Recent Wedding Shoes!

Well, it has been way too long since my last post so here are a recent custom order for a bride that she was kind enough to send me pictures of her big day:

Shoes: Getting ready for fall

I really like the stacked heels that have been coming out recently and I think these would be great for the rest of summer and as we transition into fall! Here are two pairs I would love to add to my closet (both at Zappos - here and here).

Shoes I Like

I just found this designer that has an amazing collection for brides - many are too high for me, but lovely styles (they make me think of old school Hollywood):

Check out them all here!

Etsy Craft Party - the Shoes!

When I went to the Etsy craft party on June 18th, I was asked by Vanessa (one of the organizers and a very sweet person) to do a demo:

Here I am working on a pair and showing the party-goers how Oxford Is Heaven does it.

The finished product! PPS gave me these shoes and they were perfect for doing a demo! I listed them in my shop after the party and now they are the first pair that I have sold to Scotland! How cool is that!

And if you'd like to create your own pair, here is my list of supplies that I gave out to everyone:

~ DIY Marie Antoinette Shoes Material List~
By Oxford is Heaven
www.etsy.com/shop/OxfordHeaven

- One pair of vintage shoes in your size – old bridesmaid’s shoes work amazing!
- Ribbon in coordinating colors – I like to have 3 widths to work with, 1/8 inch, 5/8 inch and 1+ inch wide (can be all the same color or 3 different colors).
- Rhinestone and/or pearl stickers – separate, self-adhesive kind
- Vintage clip-on earrings or buttons – thrift store finds!
- Millinery flowers
- Feathers
- Fabric paint and brushes – I use the kind meant for making t-shirts
- Needle and thread (for sewing ribbon)
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks – you can get a small one at any craft store

Good sources:
- High quality ribbon at good prices: www.theribbonretreat.com
- All kinds of supplies: www.mjtrim.com
- And my favorite: www.etsy.com! (Tons of good stuff under Supplies!)

Shoes of Summer

Summer is for cute shoes (without worrying if you are going to step in a snow bank). I want these 2 cute pairs:

(Top pair - from Schu who needs to start selling in the US!)

(Bottom pair - from B Mahowasky,  these are so comfortable!)

Shoes of the Day!

I'm always looking for new ideas for my shoes and surfing around for shoe goodness. Here is a pair I really like:

 

Can be bought here at ModCloth

I'd wear them with Sohomode's yellow circle skirt for a lovely explosion of spring color:

Buy the skirt here

Pink Wedding!

One of my pairs of shoes is going to a bride who is wearing pink for her wedding:

I love the idea of a pale colored dress! And it makes me happy that my shoes are going to be a part of her special day.

On the Etsy Blog again!

My gold and vintage pumps here: Etsy Blog.

Hurray! They were snapped up today too.

Fun Times in the Shop

It's been quite busy recently for Oxford Is Heaven.

I was featured again on the front page of Etsy earlier this week and did an interview for Designers4Design.

Here are some of the shoes I've been working on. Four of these pairs are custom orders!

I've also been using my new light which means I can take a picture like this even at night:

Good times!

My Shoes in the MALL?!?

This store in a mall in NY wants to carry my shoes! Pretty crazy!

Crafting for Relaxation

So I've pretty much realized that when there is a lot going on in my life (and sometimes the stress level is high), I can measure it by the sheer volume of craftiness that suddenly overtakes me. Then I have to stop myself so I don't get out of control and start planning all sorts of crazy projects.

Guess what I've been up to recently? Well, first there was the cool shirt made by PPS:

(which I think is pretty awesome and soon to be posted in the etsy store)

So I tried my hand at some sewing:

(also coming to the store - I think I like how it turned out?)

Then there is something for the Meeper (Jan, close your eyes):

(I think he was trying to get away)

And as Amms correctly guessed, Marie Antoinette is in town:

(yummy shoes, anyone?)

Which brings me my special winter break project that I'm really excited about. Let's just say it relates to the pink shoes, but involves this:

(they look like easter eggs??)

I could stop at any time...

Etsy Friends and Hints

I think that it is very cool that there are a couple other friends on etsy (and hopefully more soon!).

onewordprints makes fun journals and collages (with the help of her goldfish).

mrsjennyjames is one of my favorite photographers and she has lovely prints in her store!

And here is a little hint for my winter break project! This picture comes from a movie involving delicious shoes - anyone know what it is?

Fall Weddings and Upcoming Attractions

Another wedding! Bride Sara asked me to do shoes for her and then decided that she wanted them for her bridesmaids as well. She had purchased jewelry already and so I went with the theme of black/silver/red roses to create the girls shoes.


Detail on one of the shoes. It was really fun because I did them all similar, but also different so they could each have their individualized pair. (How fun is customizing?!)


I bought some small pieces of vintage jewelry at the thrift store to incorporate into the shoes (like a pair of drop ebony earnings on the backs of this pair).


Doing these shoes involves my love of thrift stores, etsy, ebay and craft supplies. Even a small piece of ribbon can finish off a pair - left over from a gift or church rummage sale (where I bought a whole box of stuff for $0.50).


The bride's shoes turned out wonderful - vintage lace, a velvet rose and pearls and rhinestones - how decadent is that?


They almost seem like they could be the cake!

PPS and I have been brainstorming a lot recently. This has led to some thrift store purchases, checking out options online and a hopefully a crafting bonanza soon. She has some ideas to add to the store that I think will be really good. A spring line of fun fashion may be in the works! (And I also had a really fun idea of something I want to do over winter break!)

Lots of Shoes!

I have been quite busy working on finishing up a bunch of custom orders before taking a little break (now that school has started for the fall).

Here's what I've been busy with:

a pair of bride's shoes for a funky do-it-yourself wedding (she has some great ideas!)

a pair inspired by Anthropologie (my secret plan is to sell my shoes there some day)

classy, inspired by Chanel's recent line

this customer said "go all out". it was really fun (there are even pink feathers!)

Of course, sometimes I really just like to get a pair that's not for someone in particular and just see what happens... especially when the sister sends me some really fun shoes:

I just wish they were my size... but since they're not, you can buy them in my shop! I have some more fun happening in the shop, so I'll be posting again soon!

Wedding Cont.

Here are the bridesmaid shoes in progress:

pretty heels:

all lined up and ready to go:

and now for bride:


These were such fun to do! I hope I get to do more weddings!

Shoes for a Wedding!

I got to do my first wedding party order of shoes and it was so fun!

The bride sent me a list of her specifications and a picture of the bridesmaid dresses.


She wanted gold sandals with ruffles and flowers. I did some sleuthing and found these great shoes on sale as Rack Room shoes:Then I ordered ruffles from fellow etsy seller Dream Spun Kids in lavender and ivory, got rhinestones (I like the self-adhesive kind) and little flowers from Michael's. I also had a vintage bracelet that I thought would be perfect. Here is the assembly of my supplies:


Coming up next... 4 pairs of bridesmaid sandals and the bride's shoes!

Fun Shoes

I think part of the reason that I like making fun shoes is because sometimes I see the ones that are in the little girls section of the shoe store and I don't think it's fair that they don't have them in my size.

For my most recent project, I decided to make some flats... my supply list is:
- Vintage lace and bias tape from a rummage sale at the Methodist church near campus
- Cream velvet rosettes from fellow Etsy seller ScreamingMonkeys
- Little pearls from Michael's
- Flats from Target
- My trusty low-heat glue gun (I always touch it)


I like to do my crafting while watching Doctor Who, this is my nice relaxing time when I'm done with homework.

And here is the finished product:

Soon to be posted in my Etsy shop.

Also, I see there was a guest appearance by NIS in the kneading of the bread below.