Newbie with a few questions

[thegirlwhoflies]

Hello steamy people of the internet, 

I'm a newbie with the whole steampunk thing but I absolutely love Victorian fashion and design. That is not my question though. So a while back I bought a pair of converse sneakers because I thought they would be cool to paint. One of my ideas for the sneakers was a steampunk design. Have any of you painted on canvas shoes? What kind of paint should I use? As for the design, I know gears are always the default but do any of you have any ideas for a one-of-a-kind pair of sneakers?

Here's a few pictures of the shoes


and




Thank you so much, 
     ~ thegirlwhoflies