Tribute to Erin

Today I am posting the first nail art I have done in a while. Two months ago today, my dear sister-in-law Erin passed away suddenly. She leaves behind her new son, born just four days before she died, her 2 year old daughter, and my brother. Things have been really rough and we are all having a hard time adjusting to this loss. Last night I decided to make this simple design to honor her memory.

I painted my nails with Sinful Colors Gogo Girl. The bottle I used belonged to Erin. She was not big into painting her nails, and when I was with my brother right after she died, he gave me her one bottle of nail polish. (I would give all of my polish to have her back...) It was a really nice gesture and I wanted to do something with it to remember her. 

I painted a Gerbera Daisy on my ring finger. This was Erin's favorite flower. I actually did two versions of this flower. The first one was like 7 layers of paint and getting crazy big, so I took it off. Then I looked up techniques for painting a Gerbera Daisy and I was able to do this version. I do like how it turned out. And I learned that it is actually Gerbera not Gerber! (Gerber is the last name of the botanist who found this daisy, but the Latin scientific name is Gerbera.)

Here is a closeup of the artwork. Instead of 7 messy layers, there are about 3 layers of petals painted with acrylic paints. I topped it with my favorite: Seche Vite. 

This is my brother, Erin, and her little girl from a trip I took to visit them in 2011. There aren't many pictures of Erin with her son. But we do have a few and they are precious. I miss you so much Erin!