Sakura Cherry Blossoms Nails

I made these last spring for a hanami picnic outing. For those of you who don't know, hanami is the japanese traditional custom of going out to appreciate blooming flowers. Most viewings take place in spring, when the sakura (cherry blossoms) are pretty much EVERYWHERE.

Here in London we don't have as many, but Regents Park is a nice location for a bit of picnicin' and flower viewin'... Naturally, we spent so much time making the food that by the time we got to the park, the weather had turned a bit... gloomy. Welcome to London, baby.

My flatmate gave me this for the occasion (ok, this is the wiki picture, but mine was blurry and crap).
Sakuramochi is a type of Japanese confectionery composed of sweet rice paste stuffed with red bean paste, wrapped in an edible sakura leaf. Believe it or not, it tastes amazing.

Anyway, on with the nail art!

I think the thumb, which I did last, turned out nicer than the rest; I should have made the branches thinner on the other nails. 

I used:

- Purple background: Pro.Beauty #54
- Pink background: Top Beauty #25
- Gold background: Pro.Beauty #60
- Black branches: Rimmel London 800 Black Out
- Cherry blossoms: Natural Collection #11

Nail art tip #3: When it comes to nail art, it doesn't matter how cheap or low-quality a polish is. In fact, the cheaper the better, so you can buy more, experiment freely and pour as much as you like on a palette. As long as you finish with a solid clear top coat (I find Sally Hansen does the trick quite nicely), anything goes.