EXPLORING: ABANDONED SPORTS MEMORIAL

Hello lovelies!

I have always loved the idea of urban exploring. I find derelict buildings hauntingly beautiful- they're just the remnants of what once was; an empty shell full of memories of the life that once existed there.

I grew up with a fairly strict family, my mum was always worried about where I was going and would panic at the idea of me ever going to an abandoned places, due to this idea that they're over run with drug addicts and people who would hurt you. Aged 19, I was allowed to go on my first Urbex visit. My friend took me to this abandoned building in the middle of a field, fairly close to a very busy road. He only knew it existed due to a rave (surprise surprise) but it was cool nevertheless.

At first, you need to break through a metal fence- which was terrifying for little sheltered Sian, and must have looked very dodgy to those driving past! There was a lot that was blocked off, and very overgrown plants, but when you trekked through all that, you approached this completely destroyed building.



I have no idea what this building used to be, but the ceiling of one room was completely broken down. There was a chair in the room, which was strange, since it didn't look that old!



Behind that room was one which had no ceiling whatsoever. We had to be extremely careful here as the building was still very unstable.



There was one last room to this building, which I must admit, was probably my favourite part of the whole visit. It was sturdier than the other rooms, though did look like it could collapse at any second. The smell of sewage echoed around the eerie darkness. In this room, there was an old, camel coloured coat hanging from the wall. I don't know how it got there, who put it there, or how long it's been there, but I just found it beautiful.





As I've previously said, I have no idea what this building used to be as it was not the original building we came to see. I have tried researching, but nothing has come up. I think it makes me love it more, though!

We continued on our journey through a large open space field, before approaching a scary looking building in the distance. With every step closer, the noise of crashing and banging got louder. "Do you want to go back?" my friend asked me, but there was no way I was missing out on this opportunity! We pushed away the final plants that blocked our view, to see a band with all of their equipment filming a music video! How cool?! We did ask nicely whether we could explore if we kept out their way, and they said yes, so the adventure continued!





We decided to go to the basement first, since the music video was being recorded on the floor above. This was just a large damp room covered in graffiti.





Coming off of this room, there was a broken wall, which led into a pitch black corridor. I was filled with energy and exhilaration, and walked straight into it. I'm not kidding when I say you literally could not see a thing and could only hear a faint dripping and the splashes of your feet hitting the wet floor below. I turned on my phone light to find I was walking down what was once the toilets. In the last cubical, there was almost a secret door which led to a secret room. Whatever was in there had collapsed, but it was so eerie shining in a little iPhone torch.



We headed up the stairs to the second floor to avoid getting in the way of the band. Up here, there were lots of walls which were broken down, and thin 'corridors' to walk along. This really was just an empty shell of a building that was once so beautiful. There was an amazing graffiti eye on one of the walls opposite which I absolutely adored. Enough of me waffling for a while, here are a bunch of pictures!









Oh, and not forgetting the super cool view outside!





I made a vlog about it, so if you'd like to see the whole building, then watch the video below! I hope you're all having a wonderful week.
- Sian x

DIY: PLATFORM SHOES

As a fairly short human, I adore wearing platforms. No, not the giant heels that kill your feet, but the chunky sole, creeper like things! Of course I looked up brands like YRU and Buffalo and was so close to buying a £120 pair of Demonia boots, but I wanted to be a little different, a little unique.

That's when I saw them- a pair of platform trainers with a 5" cork heel. Don't get me wrong, trainers aren't my thing, but I knew I could do something really cool with these shoes. On sale at £30, they were already 1/4 of the price of the boots. I immediately ordered them and began planning what I could do.

A week later, they arrived. I pulled out the inner box to reveal the most hideous pair of shoes I'd ever seen. Both my flatmate and my sister could not believe that I'd spent my money on such a thing. However, all it did was make me more excited to plan what to do!

I knew I wanted something a bit grungy, but something that would stand out. Initially I planned for them to be black and white, then decided I wanted something alien based. I was going to buy galaxy material, and stick alien patches on top. As cool as it sounded, the material itself was £20... and I'm not made of money!

I finally nailed down a design. A fluorescent green base, with black drips joining the black trainer to the blinding green. The next step? Finding a material that would give me the brightest green possible. After many the trip to the material shop, I decided against a material base, and began looking at neon paints. I finally found one bright enough for my design, and it was a bargain at just £4.

The first stage was lightening the cork base. I mean, I could have just painted on top of it, but it would have been a cloudy green and not the shocking vibrant colour I was after. I dug out my old acrylics and did about 5 layers of paint, until it was a blinding artificial white.

A parcel came in the post- my paint! I excitedly ripped it open and set up my work station. The paint itself was waterier than I thought it would be- it stated "2 coats to cover" on the packaging, but that was an utter lie. Layer after layer after layer... until 3 days and a whopping 15 layers later, I'd finally achieved the beautiful fluorescent streak-free base I wanted.

After a week of drying (yes, a whole week, I needed to make sure all those layers of green were fully dry, I didn't want it cracking!) I took the shoes outside and coated the upper white rim in black. I then poured on loads of black, whacking it on the floor until it dripped down, and repeating this the whole way around both shoes. Until there they were, right in front of my very own eyes... my creation.

I absolutely adore these shoes. Although the 5" solid base is fairly hard to walk on, you do get more used to it the more you wear them. When I walk around town in them, they are the center of attention. Children point them out to their parents, parents point them out to their children. I'm not sure whether people are in awe at the shoes themselves or the fact I am capable of walking in them! I often pair them with a pair of fishnets, a metallic skirt/velvet high wasted shorts, and a cute skeleton top!

                

INTRODUCTION

Hello, all! To those who are not aware, my name is Sian, and I am a 19 (soon to be 20) year old University student studying Media and Communications. My course is not production based at all, but it is that side to the media that I love- the hands on, interesting stuff!

This means that in my spare time, I'm planning on doing as much of the production based stuff as I can. That means YouTube videos, pretty photographs, articles, and, surprise surprise, my own blog!

I am someone who adores all things weird and wonderful. I collect skulls, spend most of my time studying conspiracy theories and the mental side of serial killers, and love all things dark and mysterious. I also love getting hands on and making my own things. And that's what this blog is going to be- a little collection of cool DIY's, cute recipes, and even little bits of interesting research I want to share.

I'm planning on posting regularly, with 2-4 posts a month, and really hope you enjoy reading and hopefully learning from my blog!

Sian x