There was just something about this color combination that I really liked. This combination was also a bit out of my comfort zone and I'm proud of the fact that I'm starting to branch out a bit. Even if it is just a small amount. More photos of this look can be found in my Nail Art with Orly Darlings of Defiance post. 

     January also saw the start of the Untried A-Z Challenge, another new series for my blog this year that I hope you are all enjoying. I've mixed things up a bit with this challenge and have done some swatches, shown two polishes and shared a bit of nail art. My next favorite look is from the second week of the challenge, Letter B week. 

     This is some of the cleanest, crispest stamping I have ever done and that is the reason I've chosen this as one of my favorites. Not to mention I have a little obsession with geometric nail art right now. I've gotten away from sharing nail art in the latest posts of the Untried A-Z challenge but will be getting back into it as the challenge progresses. Speaking of the Challenge, next week starts letter G week and I'd love to see more people participate. This is a come and go kind of challenge where you can do as many or as few prompts as you like so feel free to join in. Even if you didn't mention the challenge in your post but used a polish with a G in the brand name or polish name add it to the link up! Help me get the word out and let's get through those untried polishes together. 

     February was a short month but I was still able to squeeze in a few different looks and some new techniques. I started out with a technique I'm very comfortable doing and ended with one I've been trying to master for years. This first look was my Groundhog Day prediction manicure which sadly turned out to be wrong and winter is still hanging on.

     I am full on head over heels in love with this look. I love the bold vampy base color, I love that it's got flowers, the contrast between the gold and berry wine is gorgeous and I want to wear this look again. Plus it was so easy to do using the advanced stamping technique. It is my absolute favorite look so far this year. 

    This next look while not quite as pretty as my floral image is one that I am very proud of. For years I've been admiring the needle drag manicures that pop up in my news feed, and have attempted the technique a handful of times with horrific results until now. 

     This was the first look I created for Valentine's Day and my first successful needle drag manicure. I know it's not much but for me finally getting this technique to work was huge! What was the secret to my success? You'll have to read the original post to find out, I'm not giving away all my secrets today. 

      I haven't attempted to do another needle drag yet this year but have a few ideas in mind, plus I'd like to do a full hand look instead of just the accent nail. And I think colors with a bit more contrast will give a more interesting look.

     The beginning of March brought a lot of green nail polishes to my blog for St. Patrick's Day and has ended with some softer shades and we ease into spring. I have to giggle at the "ease into Spring" part because as I'm writing this post they are predicting another 9 inches of snow to fall tonight. Hopefully, it will all be melted when this post goes live. *Fingers crossed*

     

     My first look from March is the drip marble I did for St. Patrick's day. I shared this look is both a glossy and matte version. While I like both looks the matte version won my heart and is my second most favorite look so far this year right behind the Ground Hog day floral. 

     Finishing up my quarterly favorites is the art deco look I shared last week. This was a blogger meet up manicure featuring the reverse stamping technique and my second geometric manicure this year. Did I mention I have a slight obsession with geometric manicures?

    This is the first manicure I can remember doing where I mixed two different techniques on one nail. The first being a smoosh manicure and the second a reverse stamped look. I really like the classy, elegant feel this accent nail has which is why it made it into my top 6 looks this year. mixing two techniques together is a great look and need to remember to do this more often. I know gradient and stamping are commonly mixed together but I have yet to do a manicure like that. Maybe I'll have one in my next quarterly favorites post? 

     I hope you enjoyed this look back at the first 3 months of blog posts.  I hope a few of you decide to join in on the Untired A-Z Challenge, full details can be found at the Facebook Event.  If you decided to recreate any of these looks please share them with me on my Facebook page or tag me on twitter. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing. 

      For my accent nail, I went with the advanced stamping technique using Hit the Bottle As Black as Night and a plate I ordered from Amazon called Flowers 01 by Meidus. Sadly this plate is currently out of stock with no date for when it will return.

     To fill in my flowers I used Maybelline Bold Gold and Milani Bijou Bronze. I just love this color combo! Sadly it was really humid in my house when I did this and it caused my top coat to bubble. I guess I learned my lesson about painting my nails when the dryer has been running all day. For clarification, my office now has to share space with my laundry room. We recently bought new machines, they are bigger than our previous set and no longer fit in the same space. Our solution was to flip the hookups to the other side of the wall and move them into my office. The result is no more swatch fests on laundry day. That's all I've got for you today, Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

      

     For this look, I opted to stamp directly onto my nails and then color in the flowers with a sheer yellow polish. (full details can be found in my Leadlight post) 

     Reverse Stamping- is a lot like leadlighting in the sense that you are stamping an image and filling in the open space. The big difference is that you are using opaque colors to fill in effectively covering up your base color. This technique can be done on a mat or a stamper and sealed with top coat. Once dry the image is peeled off, flipped over and placed on the nail. The easiest way for me to remember this is to think in terms of coloring in the opposite side of the image than what you will see in the finished manicure. I recently shared a reverse stamped look in my Queen of Hearts manicure. But my favorite reverse stamped look was a floral manicure I created for a Hobby Polish Bloggers link up.