This is no joke. I have zero nail painting skills. (top photo taken in December. Bottom photo taken last week)

If you’re anything like me, you rarely (if ever) wear nail polish on your finger nails. The problem is, if I ever do a semi-decent job of painting my nails, I chip, smudge or jack up my nails within minutes. But, honestly, I am probably the WORST PERSON in the world at painting my nails. It’s not a skill I possess.

Enter, Jamberry Nail Shields.

They are basically the highest, salon-quality products available (yes, some nail techs are now using them). There are no harsh chemicals that can damage your nails. They don’t chip and fade like regular nail polish either.

My dear friend, Holly McCaig, first introduced me to Jamberry Nail Shields last month. I figured I would support my friend in her new business venture, so I ordered a few sets of shields.

And then I was hooked. Within a few days, I offered to host an online party with Holly. A week later, I signed up to be a Jamberry Nails Independent Consultant!

I know, crazy.

But I love these dang things. I love that I can get a salon-quality look at a fraction of the price. The shields are a solid film covering that can be applied directly to the nail to achieve a look not found anywhere else. This special material is both pressure and heat activated to create a water tight bond to your nail. The shields are made in the USA, with no harsh chemicals. Plus, they’re latex free!

With more than 150 styles available, these designer nail shields are made to last up to two weeks on fingers and six weeks on toes. Unlike traditional nail polish, they won’t chip and require no drying time!

What am I getting at? Do me a solid, and consider ordering a set (or more – they are buy 3 get 1 free right now!) from my online launch party – go to amykant.jamberrynails.net and select “Amy’s launch party” at checkout… or schedule an online or in-home party today! I have a special going on right now for my first hostess:

Visit http://amykant.jamberrynails.net for more information. You can also find me on Facebook: Facebook.com/kantjam. If you’d like me to send you a sample, please send me an email (amy-at-amykant.com) and I’ll mail out a sample ASAP!

I will be a vendor at Artbeat in the Heat Saturday in Bay View at the Historic Hide House, located at 2625 S. Greeley St.

The event starts at noon and runs until 10 p.m. There will be live performances all day plus artist vendors like myself selling all sorts of amazing stuff.

Here’s a little sample of what I’ll be offering:

Artbeat also did an artist profile on me. You can see it on their Facebook page. Here’s an excerpt:

#1 Please give us a brief bio, where you are from and how you started in this field?

I am a crafty, nerdy artist living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By day, I am a web producer and social media manager. By night, I am a freelance designer, artist and writer.
I have always been a creative person. I often made gifts for family and friends. Then they started paying me to make things for them, and after much prodding I began selling my art at fairs and online in 2008.

#2 When did you first discover your creative talents?

My parents raised us in a home that fostered creativity. Some of my earliest memories are of working on craft projects with my siblings. We did everything from finger painting to ironing grated crayons between wax paper. My mom is still amazed by the things I create, and sometimes she feels like her work pales in comparison to mine. I have to remind her that it’s because of her I’m the creative person I am today. So in a way, all of my work is inspired by her.

The Ava Wallet Accordion 2012 Calendar is a set of four layered .psd files that offers you 100% creative control in creating a one-of-a-kind calendar for your clients. Every element is in its own layer, sorted into groups by panel for complete customization to suit your needs. This item is designed for printing at WHCC. Great add-on for Seniors, Families and Children photographers. Easily adjust the calendar months to suit your needs.

Fonts used are Script MT Bold and Prestige Elite Std. and are not included due to copyright laws.

Photos courtesy Carrie Ann Photography.

Head on over to Pink Ink Studios to purchase this template today! Don’t miss out on the introductory price of $25 – a $10 savings!

This weekend only – Amy Kant Designs is offering a FREE exclusive download with the purchase of The Ava Wallet Accordion 2012 Calendar of the Plum Ava Color Story (seen in the preview above). You will receive the special download link directly from the designer within 48 hours of purchase. Offer good on purchases completed before 8 a.m. CDT 6/27/11. No refunds or exchanges. No exceptions.

Last Wednesday, my TV news web producing colleagues and I noticed a Facebook bug. When we realized it wasn’t just our news station’s account, we reached out to our comrades across the country, in addition to our own social networks. We quickly learned we were not alone.

The problem?

Whenever we would post a link, photo or status on a Facebook page we were an administrator for, we started getting email notifications, in addition to notifications within Facebook’s toolbar.

As an administrator for more than two dozen Facebook pages, including one with more than 75,000 fans, this created a major annoyance. Post a link about a breaking news situation? Get ready for dozens, if not hundreds of emails and notifications.

It didn’t matter that I had turned off notifications for the account. A colleague reached out on a Facebook developer forum and was told, “There is a bug that essentially thinks you’re still you when you’re commenting on a Page you admin.”

So, basically, even if you chose the setting “Always comment/post on abcd page as abcd,” Facebook thought you were posting as yourself. Hence, a bazillion notifications.

Since I haven’t been able to find any solutions in my online searching, I decided to try to find a workaround myself. Friday afternoon, I found my answer.

While logged in as yourself, before posting on your page, click the account button on the upper right and select “use Facebook as page” and select your fan page. Make your post, then switch back to posting as yourself and you won’t get those pesky notifications.

I was so excited when my friend Rachel asked me to design her wedding invitations. Rachel and her fiancée, Tony, wanted something modern using a blue and orange color palate.

After our initial round of mock-ups, here’s what we went with. I just love how pretty and yet simple these are!

Congrats, Rachel and Tony! I hope your day is as special as you two are!

(click on the image to enlarge)

I am now a contributing writer for my friend Holly McCaig’s new senior portrait artist inspiration website, Inside The Locker. Most of my articles will be social media, website and geek-related. If you have a special request for a post, let me know! Here’s a little sneak at my first post, about using Facebook to market your photography business to high school seniors:

‘Liking’ products, brands, personalities and businesses on Facebook has become just another normal part of daily life for your clients.  A Pew Internet study shows 82 percent of teens age 14-17 report using  social networking sites. If you’re not in the game, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.

This is the era of texting, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube and Facebook and countless other social media platforms. But how can you best  utilize social media marketing in your senior portrait photography business?

I’m also sponsoring the Inside The Locker launch giveaway (which starts tomorrow). Head on over to find out what goodies I’ll be giving away to one lucky winner! (Hint, think templates).

I am now offering a free exclusive download each month on my Facebook fan page. How can you scoop up this goodness before I add it to the Pink Ink Studios shop? Head on over to Facebook. Make sure you LIKE me (c’mon, you know you do)… then click the EXCLUSIVE link on the left side and follow the directions to unlock your download! It’s that easy!

This is a 5×5 inch square design. You get two layered .psd files that utilize clipping masks. This is designed for the WHCC die-cut card design, but the designs extend to the edge of the file and can be printed as a regular 5×5 flat card.

Show off your seniors in this fun Senior Promo Rack Card!

Congrats to:

Trina Weingart, who won the GRAND PRIZE winner and will receive up to $100 in product from my store at Pink Ink Studios.

Erin Noie, who won the FIRST PLACE and will receive up to $50 in product from my store at Pink Ink Studios.

Faeye Photography, who won SECOND PLACE and will receive my Just Dandy Senior Wallet Templates.

Ladies, please send me an email amy-at-amykant.com to make arrangements for your prizes!

You might recall last week I announced a giveaway here on the blog and on my Facebook Fan Page. I was all set to close up the contest Monday night, but then things got worse for my friends in Japan and I focused on helping them out. Add to that a complete computer crash – yes, my HARD DRIVE died on the ol’ iMac – and I haven’t been able to take care of things and promote this contest the way I wanted to. (Also, Facebook’s tagging feature was all wonky last week).

So, here’s the revised contest rules (simplified and modified):

So… how do you enter?

1. Earn one entry by making sure you LIKE my page on Facebook… and posting a comment about your favorite product I’ve designed for Pink Ink Studios.

(Earn a bonus extra entry by tagging me (@Amy Kant Designs, LLC – make sure it turns into a blue link or it won’t show up on my page) and say “I wanna win $100 in graphic design templates from Amy Kant Designs, LLC!”)

2. You can earn two extra entries by posting a link to this contest on Twitter:

“I wanna win $100 in graphic designs for #togs from @amykant http://www.amykant.com.”

Make sure you come back here and post a comment letting me know you did this so I can save your entry (I get lots of @ replies so they could get lost).

3. Earn one entry just for commenting on this post!

All entries submitted thus far WILL still be eligible for the contest.

What could you win?

• The GRAND PRIZE winner will receive up to $100 in product from my store at Pink Ink Studios.
• FIRST PLACE will receive up to $50 in product from my store at Pink Ink Studios.
• SECOND PLACE will win my Just Dandy Senior Wallet Templates.

The total value of prizes in this giveaway is $175!

Winners will be chosen at random from entries submitted by 8 p.m. CDT Wednesday March 30, 2011.

If you follow me on Twitter or are a Facebook friend, you might have noticed I recently changed my avatar to the image above. Why?

Well, my dear friend Amanda and her family are in Japan. Her husband is in the Navy and is stationed there right now. They aren’t in a mandatory evacuation area, but that time is likely coming soon. They live in Yokosuka, which is about about 90 minutes south of Tokyo.

Amanda, her husband and the girls are ok. They felt the earthquake and have felt all the aftershocks as well. They’re shaken but physically ok.

It is looking like they will be evacuating soon and may never return. They will be allowed 1 suitcase each on a return flight. They have made Japan their home and have established themselves there. And now, they may be ripped away from it.

I have been wracking my brain for a way to help. Right now, the way to help is with money. Unfortunately, I don’t have an excess of money laying around here.

They can mail things back to the US (for now) but the exchange rate is ridunkulous and there’s a limit of 2 boxes right now. It sounds like our government will get them back to the United States… but once they’re here, they’re on their own as far as lodging, travel, etc.

This is where you come in. Can you help me help my friends?

• Effective now until 11:59 p.m. CDT Sunday, March 20th, I will personally give my entire NET sales of any product at my shop at Pink Ink Studios to Amanda and her family. This is NOT a tax deductible donation for me or purchase for you. But I can assure you that I will send her 100% of my NET sales. I know this is short notice and it is the weekend, but I want/need to get money to them quickly.
• The other way you can help is by sending money via Paypal. $5, $10, $25, whatever you can spare… I will send 100% of this money to her as well. Just send the money via PayPal to amykant@gmail.com. Make sure you put in the memo that this is for Amanda’s family. Again, this is NOT a tax deductible donation. It is just a gift of love for my dear friends.
• If you can’t help out financially, please spread the word and say some prayers for my friends. They need all the love and support we can give them.

In case this helps, here’s a picture of me and Amanda’s sweet daughter Haley in 2009. Cute kids get you every time, right?