Made With Love by Kat

Stuck for something to do with your family after the turkey's been picked to the bone and you're in the pre-Die Hard lull? Why not get handy with the glue and glitter and make some lovely festive items that you can add to your tree or house next year? I've scoured Pinterest to create a Christmas Crafts board , and here are some of my favourites, click on each one to be taken to the tutorials: I've also - very belatedly - found the Guardian's Christmas Crafters series . Why wasn't this flagged up more obviously? I particularly love this interview with Helen Noakes who makes adorable penguin earrings, amongst other treasures.

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 ...

Christmas is just 12 days away now and thoughts are turning to the turkey. But for those of you with some shopping still to do, most of my jewellery items are sent out first class as large letters , which means the last posting day is Thursday, December 20th . That means purchases must be completed by midnight on Wednesday, December 19th so I can get them to the post office on time. More advice from the Royal Mail about posting dates can be found here . The exception to this rule is with my rings - because of their size and shape they need to be sent as parcels so they can be properly packaged. As the last posting date for parcels is today, rings will probably not now arrive in time for Christmas. If you live in Bolton , contact me as I can hand deliver items.

Another new photo - my "ice sparkle" reworked vintage necklace  (click to see in my shop). Don't forget - there is still time to buy before Christmas! And if you click below you'll see exactly how the photo was made:

Sick of buying your Christmas cards in mass produced bundles from the supermarket? I've chosen some of my favourite handmade cards from Folksy - show someone you've really thought about them by sending one of these beauties instead (along with your independent designer-bought gift, of course!) Winter's Arrival papercut print card by Paper, Scissors, Stone Nifty Knits' knitted meerkats have even made it onto the TV, so it was only a matter of time befor ethey had their own range of greetings cards. Next year a calendar, perhaps? The geek in your life will appreciate this Christmas tree in binary, by Dragon Love Amazing Nordic print cards from Little Bird Press Vintage-inspired prints by Gail Griggs Finally, for those who don't really get into the Christmas spirit, how about this "Baa, humbug" card by Out Of The Shadows

Not a very wordy blog post this evening, I just wanted to share some photos I've been experimenting with. The top one is my favourite I think. Most of these items are available in my Folksy shop with the exception of the purple necklace and the blue earrings, which are part of my collection for the Royal Exchange. If you wish to purchase either item before I send them off on December 20th, please drop me an email .  UPDATE: The blue "Seafoam" earrings have been SOLD! I think it would be nice to somehow incorporate birds into this, swooping down holding the necklace. Gold leaf embellished ametrine slab with brass swallow and vintage earring - £25 UPDATE: SOLD! "Dancing Queen" earrings perfect for that NYE outfit - available here Celebrate the announcement of the royal baby with these regal earrings - available here UPDATE: SOLD! Debutante reworked vintage earrings, £15, available here ; Seafoam ear...

In Manchester we have an annual Christmas market which, while great fun, is getting steadily and alarmingly more expensive. After a couple of pints of ale in the pub last weekend we decided it would be a much better idea to host the "Christmas market" at home. And so the "Christmas Mar-Kat" (geddit? Sorry) was born. Of course, as with most things, half of the fun is in the planning and I've been gleefully pinning to my Christmas decor inspiration Pinterest board . Here are some of my favourite finds - click to see the originals: I love the idea of clusters of baubles hanging like this I don't have a bell jar, but I'll be doing something similar with a clear glass vase Love these lights against the mountains   The colours in this pic are amazing Something else I can do at home With enough blu tac I can also do something along these lines I'm feeling very excited - I promise I'll post photos of the hou...

Please note - the last post for standard parcels is this Friday. This is why it was a bad idea for me to suddenly decide to start packaging items in my very own specially-made pillow boxes this week, wasn't it? So any items bought after Friday will be sent first class large letter, and will include a flat packed gift box for you to assemble yourselves (it's very easy, and only requires a bit of Pritt or double sided sticky tape). So go! Do some Christmas shopping!

There are so many talented people on Folksy it can sometimes seem like you don't know where to start looking. In the first of a series of blog posts, I'll introduce you to a few - and with Christmas fast approaching, don't forget to shop handmade for the holidays as our American pals would have it! Today, meet Maram, a trained silversmith who creates gorgeously elegant jewellery. Name? Mairi Armes aka maramjewellery Where are you from? Originally Glasgow, now living just outside Edinburgh, in the shadow of The Forth Bridge. Purple bows necklace When did you start crafting? Umm, always! Can always remember being arty, trying to knit,sew and so on. Discovered jewellery making at school for a fashion show, never stopped since then! What made you open your Folksy shop? Everyone asking when I was going to start selling my work combined with a touch of free time when my youngest went to school. What materials do you work with? Silver mainly, and a lot of beads Shell blue...

According to this week's Sunday Times Style magazine, "vintage costume jewellery is hot this party season", and who am I to argue? Everyone loves a bit of vintage as it means you're less likely to see someone else wearing the same thing - and with one of my one-of-a-kind creations I can make that a guarantee. That's why I think it's a bit of a shame that there are so many high street shops now offering the sort of jewellery I and my fellow Folksy folk make. But remember - for every shop-bought "vintage inspired" bracelet or "fabric corsage" necklace bought for three quid from P*****k there are ten thousand more round the necks and wrists of other people. By buying handmade you are guaranteeing that you are wearing something which has had real love, thought and creativity poured into it. Each piece is unique - and personally that's the way I like it. Today, by the way, I am wearing this:

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

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...

...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

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?

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...

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!

Oh my God how am I going to make any profit? I've spent a phenomenal amount (well it's up into three figures) on stuff, and so far made eighty quid. Pinning my hopes on things that are winging their way to me as we speak - including more vintage brooches, vintage chandelier drops, swallow charms, Swarovski crystals and pearls, amethyst beads, Georgian antique keys and I can barely remember what else. Three decent sales and I'll be in profit, but it's a nerve-wracking time. Christmas is just round the corner - at least if worst comes to worst my friends will be receiving some very nice Christmas presents indeed...

Well that's it... everything I've made so far is over at the Bridewell Gallery for their Christmas exhibition which opens on Saturday. Everything will be for sale, and the gallery is in a brilliantly spooky old police building so if you get the chance pop over for a nosy - there's loads of other stuff on sale too so it's the perfect place to pick up some quirky Christmas presents. Lots of bits and bobs building up to make more, though - that'll probably be tonight's job if I'm not busy making the poorly boyfriend mugs of Lemsip. Also currently working on a necklace for a friend who is going to a Bond themed party - results will be posted soon. x

I made my first two sales today! The "Sparkle" and "Autumn" necklaces have both gone - one as a Christmas gift for some lucky, lucky person. Most of the other stuff from the current collection will be going over to Liverpool on Thursday, but I will be starting work on more items this week. There will be a romantic theme - the perfect way to show someone you love them this Christmas, non? Today I am wearing...