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!

Sea Foam Monstera

Mornin' y'all, how's your Friday?  Ryan is off school today (WHY) and I didn't sleep well last night...only about 30 minutes after I fell asleep, I woke up screaming from a nightmare which never happens.  I can't remember exactly what it was about but it was something scary next to my bed and as I was waking up my mind told me the scary monster next to the bed was...Captain Hook.  The animated one from Disney's Peter Pan.  But scary enough to make me wake up screaming?  Weird.

Anyway, I have a card to share today and guess what?  I used a new stamp set.  And guess what else?  They've already put it on the last chance list.  The heck, SU.  Things are current for a hot minute nowadays if you ask me, which is another reason to play with all my retired stuff so often.  Anyway, here it be:

The colors didn't photograph well but it's what I've got.  I used the colors from the CAS Colours & Sketches challenge:

Soft Sea Foam is not my favorite green, but I do like these colors together.  Also we don't have houseplants in our house, except for one miniature orchid which I think has finally given up the ghost--we bought it as a distressed plant and the hubs has been trying to rehabilitate it, but I think it was too far gone.  It's much kinder to plants if the only ones I have are made out of paper.

Anyway, I am on my second cuppa this morning and I'm about to go chivvy Ryan into doing his homework.  If I don't go nap with Daphne first, she looks adorable.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  On Display
Ink:  Soft Sea Foam, Pool Party, Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Soft Sea Foam, Pretty Peacock, Thick Basic White, Pool Party DSP
Accessories:  On Display dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Mini Dimensionals

Kiwi Valentine

Mornin' y'all!  Posting a bit late today as I had to go to the store this morning...I do NOT have the ingredients for chicken taco soup memorized (whereas I think I could make the beef taco soup in my sleep!), so I had to get a few things for that and the hubs has challenged me to make from-scratch cinnamon rolls for Sunday breakfast this weekend.  This will definitely be a challenge for me but I have the ingredients now, so that's the first step.

Speaking of food, that's what's on my card today.

I knew I wanted to use the kiwi stamps for my card, so I came up with a color combination that I thought would be nice:  Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Lemon Lime Twist, and black.  Dunno why, but the combination appealed to me.  I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And I've had the Addicted to CAS challenge in the back of my mind ever since it was posted, so I'm glad I finally got a card made for it:

I had pulled out the retired Hello Kiwi stamp set I think at least twice over the past week or so before I finally got my card made for today.  I think 2026 is going to be the year of the retired stamp sets...and why not?  They still work perfectly well and I might as well use them, right?  Doesn't really matter if I'm using current stamps or not since no one I send cards to would know the difference or care about it, so I'm just going to use what makes me happy.

Daphne is looking quite eager to take her daily perambulation, so I'm going to go grab her leash and make her a happy pupper.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hello Kiwi
Ink:  Lemon Lime Twist, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Thick Basic White, Close to Cocoa DSP
Accessories:  Mini Dimensionals

Shello

Mornin' y'all!  We got some snow last night, about an inch or two, and Ryan was disappointed that he didn't get at least a two-hour delay today : )  But he's safely at school and he has STEM club today so extra crafty time for me!

So here's my card for today:

Lots of layers today!  I was inspired to go beachy by the Just Add Ink challenge:

I read the colors as Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry (I think it's closer to Darling Duckling or the retired So Saffron, but the patterned paper I wanted to use has Crushed Curry so that's what I went with), Crumb Cake, Pool Party, and Lost Lagoon.  And I got all my layers from the Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I have TEN layers on my card since each panel has a mat around it.  I'll have to weigh it before I mail it out to make sure it doesn't require extra postage.

Daphne is napping adorably in her chair instead of poking me with her nose, so I think I'm going to make a second cuppa tea for myself before I take her for a walk in the snow.  She'll be excited about that, our little Colorado doggo loves playing in the snow.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, Four You
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Lost Lagoon
Paper:  Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Thick Basic White, Inked Botanicals DSP Stack, Crumb Cake DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Faux Glass Dots

Floral Inspiration for SUO Challenges

Mornin' y'all!  It's time for a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

And today we have a very pretty inspo pic for you:

So here's what I made:

I especially liked the pretty pink flowers on the right side of the inspiration pic, so that's my jumping off point.  I combined a die cut flower from Pretty Florals with die cut leaves from Nature's Symphony, it's one big leafy die but I cut it apart to make the leaves go where I wanted them to for my Artistic Vision (hee).  I used a blending brush to apply Mossy Meadow ink because I didn't want the leaves to be so dark that they overwhelmed the delicate pink flower.  The brick wall embossing folder would have been perfect for a background here but I don't have it, so I used a texture stamp from Nature's Symphony in Smoky Slate ink on my card base.  I chose a Valentine greeting from Bee My Valentine (I think that's still current?  I can't keep track anymore) and done!

Check out the SUO Challenges blog to see more inspiration from the design team, and then upload your own card there.  Don't forget to keep it to only Stampin' Up! products, but retired products are totally allowed.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nature's Symphony, Bee My Valentine
Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Mossy Meadow, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Pretty Florals dies, Nature's Symphony dies, Dimensionals, In Color Flat Pearls

Just a Rose

Mornin' y'all!  I started out strong this morning with a workout and running errands, and now it's 10:30 in the morning and I'm running out of steam.  And apparently poor Daphne has an upset tummy, but maybe a walk will make both of us feel better.

Anyway, once again I have chosen some long-retired stamps to play with instead of breaking in the new ones, but here we go:

We're feeling pink today because of the Inspired By... Challenge:

I looked through my entire stamp collection--twice--and just couldn't settle on anything related to hot chocolate or ice cream to go with this inspo pic, and then I settled on the giant rose from Fifth Avenue Floral because the petals remind me of the swirls in the whipped cream in the picture.

And since I'm using retro stamps, I'm entering this at Retro Rubber:

From some Google snooping, I think both the stamp sets I used today date back to 2013, so they're quite retro at 13 years old now.  I saw other Google hits dating to 2016, so they're *at least* ten years old.  Anyway, for the main flower image, I stamped it in Versamark + Early Espresso, heat embossed with clear powder, and then added some shading with Pretty in Pink (because the Pink Pirouette ink didn't show up enough on the Pink Pirouette cardstock).  A quick snippy-snip and a layer of old DSP, and here's a pretty pink rose card to send out to a friend.

Time for me to take Daphne out for her walk, she's a little extra stir-crazy because we didn't go yesterday so she deserves to go today.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Fifth Avenue Floral, A Dozen Thoughts
Ink:  Versamark, Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink
Paper:  Basic Beige, Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette DSP
Accessories:  Clear EP, Dimensionals, In Color Flat Pearls

A Lovely Challenge from The Paper Players

Happy Sunday, y'all!  I think you're going to LOVE Claire's new challenge from The Paper Players, ha!

Now, my hubs' birthday is ON Valentine's Day, and our kiddo's birthday is the day after--even Daphne our dog has a birthday a little later in February!  The hubs would be perfectly happy to ignore his birthday altogether but I can't let him do that.  Anyway, when I saw this challenge graphic, the first thing that popped into my head was the world's most famous (probably) skunk in the history of ever, Pepe Le Pew.  Here's what I made:

Okay, I may not have Looney Toons stamps, but I do have a Valentine skunk!  The stamp set I used, Hey Love, has been retired for quite a while, and I bought it a few years ago but this is the first time I've ever inked it up.  The "stinkin' sweet" is one stamp and I masked off "valentine" from another one to make my greeting here.  Then I just played around with parts and pieces from the Love Notes DSP stack until I came up with this.  The two parts of the background are actually just printed that way on the paper, I cut off a bit from the sides and the top until I got the pink pattern the width I wanted it.  The purple polka dots and the two hearts with the arrow are from other patterns in the stack.

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!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hey Love
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Highland Heather, Flirty Flamingo, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Flirty Flamingo, Thick Basic White, Love Notes DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Pastel Pearls