I just finished nail tech school in February and I love to try new things. I went to my mother-in-law’s house and hunted these peacock feathers down. It took me a while to find enough to do all 10 fingers because I wanted to use the small neck feathers. Peacocks don’t molt those like they do the big beautiful tail feathers. However the neck feathers really are just as beautiful with their emerald greens and bluest of blues. I embedded them in gel.
Jenny Meek
Classy Nails by Jenny
Fletcher, Okla.

I live in a small town in Pennsylvania. In the summer, there isn’t a country road that doesn’t have a farmer making hay. I thought it would be an interesting challenge to embed hay into acrylic.
Kimberly Harr
Everett, Pa.

The seaside nails were inspired by summer holidays on the beach. I used NSI sea foam green colored acrylic and embedded it with green crushed shells and soft gold foil. I finished the design with a few white hand-painted waves and sealed it with UV top coat.
Louise Callaway
Noble Nails
Guyhirn, Cambridgeshire, England

The M&Ms are the actual wrapper from the candy. They were a design that my client needed for a matching outfit for a hair show — her hair had those colors in it. And the feather is a real feather that I brought from Michaels. I wanted to try something different and play with different mediums.
Topaz Woodruff
The Nail Cabaret, Charlotte, N.C.

I made an embedded tip this evening of a bird scene. The background is silver glitter with hand-painted branches. The leaves are made from scrapbook paper. The embedded feather is hand-painted with a small bird. The nest is made from coiled wire and the egg is a freshwater pearl that has been speckled. Everything but about half of the pearl is embedded.
Dawn Reagan
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

For the first nail, I picked and dried real flowers and leaves and embedded them in the nails. For the second set, I put rock candy in the nails. I started with a sparse layer of candy and gel-cured it. I repeated that until the nails were completely covered with candy. I filed and shaped all of the nails and then sealed them. It gave the nails a river rock/stone effect.
Lisa Lang
Hey! Nice Nails!, Oakville, Ontario, Canada

My niece Kyra came over and wanted me to do something extra special for my nephew Zaivien’s third birthday. She suggested a very small picture. I thought that was a fabulous idea so she brought over one of those tiny pictures that are always included with picture packages — usually you never know what to do with those small pictures but now I do! I filled over the picture with clear acrylic and topped it off with some sparkly rhinestones! Kyra was thrilled and when Zaivien looked at it he said, “Hey, that’s me!”
Dianna Medeiros
The Make-Up Bar, Cherry Hill, N.J

I had a wonderful bag of beads full of possibilities. I am also a polymer clay artist and the beads were meant for a winter scene. When I received nail tech Sam Lynam’s Arabella forms I was anxious to give them a whirl. This is what I came up with. I thank Sam for her constant inspiration and ingenuity.
Allison Stout
At First Blush, Kingston, N.Y

I came across the feathers in our local craft store and thought they looked cool. I’m lucky enough to have clients who are really adventurous and they usually give me free hands to try anything I like on them! The feathers are real and embedded in gel.    
Josephine Ryde
Hudterapin, Ekenäs, Finland