Ya Man! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Sneakerheads and regular-heads (lol) alike :)

For work, we had a secret santa gift exchange and I pulled Martin's name out of the hat. Martin is one of the new guys at work and he has the cutest lil' 9 month old baby Imri. Martin loves reggae, has dread halfway down his back, and also works at a reggae record shop. I figured rasta baby customs for Imri would be a cool exchange gift.

I've done Rasta sneakers before, so I just scaled it down. We've got Imri's name, the Zion Lion, and fun rasta colors. Martin was pretty stoked and I'm excited to hear how baby Imri likes them! Picture to come soon :)

Merry Christmas again! Eat lots and wear your best sneaks to show out!

My Zebraface is 4!

Happy Birthday Jasmine! My neice Jasmine turned 4 on the 20th and, once again, another pair of customs :)

She LOOOOVES animals and loves Marty from the movie Madagascar. This year's model: Zebra! Stan Smiths are the perfect style and I think they turned out pretty "wild"! lol! We've got Marty, the "Madagascar" title, zebra print and a city-to-island-scape with a famous Marty quotation "This place is crackalacking!" They will go great with the matching zebra print jacket that my mom got her as well...it'll be zebra all over!!

Happy Birthda Jazzy!

Babykicks for Babycakes!

Now that I've gotten a chance to roam around San Diego a bit, I've come across lots of spots to eat. In Hillcrest, there is a pretty dope place called Babycakes. It's a chill little dessert/coffee shop that does cakes, cookies, cupcakes, coffee, or you can grab a beer or some wine.

A lot of the customs I've done are actually little sneakers for kids or babies...so I decided to do a pair of baby kicks for Babycakes! They didn't ask me to, but I thought it would be a fun way to low-key advertise and a cool thing for them to have. Besides, I'm a big cupcake fan :)

Today, my buddy Greg and I went to Babycakes to give them the sneaks. First thing's first, I had the "white bottom" cupcake with the cream cheese frosting. It had raspberries and chocolate in the cupcake....it was good! I talked with one of the guys who worked there and gave him the sneakers. Unforunately the owner had just stepped out, but overall I was happy to have done them. What they decide to do with the sneakers is up to them, but maybe I'll get a few more bites for baby kicks :)

One of my other favorite spots in Hillcrest is Figi Yogurt on University. No joke, I think I'm in there once a week and get the same combo of yogurts and toppings (if you want to know the combo I'll tell you - lol.) Maybe that'll be my next pair... For real though, Figi Yogurt is bomb!

Geez, next thing you know I'll be telling you all the spots that are good with restaurant reviews!! If that's the case, go to Terra for their lobster macaroni and cheese, and then to the Ruby Kitchen, where my buddy Greg cooks. Everything is good there and they are open late!

Rock it out Hillcrest!

Sneakers Go Great with a Barong and a White Dress

My cousin Trish and her husband Dennis have been married for 13 years. They never got to have their church wedding, so this past June they finally had the ceremony they always wanted. Trish told me that ever since she saw the movie "Father of the Bride" she wanted bridal sneakers, and how convenient that she finally knew someone to do some for her!!

The wedding was in Tahoe and it was awesome! I did a pair for both Dennis and Trish to wear during the reception. They picked out the Stan Smith sneaker and pretty much gave me freedom to design it however I wanted. The only things they really wanted were a specific smiley face logo that was also printed on their wedding souvenirs and the colors to go with the wedding theme: shades of blue. The outsides of the sneakers had their last name "Villafranca" and the smiley face logo, and the insides of the sneakers had "husband" and "wife" respectively on each shoe. The inside of the other sneakers matched the wedding "save-the-date" card with the drawing of the church on the hill, and I added a rising sun accent. I kept the colors to mainly navy and silver. Trish and Dennis were really happy with how they came out. I was happy to do it for them and actually turned out to be a decent wedding present :) Congrats Trish and Dennis!! Love you both!

We've got a Winner!

A few days ago, I got an email updating me on how Kyle liked his birthday kicks. The picture says it best! Apparently he loves the Gordon the Train sneakers and wants to wear them all the time :) That's so cool!

That made my week for sure! Happy Birthday again buddy!

Hello from Daygo with a Deuce Pack to Match!

So I'm officially all moved in down here in San Diego. I'm pretty much settled in but still adjusting to my new city. SD is pretty chill and decorating a new place is always fun. Getting started up on sneakers again is great! Moving and unpacking and setting everything up took a loooong time, but it's good to be back to work :)

My first job after the big move was a Stan Smith 2-pack. I got a call from "Swagg Central" about a girl who wanted to get customs for her nephew's 3rd birthday. We exchanged a few emails and got the ball rolling. The first pair were "Gordon the Big Express" - themed. Kyle is a big fan and we decided to do them the same way I did the "Thomas" sneakers. We've got Gordon, Kyle's name, Gordon's name and a track design. The back heels have a star and the #4 because that's what number train he is.


The second pair of sneakers were more of a challenge. They are "Manchester United" sneakers, which I thought was a really cool idea. Thus far, all the kid sneakers I've done are kid-related with cartoon characters. The crest, luckily, wasn't too complex, but the placement on the shoe was a bit tricky. The sneakers have the crest on the outside toe of both shoes and little Kyle's initials on the inside of both shoes. Add "Glory, Glory Man United!" and we've got the perfect little sneakers for a true Man-U fan!

I think they both came out pretty cool and I am delivering them next week. Kyle's birthday party is May 30th so I hope the little guy likes them :) Happy Birthday Kyle!

Come an' ride the train!!

All aboard!!

My brother's friends, Mike and April, have a little boy name Mikey. He's turning 3 next month and my brother wanted to get him some customs :)

My birthday is in March too, so birthday kicks always seem like a good idea! Anything for a fellow Pisces! haha.

These velcro Stan Smiths are Thomas the Train themed, because little Mikey is apparently a huge fan :) The sneakers have Thomas, his name, Mikey's name, and a train track design. They're fun and I think Mikey will like them. Mikey's mom, April, doesn't want to see the finished sneakers until Mikey opens them up on his birthday. Hopefully she'll be pleasantly surprised. Happy early birthday!!

Dragon are cool...or should I say HOT!

Makana is Hillary's eldest kid. A few weeks back I did sneakers for her other 2 kids. So now the whole gang is set! This is my first "kid pack" set of sneakers, so that's pretty cool. Mahalo!

Hillary told me that Makana is into dragons, so these Stan Smiths have red and orange dragons, a fire-breathing dragon, a tribal dragon, and his name. I added some red laces to top it off.

I'm sending these off to Hawaii later this week. Hopefully we'll go 3 for 3 with these ones :)

Reesey Cupcake with a Cherry on Top

This pair of little sneakers is for Reesey, Hillary's other daughter. Reesey's big sister got the High School Musical joints, shown in the previous post, but these Cupcake kicks are all hers!

The baby velcro Stan Smiths have just a hint of pink on the tongue label, back heel and bottom to add to the cupcake designs. Colorful cupcakes and sprinkles take up most of the sides with "Reesey" on the outside of one sneaker, and a wisk and oven mit added to the inside of the other.

Like it says on one of the sides, these sneakers are definitely "YUM!" - lol.

This freshly baked pair and the HSM pair are getting shipped to Hawaii in a few days, so hopefully the girls enjoy their new sneakers! ALOHA!

HSM - OMG!

A while back, my brother's friend Hillary asked me to do some sneakers for her daughters. This first pair is for Belle :)

Belle LOVES High School Musical and Troy Bolton! These Stan Smiths are the perfect color scheme to go with the HSM theme. They are the same sneakers used for the "Little Einsteins" pair I did right before Christmas, but this is lace-up versus velcro.

The sneakers have a "school spirit" vibe which all the High School Musical movies have. For one shoe, the East High mascot, the Wildcat is on one side with "Belle" on the other. The other shoe has "I Love Troy" with hearts and "HSM' with a streamer-like design. Both sneakers have little stars on the back heel sportin' the #14 which is Troy's basketball number.

Go Wildcats!

Funky Fresh - - The Dope Joints

Happy New Year suckas! 2009 is all about change and follow-thru, and what better way to "ursher" (lol) in the new year than with a fresh pair of customs!! These funked out Stan Smiths are the first of 2009.

LaRhonda is the homie so these kicks had to be just as dope. The only parameter I had was to put her nickname on it, and the rest was up to me. Bright colors and a show-out vibe matches "LaLa" and her swag. Oh, and she likes Hello Kitty too.

The picture below shows some of the details a little better: green slime, line designs, writing on the back heel and Hello Kitty with stars and dust. I added some fluorescent orange laces to "tie" it all together! I think they came out pretty well and will definitely get some attention with all the loudness :)