Blue Feather Nails -- My Graduation Nails!!

Tomorrow, March 22, 2013, will be one of the biggest days of my adult life -- my graduation ceremony for my Masters degree!!!

For those of you who do not know, I have been studying while working since 2008.  Tomorrow, I will formally have the title Master of the Arts in Basic Education Teaching.

This graduation is quite an emotional one for me, perhaps because of how difficult it was for me to earn it.  For one, I financed my way through it all.  Some of the years of my graduate studies were also the most turbulent for me because of personal problems, which nearly made me stop schooling.

Nonetheless, I pushed through with the emotional support of my siblings and dear friends.  Now I swell up with both tears and pride, knowing the gravity of this achievement.  I do thank everyone who was there for me through it all.  And I thank God, because with His unmeasurable wisdom, He molded me to be strong enough to make it this far.

I am really, really, happy. :)

Now about my Graduation Nails.  I am graduating from the school of the Blue Eagle, the Ateneo de Manila University.  So, I thought it would be right for me to do a blue and white nail design.  At the same time, I wanted a look that was elegant enough to wear to a solemn ceremony as such.  Therefore, this is what I came up with:

For this design, I used three coats of Dazzle Dry's French Quarters.  French Quarters is a super sheer lacquer with an opalescent sheen.  You could see in the picture that though I've applied three coats, the tips of my nails can still be seen.

I love French Quarters because though I layer in on for several coats, it never looks bulky on my nails.  The thin consistency also makes it easy to control.

For the feathers, I used acrylic paints in Pthalo Blue (dark blue), Cobalt Blue (lighter blue), and Titanium White.  Here are some pictures of how I made the feathers:

Use the dark blue shade and a thin striping brush to paint the shaft of the feather.

Use light wispy strokes to form the feather.  Remember to take note of the shape of the feather that you want.

Texture it with lighter blue and white strokes.  

I later on added a piece of glitter on each feather by picking up the glitters from the brush of a glitter polish (I used a silver glitter from The Face Shop) with a dotting tool, then carefully placing it on the feather.

Here is one more look of my nails:

I chose to put just one glitter because I did not want to go over the top.  There is always beauty in simplicity.  :)

Incidentally, this design is my 100th picture in my nail art album on Facebook.  For those who want to see the album, click here.  Going through the album, you will see how I've also grown as an artist.

Thank you for reading!! :) And cheers to all the graduates of 2013!!!