World Autism Awareness Day, Monday, April 2, 2012-...

I know a super special little boy that also just happens to have autism, and I hate that people think that he's stupid or something.  He is HIGHLY intelligent, he just communicates differently than we do.  I will be doing this, will you?

Ashley is PolishAddicted: World Autism Awareness Day, Monday, April 2, 2012-...: This coming Monday, April 2nd, is World Autism Awareness Day. This is a special cause for me because I know a VERY special little boy who happens to have autism. Those of us in the polish community have pulled together before for other causes and I fully believe we can do it again. 

On Monday make sure to paint your nails blue! It's as simple as that. Is it going to change anything? Maybe not. But it might just help raise awareness, even if it only opens one person's eyes, it's worth it.  Someone else suggested adding in puzzle pieces with the blue. I think this is a wonderful idea! I will attempt it, even though we all know how I fail at nail art. I want to see YOUR blue manis! If you paint your nails blue on Monday, with or without the puzzle pieces, I want you to upload a picture to my Facebook page. I will share it on Facebook, make sure to link your blog if you have one! 

From Autism Speaks: "Autism statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify around 1 in 88 American children as on the autism spectrum–a ten-fold increase in prevalence in 40 years. Careful research shows that this increase is only partly explained by improved diagnosis and awareness. Studies also show that autism is three to four times more common among boys than girls. An estimated 1 out of 54 boys and 1 in 252 girls are diagnosed with autism in the United States." 

My First Water Marble!

I know that it isn't perfect, but for a first time...  I am so proud of myself!  I must thank Collete from My Simple Little Pleasures for all of her wonderful tutorials.  I must say that she the queen of water marbling, IMHO at least.  You can check them out on her You Tube page.  

When I was working on this manicure I noticed a few things.  First, borh work well in the water, Shine especially, but Goth dries more quickly and can leave bald spots when you draw your design. So, I would recommend possibly finding a different black, or letting Shine be your primary color, like Collette did here. If you really want to use these colors as I did, go for it! Just know that you'll have bald spots in your design where you draw your petals and you might struggle to get your flower drawn in time depending on how quickly you work. On my first hand, my left one, I used Shine as my base (like Collette) and you can see the "holes" in my design. In some of the nails I sort of liked the effect, but not all. So on my right hand I used Goth as my base color and LOVED the effect. The colors were bolder and NO bald spots :D  It really just depends on the look you want.

So overall:  a fun and educational mani!

Some Old NOTDs - Beware Pic HEAVY

I thought I would do a quick post with some of my previous manicures.  Not that any of them are very advanced, but would you like to see any of these made into tutorials or some tips on them?

My first attempt at nail art lol  Essie Sexy Divide and Essie Blanc

This was done with China Glaze Ruby Pumps and Essie Blanc.

China Glaze Stone Cold with Essie Play Date and Turquoise & Caicos

Essie Play Date, Bachelorette Bash,
Fruit Sangria, Blanc, and Orly Blue Collar.
Inspired by Creativenailart

China Glaze Fast Track stamped with
Orly Rose Radience and Konad plate m63
(one of my fave manis EVER)

Orly Goth and Forever Crimson

Tip to cuticle:  China Glaze Spontaneous, Orly Dazzle, Butter London Marrow

Sponged glitter gradient done with OPI Vampsterdam and Essie Carnival

OPI Extravagance stamped with Orly Luxe and Konad plate m36

Orly Steel Your Heart and Essie Tour de Finance
stamped with Orly Dazzle and Konad plate m3

Essie Eternal Optimist
stamped with China Glaze Unplugged and Konad plated m16

China Glaze Strawberry Fields
stamped with Orly Glitz and Konad plate m59

OPI DS Reserve (one of my fave colors)
stamped with Konad White Special Polish and Konad plate m71

OPI DS Reserve stamped with Orly Luxe and Konad plate m18

Pre-clean-up:  Essie Raise Awareness
stamped with Orly Steel Your Heart and Konad plate m63

Zoya Dannii with Butter London Henley Regatta
layered on the accent nail

What do you think?!

Howdy!

Howdy and welcome!!!

I am so excited about this endeavor.  Some of my friends have been encouraging me to start a nail blog, but I didn't think that I my "art" is good enough.  But what the heck, I'll share and if no one likes it than so be it :)  Please leave me comments and feedback about anything that you like or don't like, want to see or don't want to see, and I'll do my best.