Les Nail Smiths, January 2015: Inspired by a Book

Hey, everyone!

Today I have this month's installment of Les Nail Smiths for you! This month's theme was "Inspired by a Book," which I was REALLY looking forward to! Keep reading to find out which book I chose!

Michelle and I agreed that this theme could either be inspired by the subject matter of a book, the cover, or even the front of a journal - whatever tickled our fancy! I chose to take inspiration from the cover of the first book in a series that I am simply in love with right now: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley. I just finished the second book recently and can't wait to start the third (I own six of them)!

"Unless some sweetness at the bottom lie,

Who cares for all the crinkling of the pie?"

~William King, "The Art of Cookery" (1708)

This is the first book in a wonderful series about young 11-year-old Flavia de Luce, who lives in the 1950s English countryside with her Father and two sisters in a rundown family estate. She's such a snarky and clever girl who is absolutely obsessed with chemistry, particularly poisons. A series of strange events take place in this novel that ultimately lead to Flavia trying to solve a murder! Oh, I love murder mysteries so much... especially when science is involved!

For my nail art, I chose to recreate the dead jack snipe silhouette with the postage stamp impaled on its beak that adorns the cover of the book. This was the first time in a VERY long time I had attempted anything of this detail using only freehand, but once I got started it was like I never stopped! After sponging some different shades of green for the background (to mimic the book cover), I went ahead and painted a rough outline of the silhouette. Then, armed with my tiniest detail brush, I tried my hand at the postage stamp (which plays a crucial role in the story). Overall, I think I did a really good job, and I'm still really proud of myself!

On my middle and ring fingers, I attempted to create some parchment-style accent nails, since Flavia is always scribbling notes of her scientific findings in her laboratory notebooks. I stamped the script using black polish and Messy Mansion stamping plate MM24. After all of my nail art was dry, I topped with Seche Vite, and then with Essie Matte About You matte top coat to give a page-like look to my nails. Finally, I posed with one of my antique chemistry bottles: potassium ferricyanide. Of all the poisons that Flavia loves, she's especially captivated by any kind of cyanide derivative. And that, my friends, is just one more reason to love this whole book series!

Materials Used

Maybelline Go Go Green

Sinful Colors Innocent

Ulta Limelight

Icing Posh Princess

OPI My Vampire is Buff

Orly Coffee Break

OPI Take the Stage

OPI Skyfall

Wet n Wild Black Creme

Essie Matte About You

stamping plate MM24

 Unfortunately, Michelle is really swamped with being sick and getting back into the new semester at school, so she won't be posting her LNS mani just yet. But hopefully she will be feeling better soon (I sure know what it's like to be super sick)! If you have any questions about the Flavia de Luce book series, please let me know! Thanks for stopping by!