Got shoes?

A friend and I had been wanting to get together to do art for a while. Kara has the perfect space for an art gathering and the idea of painting shoes had come up previously. The time had finally come for a shoe decorating event for women only. Female bonding with shoes, music, food & wine - what could be better?

Each of us searched our homes for tired, old shoes to upgrade. I found these old grey canvas shoes.

First I prepped them by pulling out the shoe laces and painting them with white primer. (Gesso also works perfectly.)

I arrived with shoes in hand not really sure what I was going to do. Kara & friends provided acrylic paints, Sharpies, metallic markers, buttons, trim, baubles... I knew inspiration would come if I just would get started, so with green tea at hand (No wine for me! Even one glass can do me in!), I dived in. I squeezed out several colors that called to me and started painting.

I've always been a hippie at heart... And so after 2 layers of tie-dye colors, I painted on some groovey blossoms to add some flower-power.

We all had so much fun, we met again the following Sunday. This time I brought a pair of newer shoes that I had bought on clearance. They were an odd grey color so I had covered them with black shoe polish a few weeks ago. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I've always loved Zentangle type drawing and decided to use one of the metallic paint pens to Zentangle my shoes.

I must confess I'm not sure how to preserve the design. Let me know if you have any good ideas!

Kara had fun splattering a pair of old boots with metallic gold and bronze acrylic paints. After they dried, she drew spirals with black Sharpie around the zipper (which had been covered with masking tape during the splatter portion). Next she added well-placed dots with metallic silver Sharpie to go with the zipper. Wow, huh?

So, looking for something fun creative and fun to do with a friend or two? I highly recommend organizing a shoe decorating party!
What's next? Not sure.
​However, I have noticed our local Good Will occasionally has .99 sales on jeans...