Cute Blog Award!!!

 I got tagged for a Cute Blog Award! I've never gotten a blog award before! Thanks Crystal! :D  Everybody go check out her blog Nail Noise.

For this award you:

1. Link back to the person who awarded you.

2. Answer the award questions.

3. Tell something about yourself that you haven't told anyone on your blog yet.

4. Award as many blogs as you think are worthy of this award.

5. Make sure to let those you gave this award to know that you awarded them.

The Award Questions:

1. What is your go to makeup product?

- Black eyeliner and mascara. If I'm going to do an errand and just threw on a t-shirt and some sweatpants I'll still have my black eyeliner and mascara on. 

2. What was your favorite fashion trend of 2011?

- Well if I knew what any of them were then I might be able to pick one... :P Nail polish I guess, I know it got big last year and that's when I started my obsession. I own quite a few of those big flowers for your hair also.

3. What is your favorite dessert?

- Crème brûlée! Double points if there are strawberries. I also like that not a lot of restaurants carry it, that just makes it all the better when they do!

4. Favourite color?

- Blue. This color blue to be exact. (Yes I just used a car to swatch my favorite color.)

5. What is your middle name?

- Ann

6. What was the last song that you listened to? You Me At Six - This is the First Thing

7. Cats or dogs?

- Both.

Something about myself that you don't know:

Hmmm... well... I read the whole Hunger Games series over the span of about four days (Christmas weekend to be exact) and since then I've watched the movie trailer at least six times. I'm a little obsessed. I cannot wait for the movie to come out in March!

I think I'm so late to this that everyone has gotten this award already, so sorry if I'm tagging you again.

I tag:

NailZilla
nailtopia
Drop Dead Cute
DRINKCITRA

The Chain Nail

The Diary of a Dreamer 

Cute-tickle Nails 

Lilacs and Butterflies
dandeliondog
Mie's Illustrated Life!

Black & Periwinkle Half Moon Mani

Below is China Glaze Secret Peri-Wink-Le. I really like how the color looks with my skin. It's pretty much opaque in one coat but this is two coats.

And here is what I tried when I got bored of just one color - it's called a half moon mani. It was a lot easier and turned out better than I expected. All you have to do is use one binder reinforcement on each nail (I also cut a slit in each of them so they would move around easier and therefore stick to the nail better) and then paint on top of the base color. Make sure the base color is completely dry first or the sticker might mess it up. The black is Wet n Wild Black Creme (one coat).

Once again I used two coats of Sally Hansen diamond strength nail hardener as a base coat, two coats Secret Peri-Wink-Le, one coat Black Creme, and one coat Seche Vite Fast Dry Topcoat.

High School Throwback 1

I've been really wanting to sketch lately but have not been able to find the time. So instead of a new art post, here is a throwback to a couple sketches from my first real sketchbook in high school. Enjoy.

  

There is an unfortunate streaking incident happening in the second one. It's the scanner's fault, but I'm not sure if it's just very dirty or if there's something wrong with it.

Internet Censorship Protest Black Out

Hello everyone! This is going to be a different kind of post for me.

Today as you may know or have noticed, the internet is on strike. While I don't have the time to figure out and change my blog to be blacked out, I do have the ability to link you to some important information about PIPA (Protect IP Act) and SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) which I absolutely oppose.

Here are pages about the strike:
http://sopastrike.com/strike/
http://americancensorship.org/

Here are some places you can learn more about SOPA and PIPA:
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/sopa-pipa/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more

Here is a list of companies that also oppose SOPA and PIPA (though there are many that aren't listed on it as well):
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/community/

And here you can sign the petition against these acts (along with learn other ways to help the cause against internet censorship):
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
 

Chocolately Pretzel Bites

My mom found a recipe online for these really simple chocolate pretzel treats and since she's thinking about taking them for a dish to pass at one or both of our family Christmas gatherings we decided to experiment with them to make sure they were actually as easy and good as they sounded.

Ingredients:
A bag of your favorite Pretzels (they sell Christmas tree shaped ones)
Hershey's Kisses (we used chocolate stars)
M&M's (we tried chocolate covered raisins too but the M&M's tasted better)

We threw 10 pretzels in a circle on a paper plate covered in wax paper and topped each with a chocolate star. After that you stick them in the microwave (we experimented for awhile before we found the right amount of time for our microwave) the recipe said 30 seconds we ended up doing 77 seconds. Pull them out of the microwave and shove an M&M into the melty chocolate star.

 

We ended up needing to put them in the fridge for a while to get the chocolate to harden up again (not that all of them made it that far ;P). They were indeed easy and tasty.
The cooks:

Candy Cane Nails

I finally gave in a did something Christmasy to my nails. I've been seeing pictures all over the internet of people's candy cane nails, below are mine. This was the first attempt and I have volleyball in like 30 mins so it was a little rushed. I'm typing ridiculously right now even though the Seche Vite is no longer finger-printable. Still, it turned out better than I thought it would.

It looks a lot more cute in person-when it's not so close up lol. You can really see China Glaze Ruby Pumps in this last one. The white is Rimmel French White Tip Pro, and as always, 2 coats Sally Hansen diamond strength nail hardener as a base and Seche Vite Fast Dry Topcoat.

Dilated Sketch

I've found out that I'm a lot more creative when I have some sort of sci-fi/fantasy movie or show playing in the background. Last night I felt like drawing so I threw in Star Trek (2009) and here we have what resulted. Some of my favorite of my own drawings are the ones that have a supreme realism with just a little tweak to throw it off, like the one below. Enjoy.