Shoe Envy.

I really must get a move-on and work out how to make little canvas shoes.

The Nice Man Who Knows About Feet told me that I shouldn’t be wearing Converse any more, so I sold my yellow pair with daisies and ladybirds to . I still have a pinstripe pair that didn’t sell, and I keep looking at them, and wondering whether the next time I put them on they’ll magically be okay for my feet.

(Note to self: This didn’t work with the Doc Martens, so it seems unlikely that the Cons would be okay.)

Because I am a sucker for punishment where shoes are concerned, I’ve just been to look at the Converse section of the Schuh website.

Look! They have Converse with Little Red Riding Hood on them!

I immediately want to make a little red gingham dress to wear with these.

I’m not so keen on this year’s ladybird design, but I do rather like this blue and yellow floral pair. I’m sad that these Sailor Jerry low-tops are men’s, because that means they don’t come in my size. They’re so pretty that I’d happily have worn these with all my summer skirts.

Mind you, if I’m looking at Converse, I ought really to be looking instead at Ethletic Sneakers. It would be really easy to buy a cream pair and paint on them, and then I can have whatever design I like, as well as supporting Fair Trade and renewable resources.

Having said that, has just pointed out that the Little Red Riding Hood Converse are part of (PRODUCT) RED, which has a global fund to provide anti-retroviral drugs, to help fight the AIDS pandemic in Africa. I’ll be looking out for that one red eyelet if I do decide to buy a pair of Converse in future.

I’m still quite a few steps away from being able to transform the slippers I’ve been making into outdoor shoes. I just need to resist the urge to give in to temptation in the meantime!

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Tired and Inspired.

Insomnia is not my friend. Half past six on a Sunday morning is a terrible thing to see, especially if you’ve already been up for two hours. I plan to snooze in the bath later this morning.

Thankfully the internet is a twenty-four hour operation, and instead of wasting half the night on Cute Overload or I Can Has Cheezburger, addictive as they both are, I’ve been reading lots of inspirational blogs.

This list is mostly for my benefit, so I’ll remember where I’ve been, but I thought it might be useful to other people as well.

Lauren and Emira have a book and a blog called “The Boss of You”. It’s about being a designer and an entrepreneur, and gives excellent advice on setting up and running your own business.

Jenny Hart talks about Crafting a Business – this article specifically talks about some of the copyright and licensing ideas I that I was discussing the other day.

At decor8, Marcia Zia-Priven talks about finding your niche as a designer.

Design For Mankind has several interesting posts about “Roadmaps”, and how they can help you as a creative businessperson. Follow the links to other blogs and websites, for even more inspirational designers and crafters!

I became quite a fan of Seth Godin after I bought one of his books, Small is the New Big. I read his blog regularly, and he always seems to have something relevant to say.

I also bought three interesting books this week:

DIY: Design It Yourself is full of inspirational design ideas, coupled with extremely useful practical advice – something which is missing in a great many craft books!

Fabric Jewellery contains twenty-five projects which I will almost certainly never make. But it’s already inspired me to think in different ways about the materials that I already have at home, which is exactly what I’d hoped it would do.

Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys is a series of essays by Kate Fletcher, about various aspects of the fashion industry and how they can be approached in a more ethical manner. I haven’t read this yet (6:30 on a Sunday morning is probably not the best time to start!), but I’m looking forward to learning some interesting things, and seeing what differences I can make myself.

As it happens, I didn’t exactly buy that last book – I bartered it for one of my duvet cover skirts. I’m more than happy to be paid in goods rather than money (sometimes – books don’t pay the bills!), so if I’ve made something that you like, please feel free to barter for it, if you’ve got something that I might like in exhange.

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But I can’t even drive…

Know what?

I might possibly be persuaded to have more than two driving lessons, if I thought I’d ever be able to drive around in one of these:

It’s a Morgan LifeCar. It’s a prototype at the moment, but it’s designed to run on hydrogen fuel cells, which produce zero harmful emissions. Just water, I believe.

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Ice Cream Light Fittings.

I need these light fittings.

Immediately.

They’re designed specifically to be used with energy-saving lightbulbs, particularly the curly compact fluorescents, which are often described as looking like an ice cream. Perfect!

Ice cream light fittings not your style?

How about a skull called Dave?

Awesome.

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Painted Shoes.

For health reasons which are far too boring to go into, I am currently selling twenty-one pairs of shoes. I am saving up to buy a pair of custom-fitted orthotic insoles, which basically restricts me to flat, boring, sensible shoes for evermore.

Of course, I am now seeing nothing but fabulous shoes, everywhere I turn! This month’s Elle magazine arrived with a “shoes & handbags” supplement. The newest issue of Simply Knitting (where I thought I would be safe!) has a picture of some amazingly-decorated mosaic shoes. And now Hannah has been painting on her shoes.

Hannah also links to more painted shoes and clogs:

Åsa Westlund has a range of beautifully painted high-heeled Swedish clogs. Even if you’re not keen on the style, there’s no denying that the artwork is absolutely beautiful.

I used to have a little collection of swedish clogs (the flat kind), until an attack of mould in the hideous basement where I was living infiltrated the wooden soles, and rendered them all wet and irreparable. Now, of course, I wish I hadn’t looked for pictures of clogs. I miss my patent purple pair (which all my friends kindly referred to as “those sawn-off wellies”), and I didn’t know they were now available printed with dinosaurs, cartoons and skulls!

I’m not allowed to wear clogs any more, so clearly I need to be looking at painted shoes instead. Etsy has some beautiful work, from two sellers in particular.

Hippy of Doom has the most beautiful ballet pumps painted with a Hokusai wave design. She also has an adorable pair featuring the tree spirits from Princess Mononoke.

Miss Bunny‘s hand-painted shoes often have an Alice in Wonderland theme. My absolute favourites were these “Eat Me, Drink Me” shoes, which some lucky buyer must now be wearing with great joy.

Friends keep telling me that I should paint my own shoes, to make my disappointing orthopaedic future a little less dull. (Somebody in the USA has had this idea already!) I have painted Doc Martens, baseball boots and leather jackets in the past, but taking a paintbrush to a pair of extremely expensive shoes seems a bit scary. Mind you, it can’t be more intimidating than reproducing an album cover or a photograph on the back of someone else’s expensive leather jacket.

Maybe I should grab an old pair of shoes and a paintbrush, and give it a go.

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Some links for you…

Made With Love By Hannah
I’d forgotten about this website, until reminded me of it earlier. Now I want a skirt with apples on it!

Recycle Your Jeans
Send off your old denim, pay £45, and receive a brand new pair of sandals made from your very own jeans! They also make off-the-rack sandals, from jeans which were too holey to be sold by charity shops and manufacturing rejects. They look really comfy, and I’m really tempted to send them a piece of the pinstriped denim that I used to make the pirate coat…

Burda Style
Open source sewing patterns! Yep – they’re free. You print them out, stick them together, cut out the patterns and make clothes! Simple as that. They also tell you the difficulty level of each pattern, and the estimated sewing time.

Hel Looks
I’m sure I’ve linked to this one before – I go back and look at it every month or so, to see what’s new. It’s a street style documentary, in the manner of “Fruits”, but photographed in Helsinki.

There will shortly be some pictures of me mucking about in dresses for you… I bet you can’t wait. ;)

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