The Secret of the Forgotten City

Hey y'all and welcome to the Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today we're taking a look at Nancy's 52nd adventure, The Secret of the Forgotten City:

Oh hey look, *another* mostly brown cover (see Double Jinx, Crossword Cipher, and 99 Steps) but I suppose this one is different because it's a lighter, warmer brown than the others.  I do like the composition though, with the cool rock formation and silhouetted figures in the background.

Case file:  The Drew Crew surprises Nancy with an archaeological trip to Nevada at the same time as a First Nations woman approaches Nancy to see if she can solve the mystery of a bunch of stone tablets with carved petroglyphs on them.  Why don't my friends ever surprise me with archaeological expeditions?  On second thought, it's just as well they don't because outside is where the bugs live.  Anyway, Nancy desecrates yet another First Nations grave and finds yet another buried treasure.

Here's my card:

One of the bad guys (because there's always bad guys) puts a sidewinder snake in Nancy's car at one point of the book, and George grabs it with her bare hands and then calmly tells the others to drive her out of town so she can release it back into the wild.  Okay, George.  As it happens, I have a snake stamp in the Ancient Art stamp set, which I thought might be a nod to the petroglyph plot in the book, and I paired it with a weathered pattern from the Earthen Textures DSP.

I pondered what greeting to put on here before I decided to leave it without one and just do the snake in three shades of brown.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Ancient Art
Ink:  Cinnamon Cider, Copper Clay, Early Espresso
Paper:  Copper Clay, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Earthen Textures DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Earthen Matte Dots

And I do have a second card for this book:

Before they leave on the expedition to Nevada, the entire Drew Crew comes over for dinner at Nancy's house and Hannah makes apple snow pudding with raspberry sauce for dessert, which is something I had never heard of before but now I want to try making it since I found recipes online.  For now I decided to make a sort of sepia-toned card with Apple Harvest.

I chose a patterned paper with metallic accents since Nancy is once again after a golden treasure.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Apple Harvest
Ink:  Early Espresso, Stampin' Blends in Copper Clay, Ivory, various neutrals, Chalk pen
Paper:  Early Espresso, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla, All About Autumn DSP Stack
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, Apple Harvest dies, Dimensionals, Brushed Metallic Dots

Okay y'all, I finally have a contender for Worst Nancy Drew Book Ever to compete with Ivory Charm.  This is the THIRD time that Nancy has dug up a First Nations grave (see the revised text of Hollow Oak and then Pine Hill) and somehow the treatment of First Nations culture gets progressively worse in each book.  Nancy and her friends unearth a skeleton in this book with no supervision from an actual accredited archaeologist, wire it together, then take it back to base camp that night and MAKE IT DANCE AROUND THE CAMPFIRE.  Zero respect.  Ned and his friends must change their college majors every other week to facilitate Nancy's cases, they were something biology-related for Spider Sapphire and then Ned was working with lasers in Glowing Eye, not to mention his interest in international business in Fire Dragon, and now they're pretend archaeologists.  And now Nancy can speak a more obscure Spanish dialect to talk to some gold prospectors who are looking in the wrong place, and she's able to figure out the story of the petroglyphs on the tablet despite having no knowledge of First Nations cultures that we've ever heard about.  Can you tell my favorite part of this book is the mention of apple snow pudding?  One half star for the pudding.  If you're inspired to make a card, please leave me a comment below!  And check back next week, when we take to the skies to investigate The Sky Phantom.

A Sweet Donkey

Hey y'all, and happy Friday!  I had to have another go at the Paper Players sketch for this week, take a look:

I know lots of stampers are super excited about all the Winnie the Pooh stuff that's out now (both SU! and otherwise) since that work entered public domain in the States recently.  I'll admit that Winnie the Pooh isn't really my fandom (see Star Wars and She-Ra), but if I had to pick a favorite it would be Eeyore, so I did get an Eeyore stamp set from Ink Road...like several years ago...and seeing all the Winnie the Pooh stuff out now finally inspired me to ink it up.  Here's the Paper Players sketch to refresh your memory:

I did look up pictures of Eeyore online to get colors and there's some variation, but the more colorful version pretty much perfectly matches the Hydrangea Hill DSP that came out a few years ago.  I colored Eeyore in with Seaside Spray, Rococo Rose, and Highland Heather Blends.  I am really having some fun revisiting some older DSP lately.

That's it for me today, peeps.  Have a great day!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Donkey with an E by Ink Road Stamps
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Seaside Spray, Thick Basic White, Hydrangea Hill DSP
Accessories:  Rectangles Stitched dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Pastel Pearls

Mid-Mod Inspo

Mornin' y'all!  Hope you've got your sunglasses ready because I went All In on the bright colors today!

Check out the really fun inspo pic from the Just Us Girls challenge:

I saw where my Paper Players teamie Elizabeth posted her card for this challenge and I just *had* to play along, pretty sure this is the first time I've participated in the JUGS challenges.  Actually I was looking for stamps for a different challenge when I ran across Flores Misticas in my hoard and thought it would be fun to pair with the colors in the inspo pic.  I found a large and in charge sunny greeting in the aptly named Sunny Sentiments.  I really had fun with this challenge, I do love me some bright colors.  And it was really fun to play with Flores Misticas since I've only used it once before this card and it's got such a fun style.

That's it for me today, peeps.  Go forth and conquer!  Or, maybe just spread sunshine.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flores Misticas, Sunny Sentiments
Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Pumpkin Pie, Lovely Lipstick, Versamark
Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Pumpkin Pie, Lovely Lipstick, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  White EP, Dimensionals, Opaque Dots

Pink Strawberry

Mornin' y'all!  How's your week going?  Today I have yet another card that I made in my marathon session last Friday, take a look:

I was all set to make a cupcake card for the TGIF inspiration challenge:

And then I came across that Berry Delightful DSP in my stash and I just *had* to use it instead.  I liked how the watercolor style of the patterned paper coordinates with the artwork style on the inspo pic and I had never cut into that strawberry pattern before, so I had to use it.  One stamped pink strawberry and a greeting and I have a berry cute card!  I really do like this DSP pack, it's got some really pretty berry-based patterns in it.

Anyway, that's it for me today.  Have a berry good day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Berry Blessings, Sweet Strawberry
Ink:  Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green, Garden Green
Paper:  Flirty Flamingo, Garden Green, Thick Basic White, Berry Delightful DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Circles Collection Framelits, Strawberry Builder Punch, Dimensionals, Rainbow Dots

A Floral CASE for SUO Challenges

Goooood morning stampy friends!  It's time for a new challenge from SUO Challenges, and this time around we are CASE-ing a page from the new catty, check it out:

So I pondered this one for a while.  I don't have any of the stamps, dies, or patterned paper featured on these cards, but I do have a lot of other stuff ; )  I do have the Lovely Blooms DSP that Joanne convinced me to buy, and it has flowers and some pink patterns (Petal Pink, but still pink...ish), and I do have a different stamp set (that's even current right now, whaaaat) that features the word "smile", so here's what I made:

Since I didn't buy the stamps that coordinate with this particular DSP, I fussy-cut some flowers and leaves from one piece of patterned paper and plopped them on a Petal Pink pattern, and I free-hand cut the banner bottom because I don't have those giant pennant dies.  It's a little wonky but that's okay.  The greeting is from Nature's Symphony, simply punched out with a 1 3/4" square punch and popped up on Dimensionals; I had some leaves from the edge of the paper that I was able to cut out and place behind the greeting where you can't see the edge of the paper, how's that for thrifty.  The diamond pattern is another sheet of this DSP so Joanne was right, it's a fun and useful pack of paper to play with, haha!  And since I have approximately eleventy billion Petal Pink embellishments, I added a bunch to coordinate with the card I CASE'd.

We hope you'll have fun with this challenge and post your card at the SUO Challenges blog.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nature's Symphony
Ink:  Secret Sea
Paper:  Petal Pink, Thick Basic White, Lovely Blooms DSP
Accessories:  1 3/4" circle punch, Dimensionals, Dear Dots

Super Quick Tulip

Mornin' y'all!  I said last week that I was having a bit of a tough time focusing in my craft room and getting things done, but on Friday something clicked and I made a bunch of cards.  I think it's because I convinced the hubs to hold off on painting the bathroom ; )  Here's the card that kicked off my streak:

And it all started because of the speed challenge at As You See It:

As soon as I saw tulips + speed challenge, I thought I HAVE PAPER FOR THAT and here's how long it took me:

I would have been even quicker but I hemmed for a bit about whether to put another Mossy Meadow mat around the polka dot layer, and then when I went to stop the timer I accidentally paused my music instead of the timer so really I was under six minutes which is pretty dang speedy.  The latest Freshly Made Sketch also helped speed things along:

A classic sketch that made my card a cinch to put together.  And for just one more challenge, I have Just Add Ink:

There are lots of pretty patterns in the Flowering Fields DSP pack, so I was going through them prior to starting the timer to plan out my card and when I found the Poppy Parade polka dot pattern that really solidified my choices.  A few die cuts, one stamped greeting, and then some embellishments to finish it off all well below the 10-minute time limit.

The only thing that might have slowed me down was Daphne, who was SURE that I should be paying attention to her rather than my card making:

So I played with her for several minutes before I started the timer because I loves her.  We've had her for a year and a half and I am still SO HAPPY she's here, I really missed having a dog in the house.  Even if she sometimes surfs the counters or dumpster dives the trash can looking for food she's not supposed to have, she's a champion snuggler and a great companion.

That's it for now, peeps.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flowering Tulips
Ink:  Mossy Meadow
Paper:  Pool Party, Mossy Meadow, Thick Basic White, Flowering Fields DSP
Accessories:  Rectangles Stitched dies, Dimensionals, Pearlized Faceted Circles

A Friendly Sketch for The Paper Players

Happy Sunday, y'all!  Did you like Ann's food challenge last week for The Paper Players?  We're back again and this week LeAnne has a fun sketch for us:

I decided right off that this sketch would be a great way to showcase some patterned paper, but none of my recent purchases were speaking to me and for some reason I really wanted to do bright colors.  Last year's Friends of the Ocean DSP was exactly what I needed, and here's what I made:

I went through the scraps first and immediately picked that piece in the top left, and as it happened the Pumpkin Pie pattern is the flip side of it.  The lobster was die cut from another pattern because that was easy and I layered it on some seaweed die cut from Lemon Lime Twist cardstock and added a bit of ink for shading.  The only stamping is the greeting from the coordinating Ocean Friends stamp set.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Ocean Friends
Ink:  Summer Splash, Lemon Lime Twist
Paper:  Summer Splash, Lemon Lime Twist, Thick Basic White, Friends of the Ocean DSP
Accessories:  Ocean Friends dies, Rectangles Stitched dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Sunny Day Iridescent Dots

Check out the other design team creations on the Paper Players blog, and you can hop through their individual blogs to leave some comments too:

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier

Stef Perry

you are here --> Christy Stanford

And then upload your card at the Paper Players blog!  Keep in mind a few simple rules:
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL
4.  Have fun!