The Triple Hoax

Happy Saturday y'all, and welcome back to the Nancy Drew Challenge!  I'm posting a bit late today because Ryan wasn't feeling well this morning and snuggling with my kiddo will always be more important than pretty much anything else.  He's fine, just needs to take it easy today.  So anyway, here we are with the kickoff for the Nancy Drew digest paperbacks, #57, The Triple Hoax:

Let's talk covers!  The one on the left is a Wanderer arch cover (we get these up to I think #78), and oddly enough I would say that this particular edition of The Triple Hoax is the easiest paperback Nancy Drew to find at used book stores--I found copies in at least three of the stores I visited in Texas.  Anyway, the Wanderer covers have never been my favorites just from a design standpoint, but I do have to say that they have some pretty fantastic charcoal illustrations inside.  So for this cover, we have some lovely purple hues and Nancy looking pensive in front of a group of probably nefarious magicians.

The other two are what I call the checkerboard covers for the little checkerboard between the Nancy Drew name and the title of the book, the pink one is another Wanderer edition and the teal one is a Minstrel.  Style-wise I keep thinking that pink cover should be the newest one because Nancy's shorts are more fashionable ; ) and I think it's my favorite of the three, it's got more action than the other two and I like those colors.

The third cover is a similar scene to the second one and also has some great colors, but my goodness Nancy, those shorts!  This is the first of many, many opportunities to mock fashion on the Nancy Drew book covers, I tell you.  But let's talk contents.

Case file:  Aunt Eloise (yay!) invites Nancy, Bess, and George to New York to investigate when one of her friends is swindled out of several thousand dollars.  Nancy quickly becomes suspicious of The Hoaxters, a magic act performing in town, so of course she follows them to Mexico City when they clear out of NYC in a hurry, and then follows them to Los Angeles before she's able to bring them to justice.  We have lots of travel, theft, fraud, kidnapping, poison, arson--this book is a RIDE, let me tell you.

Here's my first card:

What with all the travel, Nancy spends a LOT of time making long-distance and/or international phone calls and I couldn't resist making a phone card.  I believe this card takes the cake for the most stamp sets used on a single card, I used five old Paper Pumpkin stamp sets plus five other stamp sets for a grand total of ten!  It took some time to stamp-a-ma-jig all those hellos on the front but I like it.

I had to do an arch for our first Wanderer arch cover, but when I finished I wished I had used a darker purple for the card base to match the colors better; I was so excited to make this that I just ran right ahead to stamping instead of comparing purples.  Oh well, I still like it.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Timeless Talk, Elementary Elegance, Heartfelt Hellos, Blossoms in Bloom, A Dozen Thoughts, My Paper Pumpkin (multiple sets)
Ink:  Highland Heather
Paper:  Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, So Saffron, Basic White
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, So Saffron Candy Dot

Despite the different colors, the text of the books is all the same but we're going to have fun with the multiple covers for quite a few books.  So here's my card for the second book:

The girls visit the Pyramid of the Sun near Mexico City and that's where they are on the cover scene:

I pulled out Flores Misticas because it has that fun pattern that looks like the carved stone of the pyramid, and I chose Watermelon Wonder, Crushed Curry, and Highland Heather for my colors.  I love Watermelon Wonder and I am hoarding the small amount of cardstock I have left in that color.  I used blending brushes to add some lighter color on the yellow and purple bits, and I embossed the butterflies with Iridescent Ice embossing powder so now everything upstairs is covered with glitter.  I added some foil gems for more glitz, too.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flores Misticas, Make a Difference
Ink:  Watermelon Wonder, Crushed Curry, Highland Heather, Basic Gray, Versamark
Paper:  Watermelon Wonder, Basic White
Accessories:  Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Iridescent Foil Gems, Dimensionals

And for the final book cover:

The girls fly to Mexico City, but due to an airline strike, they rent a car to get to Los Angeles.  On the trip, which takes several days, they come across an indigenous community that doesn't speak Spanish, but they manage to communicate that they're looking for breakfast.  One of the older women, thinking that Bess wants an extra-fresh egg, catches a chicken and has it lay an egg in Bess's hand, which just made me laugh so much that I knew immediately this incident would be the basis for one of my cards.

To match the cover and color in my fabulous chickens, I used Pretty Peacock, Purple Posy, Rococo Rose, So Saffron, Fresh Freesia, and Golden Glow.  The Tinsel Gems are technically Berry Burst, but they match the Rococo Rose cardstock pretty well, and I was quite tickled to find that sunrise-looking pattern in my stash in one of my chosen colors.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hey Chuck
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Pretty Peacock, Purple Posy, Fresh Freesia, Golden Glow, So Saffron, Rococo Rose
Paper:  Pretty Peacock, Rococo Rose, Basic White, Playing with Patterns DSP Stack
Accessories:  Hey Chuck dies, Perennial Postage dies, Dimensionals, Tinsel Gems

When I was a kid, I didn't particularly care for this book and reading it now I have no idea why I didn't like it more back then.  We have lots of adventures in this book with all the travel and it was fun to do some sightseeing in Mexico, plus that incident with the chicken is hilarious.  I give it four and a half stars.  This book was the first Nancy Drew published under a new publisher, and I think they did a very good job of making it feel like a continuation of the old series.  I could seriously have done without the fat-shaming that George subjects Bess to, I wish they hadn't kept that element of the original series, but almost everything else was very fun.  If you're inspired to make a card based on this book, leave me a comment below, and I will see you next week when Nancy investigates The Flying Saucer Mystery.

Saint Beatus Caves

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  And it's my favorite Monday ever because it is Ryan's first day of school : )  The house is all nice and quiet...or it would be except I started some music so I am enjoying Chicago's If You Leave Me Now while I drink my tea.  Love that song.

Anyway, I just figured out this morning that I've been sharing the Swiss-capade layouts in the wrong order but whatever, they're all from the same trip.  And here is today's layout:

We do tend to like doing underground touristy things.  We had to wait in line a while before we got to go in the caves, which were pretty cool and we took the opportunity to teach Ryan to be a responsible and respectful tourist and keep his grubby little fingers off the rocks because that damages them (which we know because we've been to caves in several different countries now).  Then we had lunch at a restaurant next to the monastery started in St. Beatus' honor, and we had a PHENOMENAL view of Lake Thun--can you believe that picture in the lower right corner?!  It was a quick snap I took with my cellphone!  I think I need to print that one out giant size and frame it...if only I had more open wall space, ha!

Today's color palette:  Island Indigo, Starry Sky, Sweet Sorbet, Garden Green, and white.  Normally I wouldn't think to pair those two blues together, but I was pulling colors from the photos and I think they work together pretty well here.  I haven't worked on scrapbook pages in a long time since I've been busy with having Ryan home for the summer and working on other projects, but I'm starting to get the itch to get back to scrappin'.  Should be easier to make that happen now that he's back in school.

For right now, I think I'll brew a second cuppa tea and go write out some cards to go out in the mail, then get to work on something crafty.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Taffy Alphabet, Calendar Alphabet & Numbers, Blossoms in Bloom
Ink:  Island Indigo, Starry Sky, Sweet Sorbet, Garden Green
Paper:  Island Indigo, Starry Sky, Garden Green, Basic White, Blooms & Bliss DSP
Accessories:  none

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Mornin' y'all and happy rainy Saturday.  I've got a nice hot cuppa tea in front of me and I did some yoga this morning so it's off to a good start.

A couple of days ago, the hubs asked me to make a card for someone in his office who just had a lumpectomy for breast cancer, he wanted a large card for everyone in the office to sign, so here it is:

Obviously I went with pinks and dug out several long-retired stamp sets for this.  I used Pink Pirouette cardstock and DSP, Pretty in Pink for the flowers and Regal Rose for the ribbon, and Mellow Moss and Fresh Fig to round out my colors.  I asked the hubs what sentiment he wanted and he chose "Get Well Soon"; I would have picked "Best Wishes" but I did what he said.

That's it for me today, peeps.  And don't forget that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so go get your girls checked.  A few minutes of discomfort is much, much better than a stage 4 diagnosis.  I got mine done earlier this month, you can do it too.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Blossoms in Bloom, Ribbon of Hope, Sincere Salutations
Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Fresh Fig, Regal Rose, Mellow Moss
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Fresh Fig, Thick Basic White, Pink Pirouette DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals

SUO Challenges: Plant Life

Good morning stampy friends!  It is already time for a new challenge at SUO Challenges!

This time our theme is plant life.  That means flowers and leaves and trees are all fair game, but I wanted to do something a little different.  Here's what I came up with:

That houseplant image was fussy-cut from the gorgeous Bloom Where You're Planted DSP!  My mom loves houseplants and has them everywhere, so this will go to her.  I, on the other hand, do not have a green thumb unless I'm in my craft room, in which case it is frequently (literally) green because I tend to get ink all over the place ;)  I did end up with green ink on my fingers when I made this, even though the ONLY stamping on it is the sentiment!

That DSP is amazing.  I love the greens in it!  Just Jade and Evening Evergreen look pretty fabulous with a bit of Cinnamon Cider, don't they?  I don't have the coordinating Plentiful Plants stamps and dies but it was easy peasy to cut the plant out of the patterned paper even without dies.

Your turn now!  Make a plant-ariffic creation and share it with us on SUO Challenges.  Hope to see you in our gallery!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Blossoms in Bloom
Ink:  Just Jade
Paper:  Just Jade, Evening Evergreen, Thick Basic White, Bloom Where You're Planted DSP
Accessories:  Rectangles Stitched dies, Tasteful Labels dies, Dimensionals

Blooming Freesia

Woohoo Friday!  Confession time:  I have no idea what freesia looks like :)

But I love the color from Stampin' Up!  When I saw this week's Freshly Made Sketch, I really wondered what on earth I was going to do with it, and then Blossoms in Bloom popped in my head and I chose foru In Colors (Fresh Freesia, Pale Papaya, Just Jade, and Misty Moonlight) and got to work.  Here's the sketch:

Might as well enter this one in the Global Design Project challenge too!

Gotta love flowers, right?  Know what else I love?  I'm off work today, which means I get to spend most of the day in my craft room!  Can't complain about my job too much though, it's been pretty slow lately which means I've been working on my cross stitch and getting paid to do it :)

Have a great weekend!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Blossoms in Bloom
Ink:  Fresh Freesia, Pale Papaya, Just Jade, Misty Moonlight
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Misty Moonlight
Accessories:  None

Polly, Put the Kettle On

Hey y'all!  Wonder of wonders, I actually made a card today, my very first one since we moved to Germany.  I got up early this morning to do my workout, and by the time I finished that the hubs was already in the shower but Ryan wasn't up yet so I snatched a few minutes in my craft room and made this:

The teacup stamp set (A Nice Cuppa) is retired, but I had to use it (or one of its other tea-related friends) because of the Global Design Project theme challenge:

The inside of the card says "You are tea-riffic", but I chose a birthday sentiment for the front of the card to fit in the Retro Rubber Challenge:

The birthday sentiment is from Blossoms in Bloom, which is only six months old; it was just the first birthday sentiment that I came across that fit my card design.  A Nice Cuppa is nice and retro though, it's four years old.  I even dug up the matching Have a Cuppa DSP!

Aaaaaaand now I need to go make myself some tea.  Have a great day, peeps.

Supplies, all SU! (many retired)
Stamps:  A Nice Cuppa, Blossoms in Bloom
Ink:  Bermuda Bay
Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Thick Whisper White, Have a Cuppa DSP Stack
Accessories:  Cups & Kettle dies, Dimensionals, glitter enamel dots

Mixing Blooms

Mornin' y'all!  Yesterday morning while Ryan was at the babysitter's house, I sorted through a bunch of stuff for the kitchen for our upcoming move, and in the afternoon I got a bit of time in my craft room to make a card.  Productive day!

My Petal Pink ink pad is extra super ridiculously juicy!  The flowers came out darker than I thought they would.  The leaves are Pool Party and the flower centers are Misty Moonlight, which I stamped off once to make it a bit lighter; the sentiment is full-strength Misty Moonlight.

Once again I had a fun time choosing elements from the Festive Friday challenge:

I'm a bit of an overachiever so I picked more than three:  friendship sentiment, pink, flower, sparkle (I used Shimmery White cardstock, though it doesn't show up in the picture), ribbon, and a die cut.  I don't use up ribbon very quickly, so a few years back I stopped buying it; I still have quite a bit of ribbons but they're all retired.  No one I'm liable to send cards to will know or care if the ribbon is retired, so I used it!  The sequins are retired too.

I chose my colors based on the Global Design Project color challenge:

I am more inclined to pair Misty Moonlight with Seaside Spray (see here), so it's nice to see how it pairs up with Pool Party instead.

For my next trick, this card also fits in with the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge:

I already had the flowers and the colors chosen, and when I saw this challenge I remembered that I had some self-adhesive Petal Pink sequins so I used some of those on my card too :)

We've got a busy day ahead--Ryan has a dentist appointment this morning and then we have several appointments this afternoon to get ready for our move.  Better wear my roller skates today so I can move faster!  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Blossoms in Bloom, Beautiful Friendship
Ink:  Petal Pink, Pool Party, Misty Moonlight
Paper:  Shimmery White
Accessories:  Ornate Frames dies, retired Sycamore Street ribbon, retired self-adhesive sequins, Dimensionals

Friendship in Bloom

Howdy, folks!  Since I had Blossoms in Bloom on the brain from yesterday's card, I decided to ink it up again for today's card and this time I used the big flower stamp!

But I cut it up a bit :)  I am LOVING this stamp set; I didn't get it during the preorder but I saw so many beautiful cards with the stamp set and coordinating dies that I put it on my first order when the catalog went live.  Again, the colors in my photo aren't the most true to life, we're still totally socked in with clouds so that really doesn't help when I'm taking pictures of cards.

Love this week's color challenge from the Color Throwdown:

I used Flirty Flamingo and Coastal Cabana for my pink and aqua colors and sneaked in a bit of Pear Pizzazz for the leaves.  While I was making this card, Ryan was *supposed* to be in quiet time, but he kept popping into my craft room and somewhere in the chaos (because with Ryan, it's always chaos) I managed to SPILL my gold embossing powder ALL OVER EVERYWHERE!!!  It was such a mess.  I managed to get a good portion of it back in the container, but almost half of what spilled was unrecoverable.  No use crying over spilled embossing powder, am I right?

I thought the cut-apart flowers were perfect for this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

The idea popped in my head as soon as I saw the sketch yesterday and it would have been a very quick card if it hadn't been for Ryan's interruptions and the embossing powder mess.  But I'm happy with how it turned out!

Hope you have a great day, folks.  It's still dark and dreary here, so at least my card can be light and fun.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Blossoms in Bloom, So Sentimental
Ink:  Flirty Flamingo, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Coastal Cabana DSP
Accessories:  Gold EP, Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals

Butterfly Fusion

Mornin'!  We are on Day #3 of nonstop clouds and intermittent rain, which is making it difficult for me to get decent pictures of my cards, even with an Ott Lite.  Oh well, here is today's offering:

I've got a stack of new stamp sets to play with, and what do I do?  I pick the teeny "hello" from Blossoms in Bloom and that's the only new item I used on this card.  Ha!  The patterned paper just retired, as did Blueberry Bushel, but I thought they were necessary for the Fusion challenge:

I used Blueberry Bushel and Balmy Blue; I'd love a gorgeous electric blue ink color like on the inspiration pic.  I did jazz up the butterfly with some Wink of Stella because apparently that's my thing lately.  I paired the butterfly with the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

That fancy die cut strip from the Nature's Thoughts dies sure has come in handy.

That's it for me today, kids.  Wonder if Ryan will let me take a nap this morning...he's been waking up in the middle of the night a lot lately and it's wearing me out :p  Cheers, y'all!

Stamps:  Positive Thoughts, Blossoms in Bloom
Ink:  Blueberry Bushel, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Blueberry Bushel, Balmy Blue DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies, Nature's Thoughts dies, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella