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.
