Made With Love by Kat

Well, three days and still I haven't heard back from my Vintage Charms about my refund. Atrocious. On the plus side however, my fellow Folksy seller Blackberrycrafts has featured my "Breakfast at Tiffany's" necklace in her "Saturday Six" feature on her blog, look: To read her other picks, visit http://blackberrycrafts.typepad.com/

I feel like I haven't posted anything for ages - probably because I haven't made anything in over a week. I was hanging on for some gorgeous brass charms I'd bought from a site called My Vintage Charms. And hanging on... And hanging on... Today, three weeks after I ordered them, they arrived - only they didn't. What arrived were four items (not the 24 I'd ordered) that bore no relation to what I had purchased. I nearly cried, I was so disappointed. Suffice to say an angry email has been sent - and I will be doing my shopping elsewhere. It's not even as though, being based in England, it's particularly easy to find another supplier - that's why they can get away with bad service, I guess. Grrrr . So absolutely and ridiculously angry. I get really excited about packages that arrive, and after having waited so long for this one for it to be so wrong was like a kick in the teeth. Oh well, I'll get back to twiddling my thumbs.

Folksy have a brililant thing called "Makes" where sellers share a few tips about how to, well, make (duh!) various bits and bobs. I think they're a great resource, so I did one on how to make my simple "Harvest Treasure" bracelet: If you're interested you can find out how to do it yourself here - http://www.folksy.com/makes/39-Vintage-style-bracelet Or if you can't be bothered you can just buy the bracelet from here . There are lots of others, but I particularly like HannahMaryPinnock's paper trees - http://www.folksy.com/makes/40-Paper-Tree - In other news, I got an email at work telling me that Bat For Lashes are going on tour. Tres exciting in itself, but also look at the lovely necklace the singer is wearing in this photo. It's got a pony on it!

I don't know what's come over me. Maybe it's because of the boy, but all my designs have taken a distinctly whimsical turn. The three new items are thematically linked, so I have named than as a collection "An old-fashioned romance." Chandelier drops, antique keys, freshwater pearls, sparkling vintage earrings and hours of wiring everything together have produced my favourite items yet. They're a touch more expensive simply because they're so time consuming to make - and because a little part of me doesn't want to let them go... Buy online here Buy online here Buy online here

Ok , ok , so I told myself I wouldn't go all out making things for Valentine's Day. But I'm a soppy old thing, and so I wasn't surprised when I found myself sitting making this Cinderella necklace: Not only do the stones look romantic, they all have symbolic meanings. Rose quartz is universally acknowledged to be the stone of love, but a lesser known fact is that Roman ladies believed that amethyst would keep their husbands' love faithful. And in Eastern cultures pink pearls are believed to work well with the heart Chakra. You can buy the necklace from my Folksy shop. I also love the little swallows I've used. After my last post I was worried about the idea of birds and bad luck, so I looked up swallows in my Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. It turns out that having a family of swallows living in the eaves of your house is considered good luck - so i don't see why having a couple living in your jewellery box shouldn't be lucky too! Good news fo

In the words of those irritating Christmas text dating agency ads (anyone know the ones I mean?) I'm sad. The brass swallow charms I've ordered from New York haven't arrived yet - it's been weeks! - which means I still can't make my friend Laura's Christmas present. Laura - if you're reading this, I'm sorry. She bought me a fabulous handbag by Manchester crafters Don't Bitch Stitch , so I feel doubly guilty. But birds are a big theme - although someone told me once they were unlucky (stuff 'em, you make your own luck) - so I thought I'd show you my favourite birdy finds on Folksy. Felt birdy bracelet - £9 - PennyDog Designs Forest Bird Earrings - £6 - Paisley Chainsaw Gold Wagtail Brooch - £12 - Kate Broughton Kate Broughton also does gorgeous meercat, squirrel and deer felt brooches. I know it's more than six months 'til my birthday, but if any generous soul would like to buy me one I'd be forever grateful. A Bird In The Hand bl

Someone on the messageboards at Folksy was discussing inspiration and people's plans for 2009, which reminded me that a couple of weeks ago I promised to post some pictures from the notebooks which I keep pictures in I like and which I think might give me ideas for new pieces of jewellery. So here's a sneak peek... Because a lot of my jewellery is made from vintage brooches, earrings, keys etc, what I make depends very much on what catches my eye when I'm rummaging through car boots, flea markets and eBay. As you can probably see from the notebooks and my previous posts, I love the idea of old carnivals, so I couldn't resist buying these multi-coloured cloisonne earrings: They reminded me of the merry-go-rounds in Victorian fairs, or of candy canes. I was also lucky enough to stumble on these gorgeous Coro enamel earrings: I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, but hopefully it will be very special. I also found this tiny sparkling bow brooch,. It ne