The Secret of the Golden Pavilion

Happy Saturday and welcome to a new Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today we are on #36, The Secret of the Golden Pavilion:

Another wonderful cover by Rudy Nappi, and like last week's we have Nancy and two chums (I think Ned and Bess) looking away from us towards mysterious happenings involving a ghostly hula dancer in the titular pavilion.  Fun fact:  this story is set in Hawaii to commemorate its induction into the US, so we get a lot of description of the islands, culture, and food.

Case file:  A client of Carson Drew's offers Nancy, Bess, George, AND Hannah (finally Hannah gets to go on an adventure too) an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii to investigate a mystery on his estate:  Mr. Sakamaki's grandfather hid something on the estate, and Mr. Sakamaki has to find it before he can deed the estate to the government of Hawaii.  Meanwhile Carson has to prove that two rival claimants to the estate are fakes.  Ned, Burt, and Dave are also in Hawaii at the same time for something related to their schooling at Emerson College which conveniently requires no time or schoolwork because they're helping Detective Drew and having a luau.

Here's my card:

I think this book is less about the mystery and more about the setting, which is okay every once in a while.  When I first read this as a child, I had never been to Hawaii so reading about the islands was fun.  Now I can say I *have* been to Hawaii : )  I went with the Tropical Oasis DSP for this card, which has a kind of '50s retro Hawaii vibe that's a perfect match for the book.

Nancy and her chums spend a lot of time in the garden on the Sakamaki estate where the pavilion is, so I chose a lovely hibiscus and plumeria floral pattern and stamped some palm trees, but still kept the moody blue background from the cover.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Timeless Tropical
Ink:  Early Espresso, Grapefruit Grove, Stampin' Blends in Soft Suede & Old Olive
Paper:  Midnight Muse, Thick Basic White, Tropical Oasis DSP, Midnight Muse DSP
Accessories:  In the Tropics dies, Potted Succulents dies, Dimensionals, Share What You Love Artisan Pearls

Once again, I couldn't stop at one card, so here's my second one:

The hula dancer on the cover is pretending to be a ghost dancer to scare Mr. Sakamaki's caretakers because that works on Scooby-Doo and wouldn't you know, my stamp collection includes a hula dancer.  I've had this set for many years now and every once in a while it's fun to play with.  I really should do another card with the surfboard and Hawaiian shirt images in this set.

I went with lighter colors on this card, but kept the pink of Nancy's shirt and the yellow of the pavilion's roof.  Funny story:  when I was in middle school, we did a group trip to Six Flags (an amusement park in Texas) and we were supposed to meet up with whatever group at a certain pavilion.  My friend Eve liked to call it a pavvy-lion (first half rhymes with savvy, second half pronounced like the big cat) and it bugged my little brother SO BAD so of course she said it as often as possible because middle school.  And that's what I think of every time I read the word pavilion, it will always be a pavvy-lion to me.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Do the Hula
Ink:  Night of Navy, Polished Pink, Crushed Curry, Stampin' Blends in neutrals, Shaded Spruce, Polished Pink
Paper:  Tempting Turquoise, Thick Basic White, Island Oasis DSP
Accessories:  Layering Ovals Framelits, Regal Foiled Dots

The Secret of the Golden Pavilion is a fun installment, a bit light on the mystery but I think it makes up for it with the setting, so I'm giving it four stars.  If you're inspired to make a card based on this book, leave me a comment so I can see : )  Stay tuned next week when we search for The Clue in the Old Stagecoach.  Cheers!

A Relaxing Cuppa

Mornin' y'all!  Once again I'm a little late getting my act together, but today it's because I was browsing the preorder for the next SU! catalog and online exclusives.  Not a lot of stamp sets are tripping my trigger, but that's not necessarily a bad thing since I'll be getting the new In Colors in ink and cardstock.

In the meantime, I do have a lot of stamp sets already so let's see what I made for today:

I made this for the Cupcake Inspirations challenge:

Such a fun prompt!  I could have gone for books (I do have book stamps and I read every single day), or cross stitching (but I don't have any stitching stamps), or paper crafting (which would have been meta, and I don't really have paper crafting stamps either).  In the end I went with a nice, relaxing cuppa tea because that is definitely one of my favorite things!  I just finished a cuppa in fact (tiger eye from Adagio Teas).  I had to dig up the relax sentiment from the retired Timeless Tropical stamp set to go with it and I thought the color combination from Creative Colour Challenges struck the perfect soothing vibe:

That's it for now, y'all.  It's another gorgeous day and Ryan is going to help me train Daphne off leash in the green space behind our house.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Everyday Details, Timeless Tropical
Ink:  Versamark, Basic Gray, Lost Lagoon, Soft Sea Foam
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Basic Gray, Thick Basic White, Soft Sea Foam DSP
Accessories:  Everyday Details dies, clear EP, Dimensionals, Share What You Love Artisan Pearls (it's actually Tranquil Tide, but it worked well enough with Lost Lagoon), pearls

Panda R&R

Hey y'all, how's your week going?  Yesterday was frustrating here, I felt like I couldn't get anything done and then I got called in to work in the afternoon so there was no way to finish anything in my craft room.  But I did finally get a card made this morning and I'll be heading back upstairs as soon as this blog post is published : )  I finally inked up a stamp set I got from my new catty preorder.

How awesome is that panda?  My little brother was semi-obsessed with pandas for a while when we were kids, so I'll save this card to send to him.  I just had to pull out that sentiment from the recently retired Timeless Tropical set, it was too perfect for this snoozing panda.

So glad I finally got to play along in the Inspire. Create. sketch challenge:

I paired that with this week's Color Throwdown:

I used Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, and Garden Green for my colors, with a bit of Basic Gray to add some shading to the panda.  I watercolored the image because there aren't any Garden Green Blends (why, SU?!).  I had fun making this and I know my brother will like it when he gets it : )

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wild & Sweet, Timeless Tropical, Bamboo Beauty
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Basic Gray
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Thick Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies, Stitched Rectangles dies, Dimensionals

Autumn Greeting

Mornin' y'all!  My day off got cut short yesterday when the daycare called me to pick up Ryan because their AC went out.  I call shenanigans because most places here don't even *have* air conditioning.  I was getting frustrated with projects in my craft room though so maybe it's a good thing that I had to leave to get the kiddo.

Here's the card that was giving me issues:

I used the Color Throwdown palette:

I used Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, and Pumpkin Pie, with a lot of Cinnamon Cider and some Early Espresso.  I like the colors but I was having SUCH a hard time getting a good balance on this card, hence the Cinnamon Cider card base and DSP.  I love the leaves though, I inked them with Pumpkin Pie and then used a sponge dauber to add Real Red, choosing a different part of the leaf for each one so they all look different even though it's the same stamp.

I also used the Try Stamping on Tuesday sketch:

I love this sketch and I think I'll be using it again soon.  In the meantime, I'm going to get upstairs and get to work and hope to accomplish some things in my craft room today--I'm motivated to get started ASAP just in case I have to pick Ryan up early again :)  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gorgeous Leaves, Timeless Tropical
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Early Espresso
Paper:  Cinnamon Cider, Rich Razzleberry, Early Espresso, Thick Very Vanilla, Cinnamon Cider DSP
Accessories:  Intricate Leaves dies, Dimensionals

SUO Challenges: Fun Folds

Gooooood morning stampy friends!  Are you ready for a new challenge from SUO Challenges?

This time around, we're asking you to make a card with a fun fold!  I must admit, I found this to be a challenge as I rarely make anything but a standard A2 card--I don't even much like doing square cards!  But I thought for a bit and eventually decided to make a bridge card.

I first made bridge cards in 2017 (you can see them here and here), and I used a tutorial on Lyssa Zwolanek's blog.  Basically, you start with a piece of cardstock that is 4.25" tall and 8" wide.  Score at 1.25" from either end (the long way), then flip the cardstock over and score again at 2.5" in from either end, so you have a mountain fold and a valley fold on either side.  The bridge piece is 1.25" by 5.5".  Then you just decorate the panels as desired.  What took me the longest was deciding which pieces of the gorgeous Blackberry Beauty DSP to use!  The flower accent and the piece I stamped the sentiment on are both from the Blackberry Beauty Ephemera Pack.  I've never bought one of those before but I just loved the colors and patterns in this suite so much that I had to get it too.  I added a piece of white cardstock to the back of the middle panel and that's where I wrote the message to the recipient--this card has already been mailed off.

Now it's your turn.  Show off your fun folds on the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun getting crafty!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Timeless Tropical
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry
Paper:  Blackberry Bliss, Blackberry Beauty DSP
Accessories:  Blackberry Beauty Ephemera Pack

Aloha Flowers

Mornin' y'all!  What with Friday's unexpected "day off" (which meant my kid couldn't go to daycare, so pretty much effectively took AWAY my day off) I didn't get in my craft room at all that whole day, which makes me grumpy because there was a bunch of challenges I wanted to play along with.  I did sneak a bit of time in my room yesterday though, enough to put together a card for two of my favorite challenges at least.  So here 'tis:

If I'd had a bit more time, I think I would have used my blending brushes to add a bit more color to t he flowers and leaves.  I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

Just now seeing that I should have moved the flower and sentiment down a bit to be more in line with the sketch.  Whoops.  And here's the Color Throwdown:

I interpreted the colors as Real Red, Granny Apple Green, Crumb Cake, and Polished Pink.  Remember I thought we did NOT need another pink when I first saw Polished Pink as part of the new In Colors, and now any time I have an excuse to use it, I totally do :D  I added a healthy dose of Early Espresso as well.

Got any plans for Father's Day?  We spent time yesterday at the Technik Museum, where they have a whole bunch of cars and planes to look at.  This morning I'll be making waffles per the hubs' request, and I think we're doing slow cooker pulled pork for dinner tonight.  We ought to start picking cherries off the tree in our yard, too...oh, I should look up cherry recipes!  Hope y'all have a good day.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Timeless Tropical, Stacked Stone
Ink:  Real Red, Granny Apple Green, Crumb Cake, Polished Pink
Paper:  Early Espresso, Granny Apple Green, Crumb Cake, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  In the Tropics dies, Dimensionals, rhinestone

Dreaming of Hawaii

Howdy y'all, how's your week going?  Been a little rough over here--on Monday morning Ryan's daycare got shut down for two weeks so that was a fun scramble to find alternate care, and yesterday we had the first largeish balloon order since I started working at the arts & crafts center.  Y'all, my fingers are still sore from tying off balloons, and my boss said that pre-Covid they did much larger orders than what we worked on yesterday!  I'm hoping I don't have to touch a single balloon at work today :p

In the meantime, I have a card to share that I made last Friday, take a look:

Sometimes I get so focused on using newer stamps that I forget about the ones that have been in my collection for a while (hence my recent interest in going through all my retired stamps).  For today's card, I had to pull out Timeless Tropical after seeing the inspiration challenge from Cupcake Inspirations:

And once I saw the sketch from Fab Friday, I knew exactly what I wanted to make!

I love it when a plan comes together.  I pulled out the retired Tropical Oasis DSP that coordinates with the stamp set; I've already scrapped all my Hawaii photos so I don't feel bad using the paper for today's card.  Plus I used a couple of scraps!  I do have to say, though, that "May your birthday be memorable" feels a wee bit menacing.  Like how they say "May you live in interesting times" is a potent curse.  Think about it--are YOU going to forget 2020 anytime soon?  But that's the sentiment that fit on my die cut...

Hope your next birthday is memorable for all the RIGHT reasons, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Timeless Tropical
Ink:  Old Olive, Soft Suede
Paper:  Soft Sea Foam, Thick Basic White, Tropical Oasis DSP
Accessories:  In the Tropics dies, Tasteful Labels dies, Dimensionals, Noble Peacock rhinestones

Aloha

Scrappy Monday!  Today it's time for the last Hawaii layout.

These are a few pictures we took around our hotel and when we met up with some friends for dinner.  I thought "Aloha" was an appropriate title for this layout.

Today's color palette includes Grapefruit Grove (I am surprised how much I love this color), Real Red, Shaded Spruce, Old Olive, Early Espresso, and Whisper White.  Shaded Spruce isn't listed as one of the colors in the Tropical Oasis DSP, but if that pattern isn't Shaded Spruce I'll eat my hat.

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Timeless Tropical, Coffee House Alphabet by Inkadinkado
Ink:  Grapefruit Grove, Real Red, Old Olive, Early Espresso marker
Paper:  Grapefruit Grove, Old Olive, Thick Whisper White, Tropical Oasis DSP
Accessories:  In the Tropics dies

Helicopter Tour

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I'm back again with another Hawaii layout.

One thing the hubs wanted to do in Hawaii was go on a helicopter tour; to his surprise, I agreed to it ;) (I have problems with motion sickness when flying, and sure enough, I was pretty green around the gills by the time we landed. But I still did it.)  See the pics here.  Fun fact: the helicopter we rode on was used several times on episodes of Hawaii Five-O.

Fun fact (this one stamping related):  I made the stitched rectangle longer than the die on the left page.  The die cut tree hides the join between the two pieces so I could get the rectangle in the dimensions I wanted it :)

Today's color palette includes Pacific Point, Grapefruit Grove, Pool Party, Shaded Spruce, and Whisper White.

See you here tomorrow for a new SUO Challenge!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Rough Type, Timeless Tropical
Ink:  Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Shaded Spruce
Paper:  Pacific Point, Pool Party, Grapefruit Grove, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  In the Tropics dies, Rectangles Stitched dies

Hawaii Botanical Garden

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Today I have another Hawaii layout to share.  It's brightening up a dreary Monday morning here.

This layout goes right after The North Shore; after we left the sea turtles, we found a botanical garden and decided to stop.  See the original pictures here.  When the Tropical Oasis DSP was released, I knew I'd have to use it for my Hawaii pages!

Today's color palette is the  nice and warm Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, Real Red, and Old Olive.

Have a good week, peeps.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Timeless Tropical, Notable Alphabet, Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Lower
Ink:  Mango Melody, Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Black marker
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, Tropical Oasis DSP
Accessories:  None

The North Shore

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I didn't get quite as much done this weekend as I wanted to...yesterday I was just SO exhausted that when Ryan went into Quiet Time I pretty much fell into a coma ;)  But I slept pretty good last night so hopefully I'm ready to tackle this week.

On to the scrapbook pages!  Thanks to the Timeless Tropical suite in the Occasions catalog, I finished all my Hawaii pages.

See the pics up close here.  It was pure happenstance that we saw the sea turtles--we had stopped to take pictures along a stretch of beach and saw a small crowd off to the side.  Turns out everyone was looking at the sea turtles :)  Members of a conservation group were there to keep people from getting too close, but we were allowed close enough to get some really fantastic pictures.

Today's color palette is Melon Mambo, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Grapefruit Grove, Old Olive, Basic Black, and Whisper White.  Melon Mambo isn't in the Tropical Oasis DSP, but I thought it played nicely with the patterns I used on this layout.

Ryan just asked if he could get up, so we're getting this Monday started.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Brushwork Alphabet, Timeless Tropical
Ink:  Early Espresso, Grapefruit Grove, Saddle Brown StazOn
Paper:  Melon Mambo, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Thick Whisper White, Tropical Oasis DSP
Accessories:  In the Tropics Dies

Tropical Vacation

Mornin' y'all!  How would you feel about a tropical vacation right about now?  Though I can't complain since it's supposed to be 75 degrees here today.  In February.  Weather is weird.

I used the Tropical Oasis DSP because it was sitting out on my desk as I've been working on some scrapbook layouts for Hawaii pictures, but looking at the picture the color on the DSP doesn't match the flower as well as I thought it did yesterday (weird lighting for the win, I guess?).  There's a LOT of colors listed in the DSP but I think they missed a couple--if you look at several patterns I swear they use Shaded Spruce, which isn't on the color list.  Anyway, apparently I thought this coordinated better than it really does.

I used the Fab Friday color challenge:

The hibiscus is inked with Versamark + Merry Merlot, then heat embossed with clear powder; the leaves are done the same way with Versamark + Bermuda Bay.  Then I watercolored with Melon Mambo and Coastal Cabana respectively.

I'll enter this for the Global Design Project theme challenge:

And the Sunday Stamps sketch challenge:

I used the large rectangle from the Nature's Thoughts dies for the tag shape because I had it sitting on my craft table.

Hope you have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Timeless Tropical
Ink:  Merry Merlot, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Versamark
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Thick Whisper White, Tropical Oasis DSP
Accessories:  Nature's Thoughts dies, In the Tropics dies, clear EP, Dimensionals, linen thread