The Walking Dead premier is in just a few days!! I'd hoped to release this collection earlier in the month but due to personal stuff that simply wasn't feasible. But at least there's still plenty of time before Halloween to wear some zombie-related polish!

Have a seat, grab your shotgun or crossbow, and get ready to get zombified. Oh, and just in case you're not fully caught up to the end of Season 4...

Guess who's feeling better and is back to work! This gal!!

I still feel so horrible about falling behind with orders that I had to do something fun to make up for it! There will be two winners total, though the prizes are broken into two separate widgets. The first widget is open to any US resident, whether they ordered between September 13th and 30th or not (though those that ordered will get bonus entries for that giveaway); the second is only open to those who ordered during that time frame.

Note: this giveaway is US only unless you made an order between September 13th and September 30th, only then can International entries be accepted. Please leave a comment if you're unsure.

If the winner of either giveaway wishes to add items to their winnings I will cover up to $3 of shipping for a US winner and $12 for an International winner and ship everything together.

If you ordered between September 13th and 30th you are welcome to enter using BOTH widgets below.

Important: anyone found taking the bonus entries for those who ordered between 9/13 and 9/30 when they didn't earn them will be completely disqualified and will have no chance of winning.

The following widget is only for those who ordered between September 13th and 30th whether the order was actually delayed or not. It'd be too difficult to figure out which ones were delayed or not!

Important: anyone found entering this portion of the giveaway when they did not order between 9/13 and 9/30 will be completely disqualified from both giveaways and will have no chance of winning.

My original plan for the group NAMI donation had been to donate when Softening the Bad Things was completely sold out. Then I decided waiting a couple weeks would be good enough. Then the whole "life" thing threw everything out of whack and now here we are, nearly a month after the re-release of Softening the Bad Things, and I still hadn't gotten my sorry butt around to donating!

But I finally set aside some time to do it and it's great knowing NAMI can now use that money to help people! A few people who signed up weren't able to make the donation but in the end the following people donated $250!!

• Lucky 13 Lacquer (me!! But really you!! $1 from each bottle sold) - $100
• Gothic Gala Lacquers - $25
• Tahlia of Perks n' Quirks - private amount
• Glitzy Geek - $25
• Kris of Swatches and Sentiments - $10
• Annabelle F - private amount
• Barbara H - private amount

Thank you to everyone who donated, ordered, and shared Softening the Bad Things.

If you were interested in a bottle of Softening the Bad Things there are still about 10 full size bottles left! Once they're gone it won't be restocked for at least a few months.

As those of you who follow my Facebook page have likely seen that I've been having a rough time lately. While I'm so pleased the Lord of the Rings collections were so popular it had some very unexpected downfalls.

On September 13th I received more orders in a single day than I had ever received in my best month. My previous method of filling orders had been to mix colors in a 4oz bottle, wait for orders to come in, fill the requested bottles, label them, and ship them out. Simple, right? It would take a couple days for larger orders but orders of just a couple colors would generally go out the next business day. But that's just not going to work when 300+ bottles are ordered in a single day. Thankfully I have plans to change how I prepare for orders and for new collections that should keep me from having too overwhelming of a to do list in the future.

On top of the unexpected influx of orders I've had so many other factors keeping me down. A sick kitty, one of my best friends is going through a horrible ordeal, and there's been nonstop construction going on with my apartment building. Most notably my windows are still unsealed and it's been below 40 most nights (but I can't justify keeping the heater on all night when I know it's literally going right out the window) and my flooring is supposed to be replaced which has taken my 430 square foot studio to about 100 square feet of living space, not including the bathroom.

Let me drive that home for you: I'm living in about a quarter of the space I'm paying for. And what's worst is my flooring was supposed to be replaced yesterday so I could move everything back to wear it belongs...but they won't actually be getting to my unit until Monday. Want to see what my beautiful workspace I posted about a few weeks ago looks like now?

Yep. I get to crawl over my bed just to get to the bathroom. And getting to my closet in the far back right? Ain't happenin'. With the crushing feelings of failure with being behind on orders and being forced into such a cramped "living" space my depression has hit an all-time low.

I hope everyone understands just how much I regret being behind on orders--I genuinely love doing Lucky 13!!! I love waking up every morning and wondering what I'll be making that day, who I'll be chatting with in comments on Facebook, all that awesome stuff! But apparently the cosmos are telling me it's time to take a weekend off.

Assuming they actually replace my flooring on Monday I anticipate being back to work as usual on Tuesday, which will allow me time to move everything back to where it belongs and a night to just relax in the comfort of my newly-refloored home and cuddle with my kitty.

When I'm back to working normally I'll have a new collection to announce and a new charity polish (with a twist. You'll see what I mean in a few days).

Thank you to everyone who understands, and again I'm so sorry about the delays. Life sometimes demands that we put ourselves before our passions, and it looks like this week is my week to sit back and relax.