Sunday 30 June 2013

Turtle Treasures

I am finally back with the first of my holiday photos. I have been so busy that I have not had time to sort them out until today. We had such a wonderful holiday on Kephalonia, it is the most beautiful Greek island and the weather, as always, was just perfect. We stay in Skala, at the south of the island which has gorgeous sandy beaches and is also a good spot to explore from.

 I have decided that rather than just write up 2 or 3 posts in a row about my adventures, that I would come back to my holiday snaps from time to time with different posts over the coming weeks. They provided me with so much inspiration and there are some wonderful visits which I would like to share with you. The coastline of this island is just jaw dropping and we managed to tour the whole island by car.

On our second day we drove to Argostoli, where the huge natural harbour is a known spot to see the rare sea turtles. The fishermen bring their catch in from sea in the mornings and they gut the fish from their boats which attracts the sea turtles as this is easy delicious food for them.

Argostoli Harbour 


Locals arrive to see what the catch of the day is
I'm not sure you could buy anything fresher than this...air miles....zero.
Sure enough we soon spotted signs that the turtles had arrived to look for their rich pickings.
a head popped up to take a breath and then the majestic turtle swam into full view



They really seem to fly through the water. There were 4 turtles and we managed to see 3 of them clearly. One came so close to the harbour wall that you could have stroked his gorgeous head.

We stood and watched these majestic beasts for about an hour. Once the fishermen had sold their catches the sea turtles returned back to the open sea and we watched them go. It really was an eye pricking experience and I am so honoured that we were able to witness it again.



After this amazing spectacle we took our packed lunch and caught the ferry over to the peninsula of Lixouri, just a 20 minute ride away.


Not a bad view eh from our picnic bench ;0)

 My card today is most definitely sea inspired. It is actually a card I made a little while ago for a commission from my Etsy shop and is based on a design I made last year. The lady wanted it to be personalised for her little daughter, which I was delighted to do.

I used the super sweet Sylvia Zet mermaid stamp called Goldie. She is one of my favorite mermaid stamps and I use her lots.



I coloured Goldie with my Promarkers and highlighted her with Prismacolor pencils.
I made her bubble more 3D by adding some Dimensional magic.
The backing papers are Nitwits and the tag sentiments are Lili
of the Valley.
I used my Marianne shells to add some more sea embellies and a little seahorse charm.




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

Jelly Park Summer
Simon Says Stamp anything goes
Crafting for all seasons Girlie #55
Card Crafter's Circle Birthdays
Creative Inspirations anything goes
Passion for Promarkers name that tune my tune is Under the Sea from the Little Mermaid


I will be back on Tuesday with my first guest designer card for the Loves Rubberstamping Challenge. The weather this weekend has been glorious and I have been gardening with Billy. We even had lunch and dinner outside which has been long overdue this year. My Hb and I have got Monday off work and I will give you a teeny sneaky clue as to where we are going....The title of my post is going to be , "Pimms and strawberries"......;0)

See you then,

Bye for now,

Jane x

15 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for sharing your photos - they brought back memories of a holiday i had with my sister in kefalonia about 12 years ago. I didn't see the turtles though - they look amazing. Your card is a beauty too. Thanks for sharing with us at creative inspirations this week amd good luck x

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  2. Ah off to Wimbledon again, are we ???? Lucky peps !! :)
    What an amazing experience to see the turtles , they are so beautiful ! Lovely photos Jane, I do love turquoise seas and blue skies!! It will be lovely to see your photos as we go along, that is a good idea.
    Enjoy your day at SW19! :)
    V xxx

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  3. Oh, your turtle sightings and photos of them are fantastic!! I adore them but have never seen one in real life, so you are very lucky! Have fun on your trip to Wimbledon! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  4. Truly amazing photos - makes me feel like packing my bags and heading for the airport!!

    Helenxx

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  5. I can't believe how close you got to that turtle - awesome pictures! Awesome card, too - what a wonderful job on the coloring. The bubbles are terrific!

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  6. Dear Jane, I'm so happy to hear that you had perfect holidays! Turtles are really cute and you were lucky to see them. I have seen them in one place here in Crete where the sea continues like river and there the turtles were in the water, on the land and watching us. Have a grate Pimm's time! x Teje

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  7. Gorgeous photographs Jane!...I particularly loved seeing the beautiful turtle swimming by...
    Wishing you a wonderful day today!...I'll definitely keep my fingers crossed for sunshine...it's raining heavily here today.
    Love your little mermaid...she's so pretty!
    Susan x

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  8. Such gorgeous photos and what wonderful weather! I really really love turtles, they are just so sweet! x

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  9. Beautiful! I just love turtles. It looks like you had a wonderful vacation. Thanks for sharing it with us!

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  10. Lovely photos of your holiday, and so special to see the turtles so close up. Your little mermaid card is very pretty. Hope you have a wonderful day at Wimbledon!
    Helen x

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  11. Love the shots of the turtles. Aren't they awesome?! Your card is pretty and I love the bubble in her hands. Looks very realistic. Thanks for playing at Jellypark Friends for our "Celebrate Summer" challenge.
    Hugs,
    Georgia

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  12. Such a beautiful card. Thank you for joining in the Passion for Promarkers challenge, and good luck.
    Cathy xx

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  13. This is a really sweet card, lovely accents and great coloring. Thanks for joining us at CFAS.
    Cindy DT

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  14. Lovely turtles and mermaid cards. It was fun to see them again.

    Can't wait to see more of your travels.

    Happy July and tennis watching....
    Anne and all
    PlumCreek Studio

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  15. Hello sweet Jane,

    I can't believe I haven't commented this, I am sure I read it earlier and admired that giant turtle! I am so happy I get to see your holiday snaps as this year we'll do not travel that far I'm afraid. So please share some every now and then, they brighten my days! And a matching card again...Brilliant!

    Happy Thursday!

    Yours,
    Mia

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Jane x