Carnivals, duchesses and plans for 2009

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 needs a good clean, but I intend to team it with a vintage-style clasp and some bright pink chain to make a really cute, unusual choker:

I'm currently waiting for some brass swallows to wing their way over to me from New York, but in the meantime I'm planning what I'm going to do with this little lot:

Hmm... Any ideas?

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Look! My craft stall!

Well the craft market at the Midsummer Festival this weekend didn't go brilliantly for me thanks to the rain, but lots of people did take business cards so hopefully they will go home and order online from the cosiness of their houses. But look how pretty my stall looked! And all made on a budget of about 50p, proving that you don't need to spend a fortune on display things: Of course, the highlight for me was lovely Thomas, the Clydesdale horse who had his shoes remade (they were huge! ) and gave small children rides up and down Churchgate. He was adorable.

Review: Hand Lettering A to Z by Abbey Sy

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A bright Malta layout with stitching

We had such a lovely time on our recent trip to Malta - and I got lots of photos that I'm enjoying making into layouts and mini albums. This one was taken at the gate to Mdina, where the first season of Game of Thrones was filmed. I didn't realise at the time that Luke was being silly behind me! I used the Mr Huey double yellow mist from the latest Like For Ever kit to make a sunny background, and stitched sunbeams using the yellow ombre thread from the mixed media add-on. The ephemera was from last month's "In Bloom" kit, but I thought it was so lovely and bright it matched perfectly - I've been dying to use those feathers on something lovely!

Made With Love by Kat

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