Favorite Craft Vendors

Creating fun crafts requires finding lots of good supplies.

 

 I love thrift stores - so they are one of my primary methods of finding good shoes for projects and vintage elements like earrings (clip-ons are perfect for adding to shoes).

My favorites near my house are:

Goodwill on 355 (they often have really nice shoes)

Value Village in College Park (huge selection, tons and tons of stuff which is different every day)

And of course, the best online thrift store ever - eBay (where I go to get something specific)

I also really like finding yard sales or rummage sales (the Methodist church on campus has one twice a year that I've gotten some really great stuff at, like a box of vintage ribbon for $0.50!).

So far as general crafts go, there are a few good places to get new supplies:

Michaels

JoAnn Fabrics (great for general sewing supplies) 

  

 I also have used a couple of shop on Etsy to buy supplies - I like supporting my fellow shop owners and I've found some very specific and fun things I can use:

ChristopherPines (vintage millinery goods like ribbons, leaves and velvet flowers)

MaryNotMartha (more millinery, especially really lovely flowers)

GD Supplies (feathers and supplies for hair creations)

Beads N Bits (she hand-makes the most amazing velvet flowers)

Merelle (a huge selection of vintage jewelry at inexpensive prices)

Part of the fun for me is researching how to make a pair of really pretty shoes for someone. I love scouting around and picking up different things to create a specific look. I'm off now to keep working on getting supplies for 5 custom orders!

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...

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.