The Spider Sapphire Mystery

Mornin' y'all and welcome to this week's Nancy Drew Challenge!  We are on #45, The Spider Sapphire Mystery:

I think all my covers are by Rudy Nappi from here until we hit paperbacks.  I like Nancy's signature flippy 'do and her top here, quite a lovely color with her hair color, and despite having "spider" in the name of the book and large and in charge in the cover art, this one is much less spider-tastic than The Secret in the Old Attic.  Anyway, this is my childhood copy and I don't think it's supposed to have that splotch below Nancy's eye, I used to read a lot in the bathtub as a kid and I think some of my books show evidence of that.

Case file:  Nancy and the Drew Crew are planning to go on safari to Africa, and at the same time, she's helping her father with a case where a maker of synthetic gems is accused of stealing a natural sapphire with a spider trapped in it (I know spiders could be trapped in amber, but can sapphires work that way?).  Nancy has to locate a kidnapped Ned before they can go on safari, and in Africa she's tasked with tracking down a man who may or may not have been eaten by lions, she's very busy.  Of course the kidnappers are also behind the gem theft and Nancy catches them like Pokémon (I am guessing here, I've never played Pokémon) and reunites the safari missing man with his sister after she cures his amnesia.

Here's my card:

I thought I'd go for a pretty literal interpretation of the cover art here and I was quite chuffed to find that pattern in the Perennial Essence DSP that incorporates the colors of the book cover.  I made my own spider sapphire by stamping the spider on Azure Afternoon cardstock and then covering the whole piece with clear embossing powder.

I couldn't figure out what greeting would go well on this card so I elected to leave it as is.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  From the Crypt
Ink:  Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, So Saffron, Azure Afternoon, Perennial Essence DSP
Accessories:  Clear EP, Ornate Frames dies, Moody Palette Glossy Dots, Dimensionals

But wait, there's more!  I made a second card:

There are some pretty goofy parts in this book, like the man who has lion-induced amnesia, when George gets snatched by a man wearing a baboon costume, and a real baboon steals the wig off a snobbish girl on safari with the Drew Crew but Bess gives her a makeover and magically makes over the snob's personality too (which I believe because Bess is magic and I would want to be friends with her).  Anyway, I thought I'd play with the more whimsical parts of this book and got out this smug lion from Inspiration Squad.

Still kept to the colors on the book cover, this time with more yellow.  That lion just looks so satisfied with himself, doesn't he?

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiration Squad
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Daffodil Delight, Peach Pie, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Azure Afternoon, Daffodil Delight, Thick Basic White, Cute As Can Bee DSP, Bee Mine DSP
Accessories:  Everyday Details dies, Layering Circles dies, Nested Essentials dies, Fine Sparkle Gems, Dimensionals

I tend to like the travelogue-style Drews and this one has some fun silly bits, but it does also have some portrayals of people of African and Indian descent that are negative or just disrespectful by today's standards, as Averie said in her True Drew podcast that I listened to earlier this week.  I'm going to give it three stars just because I do like the super silly bits.  If you're inspired to make a card, please leave me a comment, and we'll see you back here next week when Nancy searches for The Invisible Intruder.

Hang In There, Rusty

Mornin' y'all.  Moving slow this morning since Ryan was up in the middle of the night for a while but as soon as I get this post written, I'm going to do my workout and get the day started.  Ryan really enjoyed his first day of farm camp, which involved meeting lots of animals, picking up duck eggs (he loves ducks, so he was super excited about that but a little sad that they wouldn't give him an egg to take home), cleaning poop out of the birds' enclosure (doesn't sound like fun to me but whatever), and starting to prepare orange marmalade (hopefully they washed their hands after the poop thing).

So, I actually have two cards to share this morning.

I was working on them both at the same time the other night and Resourceful Rusty is on the Last Chance List (or at least, he was the last time I looked), so go snatch him up now.

I need some "hang in there" cards and I found the perfect greeting in Inspiration Squad.  I used the Hand-Stamped Sentiments color challenge for both cards:

Plus a bit of Pecan Pie and Ivory for Rusty himself.  Next up is the Paper Players challenge:

I went diagonal, CAS - die cut - masculine, and down the right side, square card - embossing - masculine.  You might not be able to tell, but the appley background is stamped with Versamark and clear embossed.

One good Rusty card deserves another so here's the other one:

I actually started this one first for last week's CASE-ing Tuesday Sketch:

I missed a couple of weeks playing along with them and I really enjoy it, so even if this card is a bit late (their new challenge just dropped) I'm glad I made it anyway.

Alright, time for me to get my workout on so I'll have time to get cleaned up before taking Ryan to day 2 of farm camp.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Resourceful Rusty, Inspiration Squad
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Strawberry Slush, Stampin' Blends in Pecan Pie, Ivory, Granny Apple Green, Strawberry Slush
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Granny Apple Green, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, clear EP, Dimensionals

Proud Lion

Mornin' y'all!  I was down with a bad headache yesterday so I hope today is better.  Ryan is at soccer camp until one o'clock so I'm going to try to get some quiet craft time in after Daphne and I take our walk : )

I did get one little card made yesterday:

I love Inspiration Squad, the images area adorably cute and who doesn't love a good punny greeting?

Now for the challenges, starting with the Paper Players:

Those colors would be perfect for a floral card, but like Mary Mary I'm quite contrary so I went with a lion instead.  I used Peach Pie, Balmy Blue, and Lemon Lime Twist for my colors.  Plus a bit of Pecan Pie and Basic Black but neutrals are allowed.

Next up is the Festive Friday challenge:

I've got brown, black, ribbon, an animal, and...maybe an animal-themed sentiment?  An animal-adjacent pun?  Not sure if it counts.

Last up is this week's fun sketch from Atlantic Hearts:

Another excuse to use my Textured Notes dies : )  And this time I got out a circle die from Spotlight on Nature too.  I think I should take those out of the stamp case and put them with my dies so I remember to use them more frequently.

Okay, Daphne officially has the zoomies so it's time to take her for our walk.  Gorgeous day for it so we're off.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiration Squad
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Peach Pie & Pecan Pie
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Lemon Lime Twist, Basic Black, Thick Basic White, Lemon Lime Twist DSP
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, Spotlight on Nature dies, Dimensionals, white taffeta ribbon, Party Dots

One Wild Lion

Mornin' y'all and happy Easter!  We took Ryan out yesterday for the world's chilliest Easter egg hunt with friends (the wind chill was 17 degrees and there was snow on the ground), had lunch at their house and then learned a new-to-us card game.  This morning the Easter Bunny left a bunch of eggs hidden downstairs in our house and WAYYYY too much candy on the counter where Ryan usually eats breakfast.  So yeah we're going to have a sugar monster here today : p

But it's time for today's card!  Every once in a while I get two stamp sets that probably aren't *designed* to go together but they just NEED to go together and that's what happened today and here it is:

This self-satisfied lion is the third creature in the Inspiration Squad stamp set, and the Support Wildlife stamp is in Motherhood Mottos and really that stamp is the whole reason I bought the stamp set (although the other greetings in it are great too).  That Support Wildlife stamp just cracks me up : )

So! I had to get little Bravely here out for The Card Concept Challenge:

When I was a wee young Christy, I had a lion stuffie that had a voice box in it and would say one of a few phrases when you squeezed him, and his name was Bravely so of COURSE this is his stampy equivalent.  Anyway, I kept to the theme in the inspo pic and kinda went with slightly brighter versions of the colors, so I used Shy Shamrock, Lemon Lolly, Pool Party, and Peach Pie.  I think my card fits into the Clean & Layered style.

For the card layout, I used the latest CASE-ing Tuesday Sketch:

I always have a good time with these challenges.

That's it for now, y'all.  I'm going to make lemon blueberry scones for breakfast and we might do a little painting today while Ryan enjoys his Easter basket.  Have a fantastic Easter, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiration Squad, Motherhood Mottos
Ink:  Early Espresso, Stampin' Blends in Lemon Lolly, Shy Shamrock, Peach Pie, Pool Party
Paper:  Lemon Lolly, Peach Pie, Thick Basic White, Shy Shamrock DSP
Accessories:  In Color Resin Dots, Dimensionals

Hang In There

Mornin' y'all!  We did get snow yesterday and last night, but it's a fairly thin layer on the ground and the temperatures are supposed to start climbing back up a bit tomorrow.  Ryan is supposed to do an Easter egg hunt thing today so if it's plastic eggs (and with the price of actual eggs, I'm sure they are) then the snow should make them even easier to spot.  I think I'll make some tea in a travel mug...

Anyway, I was a busy little crafty bee yesterday and here's one of the things that I made:

This little dude is hanging out in the Inspiration Squad stamp set along with the dragon and another cutie that you'll meet tomorrow.  For today's card, I rotated this week's Freshly Made Sketch 90 degrees:

I should have made that Early Espresso scrap be angled too but...I didn't.  I paired the sketch with the most recent Festive Friday challenge:

I used earth colors, an animal, and plants because I picked the Garden Green DSP that has leaves and flowers on it.  I stamped the lemur in Early Espresso ink, colored with Blends, and since we don't have a Garden Green Blend pair (what gives, SU?), I used a watercolor pencil for the background.  A few Earth Tone Shimmer Gems and I'm done.

Okay, Daph is poking her nose at me most insistently so I'm going to go play with her.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiration Squad
Ink:  Early Espresso, Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake, Ivory, neutrals
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Thick Basic White, DSP in Garden Green, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Nested Essentials dies, watercolor pencil, Dimensionals, Earth Tone Shimmer Gems

Pocket Dragons

Mornin' y'all!  I continue to be on a crafty winning streak this week : ) And today Ryan has an extracurricular class after school so I get extra crafting time, woo!  And AND I have new stuff to show off today!!

This adorable little dragon is from a soon-to-drop online exclusive stamp set called Inspiration Squad and I Had To Have It because dragon (duh) but also this dragon reminds me of Pocket Dragons, which are little collectible dudes of extremely adorable dragons and I have a few of them.  Pocket Dragons are soft green, but I had to play along with the Color Hues challenge:

I used Fresh Freesia and Pool Party, and I did a mirror image of the TGIF Challenges sketch:

I have been wanting to play with this sketch all week but I have crafty ADHD sometimes.  I was going to use more of the Holographic Gems (also upcoming online exclusives) but then I just really liked the look of one next to the cutie pie dragon.  It looks like a magical gem, right?

But that wasn't the first Pocket Dragon card I made, this is:

I had been staring at the previous Color Hues challenge for ages and I of course as soon as I made this card the challenge ended ; )  My fault, I took too long.

So for this one I used Peach Pie and Summer Splash for the colors.  And I paired that with the CAS Colours & Sketches sketch:

I couldn't resist adding a few Tinsel Gems (those are my favorites, I'd love to have those in more colors, buy them while you can because they're on the last chance list) which might push this my card to the edge of CAS territory but I couldn't help it.

Okay, I dropped Ryan off at school and then did the grocery shopping, so now I'm going to have my much-delayed breakfast and then go spend time with Daph.  Cheers!

Supplies, lilac dragon:
Stamps:  Inspiration Squad
Ink:  Secret Sea, Pool Party Blends
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Secret Sea, Thick Basic White, Lovely Garden DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Holographic Gem

Supplies, peach dragon:
Stamps:  Inspiration Squad
Ink:  Night of Navy, Peach Pie & Summer Splash Blends
Paper:  Summer Splash, Night of Navy, Thick Basic White, Peach Pie DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Tinsel Gems