Friday 8 May 2015

Eltham Palace, an art deco gem

A couple of weeks ago I took a trip out with my parents, this time to Eltham Palace. We have visited before and I shared some lovely photos of the gardens from last year in this post . Since our visit last summer English Heritage have spend a vast sum of money making several super changes, including a new greenhouse cafe. They have also opened some new rooms including the bomb shelter used by the family in the 2nd world war. The other really exciting thing is that they now allow photography inside the house. I adore Eltham Palace as it is a house of the 1930s and Art Deco, one of my favourite eras of fashion. I live in a 1930s house and just love some of the original features here.

Eltham Palace dates from the 1400s and was originally a royal palace. It fell into decay and it was rescued from ruin by the Courtauld family in 1933 who spent a fortune on renovating the medieval barn and then building a plush 1930s mansion around it. In its time it caused controversy but now it is regarded as a unique gem. It is set in acres of glorious gardens too.

I am delighted to finally be able to  share a "tour" of the inside of the house with your, grab a cuppa, take a seat and enjoy joining me..........(if you are just visiting me to see my challenge entry just scroll to the end..there are lots of photos today)
It is approached across a drawbridge
The entrance hall takes your breath away.....
 How art deco is that!

and the light streams in through this ceiling made of hundred of glass sky lights
There is wood everywhere
the dining room has a foil ceiling to reflect the light
and more gorgeous inlaid wood doors


cocktail anyone?
upstairs many of the bedroom are open including the lady of the house's, Virginia and her husband Stephen, they had separate bedrooms which I think was not uncommon in those days.


and through the door on the left is her opulent bath room
 the golden tiles just shimmered in the sunshine
with marble everywhere
This is her husband's room, you can see the door to his wife's room next door in the wall.

the most unusual feature of the house though is the restored medieval hall which they used to hold balls in. It even had underfloor heating


Inside in the newly opened basement you could see the state of the art vacuum cleaner which had outlets in every room. How the maids must have loved this, 
 The dark room
 and the bomb shelter

Which obviously just had to contain a snooker room too!


The gardens at this time of the year had wonderful spring bulbs, very different from the roses we saw last summer but just as pretty. I plan to share those in another post.

My visit inspired me to make some new journal pages.

Here is my creative process and thoughts as I created them in my studio. I wanted to use the Art Deco feel of the Palace but also some of the Royal history. I started by pushing some texture paste through my TH harlequin stencil and added gold embossing powder.

How rich the gold looks. I used lots of other Art Deco shapes, tissue wrap and more texture paste.
I black embossed the circles.

 I made myself up a spray of Antique linen using the re inker and water
 sprayed through another stencil (sorry I have no idea who makes this one, it's package free in my stash) I sprayed the ink on each page. This was my artistic interpretation of
the carpet and colours in the entrance area.

 I LOVED this effect, sadly most of it got covered up which is why it is good to take some step by step photos.
 I found a TH sentiment which I thought very apt and gold embossed it onto black card. This was inspired by the dining room doors

I added a gold line too.


I also found that the positive and negatives of one of my Cheery Lynn dies were very apt. They had both a medieval and Art deco feel.

I also wanted to use my new Tim Holtz mixed media die. This was a birthday present which I had to wait a little while for as it was out of stock everywhere. How lush this gold card is when both embossed and die cut with it.

Then it was time to put everything together.

Here are my Eltham Palace journal pages


You will see I have used my "real" relatives photo of my Nan and Grandad's 1928 wedding day.

Here are some close ups;


I added some stamping too, these are my new Paperartsy stamps I recently won in the Craft Stamper challenge.


Can you see those carpet colours here?






I had so much fun making these pages and every time I look at them I am transported back to my day at Eltham Palace.

I would like to enter my Journal pages into the following challenges;


Paperartsy sprays I really enjoyed Leandra's introduction video...I was inspired to just spritz and have fun with drippy inks.
Country View crafts simply scenic this is my Art Deco scene
The craft barn words
Simon Says stamp Wednesday let's get sentimental
The Artistic stamper journalling your heart out
Craft stamper take it make it take a stamp
That Craft Place No cards
Inspiration Journal embossing paste
Art with heart mixed media mahem
Crafty card makers make your own background
All crafts challenge  anything but a card
Papertake weekly anything goes

I am also linking up with my friend Brenda's Visual Journey #19 on her blog too. Do pop on over there, this is the link over at Bumblebees and Dragonflies.

We are looking forward to catching up with Daisy and her Mummy and Daddy tomorrow. Hopefully we will manage a good walk at some point and tea and cake somewhere but rain is forecast.  Daisy is such a little girl now rather than a baby and I just had to share this funny photo of her taken last week...
Do you think those eyes are saying " Please Daddy may I have this ball"......................

and yes her Daddy bought it for her ;0)

Thanks so much for visiting me and have a wonderful weekend.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

28 comments:

  1. WOW, WOW and, er WOW again. Terrific photo's but I'm really bowled over by the Art Journal pages they inspired. FANTASTIC work.

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Jane,

    Fabulous post!!
    Thank you so much for sharing your pictures and art!
    You have managed, once gain, to recreate a fabulous project inspired by your visit and that style which I also love.

    Thank YOu
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is really wonderful Jane. I can see where you took your inspiration from, and your artwork is just as lovely. Thank you for joining in with our scenic challenge at Country View Crafts, and enjoy your weekend. Sue xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. What an amazing post Jane and super results in your journal. Have a great weekend.
    Julie x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovely project! Thanks for joining in the TIMI challenge at Craft Stamper!
    xxx Ellie xxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. awesome pictures of Eltham palace - I remember visiting there many years ago now - lovely to see it again - thankyou - I adore the way you worked your visit into your journal pages which are stunning!!! Big hugs rachel x

    ReplyDelete
  7. My goodness, that place was very unusual! I preferred all the very old stuff, the deco stuff seemed very out of place.. but it's quite something! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Amazing shots of the Palace. I was surprised by the interior, it's much more modern than I would have thought it to be. That main room with the white couches, I would swear I've seen this room in a movie or two!! I am really blown away by the inspiration you pulled from the Palace and transferred to your journal page, spectacular!! I love the sentiment panel, best use of a Krylon pen EVER!! You are just so creative, I love love love this one!! hugs :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was so distracted I forgot to say Thank you for joining us at Crafty Cardmakers and More for our 'Make Your Own Background' challenge! Hugs, Pamellia DT :)

      Delete
  9. Such a stunning house to visit Jane and I love how you were inspired to design your latest card which is beautiful as always!
    Have a lovely weekend visiting your dear little Daisy Jane... (who's growing up so quickly!)...how time does fly by ♥
    Susan x

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, those interiors are amazing Jane, what a wonderful place. You know something is going to be good when you have to cross a drawbridge to get to it I think!
    What a great job you've done capturing the style and colours in your artwork!!!
    Hope your having a great weekend with Daisy!
    V x

    ReplyDelete
  11. Stunning! thanks for entering The Artisitc Stamper challenge

    ReplyDelete
  12. How luscious is this! Such an extravagant amount of texture, layer and color - just perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  13. What wonderful pages and interesting post. Thank you for taking part in the That Craft Place challenge. Eltham Palace is somewhere I want to go - not I want to go even more! So glad that I can take photos inside, perhaps it is good I have waited.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is tremendous. Love the inspirational photos too! You have certainly done justice to the palace with your artwork! A feast of deco pattern and hues! Xx

    ReplyDelete
  15. Absolutely gorgeous as always, Jane!

    Love the photos - they remind me (on a larger scale) of Hill House (http://www.nts.org.uk/property/the-hill-house/) which I visited several years ago. Definitely worth a visit if you're that far north.

    Thanks for joining us at Crafty Cardmakers and More!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow, Jane you took us to that old era! Thanks for sharing those fabulous photos.. I totally enjoyed!
    And you made beautiful journal page inspired by your visit to palace ..just brilliant.
    Thanks so much for joining us at Artistic stamper this month.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Fabulous pictures, what a place.
    Stunning pages, gorgeous details.
    You asked about Allsorts challenge theme Die cut more than 2, you can use just one die but at least three times;-))m

    ReplyDelete
  18. I really like the contrast between the medieval and art deco. It makes a castle feel more homey. I also like all the textures you used in your piece. I'm sure you had a wonderful day with your family. I'm so glad that you remember to savor the moments.

    ReplyDelete
  19. truley stunning i loved seeing how you worked through it all and how it tied into the palace,thanks for joining us at That Craft Place hugs, kay

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh my goodness, this is amazing and what a fabulous place for inspiration! Thank you for joining in The Craft Barn Challenge.
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  21. A wonderful back story to your page.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Absolutely fantastic pages, and wonderful to see how you were inspired too, your pictures from your trip are amazing and I love how that has translated into your pages. Love the opulency too. Fantastic. Thanks so much for joining in with the Eileen Hull Art with Heart Challenge. Tracy x

    ReplyDelete
  23. Fabulous journal page .... thank you for joining in with the Craft Stamper challenge ... good luck! Linda xx

    ReplyDelete
  24. Dear Jane,

    Simply stunning moment, Jane, it captures that beautiful place just! I am a big fan of art deco, I would take that wooden wall&big round window staircase any day!

    And Miss Daisy is so sweet, and growing each day, thank you for sharing that lovely picture!

    Happy May-days!

    Yours,
    Mia

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hello Jane, So Happy you could take photos inside!!!What a place--- I love 1920s/30s style also.
    Lovingly preserved and cared for.....You made my day. (I'm sorry I could not comment til now).
    Happy creative weekend and kisses for Billy and Daisy. I will see my great-nephew in a few weeks and know He'll be quite grown-up like Daisy.
    Anne and all xxx

    ReplyDelete
  26. Fabulous pages - so much texture and interest.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Jane you did an amazing job with textures and the gold that jumps out of the page and grabs your eye to stumble across each little detail! I loved your pictures of this amazing place! Thank you for sharing! Thank you for joining us at Art with Heart - Mixed Media May-hem!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for leaving a comment; I really enjoy reading every single one of them.

To comply with the new Data Protection legislation (GDPR) May 2018 I wish to state that any comments left here are with your consent that your name & comment are visible to anyone who visits my blog and that you accept that your personal information is being used for that specific purpose.

Jane x