What does India Arie and Audubon Insectarium have in common? They served as inspiration for this lovely! I had the opportunity and pleasure of seeing Ms. Arie at the Essence Festival in July 2015, and was not only enthralled by her music but I was also mesmerized by her beautiful headpiece decorated with butterflies.
I sat on the butterfly idea until the right shoe presented itself, only to come to the realization that I already had it! This wedge is the mate to the Muses Officer Float. While sorting through my stash of shoes, I picked this one up and turned it on its side and saw the butterfly created by the cut-out in the wedge.
The supplies used for this shoe are surprisingly simple:
Ebony Recollections extra fine glitter
Pumpkin Recollections extra fine glitter
Topaz ArtMinds extra fine glitter
Paper Butterflies
Mod Podge Extreme Glitter
I covered the back zipper, the bottom sole and the cut-out with orange glitter, and then finished the remaining exposed parts with black glitter.
Now for the glitter appliqué, I freehand drew a monarch butterfly and created a mirror-image because I wanted it on each side of the shoe. I used various Pinterest pins as guides. I traced the black elements, trying to leave openings for the orange. Even though the 3D paint has a small tip, tracing such detailed work caused everything to run together. The white details were added at the end randomly, but in an attempt to keep everything symmetrical.
I purchased paper butterflies from an eBay store. After covering the butterflies with Mod Podge Extreme Glitter, I attached them individually to the shoe with hot glue.
My final addition of the two butterflies attached by floral wire gives the appearance of them hovering over the shoe.
By far, this is one of my favorites!
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