Adoption Trip TOMS!

You guys know how I feel about stories. They are important and beautiful! The same is true for the story behind these sweet Toms that I recently shipped to Florida!

The owner of these Toms asked that they be customized for her story as well as her journey to pick up her son from the The Democratic Republic of the Congo! What an honor to create the shoes this sweet mom will wear to pick up her son. Wow.

She asked for a tattoo style with flowers, a heart, wings, swirls and the lyrics to one of her favorite songs, Oceans by Hillsong. (One of my favorites too!)

I hope every time she wears her new custom Toms, she'll think of the journey to bring her son to his forever home! I'm so blessed to have had the opportunity to create them! I added the flag from The Democratic Republic of the Congo on the back of each shoe....

This is my last custom painting for a little while as I begin to branch out to new and different projects. I have loved painting so many stories and I look forward to what's ahead! Thanks as always for reading and supporting.. you guys are the best!

Your Painted Story: Retro Cooking Toms

I've been anxiously waiting to share these Toms with you! A "Retro Cooking" themed inspired by Julia Child?! Adorable and inspiring... I had a blast designing them for my sweet friend Mattie. Today she's sharing the story behind them and I think it's just awesome! Bon Appetiti!

What is the story behind your Toms?

Through my friend Sarah (who is the owner of the amazing British Invasion TOMS) I've gotten to know Molly in person and via her blog :) I squealed with delight when Sarah gifted me a pair of TOMS and a gift certificate from Specs and Wings for my birthday this year! It really has been the BEST birthday gift I've ever received because it came from two dear friends. 

photo by Mattie Pawlowic

I asked Molly to create a retro cooking theme. I've been a big Julia Child fan since the movie Julie and Julia came out, and I ended up reading several biographies about her afterwards. Julie Child is so inspiring to me because she lived a life without fear and full of adventure. She has lived across the world (including several countries in Asia and Europe), got married later in life, and started a career in cooking basically from nothing...

... She wasn't overwhelmed by these challenges and didn't think of herself as "too old" or "too American" or "too different" to take on these adventures. What a great story about courage, love, and determination! It's been a year full of changes for me (graduating and moving) so wearing these TOMS remind me to enjoy the adventure :)

What's your favorite thing about them?

That is such a difficult question because I love every detail Molly included! I love that there are small hearts on the toes, polka-dots on the sides, and bows on the back. And I especially love that Molly included my favorite quotes from Julia Child on the front. I gave Molly a few ideas of things I thought that would fit the theme and I am completely blown away with how perfect they are! 

How will you style your Toms?

I'm definitely planning to wear these while I cook in my kitchen... I have a cute white apron with black polka-dots and ruffles that will match perfectly :) Also the colors are great for summer so I plan to wear them a lot for coffee and dinner dates with my husband, out shopping with my sister, or out with friends from work. TOMS are so comfortable, so I can see these becoming my go-to shoes for the summer.

Thanks to Sarah and Molly for the best birthday present ever! 

photo by Mattie Pawlowic

"Find something your passionate about and stay tremendously interested in it." -Julia Child

Your Painted Story- Vineyard Wedding Toms

I loved working with Caroline (a sweet friend from high school) on these Vintage Vineyard Wedding Toms! She told me that she and her fiance were getting married at a beautiful vineyard and she had ordered the natural color Toms. When I started to come up with the design, I kept thinking how cool these would be with a vintage "love letter" feel and I built everything around that! I'm so thankful that Caroline offered to share her awesome story today... enjoy!

What's the story behind your Toms?

I'm getting married in two weeks and I wanted a pair of toms to wear with my wedding dress that memorialized the day so that I can wear them to remember! 

What's your favorite thing about your Toms?

 It's hard to pick one favorite thing!  I love the scriptures that are on them.  I've always had a strong conviction to honor my husband all the days of my life, whether I knew who he was or not.  So I love that scripture on the shoes.  I love that it has some little pieces of Chad with the crossfit rings and fireman logo.   I guess one of my favorite parts is the word Hope on the back.  I named my dog Hope because I was hoping that she would teach me how to be loved unconditionally.   I always had problems accepting love before her.  Chad agreed to let her come to the wedding and a few weeks later, but a few weeks after he agreed Hope passed away.  A part of me thinks she knew I had learned what she was here to teach me!  I don't think I would have ever been able to relax and let Chad love me, had Hope not taught me how to do that.  I wanted the reminder of her with me as I get married. 

How will you style your Toms?

Well I'm wearing my wedding dress with them!   After that, I'll probably wear them with about everything because I love them so much!  Shorts, dresses, jeans, skirts... everything goes with Toms!

Painted Story: Hope Toms

My sweet friend Sarah asked me to paint these "Hope Toms" for her! Today she's sharing the story behind her Toms and how she styles them.... enjoy! 

What's the story behind your custom Toms?

The word that God has really put on my heart for 2014 is "Hope."
Hope that His plans for my life continue to become known to me, Hope that my prayers will be answered according to His will, and just Hope in general that He will continue to bring blessings to my life and those around me throughout this year.

Even though we work really hard to memorize God's word, sometimes it is hard to remember verses in life's most intense moments. Now if I find myself in a moment of despair, I'll simply have to look down at my shoes and remember: "My HOPE comes from The Lord!"

What's your favorite thing about your Toms?

My favorite thing about my Hope TOMS (after the powerful scriptures on them of course), is that they have a bit of a glimmer to them. As I'm often told, my favorite color these days is Sparkle, so I love anything that has a bit of sparkle/glimmer. I also love all the beautiful swirl designs on these shoes.
These Hope TOMS just seem to make it feel like my feet are floating!

How do you style your custom Toms?

I almost always wear a scarf with my TOMS. I even have a black sparkle scarf that will go with my new shoes quite nicely. The lovely thing about these shoes is that you can wear them with anything- jeans, capris, even skirts!

(Sarah's photos!)

Thanks so much for sharing Sarah! I hope you enjoy your new Toms, I had a blast painting them!
Interested in your own Custom Painted Toms? Email me at specsandwings@gmail.com 

Happy day!

Tying the Knot Toms

One sweet girl from Texas and her fiance in Ethiopia are tying the knot! To tell the story, I painted this sweet pair of wedding Toms. I asked the bride for a few details on the style and colors of her wedding and I made a Pinterest board. Then we decided on a design and I couldn't wait to get started!

Two people from across the world are coming together to start a new life. I settled on the Texas and Africa shapes with a heart representing where the bride and groom each live. Out of each heart, I painted a string with wedding bands hanging from it to symbolize their marriage.

This color scheme was so inspiring to me. I love the coral, mint & gold because it feels modern, glitzy and like a celebration! Then the groom sent the phrases "I love you" as said by a groom to his bride and a bride to his groom in his native language. Wow! I love how personal these Toms are! Painting this text was a little challenging, but I love the way it turned out.

I also included a banner across the side of each shoe that spells out "Just Married"! Congrats to the awesome bride and groom! I hope these Toms remind you of your special day everyday!

The Cool Grandma TOMS

I just can't get over these....they're probably one of my favorite pairs of TOMS I've painted EVER! (I might say that every time I get the opportunity to paint a pair, but I'm totally not exaggerating!) I was asked to paint these for a sweet lady to give to a friend with 4 grand-babies  They are her world and so she wanted the TOMS to reflect how much she loves being a grandma.

Not only that....she told me that there's nothing "granny" about her friend! She's fun, colorful and full of life so she wanted the TOMS to reflect that too! So...we landed on a brightly colored "tattoo" styled TOMS with the names of her grand-kids on each side! I instantly dubbed them "The Cool Grandma TOMS". :)

Telling this story through painted TOMS was just so fun! I can't believe that I get to share this woman's joy that I've never even met! I hope she LOVES her new TOMS and I hope they are as cool as she is!!!

happy day!

Painted TOMS Go to NYC!

A long time client ordered these custom TOMS to wear to New York City this summer to see her beloved Yankees! I don't know much about baseball, but I did my best to create something she could celebrate and remember the trip by...

Since the drawstring was red, I decided to paint the soles red also! I added the two logos on the toes, pin-stripes on the sides (like the Yankees uniforms!) and her favorite players' numbers on the back!

I thought it wouldn't matter about these not being "classic" TOMS, but I learned quickly that was not the case! It was pretty tricky to paint around the drawstring and the fabric on these TOMS is a very different texture. For these reasons I think I do much better with the "classics". :)

(But secretly I love that those red laces remind me of baseball stitching!)

I hope she has a blast and remembers the trip every time she wears these Custom Painted TOMS!

"Good & Perfect" Toms

These Toms were a treat to paint! I have never started off with yellow Toms, and it was so fun to get to use any colors I wanted! All that I was asked to include was this Bible verse: "Every good and perfect gift comes from above" and lots of colors!

I started with those words of truth and then added the paisley designs!

I filled in all of the gaps with fun swirls in a darker yellow! I love the way these TOMS just make me happy and remind me of the amazing blessings we have from God!

I hope she remembers that every time she looks at her new painted Toms. :)

Happy day!

Sweet 16 BritToms

A sweet girl turning Sweet 16 who has flawless style, loves to read, just wrote her first novel, and loves all things British! Sounds like a recipe for some amazing painted Toms! These were SO MUCH fun to paint...

For the toes of each shoe I wanted them to "go" but not necessarily match. I opted for a British flag and some plaid in modern colors!

I also heard through the grapevine that this girl loves One Direction! I may or may not have had "You Don't Know You're Beautiful" stuck in my head since the weekend- HA!

For the sides I chose some fun British icons...

...and a lovely tea pot and tea cup connected by swirls!

The details are my favorite like this little pendant banner and the "Underground" signs!

I hope this sweet girl LOVES her bright, young, stylish and personal Toms! They were SO FUN to create!

*Want your own pair? Click here!
*British Invasion Toms here!

In the Studio: Love Mercy Toms

These Toms were painted to be given as a gift! My college Bible study leader (LOVE HER!) ordered these for her sister (how cool!) They were so fun to paint because the focus was on her favorite Bible verse and some of her interests and travels...come see!

These Toms are focused on the Bible verse Micah 6:8 so I wrapped the verse around each toe..."Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly..."

Then for each side I included her interests and travels including an evening scene in Paris, a city scene of Italy, New Orleans culture (where she lives!) and her pets- Pipin an African Grey and Dixie her sweet rescued dog! Her dog has one blue and one brown eye so my Bible Study leader suggested writing "Dixie" with two colored "dots" for the "i's". You guys who put in orders have awesome ideas...what would I do without you!

Just to let you in a little on my process...I like to make a Pinboard to gather imagery and inspiration when I start a pair of Toms with lots of different themes. Especially if I'm unfamiliar with them. Italy was a tricky one for me but I found the most BEAUTIFUL city streets with funky shaped buildings, ivy covered window boxes, and little flags. I was tempted to try some of the famous architecture, but I kept coming back to these city scenes and ultimately I decided to go for it! I'm glad I did because it was really fun and different!

The back of Toms is always a fun challenge....I kept with the swirly theme and made them mirror each other.

I hope you enjoyed this peek into the studio! If you'd like to order your own Painted Toms, click here!

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