The Clue of the Velvet Mask

Happy Saturday and Nancy Drew Challenge day!  Today we are investigating the Clue of the Velvet Mask, Nancy's 30th adventure.

So we have Nancy in fancy dress on the left (OT version), watching a nefarious man in a cape scale a trellis and it's fun.  Lots of color, a nice scene that happens at the beginning of the book, the title and author are nice and big so you know what you're reading, very nice cover by Rudy Nappi.

On the right (RT version), we have Nancy carrying a fancy dress/shawl/thing and looking apprehensive while a masked someone stares at her, and this masked figure is simultaneously silly and also creepy.  It's the eyes.  This cover is also by Rudy Nappi, but I gotta give it to the OT cover this time because the eyeballs on the RT cover are too creep-silly.

Let's take a look at the case.

Case file:  Nancy investigates a series of brazen robberies at every rich people party in River Heights over the course of several weeks, attending masquerades and academic lectures and wedding receptions, oh my.  While helping Nancy on the case, George gets kidnapped and drugged and ends up with PTSD so she becomes more fearful than Bess for most of the book, until Nancy and Bess are captured and George steps up to help save them.  Also Ned helps out with this case mostly by being a brawler.  Being friends with Nancy is dangerous.

Here's my card:

George was abducted off a train while pretending to be Nancy, and as I don't have any stamps that go with the Spanish lady fancy dress that Nancy is wearing on the front cover, I decided to go with the train for this one.  I paired it with the Attic Boutique DSP for some nice vintage imagery because it seemed to fit with the train image and the pattern is Poppy Parade to match Nancy's costume.

I gently added a bit of yellow and green around the train to echo the colors around the party scene on the cover, and also to make that panel less stark white on my card.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Greatest Adventure
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black, Thick Basic White, Attic Boutique DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Black Rhinestones

Now on to the RT and Mr. Creepy Eyes:

No significant changes to the story, and we're approaching the end of the revised texts; after #34, we only have one version of each story.  Anyway, here's my card:

The gang of thieves is using a dilapidated place called the Blue Iris Inn to stash their loot, and since Nancy is wearing her signature blue on this cover, I decided that my card should also feature blue irises.

Mr. Creepy has green eyes, and I needed a green for the iris stems so that's why I have a lot of green on my card (plus green is my favorite color); even though I didn't use any reddish colors, I found some old Wild Wasabi DSP in a pattern that is kinda reminiscent of the lace thingy that Nancy is holding.  And I found a painted-style pattern for the background that's a pretty good match for the background on the book cover, even though I ended up covering most of it with the other card elements.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiring Iris
Ink:  Pebbled Path, Balmy Blue, Wild Wasabi
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Thick Basic White, Fresh as a Daisy DSP, Wild Wasabi DSP
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals, In Color Opaque Sparkle Dots

I give this one three and a half stars, it's fine but not one of my favorites.  I will say that I vividly remember George being incapacitated and saying the bad guys' threats were burned into her brain--I remember the wording of that from when I read this one as a kid so at least that part stuck with me for years.  I am now thirty books in (well, sixty really since they all have original and revised versions to this point), and I am still having lots of fun with this series : )  If you would like to play along, it's as easy as leaving a comment here with a link to where I can see what you make and I hope you have fun too.  Stay tuned next time when we uncover The Ringmaster's Secret.

Spring Irises

Mornin' y'all!  Quick post today as I have to get Ryan ready to go on his zoo field trip which means sunscreen before he leaves for school.  Here's my card today:

A friend recently posted on Facebook that there were irises coming up all around his neighborhood and that they make him think of his grandmother, so when I saw the Paper Players challenge this week, I had to grab Inspiring Iris.  Here's the challenge graphic:

I had stamped a sentiment as well, but despite moving all the elements around for several minutes, I couldn't find an arrangement with the sentiment that I liked for the card front so I adhered it to the inside instead.  Side note:  my iPhone is named Iris, not necessarily for the flower (though I like them) but because Iris the rainbow goddess is a messenger for the Greek gods and maybe I was rereading Percy Jackson when I got my first iPhone ; )

Have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiring Iris
Ink:  Orchid Oasis, Soft Sea Foam, Starry Sky
Paper:  Lemon Lolly, Thick Basic White, Tea Boutique DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, In Color Matte Dots, Dimensionals

SUO Challenges: Full Color Flowers

Goooooood morning stampy friends!  It is time once again for a new challenge at SUO Challenges!

The challenge this time is to do some coloring--use markers, Stampin' Blends, watercolor pencils, whatever technique you like to color on your card.  Here's what I did:

I decided to go with Stampin' Blends this time, so I used Highland Heather, Just Jade, and So Saffron for my colors.  I used the color lifter to try to blend the shades together a bit since I used both light and dark markers for the purple and green.  I chose Inspiring Iris just because I hadn't used it in a while, and I liked the sentiment from Silhouette Scenes to go with it.  I want to send this off to the lady who dyes my cross stitch fabric :)

Now it's your turn!  Make a colorful creation to share at the SUO Challenges blog.  I mean, I guess you *could* use black and gray to make a monochromatic card and still use coloring on it *shrug* I just like lots of colors :)  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiring Iris, Silhouette Scenes
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Gorgeous Grape, Stampin' Blends in Highland Heather, Just Jade, and So Saffron
Paper:  So Saffron, Thick Whisper White, Just Jade DSP, Gorgeous Grape DSP
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, In Color enamel dots, Dimensionals

Razzing Iris Friend

Do you ever have days where you like the color combination and you like the sketch but your card just feels like a bit of a dud?  That was me yesterday afternoon, and here's my dud:

I dunno, something about it is just falling flat to me.  But I loved the Color Throwdown colors:

I used Night of Navy, Rich Razzleberry, Seaside Spray, and Old Olive.

Here's a fun theme challenge from Cupcake Inspirations:

And here's the sketch from Fab Friday:

I think I might give those challenges a second whack and see if I like the next card better.  In the meantime, peace out y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiring Iris
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Seaside Spray, Old Olive
Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Seaside Spray, Shimmery White
Accessories:  Nature's Thoughts dies, Well Written dies

Friendly Carnation

Mornin' y'all!  Hope your morning is going well.  I'm about to drop Ryan off at the Y for a bit while I bake for a bake sale happening tomorrow.  Brownies and cookies and individual cheesecakes, oh my!  But in the meantime I have a card to share.

So I had *intended* to enter this card in the Color Throwdown challenge, buuuuut I forgot to incorporate gray on my card.  Oops.  I tried a Smoky Slate card base but it just didn't work for me.  I like the white on here.  You can't tell from the photo, but I brushed some Wink of Stella on the flower for a bit of shine.

I had more luck with the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

The ribbon I used was from last year's Sale-a-Bration.  If I've got it, might as well use it, right?  Everything else is current though.

Better go get Ryan out the door so I can bake.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiring Iris, A Big Thank You
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Highland Heather, Old Olive
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Highland Heather DSP, Best Dressed DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles Dies, Wink of Stella, Dimensionals, retired ribbon

Maiden Voyage: Inspiring Iris

Ooh look, a Saturday post!  Since I missed a couple of days this week, I thought I'd post today because I didn't want to miss a couple of challenges.  While I was running yesterday, I came up with the idea that turned into this card:

Inspiring Iris is one of the stamp sets I got on the one-day sale in October, and this is its first time to get inked up in my house.  Here's the Freshly Made Sketch I started with:

So my panel with the irises turned out a LOT bigger than I imagined while I was running ;)  My colors today are courtesy of Color Throwdown:

I used Gorgeous Grape (the outline stamp and the greeting), Highland Heather, and Old Olive.  The DSP is from Sale-a-Bration, can't remember if it was this year or last year, but I thought it coordinated with the main image really well.  Fun fact:  the first flowers my husband ever bought for me were irises.  And my phone is named Iris.

Hope you have a great weekend, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiring Iris
Ink:  Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Old Olive
Paper:  Smoky Slate, Highland Heather, Thick Whisper White, Botanical Butterfly DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Nested Labels dies, Noble Peacock Rhinestones, Dimensionals