The Spider Sapphire Mystery

Mornin' y'all and welcome to this week's Nancy Drew Challenge!  We are on #45, The Spider Sapphire Mystery:

I think all my covers are by Rudy Nappy from here until we hit paperbacks.  I like Nancy's signature flippy 'do and her top here, quite a lovely color with her hair color, and despite having "spider" in the name of the book and large and in charge in the cover art, this one is much less spider-tastic than The Secret in the Old Attic.  Anyway, this is my childhood copy and I don't think it's supposed to have that splotch below Nancy's eye, I used to read a lot in the bathtub as a kid and I think some of my books show evidence of that.

Case file:  Nancy and the Drew Crew are planning to go on safari to Africa, and at the same time, she's helping her father with a case where a maker of synthetic gems is accused of stealing a natural sapphire with a spider trapped in it (I know spiders could be trapped in amber, but can sapphires work that way?).  Nancy has to locate a kidnapped Ned before they can go on safari, and in Africa she's tasked with tracking down a man who may or may not have been eaten by lions, she's very busy.  Of course the kidnappers are also behind the gem theft and Nancy catches them like Pokémon (I am guessing here, I've never played Pokémon) and reunites the safari missing man with his sister after she cures his amnesia.

Here's my card:

I thought I'd go for a pretty literal interpretation of the cover art here and I was quite chuffed to find that pattern in the Perennial Essence DSP that incorporates the colors of the book cover.  I made my own spider sapphire by stamping the spider on Azure Afternoon cardstock and then covering the whole piece with clear embossing powder.

I couldn't figure out what greeting would go well on this card so I elected to leave it as is.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  From the Crypt
Ink:  Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, So Saffron, Azure Afternoon, Perennial Essence DSP
Accessories:  Clear EP, Ornate Frames dies, Moody Palette Glossy Dots, Dimensionals

But wait, there's more!  I made a second card:

There are some pretty goofy parts in this book, like the man who has lion-induced amnesia, when George gets snatched by a man wearing a baboon costume, and a real baboon steals the wig off a snobbish girl on safari with the Drew Crew but Bess gives her a makeover and magically makes over the snob's personality too (which I believe because Bess is magic and I would want to be friends with her).  Anyway, I thought I'd play with the more whimsical parts of this book and got out this smug lion from Inspiration Squad.

Still kept to the colors on the book cover, this time with more yellow.  That lion just looks so satisfied with himself, doesn't he?

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiration Squad
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Daffodil Delight, Peach Pie, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Azure Afternoon, Daffodil Delight, Thick Basic White, Cute As Can Bee DSP, Bee Mine DSP
Accessories:  Everyday Details dies, Layering Circles dies, Nested Essentials dies, Fine Sparkle Gems, Dimensionals

I tend to like the travelogue-style Drews and this one has some fun silly bits, but it does also have some portrayals of people of African and Indian descent that are negative or just disrespectful by today's standards, as Averie said in her True Drew podcast that I listened to earlier this week.  I'm going to give it three stars just because I do like the super silly bits.  If you're inspired to make a card, please leave me a comment, and we'll see you back here next week when Nancy searches for The Invisible Intruder.