Hello, I'm Vanessa

I'm so glad you're here. I was born and raised in San Diego. My family just relocated to the Pacific North West in Vancouver, Washington...I'm a San Diego girl now gone PNW! I'm a mom of two wild and funny boys, a Special Education teacher of 10+ years, and the hand behind every Meadowlark & Poppy set.

From classroom to studio

For more than a decade, I taught Special Education. Every day, my job was to make hard things accessible for anyone — to design a lesson that meets a student where they are, break a complex skill into doable steps, and design for everyone, not just the average learner.

That instinct didn't go away when I started Meadowlark & Poppy in October 2024, in fact, it just changed shape. Designing a press-on set is its own kind of learning experience: intentional, accessible, and made for someone's real life. The same kind of learning experience I would design for my student I now get to bring to my customer's and their press-on nail experience.

Where the name comes from

My husband and I got married during COVID, and I wanted to start a space online for my artistic work — something that felt like us. The meadowlark is the state bird of Kansas (where he's from); the poppy is California's state flower (where I'm from). The brand has grown beyond that first website, but the name still means the same thing and represents a little bit of who we are and where we came from.

Made for the in-between

Meadowlark & Poppy exists to inspire creativity and beauty in simple, everyday moments. I make press-ons for busy women — moms, teachers, professionals, anyone whose calendar doesn't have room for two-hour salon appointments — who still want their hands to feel intentional and like them.

Every set is hand-painted in my home studio, in batches where I prepare, make, and package each one. No factories, no plastic mass-production, no shortcuts. Just careful work, made for the woman who gets to wear it.

The bigger life

Making luxury press-ons is my business, but it sits within a bigger life that is shaped by art, creativity, learning, trials, struggles, motherhood, family, and authentic faith. My family just started our own homeschooling journey, and I'm excited to keep instilling that love of learning, this time, with my own kids!

My Filipino heritage is also part of who I am and how I show up here, sometimes explicitly (like at AAPI markets), sometimes it's in the way my sets are inspired (e.g., Filipino flowers, birds, or the flag). The brand isn't AAPI-exclusive, but it's made by a Filipino-American, and that matters to me and it's for anyone who wants cute nails!

What you'll find here

More than cute nails — a deeper story to connect with, too. Stay a while. Shop a set. Send me a note. I'm so glad you're here.

[ Shop all nails → ]

[ See past work for custom inspiration → ]

All About Meadowlark & Poppy