On April 29th, FabSugar posted a very inspiring "Guess Who" that featured an absolutely gorgeous pair of painted wedges.

At $413.00 The sale price was still a bit too rich for my blood but - still - I felt inspired and set about to create my own, artful pair of hand-painted wedges. As luck would have it, I got very busy with work and didn't get to Payless to pick up the canvas shoes that I needed to start this project until this past Sunday. Yes!!! They were on sale and it [really] doesn't get much better than that.

Once I took a look at the shoes I was a bit concerned. The canvas uppers are great - not a problem. But the faux cork wedge is of a composite material that had a hand much like synthetic rubber. Unless you're using paint, specifically designed for plastic, this creates a very serious issue with durability of the finished design.

With this in mind I painted the canvas uppers a bright fuschia. I used textile paint but, honestly, any acrylic paint would do. Since the finish on the soles was still intact it made clean up easy and I was able to wipe away any errant brush marks with a dampened cloth.

I let the painted uppers dry over night as I considered the issue with the soles. What I needed to do was mar the somewhat shiny satin finish - just enough to create a tooth in the material - and I was sincerely hoping that the raw product would be a bit porous in order to hold the paint.

First I tried using a 3M scouring pad. This definitely degraded the finish but the printed "cork" was still a bit too dark for my tastes and I didn't feel that the material was degraded or porous enough to hold the media. 120 grit sandpaper proved to be the perfect fix. With a light hand I distressed the covering just enough to open the pores of the material and lighten the cork printing.

Once this was done to suit my personal tastes, I wiped them down with a damp cloth, dried them well, and tested my Prisma Color markers in an inconspicuous place. The art gods were with me because the marker took to the material and, once dry, was permanent despite repeated and agressive rubbing with micro fiber cloth. Yes! I was in business and in less than an hour later I had my very own swanky sweet pair of artful wedges!

Interested in having a pair created just for you? Please feel free to contact me directly to discuss the project.