Go U.S.A! Konad M14 & M77

Good morning again, Dear Reader!

This morning I was considering what to do for my NOTD, and I realized the The Olympics are going on and I haven't done a single U.S.A. mani, so today is the day. I'm so pleased with how it turned out that I thought I'd show it to you right away!

I decided I wanted a base of blue, and chose Nubar Mali-Blue. I figured I'd do red and white Konad, and kind of winged the whole thing after I applied two coats of Mali-Blue - there was no real plan. I went through the Konad plates and chose M14 for the U.S.A. stamp and M77 to do stripes on my tips. I did the accent nail on my ring finger with M14, using Konad Dark Red and White for the stamp.

As I moved on to M77 for the stripes, I noticed that it had dots as well. My original plan, when I chose the plate and thought the pattern I wanted was just two stripes, was to make one red and one right, alternating the position from one nail to the next. The dots gave me a fun idea. I just colored the dots the same color as the top stripe, stamped, and moved on.

The fun idea I had when I noticed the dots was to apply some rhinestones. What's more fun that something that sparkles, right? I underlined "U.S.A" on my ring finger with them, then applied a red, a white, and a blue to each nail on the M77 pattern's dots. I know some people stick the stones in top coat, but Diamont dries kind of fast for that. I did mine with nail glue (a dot this tiny pops right off with remover).

I use a pad of paper to hold my Konad plates, so that and polish that comes off scraping them is not a big deal and when it's messy I can just tear off the top page and have a fresh surface. On the paper, I put a little puddle of nail glue, dipped an orange stick in it, and just picked up the stones and applied them with it. The stick was handy for scooting them to be right on the correct dot. When all the rhinestones were on, I applied a final coat of Diamont to seal them and the stamping.

This is what I came up with.

Nubar Mali-Blue Nail Polish, Two Coats, and Konad M14 & M77

I don't know why I'm so gleeful about it, but I am. Here's to sporty things, medals, and all things that sparkle...

That's it for today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!