The Elusive Heiress

Happy Saturday and Nancy Drew Challenge day!  Today we are on Nancy's 68th adventure, The Elusive Heiress:

Okay, we've got some fun action happening on the arch cover with Nancy in fancy dress and firecrackers scaring some horses, which does happen in the book but Nancy is inside the stagecoach rather than watching from afar.  The one on the right is the cover I grew up with; I like the composition of it but I don't think it tells us much about the mystery at hand since it's just a broken window.  I think this Nancy looks like Erica Durance as Lois Lane on the show Smallville (she's my favorite Lois Lane), but maybe that's because I've been rewatching Smallville lately.

Case file:  Nancy is tasked with tracking down the daughter of an aging millionaire; said daughter ran off 30 years ago to marry a man her father didn't approve of (good for her, the millionaire sounds like a butt).  Nancy and Ned travel to Cheyenne, Wyoming, while Carson follows a lead to Canada.  En route to Cheyenne, Nancy is asked to watch after a little girl named Jennifer who is on her way to meet her mother, but the mother doesn't show at the airport and so now Nancy has two missing persons to find.  And also there's a rodeo which is a lot of fun.

Here's my first card:

Nancy and Ned are staying with an old friend of Nancy's mother while they're in Cheyenne, and the local police are so busy with the big rodeo that Jennifer stays with them too because Child Protective Services isn't a thing in the Drew-niverse.  Ned and Nancy play pretend parents and take Jennifer to various rodeo activities, including a carnival one night so I made a card with Carnival Treats.

My colors are Poppy Parade, Pacific Point, and So Saffron; I initially had thought to do something with firecrackers instead but for some reason this is the card that came out.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Carnival Treats, July Fourth, Super Cool
Ink:  Poppy Parade, Pacific Point, So Saffron, Versamark
Paper:  Poppy Parade, Pacific Point, So Saffron, Basic White
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, white EP, Dimensionals

I actually made a second card for this cover:

Ned and Jennifer go ride a Ferris wheel while Nancy gets assaulted at the carnival and is left unconscious under the bleachers, which is a normal day in the life of Nancy Drew and I'm glad I was not a teen detective.

I swapped the So Saffron for Basic Beige on this card and kept the design simple.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Feeling Sentimental
Ink:  Poppy Parade, Pacific Point
Paper:  Poppy Parade, Basic Beige, Blueberry Crisp DSP
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, Not Quite Navy taffeta ribbon, Dimensionals

On to the second cover:

The book is set at Cheyenne's Frontier Days rodeo so I had to have a cowboy card!  I actually had to stamp the horse and cowboy three times before I found the look I wanted.  I think every time I've used this stamp set (Out West), I've used just this image so this time I decided to incorporate the horseshoe and made my own border.  Then I decided that there was too much space under the horseshoes so I tore off the edge of the card front and backed it with some Rococo Rose gingham.

My colors are Island Indigo, Rococo Rose, and Pecan Pie for this go-round.  There is a variation of this cover but the only difference is the colors on the title block; the artwork is the same so I never bothered to track down the variant.  I've had this copy for at least a couple of decades.  I wanted to make another card for this cover but I ran out of time.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Out West, Rough Edges Alphabet
Ink:  Early Espresso, Pecan Pie, Island Indigo, Rococo Rose, Versamark
Paper:  Island Indigo, Very Vanilla, Rococo Rose DSP
Accessories:  Deckled Circles dies, Dimensionals, clear EP

Oddly, I had absolutely no memories of this story when I picked it up this time and usually I remember at least *something* about the books that have to do with horses even tangentially.  Maybe it's because the artwork on my childhood copy is horse-free?  At any rate, I really enjoyed it this time around though I think that people could have looked harder for the titular heiress thirty years ago because Nancy seems to track her down pretty fast.  I had a great time reading this one so I'm giving it four and a half stars.  If you're inspired to make a card by either the book covers or the story, leave me a comment below!  And I'll see you next Saturday when Nancy searches for The Clue in the Ancient Disguise.

Red, White, & Birthday

From my blog post title, you can tell I am Team Oxford Comma ; )  I thought I wasn't going to have a card to share today--I started something yesterday and it ended up in the bin and then I was so busy this morning while Ryan was at farm camp that I didn't even get into my craft room at all until after lunchtime so here we are at 3:30 in the afternoon and I just finally made something and here it is:

I had to add the gold embellishments because I dropped a stamp on the card front as I was cleaning it and it made a little mark on the top of the card.  The recipient will never know that, but now you do!

Today is my mom's birthday so happy birthday, Ma!  My sister's birthday is a few days from now and my dad's birthday (and his twin's, obviously) are later this month, so a Fourth of July themed birthday card is always a good idea in my family.  Which works out nicely for the current Retro Rubber Challenge:

July Fourth is the stamp set with the fireworks and stars, and it is now 15 years old; the birthday greeting is the single stamp Birthday Wish which is at least 10 years old, so all my stamps today are very retro.  I used the sketch from Atlantic Hearts:

And the red, white, and blue color challenge from Shopping Our Stash.  I already sent out birthday cards to my mom and Adrienne (trying so hard to get them out on time, something new and different for me), so this will either go to my dad this year (though I already had a different card picked out) or else it will go in my birthday card file for next year.

So now let's hope I have worked through my creative block and that I can go make something else while Ryan is playing with his friends.  I hate it when I don't have much time to craft and then when I do finally get in my craft room that I just can't get anything done that I like, does that ever happen to any of you?  I've been having a block for a while now where it just feels like a lot more work than usual to come up with something that I like, not sure what the deal is.  But anyway, that's it for me today.  I'm going to go back up to my craft room while I can : )  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  July Fourth, Birthday Wish
Ink:  Blueberry Bushel, Real Red
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Blueberry Bushel, Real Red DSP scraps
Accessories:  Layering Circles dies, Dimensionals, Gold Starbursts

Stars & Stripes Forever

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Ryan and I are very excited that it's July--today we'll have our FINAL monthly ice cream date and we can count down the days until our reunion with the hubs on ONE HAND.  So today's layout is a celebration too!

We were allowed to have fireworks at our house in North Carolina, so the hubs bought some and we had a little fireworks show in our driveway in 2020.  This time the hubs gave Ryan some headphones to cut down on the noise so he wasn't scared like he had been the year before--he loved it!  And I had fun choosing fireworks and stars images for this layout.

Today's patriotic palette:  Real Red, Pool Party, Blueberry Bushel, Night of Navy, and Whisper White.

Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Red White & Blue, July Fourth, Simply Stars, Christmas Star
Ink:  Real Red, Blueberry Bushel, Night of Navy marker
Paper:  Real Red, Blueberry Bushel, Pool Party, Night of Navy, Thick Basic White, Pool Party DSP
Accessories:  Large Star punch, circle punches

Baby Luke: July

Happy Saturday, y'all!  Once again the hubs was nice enough to let me sleep in this morning :) Hope we have a nice relaxing weekend.

Ready for another baby book layout?  It's a classic.

For reals, I've used that Whipper Snapper bear on more than a couple baby book layouts.  He's just perfect for 4th of July and who doesn't like a teddy bear?

Today's color palette is red, white, and blue with a little spin:  Real Red, Pacific Point photo mats, Bermuda Bay DSP, and Daffodil Delight accents.

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  July Fourth, Patriotic Bear from Whipper Snapper
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Bermuda Bay, Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy, Pool Party
Paper:  Real Red, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Thick Whisper White, Bubbles & Fizz DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix letters, star punches

Happy 4th 2010

Scrappy Monday y'all!  I didn't get quite as much done this weekend as I might have liked, but I'm still up to 160 pages done for this year so I'm pretty pleased with that.  And since the 4th of July is on Saturday, I thought I'd share a layout from another 4th of July!

I love that Happiness Blooms DSP!  I had fun using some very bright colors on this layout.  Maybe not your typical red-white-blue, but still fun.  I think this is the first time I've used Lovely Lipstick as a page base and I loved it here.

Today's nontraditional color palette:  Lovely Lipstick, Pink Passion (that's been retired a loooooong time!), Call Me Clover, Tempting Turquoise, Night of Navy, and Whisper White.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Tall Tales Alphabet, Tall Tales Numbers, Happy Everything, July Fourth, Best Yet
Ink:  Night of Navy, Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise, Versamark
Paper:  Lovely Lipstick, Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise, Thick Whisper White, Happiness Blooms DSP
Accessories:  Tempting Turquoise embossing powder

Birthday Fireworks

Mornin', y'all!  As I promised yesterday, I'm back with another birthday card:

My mom's birthday is July 2, and she loves everything red, white & blue or stars & stripes, so this card is for her.  I used a couple of long-retired stamp sets to make this, but I'll get to that in a minute.  First up, I used the sketch from the Paper Players:

Fun and easy peasy!  I'm also entering this at Retro Rubber:

I've had July Fourth (the fireworks stamp set) since 2010, and Bring on the Cake (the sentiment) since 2011, so both are quite retro :)  I used newer colors though, Blueberry Bushel, Balmy Blue, and Poppy Parade for my patriotic colors.  And some gold sequins just because.

Hope you have a great day, y'all!  I have a toddler to run after.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU! (some retired)
Stamps:  July Fourth, Bring on the Cake
Ink:  Blueberry Bushel, Balmy Blue, Poppy Parade
Paper:  Blueberry Bushel, Balmy Blue, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  metallic sequins, Dimensionals

July 4th

Happy Fourth of July, y'all!  I thought today would be the perfect day to share this layout:

This is from 2009 (see pictures here) when we were in Japan.  How about a closeup of the title:

The Big Deal Alphabet doesn't have numbers to go with it, but I figured the Tall Tales Numbers for the 4 would be close enough in style, even if it's a bit skinnier.  Then I stamped the star trio from July Fourth all around my stamped "July 4th".

Today's color palette:  Whisper White, Pacific Point, Real Red (because of course it was red, white & blue!) and Summer Sun for some fireworks and stars.

Have a safe and happy holiday, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Big Deal Alphabet, Tall Tales Numbers, July Fourth
Ink:  Pacific Point, Real Red, Summer Sun, Basic Black marker
Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red, Pacific Point DSP
Accessories:  1 3/8" circle punch, Layering Circles Framelits

Bear Book: July

I was so busy going to see Rogue One twice in two days that I forgot to get this post up yesterday!  :) So Baby Book Saturday is Baby Book Sunday this week.  And while we've been having wintry weather lately, today's layout is all about summer:

Okay so it's a lot of blues but it's for the 4th of July.

I've had this patriotic bear stamp for years and I still love him, he's adorable.  And I discovered that the way the star is designed on the retired large star punch is a little different than the star Framelits, but I liked the effect.

And there's a decoration for the journaling block.  I think I shoulda done the firecracker in red instead.

Today's color palette:  Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Summer Sun, and Whisper White.  I'm off to my craft room to go work on some projects, so cheers y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Patriotic Bear from Whipper Snapper, Simply Stars, July Fourth
Ink:  Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise
Paper:  Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, Thick Whisper White, Real Red DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix alphabet, large star punch, Stars Framelits, Prismacolor Pencils

Friday Flashback: Starburst Sayings

Happy Friday!  It is time once more for the Friday Flashback, and today's featured stamp set is Starburst Sayings, which seems kinda appropriate to kick off the 4th of July weekend.  So let's take a whirl through the archives, and if all you want to see is today's new card then scroll to the bottom :)

Also features World Map

Starting off with this lovely map card.  I wish that SU! had done some more stamp sets (or even just one more!) to coordinate with the Starburst dies before they retired them all, but oh well.

Also features Perfectly Penned

That little starburst stamp on the left is covering up a booboo on the embossing powder at the bottom of the H :)

Also features Something to Say

Ahh, my favorite stamp from this set.  What's not to love about a giant Happy Day stamp!

Though apparently that little starburst stamp is the runner-up for favorite stamp from Starburst Sayings.

Works on any color combination!

And lots of different card layouts.

Also features Alphabet Rotary, Gorgeous Grunge, Positively Chevron

This is quite possibly my favorite card in the history of ever.  The inside says "You know the rest!" and I sent it to my dad :D

Also features Wood You Be Mine?

And here's a little lumberjack thank you card.

Also features Too Kind, My Paper Pumpkin (tiny chevron stamp)

Last one, another brightly-colored thank you card.  Now for today's new creation!

My SIL's birthday is on July 5th, so I'm going to send this out to her ASAP for her birthday.  Hey, it looks like this is the first time I used the little celebrate stamp so woohoo for me!  The fireworks and star stamps are from a stamp set called July Fourth.

And I stamped on the inside of the card too.  My patriotic color combo is courtesy of Fab Friday:

And of course I re-used the Freshly Made Sketch that I used yesterday:

And that's it for today.  See you back here tomorrow for another baby book layout :)

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Starburst Sayings, July Fourth, Happy Happenings
Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Night of Navy, Real Red
Paper:  Temping Turquoise, Night of Navy, Pacific Point, Shimmery White, Whisper White (just for the inside)
Accessories:  Starburst Framelits, Dimensionals

A-Team Baby Book: July

Yet another rainy Saturday morning, y'all!  So I've got some sunny baby book pages for you.

My mom, dad, *and* SIL all have birthdays in July, two of them very close to the 4th so of course I buy all the Independence Day stamps that SU! makes.

Yay fireworks!

And also stars!

Today's super-bright color palette is Real Red, Crushed Curry, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, and Whisper White, but this was actually my second attempt.  Here's the first one:

Soft Sky, you disappoint me.  I wish I hadn't glued everything down before I decided I didn't like the color combination--it seemed too dark for a baby book, and that Soft Sky is like the slightly blue version of dirty dishwater.  Urgh.  Hence the re-do.

That's it for me today, y'all.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  July Fourth, Red White & Blue, Be the Star
Ink:  Real Red, Pacific Point, Crushed Curry, Tempting Turquoise
Paper:  Real Red, Pacific Point, Crushed Curry, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise DSP
Accessories:  Chalk Talk Framelits, circle & scalloped circle punches, Sizzix alphabet

Friday Flashback: Simply Stars

Happy Friday, peeps!  I hope lots of you have this Friday off to make for a long Independence Day holiday weekend.  Today's Friday Flashback is themed appropriately:  I grabbed a whole handful of stamp set names for the next 20 Flashbacks or so, and I was happy that Simply Stars was one of them so we get to be starrily festive today!  My sister-in-law and both my parents have July birthdays, and they all love stars and stripes, so this just worked out all around :D  Let's get started!

Also features Perfectly Penned

Uh, you know you're going to see a whole lot of red, white, and blue today.

Also features July Fourth

And some turquoise!  Because fun.  This was a layout from the last set of baby books I made, which was two years ago.  I'm about to start another set, which is also for twin boys.

Also features Perfect Pennants

 I love bright orange and blue together :)

Also features Banner Greetings

Pretty sure this was for a sketch, and I like using the negative shape from the circle Framelit so the patterned paper peeks out.  I should do that more often.

Also features Words of Courage

One more stars and stripes card...

Also features Perfect Pennants, Positively Chevron

And last (and probably also least), this one that has way too much Soft Sky.  I dunno, Soft Sky just kinda looks dirty to me sometimes.  So are you ready for today's new creation?  Here it is!

Now I just need to decide which of my July birthdays gets this card, I think it would work for all three of them :)  Oh, see the striped paper?  Originally it was horizontal stripes (or vertical, depending on how you hold the paper) but I wanted angled stripes, so I did a little creative paper trimming.  Just what I was looking for!

I used this week's monochromatic color combo from Colour Me...!

And I used last Saturday's Retro Sketch:

Though of course I replaced the bow on the sketch with my star element.  Oops, I just noticed that the ribbon was supposed to extend to the edges of the card.  Too late now...

That's it for me this week, peeps.  Have a wonderful holiday!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Simply Stars, Word Play
Ink:  Real Red, Early Espresso, Tip Top Taupe
Paper:  Real Red, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Cherry on Top DSP Stack (what?  It's the only current DSP I have)
Accessories:  large star punch (retired), Early Espresso taffeta ribbon (retired), rhinestone, Dimensionals