Made With Love by Kat

On December 1 st at 8pm (just after the Strictly Come Dancing results show ends) I’m going to be running my first Facebook e-Market. “What’s an e-Market?” you may well ask. In short, it’s a really simple way to buy stuff from the cosiness of your sofa. I will be uploading a special album of photos to the wall of my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/madewithlovebykat . Each photo will have details about the piece along with the price. The first person to comment gets to buy the piece – you can pay by Paypal. I will post all the items out the very next day (Monday 2 nd ) so they will arrive in plenty of time for Christmas. It's the perfect solution for those people who want to buy quirky handmade gifts but can't face the crush and madness of a city-centre Christmas market. And there's free postage and packing, so the price you see is the price you pay! If you want to get involved (and of course you do!) then the best thing to do is to like my Facebook page and join ...

How often do you hear something described as "unique" only to see someone else wearing the same piece? Jewellery designer Kat Dibbits guarantees that won't happen with her collection - each piece is irreplaceable. Kat explains: "Because I use vintage components such as earrings or brooches, it would be impossible for me to repeat a design even if someone asked me to." Kat starts her work at the point others see at the end - with the mismatched earrings abandoned in the back of a drawer, or the brooch with the broken pin that's chucked out as junk. She lovingly restores and repairs each piece before transforming them into necklaces, bracelets and earrings that are perfect for both occasion wear and every day. "Many of the pieces I salvage are by named designers such as Coro or Sarah Coventry, and it's a shame for them to end their lives unloved," says Kat. She adds that because each piece is genuinely one of a kind they make the ide...

BRITISH jewellery designer Kat Dibbits is urging people to buy handmade this Christmas. Kat, who sells her range of reworked vintage jewellery through the UK-based online marketplace Folksy says that festive shoppers can not only find unusual gifts by looking beyond the High Street, they can save money, too. She said: “There are so many talented makers and designers in Britain who work hard to promote their work through online shops, galleries and independent traders – there really is no excuse for buying something mass produced as a gift this Christmas.” Kat’s own range, Made With Love ( www.madewithlove.folksy.com ) has a couture ethos distilled for everyday life. Each piece is handmade and no two pieces are the same. “As my work is based on repurposing vintage brooches, bracelets, necklaces and earrings into something new and gorgeous, I couldn’t repeat one particular design even if I wanted to.” Kat’s painstaking process starts with her scouring flea marke...

I've been having so much fun making and photographing new items! Here are some of my favourite shots - all available at www.madewithlove.folksy.com now...

I love it when my Anthropologie catalogue arrives - not just because I like looking at all the pretty clothes and jewellery but also because I find it so inspiring for photoshoots. I've been dying to try and recreate their look in my photos for a while, but I've been struggling to find a background I like. Then I realised that if I took the big drawer out of my vintage-style dressing table and turned it upside down it would make the perfect base! I've been playing around with some props - I wanted to use Champagne coupes but for some reason they didn't really come out looking right. I also took these with the ISO set far too high, so they're too grainy to use in my shop, but for a first attempt I think they're interesting:

I'm such a Pinterest junkie. Honestly, I think I need to go to some sort of support meetings, I just love it way too much. One of my favourites of my boards is simply titled "Things I must make" and seeing as today is the start of November I thought it was a great time to share some of the projects I hope to manage over the next few cold months. This  falling leaves garland  is so beautifully autumnal, I really want to make one to go up my stairs. I love elbow patches, and  these sequinned ones  are suitably glamorous.  The idea for this jumper is so simple - just cut a slit down one shoulder and stitch some lovely heavy velvet ribbon in place.  Finally, I think I'm going to make this (or something very similar) my new packaging for my jewellery line . Wouldn't it be gorgeous to receive a new bracelet or necklace in an envelope like this? What are your craft plans now the nights are drawing in?