September Stamping Challenge: Day 1 - National Symbols

So, I am taking part in the lovely Miss Tina's stamping challenge this September (Tina's September Challenge), as often as I can (sadly not daily). I don't have huge variety in my plates yet, and I pretty much live in flower and butterfly manicures, so can't stick to this fabulous guide Tina has come up with. So, I'll try and do some from Tina's list, and some of my own as time and my imagination allow.

So, today's manicure is a floral one, but the theme is one of Nationality (not mine, might I add) - in fact, it's Malaysian in origin. So, how did an Irish girl living in Scotland dream this one up?

Well, on Sunday night, I watched the Edinburgh End of Festival Fireworks and concert. The finale was played out to Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture (the Scottish Chamber Orchestra did an amazing job, as the the pyrotechnics team). I have listened to this piece of music countless times over the years, but never before had the hints of La Marseillaise, France's national anthem, stood out so well before, as the fireworks reflected the colour and formation of the French flag. So, while watching these fireworks with my friends from China, Malaysia, Indian and England, National Colours and symbols came to mind. When it came up that the national flower of Malaysia was the hibiscus, and the flag was mostly red and white (with some blue and gold too), my mind was made up!

Hibiscus Flower

Malaysian Flag

So, here's the list of ingredients that went in to my manicure (left to right):
-OPI Matte Nail Envy base coat
-Nails Inc Greenwich Market polish
-Konad White stamping polish
-HK Girl top coat
-Stamper and scraper kit from China (marshmallow)
-Moyou Pro XL 13 (top row, 4th image from left)

(I should say that, unless stated otherwise, all my manis on this blog use Nail Envy as a base, HK Girl as my topper, and this marshmallow stamper and plastic scraper as my tools).

So, here is the finished article. Sadly there wasn't great sunlight to catch the full beauty of it, and I'm still learning about placement, but I for one think it's pretty, as do my OH and several strangers so far!

Thanks for taking a look! Feel free to leave a comment so that I see your blog too :)