Fiskardo, my colour inspiration

Thanks for coming back to read the 3rd and final installment of my holiday posts. Whilst on holiday we also made the 2 hour drive up to Fiskardo which is at the most northern tip of Kephalonia. The scenery en route was pretty jaw dropping and again the different shades blue of the sea were stunning. We arrived at the harbour about 10.30am just in time for a cappuccino... with a view.

Now that is not the average view one gets in Cafe Nero, is it? Fiskardo has a large natural harbour where all the yachts come in. There were some pretty rich people there and the prices in Fiskardo matched! We managed to get a seat outside a bar in the shade and sat for a while to watch the world go by. Fiskardo is the only part of the island which survived intact after the 1953 earthquake which destroyed all the villages on the rest of the island. It is lovely to see some of the old Greek buildings there.

Lots of the buildings are brightly painted and shine out in the sunshine.

We enjoyed watching this catamaran come in to land. There is a mixture in the harbour of the jet set and also the very basic fishing boats. All looked beautiful with the harbour as a back drop.

All these wonderful shades of blue have inspired me to make some beach themed jewellery. I have had some beautiful Artisan lampwork beads sitting in my stash for some time and decided to get them out.

At my last silversmithing class on Tuesday I made some silver findings...ready for making pendants and some earrings. On the left here is my work yesterday in my studio when it was so gloriously sunny. I had a WHOLE day in my studio and Billy and I were in beady and card making heaven. I always use Swarovski crystals as they are so sparkly.

Out came my round nosed pliers to form the loop......and....

......here is my new pendant, ready to slip on a chain. I also made up some earrings for myself and some other sea themed pieces.

Here they all are! I really like my hand made earring findings I made for the top pair of earrings (the purple pair are obviously shop bought).

I have put this little fellow into my Etsy shop for sale here  if anyone is interested. It comes on a sterling silver snake chain. *****EDIT 4.7.12 this is now sold
I have listed a new Beach bead pendant here
I also had a chance to make the 3rd in my mermaid series of handmade cards using my Goldie digital stamp by Sylvia Zet.

 The first two I showed you in my other holiday post already have homes. This one will be going up for sale in my Etsy shop here. I do so love this stamp. None other than Sylvia Zet, the designer of this stamp, stopped by my last blog post and admired my last mermaid card! I had written on her blog how much I love this image and was thrilled when came here to have a look and she left me a sweet comment too.

I have coloured her with my Promarkers and highlighted with my Prismacolor pencils. Again I have used Dimensional Magic to make the bubbles "Pop". You will also see that I have used the last pieces of the Nitwits papers I printed out for the other 2 cards. Us card makers never waste a scrap of paper. I have used one of my new Lili of the Valley birthday sentiments and also 2 of their fun new tag stamps. Have you also spotted the sweet little sea horse charm? I love these little creatures and for years I thought they were mythical creatures like mermaids. Even more recently I found out through my dear friend Michele (One of my great American Artists friends - or should I call them the AA??) that Sea "Dragons" are real...my picture hangs in my Studio and smiles down on me as I work. I really thought that they were down there with the mermaids ;0)


I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

Totally Papercraft Use a digi image
Joanna Sheen Summer Daze
Emerald Faeries challenge  Birthdays #25
Divas by Design Tag you're in it #41
My Mum's Craft shop Favourite stamp #63 Goldie is my favourite ever stamp!
Scrapbook Sisters Anything Goes #90
I love Promarkers Anything Goes #123
Creative Inspirations Anything Goes #169
Party Time Tuesdays Anything Goes #74
Charisma Cardz Anything Goes #25


Yesterday was the most glorious day here and if I dare say it, rather too hot. I had one of those glorious all day at home days. They are a  rarity and I savour them. It reached 29c in my garden by late afternoon. I  quickly mowed my lawn and tidied my front and back garden before it got too hot in the morning . I then sat and created my jewellery and cards in my studio (bliss) and all the time someone watched me out of the corner of their eye......

Yes, my darling Billy. He loves the veranda of my studio where he can keep an eye on me inside and on his sunny garden. It is a cool spot for a hot cat with lots of fur.  He prefers this mat to his little bed I bought him. That is so typical of a cat, buy them a new bed and they will use mat instead ;0)

Another week has nearly flown by and it is now only 4 weeks on Saturday until Milly and Tom's wedding. It is the Hen  Night soon and the final dress fitting. Everything is coming together really well. Yesterday  I started wearing my wedding shoes around the house so that they are more comfy for The Day.....I am sure I must have looked very odd walking up and down to my studio in my heels, my neighbours must think I am potty. I can't really wear them to work today...what on earth would my patients think?

Have a great weekend everyone, it looks as though it will be cooler here. I do hope that all my blogging buddies in the North of England and in Northern Ireland have not been affected by the dreadful storms which hit  yesterday. The images on the news were devastating. Flash flooding, hail stones the size of 50p pieces and lightening strikes.  It's incredible that whilst all that was going on in the north of the UK I was overheating in the south. It's not as though the UK is that large. What strange weather we are having this year. Take care.

 Thanks for visiting and leaving your sweet comments, I really love reading them.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

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