Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Advent Blog Day 8 - What's afoot?  A shoe tree - no, not that kind of shoe tree that makes your shoes fit better - a Christmas shoe tree. These designer shoes in appropriate Christmas colours make a spectacular display especially with the sparkly shoe on top.  http://dustyburrito.blogspot.com/2012/12/christian-louboutin-high-heel-christmas.html Do you think trees of thongs ( flip flops) and hiking boots  stack up as well?  https://twitter.com/exeter_students/status/540473848572178432 http://thebwd.com/palladium-christmas-window-display-2012/   Ballet shoes, particularly pointe shoes,  seem an obvious choice for dance companies to recycle worn shoes.  Given the Nutcracker Suite is a favourite ballet of the Christmas season,  a ballet shoe  tree shouldn't really be a surprise - this video shows what an English ballet company did.  https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/127086020708886031/?lp=true ...

Last Friday night, I made a pair of shoes ... we had a "fairy shoes" day at Hello Dollies on Saturday. There is a fantastic article in Stitch Magazine, no 50, Dec 2007-Jan 2008 entitled "Fairy Slippers" by Annette Emms. http://www.embroiderersguild.com/ Annette provides beautiful photos, a pattern and advice " Before you begin , spend a little time thinking about who will wear the shoes you're going to make. " The first pairs Annette made were for the fairies in Shakespeare's A MidSummer Night's Dream. I didn't think about the owner of the shoes , so am still wondering who might wear this pair of shoes ? Do you have any suggestions? They are about 9cm long . My shoes were rather understated compared with the gorgeous shoes created by Doris Dubois, who showed us a wonderful technique of layering felt, vilisoefix , angelina fibres, glitter, assorted bling and organza/chiffon to create a spectacular fabric for the fairy shoes. You can tel...