Hello my lovelies! It's time for another installment of the Where In The World Challenge. I forgot to mention yesterday that I got a new light box from Ebay last week. My photos are better now and I do hope that you like them too. I chose the black background because it makes the nails pop. It also makes the blog look more professional. What do you think?
Today's stop on our little journey is Spain. Here's what I came up with.
Today's stop on our little journey is Spain. Here's what I came up with.
Even though Spain is a common holiday destination, I've never been there myself. However, a few people close to me have been there and brought me souvenirs. From these I chose my inspiration. And I'm talking specifically about some gold jewelry my aunt brought me from Toledo. These traditional pieces are made with a technique called Damascening or damasquinado in Spanish. Basically it consists of carving certain shapes in steel and filling them in with gold. Then the steel is oxidized and it becomes black. The result is something like this.
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| earrings and pendant made with the Damascening technique |
I don't think many people know that this technique is practiced in Toledo and they probably have never seen this type of jewelry. I wanted to do something original for this theme and I think I did. I used yesterday's OPI Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow manicure as a base for this nail art. It was so fortunate that I had this polish from OPI's Spain collection and it perfectly fit the theme. I stamped with Golden Rose Nail Art 108 on top and there it was. A very simple damascening manicure!
Since I didn't have a bird image, I chose the flower image from plate M73 from Born Pretty. I think this design is pretty similar to the flowers and stems around the bird. Because of the thin stems, this image doesn't stamp perfectly, but I guess the flaws aren't too visible. I just love how elegant this manicure looks. It also goes great with the baroque fashion trend from this season.
I hope you liked my Spain manicure and please go see what the other participants in this challenge have come up with!
Thank you for reading!
Very pretty)) and i i like the black background better!
ReplyDeleteSo pretty!! I had no idea it was practiced in Spain. I somehow always thought it was a north african thing.
ReplyDeleteBut it's super gorgeous and so is your mani!
I love this mani!! And your pics do look great! I need to invest in a light box.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely gorgeous, I love your inspiration for these nails! They look awesome =)
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, these look amazing!!!! Beautiful, beautiful design, immaculate stamping and to die for jewelry!!! Me wants it!!! :)))
ReplyDeleteReally stunning... so classy!
ReplyDeleteIt's so elegant and I like the crispness of your photos!
ReplyDeletePerfect stamping!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm so glad. I love the background so much.
ReplyDeleteI've read on Wikipedia that it's also popular in Japan but was actually practiced as early as ancient Greece. Not sure where it originates though.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!
Thank you Marisa! I actually used a diy one for almost a year before I decided to get this one. It was about 15$ or so and it makes a great difference.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I try my best to come up with something original every time.
ReplyDeleteI was sure that you were gonna like them. They are not that popular unfortunately and they really should be. This sort of subtle jewelry is what I like most.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mandy!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I'm glad you like them!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is so gorgeous
ReplyDelete