Canada Day/First Day of the Somme

Getting ready for Canada Day with some Canadian nails. On the left hand "Eh?" which I do say quite a lot, and two maple leafs on the flanks. On the right hand our national animal, the beaver, on every nail. The one on the middle finger looks a bit angry, unintentionally, and the one on the index a bit quizzical. The pictures in the background are proposed flags for Canada before the adoption of the current.

And since Canada Day also falls on Newfoundland's Memorial Day, forget-me-nots atop part of a Union Jack on the thumbs to commemorate the first day in the battle of the Somme during the Great War. 

Canada Day 2012

With Germany very (VERY) sadly out of the Euros, I made a change to proper Canada Day/Memorial Day nails. Just a simple design. On the fingers, white Maple leaf outlines. On the thumbs, forget-me-nots (the flower of remembrance for Newfoundlanders before they joined Canada and adopted the poppy, or so I've heard).

Euro 2012 Knock-out Rounds/Canada Day

The finals of Euro 2012 fall on Canada Day this year, so these nails serve a double purpose. On the thumbs is a mini-Canada tribute with 1¢ on the left thumb and the maple leaves and 1¢ on the right thumb. This is also a tribute to the penny, which is being phased out. In a rare shout-out to the nailpolish used, I've included a pre-design image of the thumb using "Magnetic Force" polish. The variations in colour are achieved by hovering a magnet over the wet polish. I thought it was pretty cool and turned out really interesting. 

The fingernails are stars in the German colours and little football player silhouettes also done in the German colours. Nothing too complex, but hopefully it'll be lucky for the knockout rounds. So far so good, with Germany moving on to the semi-finals.

Canada Day/Memorial Day 2011

July 1st is Canada Day and for the past few years I've always done red and white nails with maple leafs - except last year because I had World Cup nails. It has also always been a bit difficult because I didn't have my nail polishes with little brushes and it's very difficult to work with either a normal sized polish brush or a toothpick. My first design with little brushes were actually maple leafs for the Olympics in 2010 but they turned out pretty badly. This year was my chance to go all out. On the right hand I have little RCMP officers in the red serge and two Canadian flags. On the left fingers I have the beginning notes for O Canada (the part that coincides with the singing of "O Canada".

July 1st is also the first day of the assault on the Somme in the Great War. For the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, this was one of their major contributions to the war and the Regiment was very nearly wiped out in that single action. For Newfoundlanders, July 1st is also Memorial Day. I payed a little homage to the RNR by including the bottom half of a soldier with blue puttees (Blue Puttees being the nickname for the first soldiers due to them having blue puttees...) on the left thumb.