Saturday 27 September 2014

Inspirational Osborne House

I am playing catch up again with some promised photos from our late summer trip to the Isle of Wight. We decided to pay a visit to Osborne House the holiday retreat built in 1845 by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. I have visited the house and gardens in the past and this is one of my top stately homes in the world to visit...seriously. It should be on that bucket list! We realised it would not be practical to go round the house itself on this occasion but the grounds there are really stunning. Everywhere outside was also buggy friendly, perfect for Daisy.
 The House is more like an Italian Palace and is a perfect backdrop for photos of the gardens which are so well tended,
The fountain below is now dry but still leads the view towards the coast where Queen Victoria even had her own private beach
 Views back to Portsmouth on the mainland
 I love the rich golden colours which had been used for the flower beds.


and there was even a pop of purple and red  amongst the golds



 Her private beach is now open to the public and we enjoyed eating an ice cream there and smiled at her bathing machine. This used to be hauled out to sea by horses so that the Queen would not be seen getting into the sea and inadvertently revealing any ankle flesh!
There is even a replica Swiss chalet which Prince Albert had built as a giant wendy house for their children. They enjoyed cooking and gardening here, what lucky children they were.
In the garden we spied these growing...............
 yes pumpkins!

By now I am sure these are quite a size and will be ready just in time for Halloween. 

As I sorted through these photos the colour gave me some autumnal inspiration....reds, golds, browns, purples......such richness which we are beginning to see  all around us now. I hope to take an autumn walk tomorrow to find my autumn treasures...conkers.

My card challenge creation today is inspired by the colours of Osborne and the pumpkin. I rarely use these colours in my work but at this time of year they are so uplifting. There are also some lovely autumnal themed challenges around which I wanted to take part in.

I made this card for my dear Dad's birthday, which was yesterday. I used lots of Tim Holtz Distress inks to create a "master sheet" of autumnal colours. I first cut a backing piece to which I added some Vintage photo DI through Tim's honeycomb stencil. I also embossed another piece of the card with a Sizzix folder and blended more DIs onto this. 
The leaves are cut using a sweet Memory Box die. I edged them all with Walnut Stain DI. I also cut a couple of gold leaves, a birthday sentiment and mounted my card on the same gold cardstock. My Dad loves his garden so the wheelbarrow and the tree branch all added to the feel of his card.
Here is a close up of the falling leaves.

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

A Vintage Journey  The colours of autumn
A Creative Romance in the garden
Crafty Catz birthday
Simon Says Wednesday anything goes
Pan Pastel UK  embossing
Creative Inspirations autumn colours
Bearly Mine autumnal colours
Penny Black and More autumnal colours
Little Claire's birthday card
Our Creative Corner Inspirational photo I was inspired by the rich  autumnal feel of all the photos as well as the golden sunlight shining through the green leaves. I tried to get a feel of the sunshine shining through in the centre of my card.

Thanks always for your visits and kind comments you take the time to leave.

I was looking for some autumnal quotes and found this sweet little poem written by George Elliot which I wanted to share before I go;

Come said the leaves to the wind one day,
Come O'er the meadows and we will play.
Put on your dresses of scarlet and gold,
For summer is gone and the days grow old.     

Have a lovely autumnal weekend. It's time to start scrunching through those fallen leaves when we go out to walk and to marvel at all the fruits Mother Nature has ripened to feed the wildlife through the coming months. I shall take my camera and try to capture a few. 

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

25 comments:

  1. Hi Jane, What a beautiful, lovely and uplifting post and message today! That Osborne House is stunning and the grounds are superb! I can't envision living there but I would have loved it! Loved the colors of the gardens, so striking! I chuckled at the beach buggy, can you imagine?!
    Love the poem! Happy Birthday to your "Dad", I know he loved his special card.
    Have a fabulous weekend, xoRobin
    Great walking weather here today also❤️

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  2. HI Jane!
    Thank You for yet a fantastic post.
    I enjoyed learning more thanks to you and your Autumnal Card is magnificent! Amazing colors and texture you have created there!
    Have a wonderful week-end!

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  3. I really enjoyed looking through your photos......brought back lots of lovely memories.......love your card.....colours and design are fab. Thank you for joining Little Claire in our latest blog challenge. XxGaynor LCDT

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  4. Ah George Elliot a favourite author of mine, I had to resist picking up Silas Marner...again...in the library as my daughter put a limit on the books I was allowed...she has the biggest bag for carrying and apparently more than 6 is too many! Those Autumn colours in the flower beds are just stunning. I must revisit the IOW and visit that home, I have never been! Lx

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  5. Hi Jane! That looks gorgeus place! I have to ask if my sister has been there. Gardens are beautiful and what a play-house for the kids! Your card has lovely autumn sense. Finally yesterday the weather changed here and today it's about +20c, cloudy and windy. Have a lovely Sunday! x Teje
    Ps. You picked the right week for your holidays.

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  6. Beautiful card Jane and fabulous colour's thank you for joining us at Crafty Catz this week
    Hugs Dianne x (DT)

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  7. I'm not ready for fall yet, but your card is lovely and makes me think happy thoughts of autumn. Happy birthday to your dad!

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  8. Gorgeous card Jane, beautiful autumn colours and I love all the texture. Love all the photos too
    Thanks so much for joining our Embossing challenge at PanPastel UK
    Claire xx

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  9. This is a great creation hun, with a lovely autumnal feel! Thanks for playing at Creative Inspirations! xxx

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  10. What a wondrous place! I was amazed by the chalet built for the children and the cart to take the Queen out to sea to swim! Imagine being able to ask for such things. Have a great week ahead! I'm looking forward to receiving my Etsy order from you! Yay!
    ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  11. Hi Jane, just catching up with you! I love your card today, gorgeous colours and a very happy belated birthday to your Dad. One of my favourite things to do is visit stately homes especially royal ones, I've never been to Osbourne a house but it does look beautiful!
    Gorgeous images of Rhodes in your previous post, so glad you had a lovely time!
    V x

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  12. Hi Jane, I'm on catch up too. What stunning photographs you have taken. Beautiful autumnal card with super shading.
    Hope you had a good weekend, Julie x

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  13. I can definitely see that autumnal golden sunlight in your card!

    Your dad must have loved it so much!!! It's beautiful!

    Thank you for joining in our challenge at Our Creative Corner!

    Claudia x

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  14. Beautiful pictures of Osborne House, and I especially enjoyed seeing the chalet! Your autumnal card for your dad is a lovely one, and I enjoyed the little poem very much.
    Wishing you a happy week ahead.
    Helen xox

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  15. Lovely place indeed. I love gardens in England. I remember a few had huge clocks with flowers around the clock. As always, your cards are lovely. I am enjoying the cooler weather in Oregon and the rain that we are beginning to get, finally. It's been so dry and hot this summer. Blessing!

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  16. A lovely creation Jane and super warn Autumnal colours, all perfect for our theme at Penny Black and More this month, thanks so much for joining in.

    B x

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  17. I love your card, and especially the rich colours, and the added layers of leaves...

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  18. Such a lovely autumnal card. Thanks for sharing it with us this week at Crafty Catz. Naomi x

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  19. Such yummy layers and texture. Thank you so much for playing along with the Anything Goes Challenge this week over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog :)

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  20. gorgeous photo's love the chalet and super card lovely warm colours and depth
    hugs Kate xx

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  21. Hi, Jane! Thoroughly enjoyed your post. Gorgeous photos (I want to go now!) and beautiful card! Love all the leaf layers and embossing!

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  22. Amazing photos and I absolutely adore your card. Bet your dad did too! I love it and thanks so much for adding it to our challenge at A Vintage Journey!

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  23. Beautiful card, amazing detail and the colours are fabulous

    Thank you for joining in our Challenge at A Vintage Journey

    Jools x

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  24. Hello Jane,

    Lovely, summery pictures - it is so good to have these memories to share with us when days are getting shorter and darker. And that card is so beautiful - happy belated birthday to your Dad!

    Yours,
    Mia

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  25. Hello Jane..great post beautiful pictures and love your project:-) Thank you for joining in at Pan Pastel UK xxx

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