Here are the actual nails that I am wearing on Valentine’s Day.

It’s been a long time since I did a mani with a white base, and I forgot how bright and crisp it looks!  White looks great in the summer when my skin is a little darker, but it also works well with my pale winter skin.  I also forgot how great a simple doticure can be.  (Side note: My hubby asked me what dots have to do with Valentine’s Day.  He takes things very literally.)

I’ve seen lots of manis online with this cute little love note design.  I can’t take credit for it!  I think that Hannah, an Aussie nail blogger first came up with the design.  This design is so simple, but so cute!  Check her out: http://thenailtrail.com.au/  I’m a little jealous of her beautiful nail art, and I’m really jealous that she’s enjoying summer weather right now.  Here in PA, we are getting wind chills of 20 below 0 Fahrenheit this weekend.  Darn arctic blast.

I did this design for the Weekly Nail Art Challenge on Instagram.  This challenge is great for a couple reasons.  I like that it is only once a week, so that’s very doable.  I also like that there is a monthly theme (February’s is Contrast) and then weekly prompts.  This week’s prompt is Valentine’s Day.  I didn’t really have any great inspiration when it came to the contrast element of my mani, so I just opted to use contrasting colors.

I started by painting all of my nails white…. Obviously.  The black and red are just craft paint.  So much easier to clean up than nail polish!  I used a small dotting tool for the dots on all but my middle and ring fingers.  Then, using my tiniest brush, I painted the envelope design.  I started with the “V” that makes the outer flap of the envelope, and then added the other lines.  Then using my tiniest brush dipped in red, I wrote the word “love” on my ring finger.  Since I’m pretty terrible at writing with my left hand, I ended up just doing a few hearts on my ring finger on my right hand.

I find that the easiest way to make hearts is to use a dotting tool to make two barely touching dots.  Then I use either a small brush or a dotting tool to drag the dots down into a point.

I debated a bit whether I should make these matte or glossy… I was feeling in a glossy mood.

Well, that’s it!  Thanks for reading, following, and liking!  Have a great weekend filled with love!