The Clue of the Velvet Mask

Happy Saturday and Nancy Drew Challenge day!  Today we are investigating the Clue of the Velvet Mask, Nancy's 30th adventure.

So we have Nancy in fancy dress on the left (OT version), watching a nefarious man in a cape scale a trellis and it's fun.  Lots of color, a nice scene that happens at the beginning of the book, the title and author are nice and big so you know what you're reading, very nice cover by Rudy Nappi.

On the right (RT version), we have Nancy carrying a fancy dress/shawl/thing and looking apprehensive while a masked someone stares at her, and this masked figure is simultaneously silly and also creepy.  It's the eyes.  This cover is also by Rudy Nappi, but I gotta give it to the OT cover this time because the eyeballs on the RT cover are too creep-silly.

Let's take a look at the case.

Case file:  Nancy investigates a series of brazen robberies at every rich people party in River Heights over the course of several weeks, attending masquerades and academic lectures and wedding receptions, oh my.  While helping Nancy on the case, George gets kidnapped and ends up with PTSD so she becomes more fearful than Bess for most of the book, until Nancy and Bess are captured and George steps up to help save them.  Also Ned helps out with this case mostly by being a brawler.  Being friends with Nancy is dangerous.

Here's my card:

George was abducted off a train while pretending to be Nancy, and as I don't have any stamps that go with the Spanish lady fancy dress that Nancy is wearing on the front cover, I decided to go with the train for this one.  I paired it with the Attic Boutique DSP for some nice vintage imagery because it seemed to fit with the train image and the pattern is Poppy Parade to match Nancy's costume.

I gently added a bit of yellow and green around the train to echo the colors around the party scene on the cover, and also to make that panel less stark white on my card.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Greatest Adventure
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black, Thick Basic White, Attic Boutique DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Black Rhinestones

Now on to the RT and Mr. Creepy Eyes:

No significant changes to the story, and we're approaching the end of the revised texts; after #34, we only have one version of each story.  Anyway, here's my card:

The gang of thieves is using a dilapidated place called the Blue Iris Inn to stash their loot, and since Nancy is wearing her signature blue on this cover, I decided that my card should also feature blue irises.

Mr. Creepy has green eyes, and I needed a green for the iris stems so that's why I have a lot of green on my card (plus green is my favorite color); even though I didn't use any reddish colors, I found some old Wild Wasabi DSP in a pattern that is kinda reminiscent of the lace thingy that Nancy is holding.  And I found a painted-style pattern for the background that's a pretty good match for the background on the book cover, even though I ended up covering most of it with the other card elements.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiring Iris
Ink:  Pebbled Path, Balmy Blue, Wild Wasabi
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Thick Basic White, Fresh as a Daisy DSP, Wild Wasabi DSP
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals, In Color Opaque Sparkle Dots

I give this one three and a half stars, it's fine but not one of my favorites.  I will say that I vividly remember George being incapacitated and saying the bad guys' threats were burned into her brain--I remember the wording of that from when I read this one as a kid so at least that part stuck with me for years.  I am now thirty books in (well, sixty really since they all have original and revised versions to this point), and I am still having lots of fun with this series : )  If you would like to play along, it's as easy as leaving a comment here with a link to where I can see what you make and I hope you have fun too.  Stay tuned next time when we uncover The Ringmaster's Secret.