Print Giveaway - Tell Me About Your Shoes!

I was so happy with the Favourite Shoes print that I made another edition in my favourite colour combo du jour - red & pale blue - & it's now for sale in my Etsy shop.

It's difficult to decide which edition I like best, but I'm really in love with the card stock I used this time, it's a lovely eggshell colour with little red & blue flecks, & looks just like a speckly bird's egg. It suits the print so well!

Anyway, I thought I'd have a little contest & give away a print. All you have to do is post a comment here in my blog giving an anecdote, or description, or even a link to a photo or artwork about your favourite shoes.

I don't really feel a burning need to win one of my own prints, but I thought I'd get the ball rolling with my own shoe story...

My sister Josella thinks I have some kind of super-turbo memory, but really (really) I can't even remember my own phone number. I do have some little snippets from the past that I vividly recall though, & one involves my favourite shoes.

I remember walking down King William Street (main street through the centre of Adelaide) with my mum when I was about three or four years old. I know it was near my birthday (in October) because it was mild, late-spring weather. It was a balmy & rainy late afternoon that grew so dark the street lights came on & they reflected in the wet roads & pavements, which reminded me of a poem I had a particular love for at the time (see below).

I was wearing my favourite outfit - a purple & magenta paisley silk smock dress with swirly brass buttons (I'm talking 1971...my mum always dressed Jo & I in these ultra-short dresses, this one was no exception), little white ankle socks, & shiny black patent mary-janes. I loved those shoes. They had buttons instead of buckles - just like my Favourite Shoes print (which is based on a pair of shoes I own now, with extra fancy embellishments)

I remember walking along the shimmery, rainy street (the acoustics change when it rains like that - the traffic was all echoey) holding my mum's hand, & in the other, clutching a brand new colouring book & box of crayons she'd just bought me. Penny Lane by The Beatles wafted from a shop doorway.

It was just one of those perfect happy moments. I loved my shoes, I loved the day & my new colouring book, & I loved my mum. :)

And have a look - I still own the book with the poem about rainy streets in it that the day evoked in my four-year-old mind...

There are other shoe anecdotes of note that I could have shared...such as the time I set fire to a total stranger's brand new trainers with a flaming marshmallow at a party...but that one's not nearly as picturesque, & anyway, it isn't about my shoes.

So, if you'd like the chance to win a Favourite Shoes print, feel free to share your shoe story. I'll pick my fave in a week's time & announce the winner. Make sure your comment links back to you so I can contact you if you win & get your address!

Comments

[chichiboulie]

First off, that print is gorgeous! I'm a huge fan or red and pale blue as well. Perfect!

My shoe story... has to be when I got my first pair of official nikes when I was 8. They were THE sneaker to have and I so desperately wanted a pair, but my parents were not at all about following the trends. When I did get them, oh gosh did I cherish them. White with a red swoosh. Perfect!

[Linda Crispell]

A year ago my sister adopted an amazing five year old girl from Ethiopia. She had never worn shoes before. My niece now wears the shiniest, frilliest most colorful shoes she can find, no matter what the outfit looks like! When she comes to visit she always has a bag containing more shoes, just in case she feels a change is called for.
Linda

[gemma jones]

yay! I favourited this print in your etsy just today. There is something about the effortless and sweet curve of that inner sole that got me! sweet!

My shoe story is just fresh!

I went shoe shopping with a friend for shoes for a wedding (shoes for her, not me) and she bought a beautiful pair of silver heels with an art deco design. I was too skint to purchase the crazy plastic fantastic shoes I had my eye on in the next shop we went to. But then, the NEXT DAY, I was in the OP SHOPPE and found the same shoes in my size for $5. Unworn and waiting.

And here they are:
http://kaotickraftkuties.blogspot.com/2008/09/op-shoppe-goodness-in-form-of-grass.html

[Natasha]

When I was about 13 I lived in Dr Marten boots. But I was not content with plain black and so I painted one boot purple and put psychedelic swirls of yellow, green, red and orange on the other boot. I loved those boots and wore them all the time. It is one of my Mum's favourite stories that I wore them to a Ball with a beautiful gown dress and then my Dr Marten painted boots!

[Baldylocks]

I wrote about this in my blog recently. I have the photos of all of my shoes on that post! http://baldylocks.blogspot.com/search?q=shoes

All the designer shoes I had collected over the years lay quietly in waiting. I have had a long absence from them...and my life.

A couple of weeks ago I needed a pair of shoes for a wedding, so I went into my closet to find the pretty things I used to wear. They were all covered in a thick layer of dust after being neglected for so long. I found myself sitting with them and carefully wiping the dust from each one. As I did, each different pair of shoes unlocked memories of before. Before diagnosis, oncology appointments and chemotherapy. Before bone marrow biopsies and blood transfusions to a time of art show openings, University classes, working in theatre and dinners with friends. A time where it was easy to laugh and dream about my future.

I was filled with a sense of settling back into place. Somewhere I belong. These shoes accompanied me to a lot of different places and experiences. They are like little beacons of connection, even if that connection is just the memory. To me they hold the joys and shadows of my past.
-WallCandy

[Baldylocks]

Sorry, I didn't do that last link quite right. You have to scroll down to see all the shoes so I'll throw out this photo.

http://bp3.blogger.com/_z-W_hhoi-Oo/Rx6GbRzGnmI/AAAAAAAAANA/fd4WYOFQW4g/s1600-h/red+shoe+magic.jpg

I love your print, by the way! I used do paintings of my shoes. They still hang in my house.

Have a great day!

[nuvonova]

I have too many favourites and always talk about them on my blog!

You can take your pick! Haha!

http://nuvonova.blogspot.com/search/label/Shoes

[suse]

well I recently went on a girls weekend trip to Melbourne, which we planned for 6 months. I was so excited. I had packed my bag and at the last minute decided I would put in my most favourite boots to wear out at night, as I thought that I might wear them on the plane, but decided not to. Anyway I was trying to find them in my cluttered shoe cupboard at 4amn the morning , ( early flight) and I packed one high boot and one of my favourite boots. I did not notice at the time but when it came time to wear them I had to wear one high heel boot with one low heel boot so I must have looked odd, I felt odd and got paid out by my friends all weekend. Luckily they were both black. My friend I met in Melbourne also only packed a pair of thongs and a pair of high heel wedgies. We were there in Autumn so she thought it would be warm She ended up wearing her thongs with socks every where and got paid out also even by strangers, so we both ended up buying new shoes. It was a good excuse.

[feel fuzzy]

i love the new print, its so adorable!

my shoe story is as follows: i spent winter 2006 in a small ski town in B.C. canada, i spent half the winter wearing only 1 pair of $20 bargain bargain trainers and my feet suffered, then i found some amazing vans snow skate shoes that kept my feet sooooo toasty warm for the rest of the winter, even wading through the snow for hours, i LOVE these shoes so much, sadly they are now full of holes and i cant find another pair anywhere, but i still wear them because i love them so much, but now instead of looking after my feet they let in all the rain :( i just cant give them up

[melanie]

The new print is amazing! I am loving these colors as well.

Recently I've been enamored with these shoes:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011N9VPK?ie=UTF8&tag=imabeknaraho-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0011N9VPK

in YELLOW. I am not sure how people get away with things like yellow shoes, but oh man, I am IN.

[Christina]

When I was about 4 years my favourite ankle boots were red with black fur trim around the top - perfect for a West Adelaide supporter. I loved to wear them with tights and my 'wow - wee' skirt (it would twirl out when I spun around) and I loved to dance to the Beatles songs.
I cried when my feet outgrew my boots!

[Johanna]

18 yrs old flying to NY by myself for the first time. I get off the plane & manage a cab to get to my uncle's Manhattan apartment. With time to kill before I meet up with him I traipse around the city in my wood soled Dr.Scholls w/a white leather strap across the toe & silver buckle on the side. I was clack clacking along (let me just stop & say that I loved the loud whacking sound these wooden shoes made every time they hit the pavement, music to my youthful ears!) when all of sudden I felt...lopsided. Thought maybe it was just me, perhaps vertigo from looking up at the tall skyscrapers? So I continued along until the painful moment when I realized my shoes had completely splintered & fallen apart! In NY! Blocks (miles in my mind!) from where I was staying! So I did what any good girl would do...pulled out the "only in case of emergency fund" (that I was really saving for a trip to WOodstock) & ran into the closest store. As I walked back to the apartment I mourned the loss of the shoes I was meant to clack around the city of all cities in. Looking down at my feet, now encased in plastic sandals with silver lining & white rubber soles, I realized that not only was I not clacking, I was also squishing! Summer in the city + plasticy rubbery shoes = squishing sounds. ::sigh:: Years later I found those sandals shoved in the back of my closet (I think I wore them once after that trip) & the plastic had hardened & shattered. Fitting I thought.

...yes, I still miss them!

[Cicada Studio]

I still have the authentic 60's black vinyl lace up go-go boots with square toe and heel from my earliest days at college. They were new and never worn when I found them at the most wonderful thrift store for only $2. I wore them for the duration of those college years and now it's nearly 20 years later and they still have a place in my closet. Not having a girl, I have no one to pass them down to, but I like to take them out and reminisce from time to time and contemplate how much I've changed- mentally, physically, spiritually. Not bad for $2.

[puglyfeet]

I love that print! However much I ADORE shoes, I don't have very interesting stories about my favorites except to say that I adore them immensely.

Again, lovely print!

[Natalie]

This colourway is just AMAZING!

I bought a hideously expensive pair of red Italian high heels to wear with my hideously expensive red wedding dress earlier this year. I was so scared of wearing them because I don't usually wear high heels and we got married in a park with a long pathway. Anyway, on the way to the rotunda where we were to be married the strap slipped off both heels (slingbacks, argh!) and so I took them off after the ceremony for the photos...

and I promptly stood in dog poo. (My husband chivalrously cleaned it off for me!)

The infamous dog poo photo is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xochiquetcal/2427641622/in/set-72157605030340950/

[Gillian - aka Silly Gilly]

I remember being 14 and owning a pair of black mid calf high boots with ridiculously pointy toes and silver buckles all up the side. Think late 80's, think Michael Jackson, think what would now be considered goth. I thought they were THE BEST! And I was apparently, according to me, the height of art chick fashion.
Fabulous print! And great colour pairing too.

[Jacqui Dodds]

I love your red shoes they remind me of my red Kickers that I bought when I first started work - they were way too expensive for me. I take a shoe size 4 (European 37) and the assistant persuaded me to buy a size 36 saying they would stretch - well they didn't! I never could wear them as the leather was really hard but I loved those shoes. I didn't really learn from that as a couple of years ago I was persuaded that a pair of leather shoes (size 4 this time) would stretch but no they didn't and I never wore them either!
Jacqui

[rachel]

Delightful blog, just found - what a treat!

When I was four, I desperately wanted shoes with a strap and a button, preferably in patent leather. The shop had them, but they had smooth leather soles. My cautious mother held out for a long time, because, she said, (in her rich dramatic French accent) the soles would make me slip, fall over, and probably die (well, the latter was implicit, rather than stated, in any such situations). And she thought easily-scraped patent leather unsuitable for everyday wear.

But eventually she yielded to persistent pleading, and as a compromise I was bought the plain leather version. Thrilled, I came out of the shop, and on the way home, slipped, skinned my knee and scraped my new shoes. Did she say "I told you so!"? Of course she did.

Now nearly 60, after a lifetime in sensible footwear, I still look longingly at shoes fastened with a button. And that's despite knowing what would happen if I wore them....

[Yuri]

Love the print! Wish I had the shoes ON the print!!

Shoes are my fav accessory. I always wore interesting shoes at school (picture catholic Spain in the 80s – where everyone looked the same and wore the same uniform: Levi’s, rebooks or Nike Air Jordans and Lacoste polos – me, being half Japanese and with clothes & shoes coming from Japan, stood out like an alien!!). Even though I’m one for a bargain, I think one should always wear good shoes and handbags. When I started earning money I travelled internationally a lot and every time I walked through the door, my dad used to say: - So, what shoes have you bought this time?- rather than hello!! Fair enough. Now I live in UK and my parents’ house in Spain is still filled with my shoes. I keep them all in case some are back in fashion… but my guilty pleasure are always red leather shoes (proper tomato red), for some reason I cannot resist them, even though they are so hard to match with your clothes!!

http://craftyinlondon.blogspot.com/2008/09/red-shoes.html

Maybe is because I was a fan of the Wizard of Oz??? Recently I bought these red sequin summer sandals in a trendy UK chain. I have NEVER used them…cannot wait to find an outfit to match them!!

[e14studio]

What a great idea! I am enjoying reading about everyone's shoes...

My story is set in Italy where I came upon a true craftsman in Florence.

Please read about it on my blog:
http://e14studio.blogspot.com/2006/04/calzature.html

ciao!
~Sharon

[Rachel]

My favorite shoes were these bright purple suede lace up shoes I had in about the 4th grade. My feet were growing so fast, I bought 3 identical pairs, one after another in a period of a just a few months in increasingly larger sizes. I wish I still had those shoes!

[Cassandra Colquhoun]

Last week I got a Facebook message from a boy I went to high school with & hadn't seen for 18 years. The subject was 'sore leg' & the message said: 'I've still got a sore shin from you booting me with your 1997 model platform shoes in photography class!'. I looked down & realised I was wearing a pair of clunky platform trainers all these years down the line..
The shoe pic is gorgeous. Do you by any chance have squillions of pairs of Mary Janes in your wardrobe..?

[All Things Lovely]

Oh gosh, I love that print and the colours.

My absolutely favourite shoes are from Nordstrom, I got them about 12 years ago in San Francisco. They are kind of chunky with a curled up kind of toe. Very hard to describe. I lived in them, and still sometimes bring them out to reminisce.

The worst thing was when I was wearing them one day, and a child asked me why on earth I was wearing clown shoes! I was devastated!

[Julie]

Love the little red shoes! How precious!
Ok, my favorite shoes ....hmmm...I sure seem to have quite a few pairs .....hard to choose....but my comfiest & "go to" shoes are my black Dansko clogs. They are comfy and look great with jeans. You can seriously walk or stand ALL day in these shoes!

[holly]

What a beautiful print! Love your stuff. Hmmm...I can't think of any interesting shoe stories...I love Converse, but I have big feet and feel like they make them look like huge boats. Bummer. In summer I wear flip flops like crazy. I wish I had more shoes!