Fun at Alton Towers

Hello Lovelies as I mentioned last week I was taking a trip to Alton Towers for Scarefest. It's not my usual crafty hands on type of post but I thought I would share our little trip. The original building in the photo above is beautiful and all of its original architecture is still in tact. For those who are not familiar of Alton towers it was once a home to the Earl family, they had spent a fortune on the grounds and building. They added a huge conservatory and built their very own chapel. Money ran out and they could not afford to make repairs or for the upkeep of this property. It is now a theme park but most of the beauty is still here including the gardens and the Tower itself. 

Alton Towers all decked out for Halloween.

As we walked around the grounds of Alton Towers there was always ghostly and haunting props like this one.

A good friend of ours came for the ride and spent the day with us, here is Phil and I on the river rapids. For me this is the sort of ride that does not leave me feeling like a bag of nerves.

We was called all sorts of names for wearing cagoules! who cares I didn't want to walk around with wet pants all day "needs must".

Still in our cagoules we headed for the bath tub as you can see I was holding on for dear life.

I took Eason on his first ever theme park ride it was called "The Squirrel" as you can tell by his tiny little face he did not look too impressed.

All wrapped up for Halloween.

We stayed at the Alton Towers hotel for the evening so we could take advantage of Alton Towers late opening. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is thinking of doing the Scarefest next year. It only cost £99 for two adults and a child which included the hotel, evening meal for Eason, Breakfast and 3 tickets to the theme park!! Bargain. We will definitely go again next year.

This is me looking rather frightful on the way to the park.

Eason spent most of the day and night looking like this... bless him he was so overwhelmed by it all. Anson on the other hand looks shattered ha ha.

So I decided that I had to go on some kind of tour around the Tower and went on what was ideal for the whole family a ride called "The Hex" typical me was taking photo's of the prop's as I walked through the hallway. Obviously these are not the original pieces of furniture that the Earl family owned, everything was laid out so spooky. As I walked through the building I kind of liked the eerie feel to this part of the tower, If I had my sleeping bag I could of quite happily stayed there over night. We stood in the original chapel, the wind was blowing the curtains through the broken stain glass windows it was amazing. It is known to be haunted so it added to the whole experience.

Some lovely pieces of furniture waiting to be chalk painted.

After we left the this room we was then asked to sit on some benches, and that is where I nearly died. The benches started to swing and the next thing I knew I was holding onto some random guy who I have never met! my head was in-between his right armpit. The guy was freaking out because he thought Phil was my other half and he did not want to be involved in a domestic. As we was close to the ceiling I actually thought I was going to die of a heart attack the guy kept saying "we are upside down now" I hate anything that moves. Below is a video of the ride I could not explain it in full as in fact we was sitting in a tube which looked like a chapel when in fact we did swing but the whole room and ceiling spins at the same time. It has to be the most mind boggling thing I have ever experienced.

So on our last day I plucked up the courage to go into the Towers for what they call "The Terror Towers" experience we waited for half an hour as the minutes were ticking by I heard more and more stories of what we was going to expect, long corridors small enough to fit one person width ways for 4 minuets, hanging body bags the list goes on. This is supposed to be the scariest maze at Alton Towers, as we entered the tower I walked up some steps it was pitch black, the lady informed us to all stand in a single line and put our hands on top of the person in front. The door slams and the sound effects start.........I then had a talk to myself and thought if I don't run now I am going to collapse. So I ran I don't know how I got the door open or run down the stairs but I did everybody was watching me thinking the same. I heard one person say is she mad? Yes my mind plays too many tricks on me and I over think things. I have to laugh at myself because this was the whole point of going in the first place. Maybe next year after a stiff splash of Amaretto. All in all we had a brilliant time and can not wait till we go away again.

Tracy 

Painting Metal with Annie Sloan and Alton Towers

A good friend of mine gave me this lovely heart shaped hanger he said he didn't know where to put it and it did not match with his interior, of course I took it with open arms. 

I liked its original colour and it was rusting in some places but as you all know what ever enters our home has a magical dosing of Mrs Sloan. As I searched the cupboard for "Original" a beautiful blend of cream and white I was in shock... It had all dried up. So I boiled the kettle and added a dash of hot water and gave it a good mix. Not only that I had also run out of paint brushes so I found a sponge attached to the carpet cleaning solution "Needs must in a Annie Sloan situation".

A few weeks back I picked up a bag of assorted ribbon for £1 a good few meters "lucky me".

 So I used a sponge and literately wiped over the hanging rack  with the diluted chalk paint, I did not want to achieve a solid colour as I wanted the original colour along with the rust to be seen. I attached two pieces of the vintage lace either side and made a large pretty bow.  

Instead of a chain as this didn't come with one I decided to improvise and use lace ribbon, over the top of the bows I cut two extra long pieces and tied them to the frame. I hung it up in the window but will be taking this to the new house. I have thought of various ideas in which this can be used....Dried herbs, pretty jugs, lavender and pretty jewellery.

I bought this bird cage a few weeks ago I love the colour and how its painted unfortunately I did not paint this but its pretty big in actual life. It has a candle holder fixture inside.

I can not wait to find this beauty a home.

Whilst out window shopping "as you do" I saw this heart shaped metal shelf and I could not resist, the shelves can be lifted up so you can alter the size of the shelf. 

These two items where purchased from...... wait for it.... TK Maxx.

Other exciting news we have booked a night at Alton Towers Screamfest on Monday, the three of us will be having a mini break for two days and shake off the stress of waiting for our new home. Sometimes its important to make new memories and to cherish Eason's youth we all need a bit of fun in our lives. The theme park will be Halloween themed and is open till 9pm filled with fun and frolics. Here is a video of what is to expect.

Its a good Job Eason is pretty placid.  

I am so excited.

I will be back soon that's if the Zombies have not caught me.

Tracy 

Little Miss Upholster "Possibly"

So at the weekend I blogged about this Louis style 3 seat sofa.

The colour is very Red but I am not liking its Royal Tandoori feel.

It has been delivered already and it is huge not only has it taken up the whole of the front room but where can I hide this when we have expected house viewings "Sigh" I do go from one extreme to another.

So after endless amounts of research and a good amount of reasonable quotes we are looking at £450 to upholster the 3 seater and single chair. I was speechless, I know it will be a big project and a good upholster will do wonders but seriously £450. I have spent endless amount on hours on YouTube, Google sites and even considered "Fabric Paint" but unfortunately they only stock these in dark colours and I was at one point thinking black and gold but this can look sometimes cheap. I am not afraid at experimenting and this will be a learning curve for me. I have opted for soft Burlap fabric as this is durable and cost affective. And with this fabric I can still go ahead and use Annie Sloan's Chalk paint for the detailed woodwork. If I do not try and attempt to re upholster this myself I will never know what I am capable of doing and hopefully pass some tips onto my readers. 

This chair has inspired me and I will attempt this French country look.

 On the back of each chair I am intending on using this fabric stencil to achieve a French feel and give the chairs a little edge.

I apologise for the poor quality of these photo's my Iphone has let me down. Once it had arrived I immediately attacked the chairs with the hoover along with a good steam clean. I have never used a steam cleaner before and doubt I ever will after the amount of steam that filled up my windows the neighbours across the road must of thought we had a hot tub delivered.    

 This is the best picture I could get of this single arm chair wedged into the front porch.

How do you keep a toddler away from furniture which takes up half of the house? the answer is impossible.

And by the way this is Daddy's idea of matching Pj's its fashionable apparently.

I hope to start this new project next weekend I am so excited. What do you all think? believe it or not I am more excited about painting with Annie Sloan again, boy have I missed my paint brush. 

Tracy

The 3 seater Louis chair

I thought I would just stop by and share my purchase. I am dangerous when it comes to junk shopping I don't even need to be on foot or actually in the shop, we pass a junk warehouse everyday on the way to the next village. Every now and then I will take a deep breath and shout oh my god Ive just seen something I like and Anson slams on the breaks well he used to but now he speeds up as we approach the warehouse. I think its funny as he knows full well he's in for a headache if I step out of the car. Sometimes things just cant be missed and it bugs me not to enquire about what Anson calls junk. So today we was passing and I saw a Louis 3 seater chair piled on top of odd's and sods. There was a matching single chair but I dismissed this and bought the 3 seater instead, I wish I had bought the whole set now possibly it will still be there tomorrow. So Anson describes it as the sort of chair you would find in an Indian Takeaway, he cracks me up sometimes and I think he's actually right. I know I promised myself no more spending but I have been so good and it was a bargain of £85. I always think if I change my mind or times get hard I can always sell it on for double the amount. All I need is a upholster now as this red velvet has to go and the wood needs some of Annie Sloan's tender loving care. Here is the chair in its glory.

I will be back this week with a few lovely things to share with you, hope you are all having a lovely weekend.

Tracy x

Inspiration from above

I had to delete my last few posts....... emotions have been running high. I said too much too soon and hit the ground real hard. Me and Anson are very different when it comes to superstition I guess its a bit like announcing the news of a baby, you have to be certain and anything can happen. I would like to say Yes we are moving but there could always be that little hitch so for now I am not getting my hopes up. I have been bleeding my blog dry and feel lost as I want to be on the scene with my paintbrush. Desperately saving and working in order to bring some magic into our home. I am a positive thinker and if there is a will there is a way so I will continue being positive. I have been doing a lot of research into Elegant Ceiling Drapes if you remember a while back I blogged about ceiling drapes and how amazing it would be to have my own. Well I came across this company in Manchester who make the fittings for the drapes. I became all excited looking at what material I could get my hands on. Here are the pictures of the shop in Wales that inspired me.

As you can see in the middle she had gathered the material up and it looks somewhat chunky. This system that I found makes the ceiling look much neat. I have found a video and studied it at great length, obviously I wont be doing the drilling but I know a man who can lol.

I will be making a few phone calls and will be ordering.

I am not overly keen on the fabric they have used but have an idea what I would like.

If any of you are interested in finding out more on ceiling drapes here is the website.

http://www.elegantceilings.com/productsV.htm

I pop on most days and have a gander at my blog updating myself on all your creative and wonderful updates. As I am working shifts at the Hospital I usually fall asleep in my chair by seven. I promise I will be back and full of exciting blog posts. I am thinking of doing my first give away once I hit 60 followers It might be a long way off yet who knows but I would love to shower my followers with gifts. 

Watch this space.

Tracy x