The Return of TM.Originals

The return of TM.Originals...I bet most of you all are wondering, where did she go? Well I haven't gone anywhere per say. House stuff unfortunately just always seems to take precedence. I guess you could consider those TM.Originals too. However, I'm talking about designing accessories. At one point I was really into making earrings and jewelry. Then I just stopped. I made stuff once in awhile if someone asked, but I was no longer keeping up with my Etsy store. I can't blame it all on the house though. I think part of me just lost the desire and creative inspiration. Most importantly, it stopped being fun. Recently I have had the urge to start back up again. So that's exactly what I've been doing. Except this time I was inspired to do more than just earrings.

First up, purses. Now I've done a a couple of these in the past. Most of all just to see if I could do it. The last one I did, I experimented with regular craft paint. Needless to say the paint did not agree over the long haul. It was fine for the first few months, and then started cracking and peeling. This time I went back to using Angelus Leather Paint. It is specifically formulated for painting on leather. I bought white vinyl/leather material from Joanns, and for the lining I used some fabric I had leftover from another project. 

I went with a simple envelope style with a magnetic closure. The goal is to use this as my go-to summer purse so I went with a warm weather inspired design using a pack of stencils and a little freehand. 

I personally am digging it. I think I'm going to carry it around and test out the durability factor. I've used this specific paint before on shoes with no problem, so we'll see how it works on a purse. Next up....SHOES. Now, I'm no stranger to a pair of custom shoes. One of my first painting projects was these fabulous wedges I designed. I was looking for some multicolored shoes and couldn't find any that I liked. SO, I improvised and made my own.

These happen to now be one of my favorite pair of shoes. The fact that I'm the only one who owns a pair like it definitely helps. The other pair that a lot of people seem to like were the ones I made one year for New Years Eve. I found some cute shoes from the ALDO outlet in Boston, then stripped the color and added a gold glittered design.

They're absolute beautiful, but don't be blinded by the glitter. They hurt like you wouldn't believe. Don't get me wrong, I am no stranger to a little shoe discomfort. However, half way through the night If I could have removed my toes and put them in my purse...I would have.

This time I had an old pair of open toe cowboy boots. They were really cute when I first bought them, and I just had to have them. However I've only worn them a few times in the last few years I've had them. I was originally going to donate them. Then I decided I wanted some cool new shoes, and figured they would be good to use. Here's the before....

And here's the after

I know they're pretty WILD! I have to say I really like the way they came out though. I was going for more mobile art pieces anyway. I feel like if you're going to do custom shoes, just GO FOR IT! Don't do something you'll see everywhere else. I went through quite a few ideas and botched decisions before coming up with these, but all and all I really like them. 

Last but not least I made earrings! I have actually been dabbling in a few new ideas recently. (You'll have to stay tuned to see those.) This time I just did a few simple pair for myself to get my creative juices re-flowing.

(Absolutely in love with these laser cut ones. They might be one of my summertime staples.)

So what do you all think? Not bad for a whole year hiatus. I'm pretty darn happy with my new pieces. Now the only thing left is to figure out what I'm going to do about selling. I think earrings will pretty much stay the same for the most part. However, I think I want to go for more quality pieces as oppose to quantity this time around. I want people to feel like they're literally wearing art. Actually I still have quite a bit of inventory left over from before. I'm thinking maybe I'll have a sample sale, and let everything go. I'm kind of feeling like starting fresh. When it comes to shoes, those would definitely be custom order only. No point in having a fly pair of size 7s and all of your friends are a size 9. As for purses, I'm thinking I'll make a few to begin with. The purses take more thought and time than earrings, so it's not something I want to try to throw together and mass produce. Besides I think most people like when my stuff is more different and unique anyway. If the first few work out I'm thinking of making new ones every season. My very own collection so to speak. That way I have months to work on them, and come up with something really special each time. So, that's the plan for now. I may change it up but we'll see. The most important thing is whatever I choose to do, I'm going to make sure I enjoy it. No sense in designing if I don't love what I'm doing. So until then...it's time to go wear my fun new creations. Oh yeah and start the NEXT PROJECT!