From Russia With Love...

As part of my shop overhaul for Christmas, I have added styling tips to each of my items (I've also reshot my photographs on a white background - would be interested to know what you think. I suspect I'll be going back to using books in the background in the New Year). This is based on my love of the "magazine" pages of shops like Net-a-Porter, and I wanted a way to incorporate that into my Folksy shop. However, the Folksy set up means I can't show you pictures of suggested items to match each piece - so I thought it would be the perfect subject for a series of blog posts, starting with…

Anna Karenina

I love the opulence of the Russian tsars in film and TV, and with all those muffs, furry hats and velvet layers it's perfect for winter. The look is perfect to accompany some of my deeper coloured items (a range I'll be adding to over the next week - I have some exciting new pieces waiting to be photographed!)

Team my Naryshkin and Anastasia necklaces or Empress ring with this gorgeous "velvet burnout" dress from Oasis (£45) - as opulent as you could ever hope to be! Alternatively, for a special occasion, give lace a sexy twist with DKNY’s metallic lace dress (£295). Accessorize with this bejewelled clutch from, um, Accessorize (£45).

Alternatively, give daywear a little love from Russia with heeled ankle boots – these from Alexander McQueen (£1,125) are incredible, if they’re out of most people’s price range - and a fur collared coat like this one from Miss Selfridge (£89) that will add a regal feel to any occasion - even if you're just popping to the pub.

Like the jewellery you see here? Click here to visit my Folksy shop.

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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

I've been wanting to try my hand at "proper" hand lettering for a while - I often get complimented on my handwriting but when it comes to lettering for journalling or cards I'm never quite as happy with the outcome as I hope to be. So when the lovely folks at Quarto Publishing got in touch with their Autumn catalogue I was thrilled to see how many titles they had on the subject. Hand Lettering A to Z by Abbey Sy is a gorgeous place to start. Abbey's instagram is absolutely lush (follow here here ) and I particularly love her Bangkok photos as we've just returned from there, so I was super excited to be able to have a look at her book. The book takes you through a range of hand drawn fonts, plus has additional chapters on embellishments and a gorgeous gallery of inspiration. See how beautiful? So exciting. I was so excited, in fact, that I totally ignored her advice to get a sharp pencil and a proper table to work at. 'I can do this in

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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