Allow the beauty of the sea, stitching and card making to combine in these nautical designs

What you need...

• Felt, assorted colours
  Threads
  Buttons, selection
  Papers: plain, patterned
  Paint, relief, white
  Pen, fine, black
  Beads
  Chalk, blue
  Webbing, fusible
  3-D foam pads

instructions

1. Purple Fish - 1 Create a blue side-opening card, faced with pink decorative paper. Trim blue paper for the sea, shaping the top to represent waves, then mount onto the front of the card using 3-D foam pads.
   
   2 Back green and purple felt with fusible webbing, then cut into a simple fish shape, detailing with pink and green stitches. Use a button for the eyes, and glue or sew small beads to the body, before attaching it to the face of the card.
   
   3 Cut green felt fins, then oversew with pink thread and glue to the card. Add three small blue buttons to the design, hiding the ends of the thread behind each one. Make two smaller paper fish decorated with paper offcuts, relief paint and a fine black pen, then fix to the top of the design.

2. Beach Huts - 1 Make a top-folding blue blank. Cut two red rectangles, then trim the tops to a point and add smaller rectangles cut from contrasting paper for the
   doors and shaped paper for the roof.
   
   2 Glue a strip of blue paper across the card, trimmed to resemble the sea, then fix the beach huts into place over the top. Draw on two flag poles with a fine black pen and top each one with a triangle paper flag.
   
   3 Cut a strip of red felt to make a border with, then work the outside edges with pink and cream running stitches. Add three wooden buttons, sewn into place with pink thread, then glue the felt panel to the bottom of the card.

3. Wooden Fish - Fuse webbing to the back of blue felt, then trim into waves and sew three wooden fish buttons to it. Work simple stitches around the fish to indicate
   movement. Fix small beads above each, then secure the panel to a green side-opening card.

4. Crab - 1 Attach a strip of shaped blue paper to a blue side-opening card blank, adding a brown border to the base. Secure fusible webbing to the back of red
   felt and cut a circle from it for the body.
   
   2 Sew a small button to the centre and add simple stitches around the body in cream, orange and pink threads. Sew two buttons onto scraps of orange felt for the eyes, then trim around the edges with sharp scissors.
   
   3 Cut legs from orange paper and glue to the face of the card, adding dots of white relief paint. Glue the body over the legs. Draw stems for the eyes with a fine black pen, then top with button eyes. Buff blue chalk around the crab to suggest movement.