Monday, September 20, 2010

Birthday peacocks

Hello ladies,

This past weekend was such a busy and enjoyable experience. I attended my friend Denise's wedding on Saturday. She looked absolutely stunning! The ceremony ended with Monarch butterflies being released by the newlyweds. It's part of a Native American tradition in which butterflies are said to carry wishes to the Great Spirit. Each guest made a wish for the couple's future together.

Sunday was my birthday. After brunch with my friends Lisa and Cassandra, we walked through the grounds at the Morris Arboretum and enjoyed the blossoms, fountains and the peaceful shade. The rose garden was still abloom and fragrant. I walked among the roses with my parasol. Bees and butterflies shared in our pleasure of the flowers.

I returned to the city and had Thai food with my philosopher friend. I enjoyed a spicy yellow curry dish with mangoes. For dessert, there was homemade coconut ice cream. After dinner, I visited an old flame.

I had such a wonderful birthday! I am truly grateful for the love and companionship from the people in my life.

I decided a colorful peacock manicure would best suit the occasion. I began with BB Couture Huckleberry Martini, a rich purple shimmer. The color may lean towards blue on some monitors, but it is a true purple.








I stamped peacocks from fauxnad plate H45. I alternated placing purple, blue and green rhinestones in the center body of each peacock. I decorated the crest and the feathers with miniature spheres. You will notice the color of the sphere in the center of each grouping of three matches the marquis rhinestone.

From Victoria Nail Supply, I purchased a wheel of colorful spheres . I love these as an accent. The only caveat is the shades containing red pigment aren't wholly colorfast once quick dry topcoat is applied. I had no difficulty with the green, blue, copper and gold. For $3.95, the wheel is worth purchasing even if the red, pink and purple can be problematic to seal. My only other caution is these spheres are best for patient dispositions.

I painted three coats of Huckleberry Martini. Two coats brought satisfactory opacity, but three made the shimmer seem brighter. As with other BB Couture polishes I have tried, Huckleberry Martini offers salon quality application.

This manicure was a festive accompaniment to my weekend. I hope it brought you delight as well.

Huckleberry Martini was sent to me for review. This shade is part of the Cantina Nights Collection, available at overallbeauty.com. For the opportunity to win your choice of five polishes from Cantina Nights along with a beauty gift pack from Reviva Labs, please visit the Naturally Beautiful and Polished Giveaway.

Image plate H45 was provided for my consideration. You can view the full selection of stamping nail art plates at chez-delaney.com.

Happy painting, ladies!

25 comments:

  1. I love that color!!! =) Cute designs!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful, I really love this one.

    Anita

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very pretty mani. Happy belated birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a beautiful mani! The color is excellent on you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anita: Thanks so much! I really appreciate your kind words. <3

    Twister: Thanks, sweetie! You are right on time. I still will be meeting friends and celebrating for the next couple weeks. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Karen: Thanks so much! I am glad you are enjoying Huckleberry Martini and the accompanying peacocks. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. MissPukku: Thank you! I'm so glad you like the look. <3

    ReplyDelete
  8. omg!! those are really gorgeous hunn..

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very pretty! I love how the colors compliment eachother perfectly.

    ReplyDelete
  10. happy belated birthday :)

    i love the peacock stamping and the rhinestones you added, they are a great combination :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is absolutely beautiful. The colour, the stamp, the everything!

    I hope you and your sister are doing well and I'm sorry for not commenting sooner. You are in my thoughts x

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy birthday! And your friend's wedding sounds like it was beautiful.

    I adore the little gems in this mani, they totally make me think of the colours in a peacock tail :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Happy belated birthday Diana! :D I like this shade of blue, and the peacock design really makes it sweet.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a lovely wedding, indeed! Sounds like they took a ceremony and built it back up to encompass their own passion.

    Happy belated birthday to you, Diana.

    The peacocks are so pretty. Fitting for a beautiful woman's birthday weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Very pretty jeweled up mani! Fabulous colour and happy belated b-day!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sounds like you had a wonderful birthday. Happy belated birthday and God bless you. Your manicure is so beautiful. You have such a wonderful talent for design and writing. Your blog is entirely welcoming, instructional, beautiful and wonderful with fantastic photography. Love the jewels in the tail feathers.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Belated Happy Birthday, Diana! All the best wishes. <333
    I love that mani. It looks just so matching for a birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thriszha: Thanks so much, sweetie! I appreciate your kind words! xoxo!

    Millie: Thank you! I love coordinating gems and polish. You should see me with my nail wheels matching things up. :)

    Paillette: Your monitor may be playing tricks. Huckleberry Martini is purple. It looks purple on my screen, but purples sometimes appear more blue than true to life. Sorry about that!

    amusedPolish: Thanks for the good wishes! I am so glad you enjoyed the manicure. I had this plate for six weeks before figuring out exactly what how to work with it. <3

    ReplyDelete
  19. Helen: I am so glad you liked how it turned out! Peacocks are one of my favorite birds. I had such a great time putting this look together.

    Thanks so much for inquiring about my sister. She is seeing another specialist in Philadelphia next week. I am hoping she will get a complete diagnosis then. Her problem was beyond the scope of the last neurologist she saw. There has been a lot of waiting.

    Salisha: Thanks so much! <3

    ReplyDelete
  20. Silhouette Screams: Thank you! I had such a wonderful day. I still have some more celebrating to do. :)

    Denise did such a nice job creating a mood and theme for her wedding. It was visually appealing and well thought out.

    I think I have rhinestones for just about every occasion! <3

    Joan: Thanks so much for the good wishes! Huckleberry Martini is purple. Monitors love to make purple look blue for some reason. So tricky! I know you enjoy the cool tone manicures. I love doing peacock designs. <3

    ReplyDelete
  21. Kimberly: Denise's wedding was very creative and well thought out. She made all of the favors and table decorations. It felt very welcoming.

    Thank you for the birthday wishes! I really would like to be accompanied by a peacock at all times, but the manicure was a little more convenient. ;)

    JQ: Thanks so much! I really had such a nice weekend. I figured extra gems are celebratory. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Lucy: I had such a wonderful day! Thank you for your kind words, support and good feeling. Your presence here certainly helps create a welcoming environment. Lots of love. xoxo!

    Daria: Thanks so much! I really appreciate your sweet comments. <3

    ReplyDelete
  23. Happy birthday!

    That manicure is just beautiful...I have a thing for peacocks :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for stopping by! I do my best to answer comments. I read every single comment. If you have any questions or links that are unrelated to the post, please e-mail me.

Please be respectful and avoid leaving your blog link in the comments unless requested. Refer to the FAQ if needed.