"Oh I do like to be beside the seaside,

 Oh I do like to be beside the sea!"

I was born and spent most of my childhood in a little seaside village on the NE coast of England and whilst I love where I live now, there's something special about being a seasider - it's in your bones and it runs through your veins and it's right at the heart of you.  I think everyone has an environment that has a magic for them; for some people it's the countryside, or lakes, or mountains - for me being by the sea that makes things seem better.  I don't mind whether the waves are calm and gentle and making that lovely swooshing sound as they ripple over sand or shingle, or whether it's an angry sea with giant waves hurling themselves against the sea wall or cliffs - I love to be near the sea whatever it's mood.

Anyway enough of my flight of fancy!

It's the seaside that Vanessa wants to see on our cards this week over at the Daring Cardmakers

This week I want you to think of a beautiful summer day looking over the bright blue sea glistening in the sunshine. What do you see? A boat, a ship, a whale, a dolphin or shark? 

Make your card with something sea related this week.

I'd already spotted some lovely Webster's Pages paper with a seaside theme while browsing the Craftz Boutique (who lure away more of my cash than is right and proper!), so this was the perfect excuse to indulge in a bit of retail therapy, the lace and gorgeous Dusty Attic chipboard shells were also among the things that fell into my basket.

In the end I only used one of the papers to make my first card as I was inspired by the underwater theme and the glorious colour

I used:

Paper (Webster's Pages)

Lace and ribbon; both inked to match the colours in the paper

Chipboard shells (Dusty Attic); inked and embossed

Pearls, pearl swirls (Prima) and pearly pins

Glossy Accents and Glamour Dust to highlight

Yesterday I showed a card I'd made with the "Rusted Sun" (Fancy Pants) paper collection.  I bought this a few weeks ago and hadn't actually got round to cutting into it.  OK, I confess, I'd forgotten all about it till I was looking for something esle and found it on the shelf!

The colours and designs are beautiful and just fab for summer projects.  Loads of gorgeous flowers and sunny patterns....and surfboards!  So obviously I was meant to find it in time to make another card for Vanessa's dare

  I used:

All papers are from the Rusted Sun collection (Fancy Pants)

Palm Tree (Crafty Templates)

Beach Hut (own Robo template)

String for washing line

If you've followed my blog for any length of time you'll probably spot that the little house is one I've used several times - it's a template I made (from scratch, I'll have you know....!) ages ago for my Craft Robo.  It was made originally to cut some house shapes for a forum decorated house swap.  Here it's a beach hut - I have a soft spot for beach huts and would LOVE to be the owner of one of those on the prom at Southwold! yeah right, maybe if my Premium Bonds come up....! 

The surf boards, clothing on the line and flip flops are cut from the Rusted Sun papers (cute, aren't they?)

The tree is another of this month's Crafty Template designs - I cut the fronds three times so that I could layer them up.

I've gone mad and started to decorate the inside too, but I've not finished it yet.  I'll add a photo later if I remember!

There are (as always) some fab cards on the DCM BLOG this week - and we're hoping that you'll all come for a wander along the beach with us this week - we'd love to see your creations.

All for now - except to say that I'll be back with the tutorial on how to make this book next time, so I hope you'll come and check it out.

Thanks for looking, please leave a comment - unless you're  one of the "Anonymous" pain's in the rear who keeps trying to add dodgy links - I think I can safely say that we can all do without you lot. grrrr