Happy August and welcome to the Nancy Drew Challenge! Today we are on the sixtieth book in the series, The Greek Symbol Mystery:
I still don't like Nancy's hair and face on the arch covers (no shade to Ruth Sanderson, the artist, and the charcoal illustrations inside the book are quite nice) but I do like the background of ruins and Nancy's outfit is pretty good.
We get Nancy, Bess, and George all together on the first checkerboard cover and for once the outfits aren't bad at all. Actually all three books have pretty good outfits, which is a contrast to last week's mystery.
I think the one on the right is my favorite though, I like the purple and green color combination, Nancy's facial expression, and it feels more active than the other two covers which are rather static. And I'm pretty sure I have a button-down shirt in a very similar color to what Nancy's wearing on this one (even though it's George who discovers the snake in the book).
Case file: Not sure why Nancy bothered to go home to River Heights after her mystery in Belgium because she's right back in Europe, this time in Greece. Maybe she did it for the frequent flyer miles. Anyway, she's tracking down a missing person, investigating a possibly fraudulent charity, trailing some art thieves, and running afoul of the local law enforcement (which might be a first, usually the cops are falling over themselves to help her with anything she wants). And in the end someone names a yacht after her, which is a questionable decision given how many boating accidents she's had.
Here's my card for the arch cover:
I had to ponder this card longer than the other two for this book, the colors on the arch cover don't really say "ancient ruins" to me but I think I made it work here. I used More Mustard, Bermuda Bay, and Pretty Peacock; since I don't have More Mustard ribbon (and I really thought I did), I used some Hello Honey ribbon which I thought worked well with the So Saffron in the patterned paper and the card base.
I will say that even though the Winged Victory statue *is* Greek (or is it a Roman copy? I can't remember), I associate it with France since it's on display at the Louvre (and I've seen it). The Winged Victory stamp actually says Greece on it though so I started with that and used several other travel-related stamp sets to make a collage.
Supplies, all SU!
Stamps: Travels Abroad, World Wonders, Travel Post, Next Destination
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Pretty Peacock
Paper: More Mustard, Pretty Peacock, Very Vanilla, Cupcakes & Carousels DSP Stack
Accessories: Everyday Arches dies, Hello Honey Stitched Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals
And here we go for cover #2:
I had to ink up Sweet November's Mini Medusa for this one! In the first chapter, Nancy tells her friends, "Last night Hannah dreamed that we'd be greeted at Athens airport by gorgons--monsters with snakes for hair!" and then George says that was probably because Hannah had an appointment to have her hair permed. I adore this Medusa stamp so I was delighted to use it for this one.
For my colors, I used Shaded Spruce, Azure Afternoon, Golden Glow, and Crisp Cantaloupe to coordinate with the book cover. Doozy's skin is Crisp Cantaloupe and I did wonder if that looked okay, but the hubs said he liked it so I kept it that way. I had fun coloring in Doozy's snek friends.
Supplies:
Stamps: Mini Medusa from Sweet November, My Paper Pumpkin greeting
Ink: Night of Navy, Shaded Spruce, Stampin' Blends in Shaded Spruce, Golden Glow, Crisp Cantaloupe, Azure Afternoon
Paper: Shaded Spruce, Basic White, Venetian Romance DSP, Bloom Impressions DSP
Accessories: Everyday Arches dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, In Color Dots
And speaking of snakes, here's my card for the third cover:
I never thought I'd be saying "Oh how CUTE" about a snek image but here we are. For a wonder, I did *not* buy the Animal Notes stamp set from C.C. Designs specifically for this challenge, I got it because it's got a dozen super cute rolly-polly animals and the snake happened to be one of them. Then I perused my Halloween stamp sets for my greeting and it makes me laugh because I am a giant nerd.
I think this cover is the hardest of the three to find; I would like to get one that's in better condition, but I have yet to find one despite being on the hunt for over a year. At least I have this book even if it is a bit distressed. I remember this cover especially because it's the one my library had when I was a kid.
Supplies:
Stamps: Animal Notes from C.C. Designs, Scary Cute
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Granny Apple Green & Bubble Bath
Paper: Petunia Pop, Gable Green, Granny Apple Green, Basic White, Cute As Can Bee DSP
Accessories: Everyday Details dies, Dimensionals, Petunia Pop Iridescent Ribbon
When I first read this book as a wee young lass, I never guessed that one day I'd get to go to Greece too; the girls visit Athens, Piraeus, and Corfu, and I've been to all three of those plus several other places like Santorini and Olympia. Also I have cousins who are half Greek so this book was extra interesting to me for that reason. Usually I like the travelogue books, but this one feels like they skipped a chapter at the beginning--the missing persons case isn't explained at all, we just find out about it in dribs and drabs through the book and most of what happens doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I do like the Greek setting though and the covers are all good so I'm giving it one and a half stars. If you make a card based on the book, leave me a comment as I'd love to see how it inspires you! I'll see you next week when Nancy finds The Swami's Ring.
