COUNT IT DOWN

I don't want to freak anyone out, but we have officially left the triple digits...LESS THAN 100 DAYS UNTIL KREWE OF MUSES 2014

COUNTDOWN CLOCK WIDGETS

Y'all got your glitter-game-faces on?

Work in Progress - Voodoo Shoe

Busy working on shoes, so I haven't had much time to update here (posts may come in fits and spurts until after Mardi Gras 2014), but I wanted to share some pictures of a work in progress.

When Halloween stuff went on sale, I picked up some stuff that I thought had a good voodoo vibe, and I'm hoping to stretch it out to a couple of voodoo shoes this year.

Here's the base shoe, without most of the embellishment or "Muses 2014." The acidic green on the heel and platform is Martha Stewart "golden beryl." The purple is ArtMinds and the black is Recollections.

The shoe had a kinda cool and funky base, so I played with that:

Here are some pictures with flash:

Isn't that purple gorgeous?

I have a boatload of little voodoo doll magnets (I think all NOLA natives have a bunch of these...they just spring up in the backs of drawers and on fridges). It didn't seem glitzy enough for a shoe, so I dolled it up (see what I did there?)

Here the doll before its Muses makeover:

And here it is after:

That's definitely going to go on this shoe, possibly with some extra embellishment (I have some glitter skulls and little bottles I can throw in the mix), but I haven't decided on the final composition.

Happy glittering y'all!

Maryland Shoe

Oh, how I have missed posting here! I have a ton of shoes in the work, so I'm going to start playing catch up again...

To prepare for my sister riding this year (!!!), I've been whipping up some special shoes for her. She lives in Baltimore and the inhabitants of her fair city possess absolutely epic levels of civic pride (sound familiar, New Orleanians?)

Starting with a white pump, I divided the shoe into four quadrants and applied several (~3-4) coats of white or yellow. The white glitter I used was ArtMinds (my new favorite white) and the yellow was Recollections with a little orange paint mixed in with the Mod Podge to increase the brightness and opacity. 

After I was happy with the yellow and white base coats, I printed the Maryland flag coloring page I bookmarked a while back, and traced in black or red glitter (both Recollections). I peeled the transfers, fitted them onto the shoe and trimmed where necessary:

After the transfers were glued and set, I lined the edges between quadrants in red sequin (I had a wee bit leftover from the Ruby Slipper) and lines the upper and lower edge with black sequins. I glittered the interior and heel in Tulip gold glitter and glittered the sole in dark red (ArtMinds)

Another thing Maryland has in common with Louisiana = crabs. After the whole shoe was glittered, I perched some little red crabs around the edge of the shoe using hot glue and, once they were dried, arranged a string of pearls in their little claws. The effect I'm going for is that a little band of crabs are scuttling around the shoe and working together to catch one single strand of beads together. The pearls came from my husband's modest 2013 stash...he's a non-native and this past year somewhat adorably discovered how fun it is to pass everything he catches along to kids around him (and yes, I can totally tolerate the hit my craft supply took as a result).

Still needs lettering and the year, probably on the inside?

Almost there....

Two more days until Halloween, and that means only a few more costume tweaks before I can dive back into Muses shoes!!

Work in Progress - Saints Super Bowl Ring Shoe

One last shoe before I transition fully into Halloween mode...

It's that time of year, when everyone's thinking about the Saints pretty much non-stop. I came across a picture of the Saints Super Bowl ring, and started saving reference images in my Saints Pinterest board and picking up crystal rhinestones of different sizes.

It still needs a lot of detailing, but here's the Saints Super Bowl Ring Shoe so far:

What Saints fan wouldn't love to catch a black, silver and gold glittered shoe wearing a big blinged out Saints Super Bowl ring?

For the base shoe, I picked glitters that seemed like they'd coordinate well with the ring (black and gold Recollections and silver and gold ArtMinds). I lined the edges with my go-to gold sequin trim.

 I constructed the ring out of a big sheet of craft foam, I'm planning to post details and hopefully a template here later when I get a little more time.

 Here's my collection ofrhinestones, ready to decorate the "ring," including a pack of big rhinestones I got at Target as a "Pumpkin Decorating Kit" (two of the big sheets on the right plus a tube of glitter glue for $3, which is a pretty good price for rhinestones that size).

I printed an image of the top surface of the ring, and cut out foam fleur de lis by tracing with an exacto knife. Then I covered the little fleur de lis with silver glitter, and the larger backing fleur de lis in black then stacked and glued them to match the ring:

After assembling the foam ring and covering it with gold Recollections glitter, I added the glitter fleur de lis and a bunch of rhinestones, more or less trying to follow the original ring pattern. I added "WORLD" along the top edge and "CHAMPIONS" along the bottom edge in puff paint and glitter. More details will be added on the side panels. Here are some close ups of the ring:

Rhinestone covered silver and black fleur-de-lis

"WORLD" along the top edge of the ring's upper face

"CHAMPIONS" along the bottom edge

I wrapped the ring around the shoe and hot-glued it in place, then covered the seam on the underside of the shoe with more glue and glitter. I'm planning to add lettering on the shoe itself, details on the side panels of the rings, and rhinestones on the shoe.

Some more pictures of the shoe after the addition of the ring:

WHO DAT?

That's about all for now. Be back in November!

Glitter Manufacturer AMA on Reddit

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1nppaa/iama_glitter_manufacturer_ama/

A friend posted this on Facebook, and it's a pretty fun read. I wish I could use glitter "infused with the essence of warriors long dead" on my shoes...

Happy Monday: Work in Progress - Red Beans and Rice Shoe

No posts here in a while, I'm focusing on getting ready for Halloween (the biggest day of the year at the children's hospital where I do biomedical research). But rest assured I have been mentally cooking up some more shoes that I can't wait to make and share here.

Here's a shoe I'm working on, the Red Beans & Rice Shoe! It isn't really quite done, but since the posting has been sparse (and it's a Monday!) I thought I'd share it unfinished.

The interior is Recollections "champage." The wedge got coated in Elmer's glue, then covered in rice (working in batches around the shoe). After the wedge was totally rice-covered, it got a coating of Mod Podge and white glitter (ArtMinds stackable). The back of the shoe is Martha Stewart "emerald" to match the camellia leaves and invoke a little parsley garnish. I did the straps in a blend of reds and copper, then glued on individual red beans.

The back on the shoe is decorated with a spray of red camellias, in homage to the iconic Camellia Brand:

I'll update again when it finished with trim/touch-ups/lettering!