Waaaah! I was going to enter into Sara Mari's Spring Nail Art contest, but the submission date is already up!
Last day to enter was May 1st! Of course, I didn't have power the weekend I planned on submitting them, and I did not think to bring the nails to Kentucky with me. UGH. Oh well, I still plan on sending her a picture of the nails anyway. I still want a bit of recognition for my work, lol.
Here are the nails I made for the contest:
I decided to go with Mothers Day, since most other people went with floral. I actually had two other sets designed, but I ended up liking this set the best.
My first set, very bright and flowery.
My second set, which is Easter themed. Both sets are very much not finished. They are not done being painted or filed. I had also planned on adding a 3D Rilakkuma to both sets.
I made this simple nail template to draw out my designs.
My mother got really excited when I told her about the nail art contest and she gave me some of my Easter gifts early!
She gave me a set of striping polishes, a nail art pen, and a pack of confetti and stuff. I loved everything except the art pen. The nail art pen is for some reason water based, it was watery and didn't look like polish - just that my nails were kinda grey-ish. I was very disappointed and suprised with Cina.
Ah well, at least I got back into nail art, if nothing else!
Yay, I re-designed my blog. Much simpler, and you can't go wrong with Rilakkuma!
I had been waiting to get photoshop to make a new one, but its taking forever! So I just used Paint, lol! I just edited a wallpaper I found, and I made my banner in about 5 minutes! I'm really happy with the new design, so cute~
I'm still new to blogspot, though. Does anyone know how to get rid of these frames/shadows around the pictures? --><-- I really don't like the way they look!
Speaking of new designs, hardcandy house's new website is done! YAY!
Our friend Mia of Matroshka Doll Design created it for us. Its so lovely, and tasty!
I have also commissioned Mia to create another layout for my blog. However, we are both very busy girls and its not really a priority for me, so who knows when it will get done? Besides, I want this new design to stick around for a while.
Speaking of new and updates, I just want any readers to be aware that I am a habitual back logger I always have a lot of things I want to post, but have been waiting to get photoshop to edit pics. I prefer my posts to be in consecutive order, thus I back log. On the other hand, I have a lot of side projects and a job so I don't get to update much at the moment. I will try to start posting more in the future, photoshop or no.
Just keep this in mind, and occasionally check in on me. Hopefully I will have something new for you soon~
I'm sure you have all heard by now of the destruction caused by the tornadoes in Alabama on April 27.
I woke up around 6am because the wind and rain were blowing so hard my windows were shaking. It was really dim, and when I looked out my dining room window the trees were getting tossed around so much that I felt nauseous. It was similar to feeling sea sick. But the alarms were not going off at this point, so I said a little prayer and went back to sleep.
Sirens did start going off though, and for most of the day. Heavy rain would come and go. We didn't take it too seriously at first, an occasional tornado is no big deal this time of year. But our power flickered out around noon, and when I looked outside I saw a big limb had fallen down across our driveway and one of our cars (which only got a few scratches). At that point I made everyone get into the bathroom (since it is centrally located in the house, and there are no windows).
Footage of a tornado in Tuscaloosa.
It was hot, boring, and nerve-wracking. It was a lot of waiting, and I spent most of the day pacing and feeling sick. I felt better towards the end of the day because the sirens weren't sounding, until I found out through my sisters cell phone radio that the sirens had stopped working.
The next day we started discussing leaving town since all the power was out in Huntsville, and it was estimated to take at least 4 days to get it back. Water was also slightly limited. Not to mention I live with my mother, nephew who isn't even two yet, and my two younger sisters - and we were all on our periods. If we had stayed we probably would have killed each other. We decided to go to Kentucky to stay with our closest relatives. We got my older sister and her husband to watch our dog, and a neighbor with a generator to feed our 4 cats.
We had to drive all the way to Fayetteville to get gas. We only had an eighth of a tank and I was so worried we would run out of gas before we got to a working gas station. The traffic was absolutely horrible. On the way there we passed through Ardmore, which lies right on the state line of Tennessee and Alabama. It was so weird - the Tennessee side of the street had power, and the Alabama side didn't. But we made it to a gas station where the line wasn't too bad and they were limiting 10 gallons per customer.
I got a chance to see the damage as we were driving. I mostly saw limbs and some trees down. Some had even fallen on houses, but they didn't look too bad. There wasn't too much damage until we got to Anderson Hill, a nice gated neighborhood, on our way out of Huntsville. Police had blocked off entry to the neighborhood, but that didn't stop people from sightseeing. Some of the houses had gotten really torn up, and were missing roofs - while others were fine. Across the street the Piggly Wiggly was completely gone, and the ATMs at Redstone were nothing but a twisted metal framework. A couple of insurance agencies had set up tents, and a red cross truck was giving out free food. Poor Anderson Hill, this is the second time its been wrecked by a tornado - although the first time was years ago.
While that was the worse damage that I personally saw, there are entire towns in Alabama that have been completely destroyed. NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, estimated there were 173 tornadoes Wednesday. It was described on the radio that tornadoes were birthing smaller tornadoes. Many of the tornadoes continued to follow the same paths over and over again through the course of the day, which is why some of these areas were so completely destroyed.
On our way to Kentucky we saw a troop of large utility vans headed towards Alabama, and its was really heartening. We also passed by a gas station where people had been waiting so long they had stepped out of their cars. A gas truck pulled up as we passed, and everyone in the line started clapping and cheering! Its really heartwarming to see all this help that Alabama is receiving.
President Obama visited Alabama after the disaster.
I am very thankful that my family is safe, and that I don't know anyone personally who was killed. But I still will keep all those lost and families in need in my heart and in my thoughts.
I actually got to celebrate Easter twice! First with my boyfriend and friends, and then again with my family.
Remember my sneak peek?
Well this is everything me and Rin bought for Easter:
BAM!
We probably bought too much, but Rin and I get excited about celebratory things. Everyone got a mini Easter bunny, a Cadberry Egg, a moustache, and other little goodies and candies.
Spent a day out on the town with Rin and our friend Gordon Roqué. We first met Gordon at a local convention we help out at. He is a really talented pianist!
I've been trying to wear my hair really straight lately. I've been using Paul Mitchell's Super Skinny line, and I've had excellent results! When I normally straighten my hair my ends look really dry and damaged, but that doesn't happen with PM. It also gets my hair straighter than normal.
We went out to eat at West End Grill. It was really dead there, and there was only one emplyee and the cook. At first we thought the waiter was rude, but its turns out he was just incredible bored. He showed us some really cool videos on his phone.
This guy is so talented! And his videos are really well done!
This was my first late night attempt at a more intense make up style.
Wearing top and bottom lashes by The Darkness bought from Super H Mart in Atlanta. This was my first time using full band bottom lashes, and I found them very uncomfortable and difficult to put on. They either wanted to stick straight out or lay flat against my face. I did get them to finally angle themselves somewhere between, but if I looked down they would stab my cheeks. Very uncomfortable.
Of course, I didn't have power the weekend I planned on submitting them, and I did not think to bring the nails to Kentucky with me. UGH.
Oh well, I still plan on sending her a picture of the nails anyway. I still want a bit of recognition for my work, lol.
<-- I really don't like the way they look!
I felt better towards the end of the day because the sirens weren't sounding, until I found out through my sisters cell phone radio that 
First with my boyfriend and friends, and then again with my family.
