Henna-inspired TOMS shoes

I bought myself a new pair of TOMS about four months ago. My old black ones were getting kind of mangy, with a hole starting at the heel, scuff marks, fading. And they smelled kinda funky. I wanted a pair of red ones but since I never NEVER wear red and own nothing in this color in my closet, I didn't buy them. I bought grey instead. But I knew I couldn't just rock a plain grey shoe.

I hook up lots of stuff for other people, for loved ones, and clients but I rarely do it for myself. But this time was different. I pinned this amazing henna-inspired pair of TOMS on my Pinterest board a while back, and I told myself I would recreate them somehow. Not a straight up jack move--no, that's not my style. But I was definitely inspired to put down some of my black and white designs onto the shoes.

So I did.

Let me just tell you. These shoes went everywhere. They went to baseball practice, where I worked on them in the park while my kids played/practiced. Then they went with me to the baseball field, where I worked on them in the car during night games because it was too cold to sit on the bleachers. They also visited my mama's house, too. But their farthest venture turned out to be the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as we made our way down to Cabo San Lucas on the Crafty Chica cruise. While everyone was working on various projects, I busted out with my pair of TOMS, where I helped myself to a juicy Tulip fabric marker from my swag bag.

This is when I saw the light.

Up to this point, I had only used a black Sharpie marker on a portion of the shoe. When I decided to use the Tulip fabric marker, I couldn't believe how rich the black color was! So much darker and opaque than the Sharpie marker. The pointed tip helped me control my line design, too. I was hooked. I even went over the Sharpie lines with the Tulip marker.

Scandalous, I know.

As I was working on my TOMS, I paused to plan my next area of attack. I noticed Patrick Murillo--Mr. Mantastic Crafter himself--was eyeballing me.

He said to me casually, "I notice you're pretty good at those line drawings."

Gasp.

"But listen..."

Jaw drop.

"Don't cover the whole shoe with your designs."

Clutch my pearls.

"Leave some empty space. It looks better."

I was like, whoa.

So I took his advice. And believe me, it was hard. It was hard not to go all Pearmama over those TOMS shoes and cover every square inch of the fabric until my hand cramped up and I went blind in the process.

That is my usual steez.

But instead, I took the advice of my fellow artiste and...they came out fantasticals, iffa do say so myself.

First thing I did was create a simple layout for my design, using a light-colored watercolor pencil.

I am now a hardcore fan of Crafty Chica and Tulip fabric markers.

Close up.

I've got my eye on you.

All done.

Now, if only I'd actually put them on my feet instead of leaving them by their lonesome at the bottom of my closet.