The Flying Saucer Mystery

Happy Saturday and welcome back to the Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today we're taking a look at #58, The Flying Saucer Mystery:

All three colors are sticking mainly to the green and blue side of the color wheel.  The Wanderer arch cover this time around has some lovely greens and it definitely looks swampy.  The two checkerboard covers are so similar to each other but I like Nancy's outfit on the middle book the best.  Also did you notice that Nancy is strawberry blonde on the arch cover, but just plain blonde on the other two?  The artwork was like that last time, too.

Not sure I can pick a favorite cover...I like the arch one this time because horses and green, but I like the composition on the middle one quite a lot too.  So it's a tie between those two, the third one is fine but not as good as the other two in my opinion.  I mean, it doesn't even have the flying saucer on it.

Case file:  Buckle up, y'all, this one's weird!  Carson sends Nancy and the Drew Crew to the Shawniegunk Forest (possibly based on the real-life Shawangunk Ridge National Forest in New York state) to investigate sightings on a UFO in the nearby Dismal Swamp which sounds like a place the Addams Family would go on vacation.  Despite having professional guides, they get lost and lose supplies and some of the horses run off, but they also meet a naturalist and a First Nations man who is a walking bundle of tropes.  Nancy and Ned get on the titular flying saucer and possibly have hallucinations or else trip on swamp gases and in the end Carson calls in a team of scientists and also the Air Force.

Here's my first card:

Since the arch cover is the only one to feature the horses, I had to make a horse card so here is Nancy's mount, Susan B.  And once again I used the Everyday Arches dies.  I stamped a little forest on the bottom and kept the card pretty simple.

Green is my favorite color so you know I love making a green card too.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Let It Ride
Ink:  Early Espresso, Shaded Spruce, Stampin' Blends in Golden Glow & one of the neutrals
Paper:  Shaded Spruce, Golden Glow, Mint Macaron, Very Vanilla, Mint Macaron DSP
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Rustic Metallic Dots

On to cover #2!

Let's not even pretend to act surprised that I bought flying saucer stamps for this challenge ; )  For this card I used a stamp set and matching dies called We've Come For Cake by Trinity Stamps and having grown up in the 80s that "Got milk?" greeting made me laugh.  I wish I had made my ink blend background a bit more saturated but oh well.

I had some fun with this one coloring everything in, but sadly my dark Mint Macaron Blend is totally dried out.  I still had to make my little green men green though.  There were no cows in this book, but we do have Trixie the Wonder Dog and a semi-tamed mountain lion named Kitty.

Supplies:
Stamps:  We've Come for Cake by Trinity Stamps
Ink:  Night of Navy, Blueberry Bushel, Azure Afternoon, Stampin' Blends in Azure Afternoon, Mint Macaron, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Pecan Pie, Pretty in Pink, Peaceful Pine, Cajun Craze, Darling Duckling and I think that's it but I'm not sure
Paper:  Azure Afternoon, Night of Navy, Basic White, Darling Duckling DSP

And now for the third cover card:

After Nancy and Ned hallucinate about their trip on the UFO (Nancy's dream/hallucination/swamp gas trip involves her and Ned being telepathic, wearing weird futuristic suits with no zippers but they did have mechanical wings and BIRD FEET), they wake up to the First Nations man making them chew on some kind of leaf that makes them both feel better, so this was a great excuse to use my new Simply Leaves stamp set.

I used Taken with Teal for my card base to match the book cover, and that led me to the Autumn Meadows DSP which isn't necessarily a direct match for the cover colors but it's reasonably close.  Look closely and you'll see the stripes on the Really Rust leaf are the same as the pattern on the rust-colored edge of Nancy's top.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Simply Leaves
Ink:  Really Rust, More Mustard, Bermuda Bay, Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Taken with Teal, Very Vanilla, Autumn Meadows DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Pumpkin Pie Candy Dots

Finally we get a book that matches the level of bonkers shenanigans we enjoyed in Brass-Bound Trunk and Moss-Covered Mansion, and you know I love the ones that are totally bananas.  And boy, is this one bananas, especially Nancy's hallucination with the telepathy and the bird feet.  I do have to deduct points for the walking trope that is the only non-white character in this book, so I'm giving it four stars.  If you're inspired to make an out-of-this-world card, leave me a comment, and I'll see you next week where Nancy searches for The Secret in the Old Lace.

The Sky Phantom

Happy Saturday y'all, and welcome to this week's Nancy Drew Challenge!  This time, Nancy is taking on The Sky Phantom:

I like Nancy's flippy 'do here but it seems much darker than usual.  Kinda wish we could see her face with those aviator glasses too, ha!  So you can tell from the cover that this one has to do with flying planes and we also have some pseudo sci-fi shenanigans with the titular phantom.  Side note:  I think it's fun that Nancy is learning to fly in this one as Mildred Wirt Benson, who wrote many of the early Nancy Drews and was the original Carolyn Keene, became a pilot as well.

Case file:  Nancy, Bess, and George are in an unnamed part of the midwest (I'm going to imagine Wyoming or Montana since we were just there), where Nancy is taking flying lessons and Bess and George are riding horses and flirting with cowboys.  Nancy and her flight instructor discover a downed plane, pilot missing, underneath a mysterious cloud that always seems to be in the same place.  We also have drama with a stolen horse and then relationship drama when one of the cowboys proposes to Bess right before Ned, Burt, and Dave show up.  And then the ending just feels like a big left turn from the rest of the book.

Here's my card:

Obviously I had to do a plane card, though I bet Nancy is flying a single-engine Cessna or something and not a biplane like this.  The main color I saw on the book's cover was (appropriately) Soft Sky, and that led me to the long-retired Western Sky DSP so my card can also have a bit of a western feel like the book.

That matte copy of the book is one that I found at the used book store in the middle of nowhere on the way to Yellowstone last week : )

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Adventurous Sky
Ink:  Basic Gray, Blue Bayou, Just Jade, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate & Just Jade
Paper:  Soft Sky, Just Jade, Thick Basic White, Western Sky DSP
Accessories:  Adventurous Sky dies, Textured Notes dies, Dimensionals

Of course, I had to make a card for the ground-based side of this mystery, so here's one for the horsey girls like me:

This is the maiden voyage for Equestrian Dream, which is where I got the main image.  That stamp set doesn't have any greetings, but I thought the one from Let It Ride was a perfect match.  I used a different pattern from the Western Sky DSP and I wish I'd gotten a second pack of this paper, I am hoarding it for special projects.  (As if I don't have a bazillion sheets of paper...)

I stamped the horses and greeting with Early Espresso + Versamark and embossed with clear EP, so then I was able to paint the horses without the ink running.  Just the horses are running.  I made the one in the front a palomino (Golden Glow is the perfect palomino shade, BTW) because the stolen horse was a palomino.  The one on the right is a chestnut to go with Nancy's bright red hair on this cover and then I included a liver chestnut on the left to go with the flight instructor's dark hair.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Equestrian Dream, Let It Ride
Ink:  Early Espresso, Golden Glow, Copper Clay, Soft Sky, Certainly Celery, VersaMark
Paper:  Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Thick Very Vanilla, Western Sky DSP
Accessories:  Deckled Rectangles dies, Dimensionals, clear EP, Earthy Matte Dots

So between the airplanes and the horses, this book is a rather odd mish-mash, and that's not even taking into account a revolutionary militia group, a random cave that rains oil, and the weird phantom shapes in the cloud that give the book its name.  If you want a ranch book, definitely go for The Secret of Shadow Ranch over this one, revised or original text, they're both more fun than this.  I did find the love triangle bit rather entertaining, so I'm going to give it two and a half stars.  Stay tuned next Saturday when Nancy tackles the Strange Message in the Parchment.

The Ringmaster's Secret

Happy Saturday and that means it's time for a new Nancy Drew Challenge!  We are now at #31, The Ringmaster's Secret:

Both covers are by Rudy Nappi, and on the left we have a scene from the book.  That is NOT George in the tutu (George would never), it's Nancy's new friend Lolita who is an aerialist in the circus.  I think this cover is very busy, with so many different colors going on.

The revised text cover is simpler and actually reminds me of the revised cover for #8, Nancy's Mysterious Letter, with the main colors being dark reds and pinks.  This one is redder than the Mysterious Letter and for once Nancy is much smaller on the cover than the main antagonist, who is certainly creepy.

I think I have to give it to the revised text cover for this one.  Plus, since it has a lot to do with horses, this was one of my favorite Nancy Drews as a kiddo : )  Let's take a look:

Case file:  Nancy's Aunt Eloise gives her a golden bracelet with horse charms that has a mysterious past tied to a circus performer, so Nancy immediately joins the circus that just came to town as a trick rider (she has suddenly taken up trick riding and this is Never Mentioned Again).  She becomes friends with teenaged aerialist Lolita, who wants to elope with her clown boyfriend but her controlling foster father the mercurial ringmaster won't allow it.  Nancy discovers what really happened to Lolita's mother, gets the ringmaster and his accomplices arrested, and performs several times with the circus in between getting kidnapped with George, temporarily blinded by toxic fumes, and taking a quick trip to the UK.  She's very busy.

Here's my card:

I chose Boho Blue for my main color to match Nancy's dress, and I went with the lion image because a.) it's circusy and b.) there is a lion in the book--at the climax of the novel, the ringmaster opens the lion's cage and tries to push Nancy inside, but it's Ned who gets scratched saving Nancy.  Again, it is dangerous to be friends with Nancy.

I worked in the Pear Pizzazz and Real Red from the background on the book cover as colors for my balloons, but couldn't work in any pink for Lolita's outfit.  Still, I liked this plaid pattern I used because it felt kind of circusy to me?  Cannot explain that one, it just is.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Bonanza Buddies
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Darling Duckling, Cinnamon Cider, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Real Red
Paper:  Boho Blue, Calypso Coral, Thick Basic White, Timeless Plaid DSP Stack
Accessories:  Bonanza dies, Stitched Rectangles dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Fine Sparkle Gems

Next up is the revised text:

No major plot changes and let me just say that this book is ever so much better than the previous circus-themed Nancy Drew, the hot mess that is The Mystery of the Ivory Charm, which is still the low point of the series as far as I'm concerned.  Here's my card:

I wanted to do something with a horse image since that's what's on the cover of this book, and the golden horse bracelet is the catalyst for the mystery this time...though they never explain why a European queen would give a dainty horse bracelet to Lolita's mother, who was an aerialist and not a trick rider.

As I said before, this cover reminds me of the RT cover for Nancy's Mysterious Letter, and once again I did a monochromatic card in pinks and reds, this time with some gold for the gold bracelet in the book.  I did use Tip Top Taupe for the shading on the horse and this is the first card I've made with Let It Ride since I acquired it on eBay last year.  I also used the Fan Fair DSP pack that I used when I made my card for the OT Clue of the Black Keys.  I decided to tear the edge of the panel with the horse to mimic the edges of the painting on the book cover, and I chose a ticket shape for the greeting to go with the circus theme.  I think about these things, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Let It Ride
Ink:  Versamark, Merry Merlot, Primrose Petals
Paper:  Primrose Petals, Merry Merlot, Thick Basic White, Fan Fair DSP
Accessories:  Tags & Labels dies, Clear EP, Gold EP, Dimensionals, Gold Brushed Metallic Dots

I still love The Ringmaster's Secret, it's so much fun I give it five stars.  If you're inspired to make a card, please leave me a comment here with a link so I can see!  And don't forget to check back next Saturday, when Nancy will investigate The Scarlet Slipper Mystery.  Cheers!