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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El Naturalista – Iggdrasil

I’ve just bought a lovely new pair of shoes.

Aren’t they nice?

The reason I thought they were worth mentioning is that El Naturalista go to great lengths to make their shoes as eco-friendly as possible. In their eco-policy they explain how they use recycled rubber for the soles; a product which would normally be classed as industrial waste. They also promise:

To promote natural materials and dyes
To avoid polluting substances
To protect and sustain the environment
To use biodegradable substances where possible
To recycle materials where possible
To pay producers fair prices
To promote traditional skills
To support appropriate technology
To operate with transparency

And they make gorgeous, comfortable shoes in lots of lovely colours!

You can buy them online from the El Naturalista website. In the UK, they’re also available in Jones the Bootmaker, Footprints, Shoon and Schuh.

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Ananse Village fabrics

This morning I received an email from Ananse Village. They’re a company based in California, who have a Fair Trade agreement with craftspeople in Africa. They sell clothing, musical instruments, jewellery, masks, baskets… all sorts of things.

They contacted me specifically to draw my attention to the fabrics, which I have to say are absolutely amazing.

The images above represent a 12″ swatch, and the prints are all made with wax. Some of them are amazingly detailed.

From a personal point of view, I probably wouldn’t want to have the fabrics shipped from Africa, to California, and then on to me. There must be a more direct route of buying African fabrics like this in the UK.

There’s no denying that the fabrics are gorgeous though.

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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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