I'm not generally someone who will tell anyone that they HAVE TO have something - especially that they have to buy something. In all of the years that I've had this blog, I've stuck to that and have really only wanted to encourage people to buy things that are right for their needs or just exciting to them. All of this to say... If you're into nail stamping and you don't own the Whats Up Nails A020 Floralize Your Texture Stamping Plate, you probably pretty much need to get it. It's just one of those plates that you can do so much with and it's a really great supplementary plate if you're looking to add interest and detail to other mani's. As I'm continuing with my focus on my most loved stamping images this month, I knew that this plate was one I was going to be reaching for - though I definitely used more than just one image on this one. 

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Our #CBBxManiMonday theme for March is Green, which is super exciting since I have a ton of green polishes that I've been meaning to feature here on the blog. For the first Monday of the month, I wanted to grab for Cardigan by Cuticula, which is this just absolutely stunning sage green crelly base packed with gold metallic flakes. I mean... LOOK AT IT. (Insert heart eyes here...) I feel kind of bad raving about it so much because it was a part of an indie collab last summer and isn't available anymore, but I have seen (and bought) more of this crelly + metallic flakes formula from Cuticula so there are definitely other options with this sort of vibe that they do. Anyway, I'm obsessed with this polish, so it will definitely pop up more here on the blog.

For this mani, I applied two coats of Cardigan to all of my nails and let them dry down completely before moving on to my stamping. I do wish that I had applied a glitter smoothing top coat because I did end up with a little bit of texture, but ultimately it's not too bad at all. 

One of my favorite ways to use this plate is to layer the sort of grungey dash of color sort of images with the botanical drawing sort of images and this particular mani is very, very similar in composition to the very first one I ever did using this plate. I started by choosing two of the long, grungey sort of images and applied them to the nail in a cool gold and a rich olive stamping polish, alternating the placement and direction so that each nail ended up being a little bit different. Next, I went in with the botanical drawing images and applied them in black, trying to stay towards the center of the nail. When choosing which images I was going to apply, I was mindful of their size so that they would fill but not overwhelm the size of my nail. 

Once I was happy with the stamping, I sealed everything in with a nail art top coat and then finished with a generous layer of quick dry glossy top coat for shine and volume. And voila!

Honestly, I did intend to create distinctly different manis with all of these favorite images of mine than ones I'd already done... but I just love this design so much and I would happily do the same one over and over and over again with different polish combinations. I also think this is a really, really solid place to start for a beginner in stamping, so I highly recommend checking out Whats Up Nails if you're looking to get into stamping - I consistently use their products and love them.

Be sure to head over to Cosmetic Proof and See The World In PINK today for more Green themed nail art designs for #CBBxManiMonday and follow me over on Instagram @pblnails for video tutorials for this and all of my nail art designs!

Thanks for reading!