We’ve pretty much been snowed (or rather ICED inside) so I’ve been working on some things in my sewing room. I was glad to see that Sissy was working on Valentine outfits… and I’ve been working on red leather (maybe Valentine) shoes for the Ruby Red Fashion Friends. Ever since I made those silver shoes for Lavender for her New Year’s outfit and then the silver pair I made for the Giveaway, I’ve been trying to tweak just a simple slip on shoe that fits really well. I think after these 6 attempts, I have it! I would still like to get the back so it’s laced up instead of glued, but the fit is very nice on their feet.
About 6 weeks ago I bought a teardrop shaped leather punch and was so excited to see what I could do with it. It came so dull I emailed the company and told them even when I hit it on the leather with my mallet 50 or more times it just would not go through the thin (2mm) leather I was using. UGH!
They said I could return it for a refund or keep it and try to sharpen it myself. UGH again!
Well, my brother was home when it came and he asked if my hubby had a honing stone and maybe I could try and sharpen it with that. I oiled the stone and began dragging it on it’s side easy-like to sharpen the edges. It took a while as I was being very careful to get it at the right angle. It turns out when it was sent from the company it was coated in TOO much black enamel paint (probably to make it look nicer) and it sort of “rounded” the edges.
When I got all that paint off, it was sharp again and I could use it! YAY! So you’ll see some cut outs I made on the shoes using it. I just punched a single millimeter hole and then sort of fanned the teardrop design around it.
Here are the shoes I’ve made… The first two pair are from a red leather.
2nd pair:
3rd pair: These next 2 pair are from a very thin (maybe lambskin leather in a magenta or hot pink leather… or maybe it’s a raspberry!)
4th pair:
Someone told me my post seemed like it was cut off… no goodbye or anything, so I checked and sure enough I had left it “open ended!”
So now it’s noon on Friday and we are getting pelted with LOTS of snow on top of our ice! It’s not supposed to get out of the 20’s for the next week, so things will stay pretty much as they are now.
Well, that was what happened at my house… I hope you’ve been doing something exciting!
I’ll see you Monday,
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh, what cute shoes! The fourth pair is my favorite!
I’m so glad you were able to get that thick paint scraped off the die so you could finally use it. The teardrop shape should come in handy for lots of decorative accents on shoes and purses.
I see you added a video–George trimming a tree branch?
Dear Jeanne, you are truly a dolly shoe cobbler extraordinaire! I predict that when the snow and ice go away, there will be a line of dollies at your house requesting new shoes (smile).
Wishing blessings for protection to you and all of the Sofa Sisters facing fires and cold weather and any other environmental/Mother Nature woes.
thank you Dorothy, you are so very sweet!!
Wow, lots of shoes. Good work. I wonder if Jeanne has a heart shaped little die? That might be cute too for shoe decorations.
Seeing that video of George sawing the branch by the gazebo which looks to be by hand saw, I think he needs a battery powered reciprocating saw. It would zip through those branches like butter. We use it all the time here cutting fallen limbs and branches. I cut off the small stuff with loppers or clippers and then other person uses the saw to zip big branches up into smaller pieces that will fit into the yard pick up can. It also works great when you want to remove a stubborn privet bush at the base or any other invasive plant or tree. Leaves the base only about an inch above ground where it can easily be dealt with. It’s a handy tool. Maybe George has one already?
I guess some idiot with a drone flew it into one of the largest water dropping helicopter/plane yesterday down in LA, putting it out of commission to fight fires. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but some people are such duds when they use a drone in a fire area or any danger zone.
yes, my hubbs just related this tragic story of the helicopter to me.
What a world we live in. Really disappointing
I hadn’t heard about the helicopter. So disturbing that someone would even think to do that. Do they know who did it?
Not sure if they know who may have been flying one in the area, but sure hope they find out. I think there are more pressing things going on down there right now. So sad.
The shoes are fabulous, Jeanne! You could sell them by themselves for a good price I am sure!
We are watching a beautiful snow fall here in our timeshare in Helen, in the GA mountains. We put a big piece of cardboard on the table of the balcony and the birds are “eating it up”, LOL. We have Phoebes, gold and house finches, cardinals and of course, Tit Mice and Chickadees. Will send photos to Jeanne. We hope to get out in the snow when it quits coming down.
Oh Sissy, this sounds so lovely. Only rain here. My sister sent pictures the other day of their snowfall in West Virginia. She and her husband are retired so could just stay indoors with a fire in the fireplace and enjoy the beauty.
How beautiful to have snow in the mountains. We are north of where you are but lower elevation so the forecast is sleet and freezing rain, ugh. The Blue Jays came for peanuts today, it has been months. Enjoy your winter wonderland Sissy.
I’d love to see the tweets photos but be careful out there. 🙂
The shoes with the cut-out areas are adorable and fit well, but I really like the shoes with the cross-over decorative strap with flower trim!
Jeanne the shoe maker. I love these shoes. I had a pair with the holes in them when I was a little girl.
Your situation with the leather punch is really funny. I am so glad your son solved the situation for you. Your leather shoes are going to take off in a whole new direction with this fancy tool. Soon you can make cowboy boots. – – just kidding.
We are supposed to get a bit of snow tonight and over night. Funny thing is, the storm is trending south and the Richmond, Virginia area is going to get about 5″
I am claiming this right now as a gift to Sarah and Lauren from Gramma. Richmond does not usually get a pile of snow. I am really happy. young families need a nice diversion of frolicking in the snow now and then.
It is Friday again. I hope everyone enjoys a comfortable cosy week end
The shoes are very cute, Jeanne. I almost always choose mary janes for my daughter that had little teardrop or heart shaped cutouts on the toes or around the vamp. I loved that it allowed colored tights or socks or even plain white to peek through. I’m drawn to decorative doll shoes the same way.
Kitties enjoying the show at the window . We must have 50 sweet sparrows along with cardinals, blue jays, juncos, tufted titmouse, chickadees, purple finches, and flickers. The cardinals and blue jays are so striking against the white snow. Then five or six squirrels round out the show.
Loved hearing on the news that the Humane Society in CA requested donations and received so many that their website crashed.
Don’t know if you can get a pic of some of those wonderful birds enjoying the feast, but would love to see it.
Hi Joy,
I will try to see what I can get tomorrow morning when I’m out feeding the porch kitties.
Just caught my typo – should have be chose.
I love these shoes – all of them. Glad you solved the problem with your punch. David asked me one day why I bid on an auction because I could sew. I told him I did it for the shoes. They are definitely a selling point.
I watched the national news yesterday and it focused on the California fires. So terribly heartbreaking. The area looks like a war zone. Some of the interviews were difficult to watch but one man (an actor) said the only thing he cared about was that he and his pregnant wife got out safely. I can’t believe some people stayed to try to save their property. They ended up losing their lives.
After seeing so much news on fires and hurricanes a couple years ago I started thinking about what I would want to grab quickly in the event of an evacuation. I spent several days organizing my pictures and getting them all in one place. I can grab them and our wedding photo album in five minutes. I have a laundry basket that will fit all my dolls (clothes will have to stay) and those and my sewing machines/serger are my priorities. Don’t have much that can’t be replaced. David’s shop is in a metal building away from other buildings so his stuff should be okay – not that it could be easily packed up and moved anyway. But in the case of a brush fire the whole of Sealy would have to be on fire to affect us. Since we are rural and surrounded by fields the outskirts of town does have to stay alert for brush fires, especially if we’ve been without rain for a long time. But you need a place to live and insurance companies are slow in settling. I remember when we had the micro burst a few years ago that flattened some homes and buildings south of town, it took months for those people to get compensation. Since many are ranchers or farmers they had to come up with some way to stay on their property and tend to their crops and livestock so RVs were the answer. Hard to imagine but several had to go to court to get hardship variances to be able to live in them longer than 90 days while they rebuilt. So much for the compassion of a small town.
Still cold and dreary here – 39 last I looked, but we are going to have a lovely, sunny weekend with temps in the 40s and 50s. It rained all last night but thankfully our temps were high enough it didn’t freeze.
You have some good ideas there on how to prepare. When we packed to evacuate during the fire some years back, I grabbed pillowcases and filled them with jewelry, keepsakes, anything precious to me. Easy to carry and pack. Believe it or not, I still have boxes packed and ready to go. The feeling of having to get out does not go away. Everyone should have recent photos of the interior of their home. Open drawers and closets for photos too. And don’t forget the garage/attic as we tend to store so much there. Those photos will be needed when trying to put together information for insurance claims, and they will help to remember all that was in the house.
That is too bad about those homes lost near you. Here, most did not have enough insurance coverage to cover rebuilding with current codes. The city required rebuilds to have in house sprinklers as well as being completely landscaped with fire resistant plants or rock front and back before they could occupy. It was a nightmare for most who had been renting and so wanted to be able to move back into their new homes.
Too often a law has a letter but no heart. Rules are rules we are told with little thought to not what we will do but what we can do. We decided to build a residential subdivision on our property because we could not sell the mobile home park with the property or by itself or sell the property to another business not because of zoning (we have none) but they are using land use regulations to limit who we can sell to. So we decided to do what would benefit us most. When we told the town administration what we planned, they actually asked what about the people living in the mobile home park. We were astonished they should ask because it’s their rules of no more individual mobile homes on property within the city limits and no mobile homes more than seven years old in any of the mobile home parks. Sealy has little in the way of affordable housing so this limits who can live here. These rules are new and they’re proud of them. We told them it was their rules that were the problem. We moved the mobile home we had on our property to our son’s fiancĂ©e’s parents’ property outside the city only to be told by the county after it was moved that they were a tad short of the required acreage for two dwellings. There is a total of five people living on the property and if they had moved in with her parents there still would be a total of five people. But rules are rules. Thankfully his fiancĂ©e’s cousin had a large enough piece so it could be moved there but it is in another county and a sizable commute for Jason to come to work here. Moving the mobile home twice cost $6000. We paid for one move his fiancĂ©e’s father paid for the second one. It’s not like we were moving a utility trailer but the powers that be couldn’t care less. They say just move it or face huge fines for non-compliance.
Excellent shoes Jeanne and congratulations on Bee’s Knees being picked the winner. I remember how hard you worked on that outfit. The icy photos are stunning but high’s in the 20’s brrrrr.
Blessings for a good weekend to all and prayers for the end of fires.
Where have I been? I did read the blog early this morning, and yes, it seemed “ off” because there was no ending or description of what the little video was, but we all figured it out! We too are getting snow, but this time it is a pretty, fluffy white snow that has no ice and it is not so cold. No schools today or much of anything, since the streets are not cleared off as of yet. No mail since Saturday for us either, so I am taking down Christmas decorations today and the next few days.
I love those pretty little shoes like everyone else does, and Sara could use a couple more pairs. Are you going to sell shoes by themselves or with outfits only?
Like everyone else, I have been watching the horrible destructive fires in LA. To make matters worse, many insurers are pulling out of California, so what happens to those poor people in order to rebuild their lives? It’s going to take years for them to get back to normal.
We are pretty much stuck inside with all this snow, but I am counting my blessings when I see all that.
Have a good weekend, everyone!