The first pair of slippers I made were made using a pair of canvis, open-toed pumps. I closed the toe using a piece of red felt although the shoes were pink. I didn't have a really good picture of the shoes so I mistakenly used cupped sequins and before I had finished with them my older sister went out to D.C. and took a great picture of the shoes giving me the detail I needed to recreate the bows bead by bead and stone by stone.

I then realized that the sequins were flat not cupped. I was working in a stained glass studio at the time and a coworker of mine was a glass beveler, so I had her bevel me the three center stones from glass globs. I had her make me two sets because I knew I would have to make a second pair because of the sequins. The studio was getting ready to move to texas and so I decided I was going to move to my mothers home state of Florida. Before I left I sold the shoes to a photographer who ended up using the shoes in a poster and a calander that was sold in Kansas. That was pretty neat.

When I got down to Florida I set out to find another pair of shoes. I found an old pair of leather shoes at a Good Will store.  I was going to try and sew the flat sequins, that my mother had ordered back in Kansas and sent to me, onto fabric like the originals but that was kind of difficult. So I ended up sewing them directly onto the shoes. I broke a few needles and at times my fingertips looked a little like hamburger meat but it was well worth it. All finished they looked great. As I would look at them I thought there was something missing. They somehow didn't look like the ruby slippers I had been hoping for. I finally figured it out. They needed to come alive. 

My best girlfriend Linda also from Kansas had moved down to Florida a few monthes later and one night we decided to go out dancing and she wore the shoes. I carried her from the car to the club to prevent the dust from the parking lot getting on them. But when we got inside and she stepped onto the dance floor it was like the red sea parting. Everyone stepped back and the shoes had definatly come to life. I'm back in Kansas now and the slippers are still with me. Although Linda passed away a few years ago at the young age of 29 the sparkling life she gave to those slippers still shine as bright as day she first put them on. And so I dedicate these slippers to the memory of Linda K. Torneden. 

She will always be a light in my life.

Thank you for letting me share my story with you. Have a Great day

Tim Davis

Notes: The first picture is of the slippers used in the calander and poster and the others are pictures of Linda's slippers.