Converse All Star sneaker die re-released "from the vault"

I don't use real metal eyelets - I think they'd be too big (?? or am I misremembering the size of eyelets?). These eyelets are cut from paper as part of the die and the hole in the middle is just big enough for my skinny awl/pokey tool to fit inside so I can stack all the eyelets on the tool and then slide them onto the glue. (I can take a photo of how I do it if that doesn't make sense.) But for perspective the Spellbinders Tool 'n One's pokey end is too thick to put through the eyelet holes past the first tapered bit. They're reeeaaalllly small. 

Eyelets by jo.blackford, on Flickr

Left - the Tool n One is too fat to be useful. Right - the skinnier awl holds the paper eyelets so I can put glue on the shoe around the hole and slide the eyelet into place with my thumb as I poke the awl into the hole.
(and for scale, I have fairly skinny fingers)

It's fiddly enough that one of my most dedicated cardmaker friends just doesn't use them. Even though I have a ton of patience and good eyesight (and am pedantic enough that I can't leave them off) I make a handful of shoes in a batch and then avoid the die for months afterwards.

Has anyone heard anything about MFT restocking? I’m considering that I can type up my own sentiments very easily, inspired by the ones in the stamp set linked above. I would probably only use a few of the stamps if I’m being honest with myself (although I love the little circular logo star stamps).

Dies and stamps are back in stock at MFT (for the moment)
www.mftstamps.com/products/lld-all-star-high-top-die-namics?variant=41106681200749

I got sucked in even though I had looked at the sentiments back when Frantic Stamper was mentioned above and decided I could just lift/be inspired by a few favorites and print in a font from my computer. But it's those little star circle emblems that got me! And I figured I can use a few of the sentiments for more than just sneaker cards. 

And of course then I checked my wishlist and added a birthday die, then almost spent ~$30 on a stamp that I love but don't want to color. Luckily I was still 60c short of free shipping so I had a chance to think that through and took the stamp out. The shipping was less than $5 for 2 items so no need to spend $30 extra for something I'll only be frustrated with... 

For anyone who would rather stamp and color, there's a stamp from Picket Fence (retired) that I also had on my wishlist. $20 seemed like a bit much for one image, and the sentiments didn't appeal for my purposes. But it could work with the MFT sentiments too. I found a small store still selling it... www.madeonmainashville.com/shop/Stamping/Picket-Fence-Studios/p/Picket-Fence-Walk-Crawl-or-Run-Stamp.htm

That's perfect grammadee! What timing. It was clearly meant to be.

COOL!