Weekend before last, Destiny and I were invited to teach and have a booth at the wonderful Education in the Textile Arts sewing conference in Irvine, CA. If you don't know about these conferences (there's one in Dallas, too) and you love to sew, check out Peggy Sager's website -- and don't miss her fabulous free YouTube videos on all things sewing. (Peggy is the designer of Silhouette Patterns.)
So, knowing we were going to a big show, Destiny and I decided we needed NEW SHOES for the event! I got some crisscross gladiator sandals from Famous Footwear on sale and decided to glitter some of the straps to go with a black-and-greeny/gold chiffon jacket I'd just
picked up for a comparative song at a thrift store. I started by painting the straps I'd chosen in a color of Lumiere called Old Brass. I only did one coat of paint because I knew that when I applied the glitter glaze it would hide any irregularities. I purchased matching high-quality glitter (this was a color we don't stock in our regular line of Glitter It glaze) and mixed it into our Glitter It glaze clear base.
The results were subtle -- and beautifully worked with the chiffon jacket (seen in the background above)!
Then it was Destiny's turn. I'd bought her some cute flats at Payless and offered to paint and embellish them for her as a thank-you for the fabulous job she did on our new edition of the Sassy Feet book. They had nice lines and showed a bit of toe cleavage, which especially appealed to her!
She picked the Lumiere shade Halo Pink Gold, and asked me to attach a little spray of fans, as I did on the Fan Dance shoe in our book.
Well, I cooperated when it came to the color, but right before I started to dig out more of those pretty green fans, I came across some black glass beaded fringe.... And I showed Destiny what it would look like when glued around the top edge of the flat. She was sold!
On the second day of the show, I wore some simple black suede sandals with a small sterling silver zigzag embellishment across the toe -- and took a lot of flack for not having SASSIER shoes!! So I came home, took off the zigzag (it was stitched on), got out my leather needle and Fireline thread, and stitched down six Italian silver buttons I'd gotten from our booth neighbor, Dawn Sklar, who sells outrageously discounted vintage and modern buttons and trim.
Dawn only sells at shows and flea markets or I'd point you to her online store, but her friend Judy Tomsky sells buttons like this on her site Natural Touch Beads, (The spiral buttons are on this page.) While you're there, don't miss her yummy resin beads -- they look like gumdrops or sea glass. You can use them as they are or even paint, smear or stamp them with Lumiere. Try it!
Love that trim on Destiny's shoes!
Erin
Posted by: Erin Perry | November 02, 2011 at 09:48 PM
And you should have heard how great it sounded when she walked!
Posted by: Margot | November 02, 2011 at 11:44 PM
Loved the fringe and I am sure Destiny sounded oh-so-cute when she moved. A good time was had by all.
Posted by: wearinbeads | November 04, 2011 at 09:38 AM
It most certainly was!
Posted by: Margot | November 04, 2011 at 09:53 AM
During normal times it was like *shhhhhhiick* .... *shhhhhiick* .... *shhhhhhiick*. But, when we were moving from class to booth or packing up it was more like *shhhick**shhhick**shhhick* Ha!
Posted by: Destiny Carter | November 04, 2011 at 10:29 PM
By the way, Destiny is talking about the sound of her shoes, not her inner monologue while at the show....
Posted by: Margot | November 04, 2011 at 10:39 PM