They're done!

I must say, this commission was a learning experience for me. Crystal sent her You You back in November(I know...), and I just now finally got to strassing them. I thought, Hey, the glitter can be that hard to strass. And I was definitely wrong. The glue I use is clear, so materials like patent leather make it difficult to distinguish where the borders of my glue end when I'm placing stones. Well, this miniglitter was worse. First off, the crystals were almost an exact match to the Silk crystals used. Second, the varying degrees of light and dark glitter made detecting my glue border near impossible. I literally could not see what I was doing. I made it passed the heels and slightly up the heel counter when I thought, You need to stop Joey. That's where Gem-tac came into the picture. I used Gem-tac on all my 2011 orders up until August, where I then switched to my current glue. I'd used it to successfully strass patent, suede, and regular leather. I figured its white consistently would make placing stones so much easier over the matching multiglitter background, and it did. The only problem(for me at least) was that because it's so milky in texture it tends to overlap the edges of the crystal after being placed. Because of this, I ended up spacing the Silk flatbacks really close together. Closer than I like, actually. But during the whole Daffodile debacle last November, Crystal contacted me asking if I could space her stones closer together. So in some weird way, everything worked out for the best. Plus, the glue dries clear so any overlapping won't be noticeable. The stones are close together, Crystal is drooling over the pictures, and most importantly, they're done(thank the f**king Lord). What I learned from this project is that any future glittered shoes must be painted over. While Gem-tac did save the day, I'd rather only use it in emergencies. And what you my followers should take from the post is that understated shoes like the You You 85mm can be sexed up, too. Contrary to what you might think, I don't don't only prefer 120mm and up styles. These shoes were gorgeous before, but I think Crystal is going to die when she see them.

On a side note, here are the Supra I intended to wear to New York but never got around to finishing. They're still not done, but I hope to finish them within the next two weeks. I want to wear these babies!

On a side note of the previous side note, this is what my office looks like right now; inundated with Louboutins. Those Daffodile up front are due mid-March, along with three other pairs. How the hell am I going to do it?!

And on another note, here are the Preciosa Olivine AB crystals I ordered for a Daffodile I have. That size 38.5 Daffodile is currently for sale on eBay, but if it doesn't sell these will be used for strassing. They're insanely beautiful!