The Idyllic Ionian Sea

Hello everyone, I'm back after my wonderful holiday. Thanks to those of you who played along with guessing my destination. I had fun reading your guesses. People got very warm with the suggestions of various Greek Islands...it was none other that Kephalonia. We left Gatwick last week in the middle of the torrential rain in the UK and landed at Kephalonia to a temperature of 34c in the shade. It was such bliss to see clear blue skies and the Idyllic Ionian Sea. The colours of this sea are just exquisite;  so many wonderful shades of blue and turquoise.

Mirtos Beach

Agia Efimia

View from our hotel.

 Our hotel was just across the road from the sea and every morning we walked down this path to the dining room and sat gazing out across the Idyllic Ionian sea. It really was the best start to every day. The sun shone from dawn to dusk and the sky was the most exquisite azure.

I am not usually a Beach Girl but I make exceptions when beaches are this good. My top photo above  is Mirtos Beach. We drove past this on our way up to the North of the Island and I took the shot from the side of the winding mountain road. I'm not great with heights so I hung on to my Hb whilst I took the photo... the things a girl does to get a good photo ;0)

On the right is Skala beach where we were staying. It is a shingle beach but sandy once you get out in the water.

We hired a car and during our travels we came across more gorgeous sandy beaches...

Above is Kaminia Beach which was our favourite. This was a pure sandy beach and is one of the beaches where the Loggerhead Turtles come up on and lay their eggs (more about turtles in my next post). This beach had such a gentle incline that you could walk out for a long way and still only be knee deep in warm blue seawater. There were also some sweet shells to be found if you looked hard. I am such a little girl at heart and I still get such a thrill searching for shells.

I didn't realise my Hb had sneaked up and taken this shot. I was miles away in shell heaven. I am one of those people who can never really laze on a beach I need to be occupied...

..even if that means reading a good book or two ;0)

or investigating what was lying amongst  the rocks.

and this was the beach right opposite our hotel. So many gorgeous shades of blue, it's not surprising really that blue is my favourite colour.

I think this photo sums up just how relaxing our holiday was. My husband is sitting on "his" rock, allowing the sea to sooth and the sun to warm him. We really did need our break away and we have come back with our batteries recharged ready and looking forward to all the excitement of next month. If you will indulge me I have 2 more holiday posts planned, one on the turtles and one on Fiscardo, the only part of Kephalonia which survived the 1953 earthquake. I shall share some more photos in the coming days.

Meanwhile all these wonderful shades of blue inspired my card for today and I also wanted to use my sweet little shells that I had found on Kaminia Beach.

I also love the concept and image of a mermaid so I decided to combine these 3 elements for my card. Here she is,

She is a gorgeous digital stamp by Sylvia Zet called Goldie and I have coloured her with my Promarker pens and highlighted with my Prismacolor pencils.

I used some Dimensional Magic to add depth to the bubbles and make them seem real. The paper are from Nitwits and yes, you may have spotted that 2 of the sweet shells I found on Kaminia Beach have also made an appearance.

I LOVE this stamp and I can see me using her lots over the summer. I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

Totally Gorjuss #136 holiday
Make it Monday Linky party #94
The House that stamps built Head for the beach
The Paper Shelter The great outdoors
Scrapalicious USA Summertime
Ladybug Crafts Ink Double Trouble my "double" are 2 of my very precious sea shells.
4 Crafty Chicks By the sea
Charizma Card Challenges Summer
Cute Card Thursday Here comes summer #222
The early rain we had here has passed over now and it looks like the sun is peeping through again. I go back to work tomorrow for the first time since our holiday...and it's Friday so it is a really short week for me. Thank you for all your visits and a big hello to my recent new followers, you are all so welcome. I love to read the comments that you take the time to leave me. I am glad you all liked the bridesmaids sneak peek I shared with you in my last post. It is now only 5 weeks (gulp) until Milly and Tom's Big Day. She has her 2nd dress fitting this Saturday so we should see the dress in all it's glory. I can't wait. Enjoy the weekend when we get there and I will be back soon. 

Bye for now,

Jane x