Born Pretty Store which can be used by my readers to obtain a 10% discount off your order - just use the code ECSQ10.

Ciao 4 Now

An InLinkz Link-up