2014 is getting off to a great start, and I have some exciting news to share!

Remember a few months ago, I was invited to participate in a prom nail-art competition?

In August 2013, Langton Communications reached out to me. (They’re an incredible PR firm with talented and hard-working women who I respect and admire. I’m fortunate to have been able to collaborate with them for a few years!)

They asked me and a few other lovely Canadian bloggers if we’d be interested in creating a prom-inspired manicure for Prom Canada using 3 Nicole by OPI shades. (We got to choose from a list containing a few colours.)

For my design, I chose to use Nicole by OPI Candy Is Dandy, Please Red-Cycle, and Dream Maker.

Then, I played around by stamping some hearts on my index and baby fingers and freehanded a prom-couple’s outfit – dress with a necklace and a tuxedo plus bow tie. I showed you the finished manicure (complete with the step-by-step tutorial) in this post.

The contest was held on Prom Canada’s Facebook page in September, and for each “Like” a contestant’s nail-art photo got, it was counted as a vote. (A huge thank you to everyone who voted or even looked at my manicure!)

In addition to challenging myself to think outside the box for this creative opportunity, I was absolutely ecstatic to learn that, even though I was a runner-up, Prom Canada wanted to publish my manicure in the premier issue (Spring/Summer 2014) of their print magazine! (They also shared my manicure on PromCanada.com, which I showed you in this post.)

I haven’t seen the Prom Canada Spring/Summer issue on the newsstand near me yet, but it should be available soon and will be out until July 2014, according to the cover. I need to go buy 2 issues! Of course I want a copy, but I also want to give my mom one.

PR was kind enough to provide me with scanned photos of the magazine feature, so I can share the article with you!

Without further ado, let’s get onto the photos already! 😉

Here’s what the Prom Canada Spring/Summer 2014 premier issue looks like. (I’ll be stalking my local newsstand for it!)

If you flip to page 29, you’ll find my manicure – it’s the one with the pearls. 🙂

Since that was much too small to see any details, I cropped it, so you can read all the awesome comments and see each design better.

Here are the runners-up! (I love how Prom Canada put us in the “More Winners!” section. That’s a better way to word it, and really, we are all winners because even participating in the nail-art challenge is significant! 🙂

Here’s a close-up of my section. (There are more photos of my manicure in this post.)

And here’s the first-place winner of the nail-art contest!

As usual, whenever something great happens for Swatch And Learn, I always have to thank you, my amazing readers!

Without your continual support, kind words, comments, and e-mails, etc., my blogging experience wouldn’t be as rewarding, as enjoyable, or as much a part of my life as it currently is.

Whenever I feel insecure or consider giving up because it’s hard, it was the support from my readers that motivated me to continue blogging from the heart and to tackle new challenges on a daily basis, even in my personal life.

Thinking about all the goals I’ve set (and continue to work toward), I feel very proud of myself, but I’m also proud of you all! It takes a certain kind of person to take the time out of your busy schedule to offer an encouraging word to a blogger who you’ve never seen in person! To me, that is absolutely amazing!

Thank you, readers, for helping me to develop and constantly learn new things! Hehe, we are all ‘swatching and learning’! 😉