Autumn Leaves Manicure

Holy cow, I'm posting all over the place this weekend!  Don't get too used to it, I'd hate to have to live up to that expectation lol Here in the U.S., Labor Day signifies the end of summer.  The swimming pools close and we begin the slow (hopefully) slide into cooler temps.  Most people bemoan the end of summer, but I love autumn so much, I can't be too sad.  Football, sweaters and crispy, falling leaves are just a few of my favorites bits about the upcoming season.  In commemoration of those crunchy leaves, I've done a cute Fall mani.

I actually started this manicure to submit it to Neffy's Nail Corner's Back to School/Autumn nail art contest and I did use part of it to enter.  But I liked my leaf-themed nails so much, I reworked it into an exclusively autumn mani. 

The base polish here is my very first franken/homemade polish.  I used an old bronze-y black/gold eyeshadow and some solvent resistant glitter from Julep mixed into a bottle of clear Wet 'n' Wild polish.  It actually turned out to be a lovely, rich espresso brown with bright orange flecks in it.  The only downside is that, since the W'n'W isn't a suspension base, everything settles really quickly.  But it looks rather nice on the nail and I'm kinda proud o' it :)
 

I freehanded the leaves in with Sinful Colors' Pull Over, Clementine, and Energetic Red.  The leaf details are done in KleanColor's Texan Cowboy from their Nail to Toe line.  Then I did a simple glitter gradient on my index and pinky nails. The glitter is the aforementioned Julep.

This is one of my favorite manicures ever, I have to say.  It's been awhile since I've done any freehand nail art and the little leaves turned out so cute!

Are you guys ready for Fall?  Or are you holding on to summer with a death grip?   lol

Before I sign off, don't forget about The Nail Files Turned 2! Giveaway that I'm a part of.  Get those entries in, ladies!  There are a ton of great prizes!

Thanks so much for reading :)