Made With Love by Kat

This month's Vogue magazine tells me that sorbet colours are going to be HUGE next season - particularly under John Galliano at Christian Dior. I was thrilled, obviously. Not only is Galliano a huge idol of mine but I have been working on lovely new items in shades of lavender, lilac, lemon, jade and pastel pink. My new favourites are these new Sparkling Sorbet earrings made from reworked vintage diamante earrings teamed with pale yellow jade and pretty pink rose quartz: You can buy them here Also new is a twist on the lace bracelets I've previously featured on this blog which sold less than a day after I'd listed them. Using the same lace, this time I've given it a sherbert twist with lavender and mint fabric and lace rosettes and a sparkling vintage earring. I've called it "Ruffled" and as lace is also a huge new trend I think it ticks all the boxes! You can buy it here

Double heart necklace Originally uploaded by pennydogaccessories Pennydog makes the most amazing stuff (and she's had a book published which is super-cool). I luuuurve this necklace - having just discovered that my darling boyfriend does on occasion read this blog, consider this a heavy hint.

Woo hoo! Just found out today that my Christmas romance bracelet has been featured by super-cool shopping blog, Indiespotting. The fabulous Fairytale Christmas exhibition at the Royal Exchange, which features my work, has also been blogged about over at the Visit Manchester blog

A while ago I posted a picture from a Flickr set called "Vintage Follies" that had inspired my new collection. I sent Lisa who created the pictures a message to tell her how she inspired me and she very kindly offered to put a link on her blog . And what a gorgeous blog it is! A definite must for all lovers of vintage craftiness! You can visit Lisa's blog, Faerie Enchantment, by clicking here . The Vintage Follies collection is, of course, available from my Folksy shop .

Earrings make the perfect stocking filler for Christmas. A well thought out pair of earrings will show how much you care, and earrings can be worn with almost any outfit, whether it's a casual vest top and pair of jeans or a knock-em-dead little black dress. I've been giving earrings a lot of thought recently. I've got lots of little vintage finds which will make fabulous new pairs that I intend to do lots of work with this weekend. But for now, here are the most recent dangly additions to my shop . A New Leaf reworked vintage earrings This Side of Paradise reworked vintage earrings Forest reworked vintage earrings Nights at the Circus reworked vintage earrings I Saw Two Ships Go Sailing By reworked vintage earrings Nightshade reworked vintage earrings And bad news for anyone who had their eye on the reworked vintage bracelet and necklace (see my last post) - they both sold about an hour after I listed them. proof, then, that if you have your eye on something you should sn...

Happily no arsenic in these little beauties. A while ago I got some vintage lace in a destash swap. I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with it until a couple of days ago when just messing around a lightbulb pinged on - here are the results! Of Love and Shadows bracelet: The First Dance necklace

A while ago I did a lovely interview with the fab blog Milomade, which focuses on people who recycle in creative ways. You can (and should!) read it here .

The Fairytale Boat Follies! My Tinsel Workshop! 2 Originally uploaded by Lisa Kettell This is one of my absolute favourite Flickr finds,and the picture that's really inspiring the jewellery I'm making at the moment, which I'm calling the "Vintage Follies" collection.

Drew Barrkymore Sock Dog Originally uploaded by HotdogandMe Another find from the Made With Love Flickr group. Hotdog and Me is one of my favourite Folksy brands - I love the cute pups and their clever, funny names. You can buy Drew or one of her friends from Hotdog and Me's Folksy shop

...and I haven't made anywhere near enough stock! The Royal exchange have requested more earrings, and I know the Wench and Trinkets needs more too, but I've been busy trying to get my Folksy shop back up to reasonable levels. Phew! I have managed to get some new pieces in my shop, and make sure you keep checking as I have more to list as soon as I get a minute - but with items selling sometimes just hours after they're listed you'd better be quick if there's something you've got your eye on! Here's a quick peek at three of the new necklaces... The Paradise Garden reworked vintage necklace A Garland of Dewdrops reworked vintage necklace Antoinette reworked vintage necklace

Some time ago I compiled my top 10 tips for junk shop shopping for Craftier magazine's "Frugal Crafting" issue. For those of you who haven't had a chance to see them, here they are: 1. Get up early Most car boot sales “officially” start at 8am, but traders get there from 6am (or earlier!) to set up - and professional bargain hunters get there at the same time to make sure they get the best bargains as soon as they are unwrapped. 2. Don’t rush Charity shops, thrift stores, junk shops and car boots all have one thing in common - if you’re going to find a bargain you have to be patient. Set aside a good amount of time so you can have a proper dig around without feeling you have to rush back to your desk. 3. Learn to haggle Just because there is a price on a tag doesn’t mean that’s what you have to pay. Go lower than you are willing to pay and hopefully they will meet you in the middle - or even agree to your first offer!>/p> 4. Befriend your charity shop mana...

I am so ridiculously in love with Topshop at the moment. I popped in there this weekend to find something to wear for my Halloween "zombie flapper" outfit (think The Great Gatsby's Daisy Buchanan... as she would look now) and accidentally spent a hundred quid. And that was after I reluctantly left behind the gorgeous vintage-sequinned slouchy blazer, which I know sounds wrong in words but was so very right with my new silk drop waisted dress. They've got some amazing twenties-inspired stuff in at the mo that made me drool a little bit. I did, however, splash out on a dove grey ruffled bolero, which at the time I thought would be one of those "wear once" items, but it turns out it makes everything in my wardrobe look amazing. It's coming out again this weekend with a trompe d'oeil t-shirt and my skinny jeans - if I can get the mud out of them. Pretending to be in a fashion shoot by wearing your best jeans to turn the horse out in a muddy field may loo...

Has anyone seen the November issue of Vogue ? The so-called return of "More Dash Than Cash" for the thrifty fashionista? Well what a joke. Their idea of "budget" is items under £150. One of the bracelets they featured was little more than a cowrie shell on some chain - and it blew the whole hundred and fifty quid! I could make one for about three pounds (and some weekend soon when I've finished my Christmas decoration buying spree I intend to do a tutorial showing you how you can too). They also spent quite a while writing about upcycling, and yet the cost of their "upcycled" items still managed to run into three figures. Are they missing the point or are the editors of Vogue so out of touch with the real world that they think that in a recession we can afford to spend hundred turning an old nightie into a vest top that looks like an old nightie... but with some added sequins. Gosh I'm furious. As it happens, I'm currently working ona thrift/c...

I've been hard at work for the last few days making things to go off to the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester as part of their Fairytale Christmas sale in their craft shop. I've gone a little bit out on a limb as I've been using some fabulous but not-at-all-cheap stones, along with some really beautiful handpicked pieces of vintage jewellery to rework. I've also wired everything together using 14 carat goldfill wire - much nicer than gold plated which I hate and never use. When I saw my bill when I'd finished filling my trolley on the semi precious beads website I nearly had a heart attack - I hope you all think it's worth it! As ever these are all one of a kind designs, and won't be available in my Folksy shop unless someone specially requests them before Monday. If there is a piece here you've fallen in love with and you want me to set up a listing for you email me at made_with_love@rocketmail.com Speaking of Christmas, I will also be at the Christm...

Fashionbite is currently the coolest fashion blog on the block. It was set up during London fashion Week by Emily Sears, fashion guru at Drapers magazine and guess what? She's featured me in her "Vintage Rocks" feature: You can read the full article, here

I've just done a lovely interview for UK Handmade's blog - you can read it here . I am also going to write a tutorial for the Christmas issue of their magazine. Initially I was going to do a step by step on reworking a brooch into something new, but as it's Christmas I'm thinking maybe I'll do a "how to" on making Christmas decorations out of vintage stuff instead - what do people think? What would you prefer? Or should I do something else altogether?

Woop! The thousands of press releases I've sent out over the last few weeks seem finally to be working - look at this lovely article on Greenmystyle.com: All through october anyone who makes a purchase will be entered into a prize draw to win a made With Love goody bag worth £50. Yep £50! What better excuse to start your Christmas shopping early and maybe bag a little pressie for yourself in the bargain! You can read the whole article, here Visit my shop here to buy and be in with a chance of winning the fabulous goody bag.

Yes, after lots of blood, sweat and the occasional tears I have finally officially launched my website - www.madewithlovebykat.com To celebrate, everyone who buys an item from made With Love in october will be entered into a draw to win a goody bag worth £50! Woohoo! It's also been a good few months in terms of press coverage - things seem to finally be really taking off. Below are just a few of the lovely articles I've been featured in recently. Manchester Evening News Make Jewellery magazine Lancashire Life

Lots of lovely press coverage in the last few weeks in Make Jewellery, the Manchester Evening News and Large Manchester. I've pasted a copy of the Large Manchester feature below - the others will follow when I've worked out how to get electronic copies of them. Unfortunately Large Manchester printed my website address as madewithlovebykat.co.uk, not madewithlovebykat.com but hopefully people will have the sense to Google me if they like what they read. The days are ticking down to the official website launch - hopefully it will all be finished by Saturday. Keep your eyes peeled for a special celebratory competition!

Just recently I've noticed that another handmade jewellery maker has introduced a line of reconstructed vintage pieces. Fair enough, after all I'm not the only person to do it. But in this particular case the focus on giving broken and unloved items a new lease of life is almost identical to what I do - to the extent that some of the wording used by the other person is pretty much exactly the same as mine. Coincidence? Perhaps. But when a press release this person put out in June bears a striking resemblance to one I did in May, you have to start wondering. Hmmm...

I can't believe I haven't blogged for a month! Slack of me I know but I've just been sooooooo busy! On Friday Made With Love was featured in the Greenlife section of the Manchester Evening News - you can read the article here . I've also been busy, busy, busy creating pieces for the Royal Exchange's Fairytale Christmas sale. They're absolutely lovely items - I'm not sure I can bear to part with them to be honest. And my jewellery is also going to be part of the Christmas market at The Met in Bury - phew! There's only 93 sleeps until Santa, so you'd best start thinking about your Christmas shopping - I already know what I'm getting my boyfriend (I'm not posting it here though in case he sees!), it's just everyone else I'm stuck on. Christmas has been on my mind because believe it or not we're already starting work on Christmas features for the newspaper. Ace for me, because I get really excited, but I think it might be starting t...

For those of you who I haven't crowed at about this yet, I am in this month's issue of Lancashire Life. The photo of me is a bit unfortunate though, as what was actually sunburn instead looks like I've got huge bags under my eyes. I much prefer this snap, from Camp Bestival last month. Yes, I am dressed as the Cheshire Cat, if the Cheshire Cat had to wear a cagoule and wellies... Anyhow, if you want to browse the new items I've listed to keep stock levels up (things have been flying out of the door thanks to Lancs Life), you can of course visit my shop here .

Antoinette Earrings Originally uploaded by meowmongoose I love Owl On The Sill's jewellery and if I could I would buy everything she makes. These beautiful earrings were added to the Made With Love Flickr group and I just love them. Incidentally, if my boyfriend is looking for a way to make up for making me late for work this morning, these would do nicely... See the rest of her lovely items here: http://www.folksy.com/shops/owlonthesill

Folksy have a lovely new member of staff called Anne who has been working really hard to curate their front pages. She has been working to a theme every week or two and they are looking absolutely fantastic. So imagine my excitement when I looked today to find that my La Dolce Vita necklace had been featured! It's such an honour - all the featured items are so beautiful and I'm so proud that my jewellery has been chosen. You can see what the front page looks like below. And if you want to snap the necklace up (it's one of a kind, so once it's gone it's gone!) you can buy it here

What could be more lovely than English afternoon tea, complete with pretty china and cupcakes? That's the thought that has inspired my first pick of the items added to the Made With Love Flickr group. First up is this cute card by Messy Jesse . Available in sets of three they're blank so you can use them for birthdays, thankyous and any other occasion! Next up is this gorgeous creation from Kitty Eden . Kitty makes the most gorgeous fabric brooches in the world in the shape of flowers, rosettes, birds and, of course, cupcakes. Every good tea party needs a set of pretty teacups, and these badges from Incy Wincy Stitches are absolutely perfect! Last, but possibly my favourite of all, is this gocco print notebook from Aleximo .There are also matching stickers! Don't forget, if you have time pop over and have a look at my (nearly finished) new website!

I know it's a bit early to be discussing the "C" word, but imaging how excited I was to receive my Royal Exchange craft shop August newsletter today to find that I am mentioned! My jewellery will be available to buy as part of the Royal Exchange's Fairytale Christmas exhibition, which opens at the beginning of November. The jewellery on sale will be a special, fairytale-inspired collection created exclusively for the Royal Exchange, and will not have been previously available, although like all my pieces it will feature reworked vintage finds. Meanwhile, you can see the mention and pic here: I have also recently been featured on the fabulous blog, A Designed Life. You can read the full feature here . And don't forget to pick up next month's Lancashire Life to see my two-page feature! Woop!

Owl On The Sill . A little over a month ago I bought a beautiful pair of earrings from this gorgeous, gorgeous shop. There's so much more that I want to buy, but it appears those mean mortgage people need paying, so no treats for me at the moment! But doesn't mean that you shouldn't though! Buy things for yourselves! Buy things for your friends! Buy things for me! (Email made_with_love@rocketmail.com for my postal address, all presents happily received.) Just look at all the gorgeous things you could buy: Fiery Blue Moon Earrings - £17 Scarlet pendant - £14 Such a gorgeous necklace! If anyone is wondering what I would like for Christmas or, y'know, as a token of affection, this would do very nicely. Bubblegum Chalcedony and Tourmaline Earrings - £16 I think maybe these are my favourites, although it's so hard to choose. Purple Petal Hobo Bag - £25 That's right, she makes bags too. This is sooooo sweet. p.s - I've been usy working on my website which is near...

I'm currently working on a "proper" collection. It will be around 12 pieces created along the theme of the ballet (something that is a constant fascination to me), particularly the Sugar Plum fairy. In fact, the collection is going to be called Sugar Plum. It will be available in about a week though my new website and my Folksy shop . In the meantime, just to whet your appetite, here are some pictures that I have been using as inspiration...

Still Waters Run Deep Originally uploaded by rachellucie Another gorgeous find from the Made With Love Flickr group - this beautiful necklace is by rachellucie who makes really, really pretty jewellery in lovely delicate colours. If you would like your pictures to be considered for this blog, head over to Flickr and search groups for "Made With Love" x