The Hidden Staircase

Okay y'all, I cannot even tell you how much fun I am having with my Nancy Drew challenge.  I just started reading #18 yesterday and I've done cards up through #8 and I am seriously having THE BEST TIME EVER.  I was having a ball just rereading the books, but making the cards for them is even more fun.  Also I have been scouring the Internet looking for some of the later paperbacks in alternate covers and the hubs probably wishes I would stop that but I am filling a few holes in my collection and it makes my little dragon heart so happy : )  : ) 
: )  And also I found like four Nancy Drew groups on Facebook so I think it's safe to call this my new obsession.

So let's get to it, shall we?  This week's book is #2, The Hidden Staircase:

Case file:  Nancy's friend Helen Corning invites her to investigate Twin Elms, the Colonial-era estate of Helen's great-grandmother and great-aunt, because strange things are happening and they think it might be haunted. While Nancy's off snooping around Twin Elms and the neighboring estate, her dad is working on a different case (the type of law that Carson practices seems to change based on the needs of any given book, this case has to do with a railroad company buying properties) and when on his way to visit Nancy he gets kidnapped.  Nancy never stops sleuthing even with her father missing and discovers a whole slew of hidden passageways (and, of course, the titular staircase) connecting the two neighboring estates.  Eventually she figures out that the "ghost" is really a couple of men trying to scare the little old ladies into selling their estate for a low-ball price, and the ringleader is also the guy who's causing trouble in Carson's case who tried to run Carson and Nancy over with a truck and later kidnapped Carson.  No big deal, just actual attempted murder.  Nancy rescues dear old Dad after speaking sternly to the lesser of the bad guys, the little old ladies are happy the ghost is gone, and Nancy's already wishing for her next case.

Notes:  This isn't just a haunted house mystery (which would be fun on its own), it's a haunted mansion!  We have furniture that moves on its own, a chandelier that rocks back and forth, mysterious music coming from empty rooms, and a scary dude in a gorilla mask who makes Helen scream, and that's all before Nancy figures out how to get into the secret passages.  It's kind of fun because there are plausible explanations in the book as to why there would be so many secret passages in a historical context--not sure if that's for realsies, but I hope so because secret passages are just so danged cool.  (I want secret passages in my house, can you tell?)  Nancy and Helen also play dress-up with some old clothes they find in the attic and that sounds like fun to me too.  My copy of The Hidden Staircase is much newer and in better condition than The Secret of the Old Clock, but oddly it has a printing error--about 20 pages from the middle of the book are printed upside down at the very back.  Just a quirk of my collection, I suppose.  Also, the cover of this book seems to be the one that is used for other Nancy Drew paraphernalia; for example, I have a teeny pocket book called the Nancy Drew Guide to Life and it has this same illustration on it.  Five stars.

So here's my card for The Hidden Staircase:

Yes, I own Nancy Drew stamps!!  I found them at a stamp store in Texas probably over 15 years ago and there was no manufacturer's name on them; I think it was just a rubber sheet and I cut them out and mounted them on foam.  An exhaustive five seconds of Googling revealed no information at all regarding a manufacturer (I got no results at all for Nancy Drew rubber stamps) but I just had to break them out for my Hidden Staircase card.

I chose DSP that echoes the colors on the book cover and simply stamped Nancy on the Balmy Blue pattern that matches her outfit (side note: props to Nancy for wearing sensible shoes to go snooping through tunnels, no high heels for her, just sensible pumps).  I happened to use the same DSP stack as last week, but I like it because the subtle patterns really echo the style of the artwork on the book covers.

I'm having a ball doing this and I hope y'all are enjoying it too.  If you'd like to play along, drop me a comment, I'd love to see what you do!  Up next:  The Bungalow Mystery!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Unknown
Ink:  Pebbled Path
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Pebbled Path, Thick Basic White, Splendid Autumn DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Dots for Days