Flip-Floppin'

Mornin' y'all, and thank goodness it's Friday, I am ready for this week to be over.  I have spent a lot of time this week making phone calls (I hate making phone calls) and trying to get some appointments set up and the whole process has been a long drawn-out frustration and so I decided that today I am taking the day off from all of that and I am going to make some art in my craft room.  First I will need more tea (I always need more tea) so I'd better put the kettle on.

Anyway, I have two cards to share today, so here's the first one:

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And the Creative Colour Challenge:

I made a fall card because I am 100% manifesting fall and summer can go kick rocks, gimme fall colors and pumpkins and apples and baking and Halloween and Thanksgiving and all the good stuff.  But I just wasn't loving that card and I thought you know what, those colors just really want to be a summer card.  So I grumbled and made this:

Same colors and sketch as before, though I changed the sketch to a landscape card because that "Summer Adventures" stamp is so wide.  And this card insisted that it had to be CAS, who am I to argue.  I had thought about entering my Dog Days card in the As You See It challenge:

But I worried that the Dog Days card wasn't quite on theme enough so I didn't, and now here I am with some flip flops which I hadn't used before from the Summer Happiness bundle.  However, I fully intend for this to be my last summer card this year because I am so ready for this summer to be over already, it's been tough with me dealing with bad fatigue issues and just not feeling well in general.  I am ready to turn over a new (fall) leaf, and on Tuesday I placed a nice fat Stampin' Up! order with some fall goodies to make my little goblin heart happy.  There's a bunch of cute Christmas stuff on preorder now too, but I didn't order any of it yet because I want to enjoy fall first.

Yesterday something happened that has never happened before...Calamity has befallen the warcraft room.  I LOST A STAMP.  I was working on a card for the Nancy Drew Challenge and I know I had that stamp, I clearly remember having it out when I was playing with some parts and pieces, but it has disappeared.  Poof.  I spent over an hour looking everywhere I could think of and nothing.  The hubs came home in the middle of me looking through everything on my craft table for the fifth time and bless 'im he said "Just order another one, then you'll find the one you're looking for."  By the end of the evening I was frustrated enough to do just that, but so far my original stamp is still in hiding.  Unless it magically turns up today, the Nancy Drew Challenge will be delayed by one week, which doesn't make me happy, but I think it's worth having the specific stamp I'm looking for and it's my challenge and my blog so I can do that.  Maybe if I stop looking for that lost stamp, it will appear?  One hopes.  Anyway, I am going to do my best today to not worry about the doctor's appointments or the missing stamp and just have fun making some art.  Maybe I'll put out all my fall and Halloween decorations too, that would make me happy.  Cheers, y'all.

Supplies, leaf card:
Stamps:  Simply Leaves
Ink:  Real Red, Lemon Lolly, Azure Afternoon
Paper:  Real Red, Basic White, Lighter Than Air DSP Stack, Azure Afternoon DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals

Supplies, flip-flop card:
Stamps:  Summer Happiness
Ink:  Lemon Lolly, Azure Afternoon, Versamark
Paper:  Lemon Lolly, Real Red, Azure Afternoon, Basic White
Accessories:  White EP, Mini Dimensionals 

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.

Grateful Ferns

Mornin' y'all!  This Friday is turning into a whirlwind; I have to help the hubs drop his truck off for hail damage repair, then pick up a rental car, and I have to ferry Ryan back and forth to horse camp so Christy's Taxi Service will be busy today.  And also somehow I got on the hook to make a dessert for a poker night tonight?  I don't even play poker, but whatever.

Anyway, I have a card to share today:

I'm not 100% sure I like this one, but not every card can be your favorite.  If you don't recognize the stamp I used for the sentiment, it's in the brand new Simply Leaves stamp set which I am looking forward to playing with soon.  I thought I would take a leaf (ha) from Jan's book and stamped a Melon Mambo fern on here for something different, though I wonder if I should have gone all in and done the main fern in pink.

Anyway, I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

Paired with the latest Creative Colour Challenge:

I haven't played around much yet with Barely Blush so this was a nice opportunity to do that.  I need to get some DSP with the new In Colors on it.

Anyway, I'd better skedaddle so I can drop off keys for the truck at the paintless dent repair place, then come home to make caramel apple bars since I happened to have everything I needed for those already.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Fern & Flora, Simply Leaves
Ink:  Garden Green, Melon Mambo, Barely Blush, Early Espresso, Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake & Barely Blush
Paper:  Barely Blush, Garden Green, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Fern & Flora dies, Dimensionals, Glossy Dots