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Some time ago I made some sneakers and the results were a total fail. And I mean fail in that what I wanted to happen did not happen. Instead something way cooler went down. But that’s the thing with crafts… sometimes they don’t turn out anything like what you wanted and you kind of have to accept that.
Check them out down there… Aren’t those nifty? It wasn’t what I thought would happen and, at first, I was terribly disappointed in them. But after decided to take off that “oh, gosh I failed” face and looked at the shoes with new eyes I decided they were cool. Way cool in fact. But it was hard getting to that accepting point.
I am a perfectionist. And not just any perfectionist, I’m one with OCD. Not the kind that people say they have when they have a really clean house or like things a very specific way. The kind that is diagnosed, medicated and considered a mental illness and is really, really awful to have. It’s not necessarily about making things excessively clean (though I do have that tendency). One of the things I hate the most that I go through is having to pick things apart and try to figure out the why or how. If an illness flares up I wonder why did it happen to the point that I will work out everything I did beforehand. And then I pick all those ideas apart to try and figure how likely that would have been to cause the fact that I am currently sick. And it’s not like I think about this for 5 minutes and move on. It can last for days and days making it hard to concentrate on anything but what did I do to make myself sick? That’s the O part of OCD – obsessive.
Through the work I’ve done on this blog I’ve learned to accept, to a certain degree, that sh*t happens and that has spread out to other parts of my life, too. This that or the other thing didn’t work out, I got sick, somebody said something awful to me… let’s junk it and move on. It doesn’t always work out and I do still obsess but for the times when I’ve been able to let it go it’s been very liberating for me. So when I made another pair of sneakers knowing that they might not turn out as I had hoped, I was still game and I was really proud of myself for going into it with the mentality that whatever happens, happens.
In the end they are a bit different than what I saw in my head.It’s not a failure, it’s just a bit different than expected. And this project turned out freaking awesome so it was all worth it! Ready for things to get unpredictable up in here?
For this project you will need:
- White canvas sneakers
- Liquid dye (left over from tie dyeing is fab!)
- Paintbrush
Below is my set up… In little cups I have a tiny amount of red, yellow, green, purple, red and blue all ready to go. I also have water and paper towels to clean my brush in between colors.
Marla came in to make sure that my brush cleaning water was acceptable and it seems as though it was.
Starting with dry sneakers, paint huge daubs of color all around. I worked with one color at a time to keep my water “cleaner” for a bit longer. Don’t know that even works or not but that is totally what I did anyway :)
After the main dots apply a dot of color inside of each. I tried to keep it uniform… purple inside of blue, blue inside of red and red inside of orange but do whatever floats your boat. Allow to sit about 20 or 30 minutes.
Now that the dye is dry, take and run them right under the sink (water running heel to toe) until the water runs clear. Leave them super wet and set them out.
I left my shoes in the bathroom to dry and they were like this in the middle of the night. I had to, of course, run and grab my camera for one, single, terrible photo! This is where I had hoped the shoes would end up. If I had dried them right in that moment, maybe they would have but I left them wet and went back to bed.
And when I woke up they looked like this. And I decided that with the white space and crazy abstract bleeding together, it was just what I wanted even if I didn’t now it at first!
To clean any dye that has dried on the rubber of the soles simply very, very lightly wet a cotton swab with alcohol and go around cleaning up the offenses.
As I set out to take my after pics it seemed as though the cats were interested in their part of the glory.
And they got all up in my business for ages! Me trying to quickly snap with them out of the images is probably the reason for this awful, what the heck am I doing pose…
But if you know me you know I can’t be mad at them! Though they may not be exactly what I was hoping for, I’m totally and completely in love with my new sneakers. In fact, they were such a smash success with the fam, we’re going to have a crazy sneaker party really soon so everyone can make a pair of their own!
Hey Allison! I know, right?! It’s pretty crazy that we practically torture ourselves over things that most people don’t think much about. Yesterday I had a job interview for a new position that I am wanting to pursue, and I practically spent the entire week, planning on what I would say and how I would say my answers to their possible questions. Not so unusual right? Most people get nervous before job interviews. But here’s what separates me from most people. When the interview was over, late last night, I stood out on my patio of my apartment for about an hour and a half, analyzing nearly everything I said during the interview and began to think of things I should have said, or wish I had said, and so on. And then today, that process continues! I’m very logical like that though. But I’m doing my best to calm myself and not stress about it too much. Nothing to do but wait for the end result!
I’m happy to hear that you once did the same thing! My close friends sometimes tease me gently because they tell me that they very rarely spot any grammar mistakes, even in my texts to them and how I almost never abbreviate words; I spell everything out. It’s just how we are. :)
Enjoy your weekend as well Allison!
Awesome looking sneakers Allison! I love the colors! Great job!
Thank you for sharing a bit about yourself on here. I myself am a perfectionist, so I understand that aspect of needing to have things exactly right. Though not officially diagnosed, I’m probably a bit OCD too. I am very particular with my writing. Even with this small note that I am leaving on here now, I will probably read over it at least 5 times and edit it at least twice that before I post it to make sure that everything reads right and that my spelling and grammar are correct. And even after I posted something, I will still go back and re-read my reply just to make sure that I was clear and never offensive in any way. I do this on all social media sites, not just here. It’s troublesome at times but I honestly can’t help myself. But this is how I am. And there are other things I do in which I do the same thing for. I am EXTREMELY sensitive. If someone says something to me that hurts me, I will agonize and analyze about it for days, even weeks, trying to figure out if I did something in any way to cause that person to say what they said to me (this is especially true if it’s someone I’m close to). As much as I’ve tried to, I just can’t completely overcome my sensitivity. But these days, I have learned to cope with it easier, and like you, have come to accept that crap happens in life, whether we like it or not…
So you are not alone Allison. But I still think you’re awesome! I really like your craft ideas! Keep up the great work!
You’re not alone, either, Mike! Our behavior is practically identical! I’m glad that things are getting easier to handle :) In fact things will keep getting better as long as we let it! Oh, and I used to reread posts over and over until I’d freak out over it. So these days I type, hit publish and walk on out (hence the typos and grammar errors :) Happy weekend, Mike!
I love these so much! Such a fun project. :)
Have you seen the projects that are like tye dye done on t-shirts with sharpie pen and alcohol?? I just wonder if it would be possible to do the same thing on those shoes. It would be easier to control the ink flow. Anyway, it was just a thought. I may have to grab a pair at the local thrift store, to experiment with. Wish me luck. lol
That could be really awesome! I’d like to know how it turns out!
This is such a great idea! My favorite pair of Vans got bleach on them so Im going to have to try this on them.
That sounds really cool. Share a pic if they turn out well?