it’s tough to see, but a bottle of Stiletto Vodka was placed in the sculpture above, which was a nice way to show off the vodka (but obviously not from this angle) for a product launch party.
my stiletto heel ice sculpture design
updated and expanded when added to iss 6/22/23
Ok, oops.
I just recently posted a version of my stiletto heel ice sculpture design for Mother’s Day, with the rationale that I hadn’t reposted this design to the new site yet. So now that I AM posting it, I’ve decided to delete the new post and put all the info, old and new, in this updated/expanded post. I didn’t think this through before, evidently 😬
Ok, back to the useful info:
My stiletto heel ice sculpture design was used, appropriately, for the launch of Stiletto Vodka at one of Emeril’s restaurants in New Orleans. It’s similar to the slipper design introduced earlier, but the assembly process is different. In addition, the design above features detailing added with a Brice bubble bit, which, although simple to use, creates a highly detailed surface. (Note: if you get a bubble bit for your die grinder, you’ll likely need it to be fitted with a special 3/8″ holder in order to use the bit. You can also get bubble bits from Ice Crafters.)
Below, you’ll see the original stiletto heel ice sculpture design. But I’ve also included simpler version that doesn’t require a weld at the toe. However, the original version is bigger, which is why the weld is there, to get more out of the ice block.
the stiletto heel design, complete with beaded details
when the sculpture is assembled, aluminum should be used to weld the toe of the shoe on because the weld should be as clean and as invisible as possible. The toe piece in the template above is the reverse of the actual, because it fits into the block more easily that way.
not long after I came up with the original version of the design, I simplified it. The sculpture above is the simpler version; I probably thought it was best to go with that version because I was also freezing the American Heart Association logo in.
a simpler version of the stiletto heel ice sculpture
When I first posted this design, I promised to soon post a simpler version that didn’t require a weld. The sculpture ends up a little smaller, but if you’re not comfortable with aluminum welding, then it’s the one you should use.
this version still has space for a message or logo at the bottom.
in the template, the design is rotated 10˚ so that you can get a slightly wider sculpture from your ice block.
for Mother's Day
I mainly have used this stiletto heel ice sculpture design for 40th birthdays and the like. (see the photo down below) Using bubble bits on the shoe really helps it stand out and it’s been a pretty popular design for me over the years. I’ve only used it occasionally for Mother’s Day, but I think it’s a nice sculpture to celebrate contemporary moms, who maybe want to be a mom and STILL be sexy too! 👠 So I tweaked it and redesigned it for my Mother’s Day design roundup.
The newest aspect for me here is the use of the Harrington font for “Happy Mother’s Day!” This font is one popularized by Max Zuleta, who might have been the first ice sculptor to discover how adaptable this font is for all sorts of occasions. It’s a nice decorative font, but it’s not TOO decorative. It also renders pretty well on CNC machines, with only a bit of adjustment here and there.
Mother's Day isn't the same as it ever was
As the world changes, the roles of mothers change too. Encountering words like MILF and GILF would have been unthinkable in a pre-internet, pre-social media world, but now they’re somewhat normalized. (If you don’t know what those words mean, well, I’m not going to go into that here 😜)
Moms are SEXY. Or at least they can be, if they want. They can be whatever the hell they want to be and they don’t need anyone’s permission. “Mother” used to be somewhat synonymous with “not sexy.” But things are different now and a stiletto heel ice sculpture for Mother’s Day is just the tiniest bit of evidence of that.
my Mother’s Day stiletto heel ice sculpture design has a few new design touches, including the Harrington font
the template for my Mother’s Day stiletto heel ice sculpture doesn’t show the bubbles, since there’s not much point; your bubbles won’t be in the exact same spots.
other design variations
this is a channel luge version of the stiletto heel ice sculpture. Note the spot on the lower left of the sculpture where the drink exits.
Besides as a regular ice sculpture, it’s fairly straightforward to convert this design into an ice luge. It can either be a track luge or a tube luge. The slant of the high heel naturally lends itself to use as a track luge. For info on making it into a tube luge, go to this post.
Also, I wouldn’t really call it another variation, but below is an example of one of my stiletto high heel ice sculptures for a birthday party.
I’ve often done this sculpture for birthdays, hence the message at the bottom of the sculpture above. A stiletto heel ice sculpture works for many events that celebrate a sexy and confident woman.
versions by other ice sculptors
I love it when other ice sculptors send me pics of the sculptures they made from my designs. Whenever possible, I try to add their pics to the design posts as thanks.
Rudy Sanchez of Texas Ice Carving made an ice luge version of my stiletto heel ice sculpture design.
Chef David Bromley used my design for his non-bubbled stiletto heel ice sculpture.
what about on the CNC?
If you have a larger CNC machine, you could make a lot of my Mother’s Day stiletto heel ice sculpture on it. (It generally requires a full thickness ice block in order to sculpt the shoe.) For me, since I have a smaller machine with a shorter gantry than some, I’m not going to do much more than possibly the snowfilled “Happy Mother’s Day” lettering and a shallow design cut so that I don’t have to use a paper template.
For most, the 3D shaping of the shoe is pretty much all going to be by hand for a while, unless you have a very capable machine. You’d also want enough demand for this specific design to go to the trouble to program a 3D shape.
Finally, you’ll almost certainly be doing the bubble details by hand for the foreseeable future. Adding this sort of detail to a 3D shape often requires a lot of adjustment on the fly. I’m not saying it’s not possible to have a CNC bubble detail the shoe; it’s just probably not worth the effort to make it happen.
for more info and some guidelines
If you have any questions about my stiletto heel ice sculpture design, email me or comment below. (It might not let you though if it’s been a while.) If you would like to use this ice sculpture design or any other design on this site, please check the design usage guidelines. The design collection page lists designs on the site.
You might also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets facebook page and you can comment there as well as below. Thanks!
