Made With Love by Kat

Hi all, Are you looking forward to the weekend? We'll be wedding venue hunting tonight and on Sunday which is kind of exciting, and kind of boring (is it allowed to say that?). But in between I'm planning on making some lovely things, inspired by some great blog posts that I've spotted this week and I wanted to share with you: 1. Unsurprisingly this time of year, everything seems geared towards Valentine's Day. Now we don't really "do" V-day in our house, but that didn't stop me grabbing some of the gor-ge-ous neon graphic printed paper I grabbed from The Range last week (I spent waaaaaay too much, I'll have to share pics of my haul with you) and turning it into Lia Griffith's adorable heart-shaped paper aeroplane garland . 2. Again, Vally themed, but you could make these envelope liners for any event, be it a party, baby shower or even just a sweet note to a friend - isn't it nice to receive something lovely through the post? I'v...

When designer Kat Dibbits was designing her new collection she had one thing in mind – romance. Well with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, what else is a girl to be thinking about? Each piece is completely one of a kind and Kat says there is no better way to show your other half that you think she’s special than by buying a piece of jewellery that is as unique as she is. Secret Garden, £58 She said: “Each piece is a one-off – because of the vintage components I used I couldn’t recreate them if I tried. I have also tried to use more unusual stones in this collection – while there are the old favourites such as onyx, garnet and rock crystal I have also used lesser-known stones such as Peruvian opal and amazonite which should pique the interest of fashionistas.” Beautiful vintage brooches, earrings and other finds which could have been discarded have been given a new lease of life as necklaces, bracelets and earrings.  Key colours are the pale pinks, blues and ye...

Fans of my jewellery and this blog may remember that a couple of years ago I was asked to design a collection for Manchester’s Royal Exchange theatre , to be sold in their gift shop in the run-up to Christmas. Well I’m thrilled to say that they have asked me to work with them again, this time to create a collection to be sold over Valentine’s Day. Naturally I’m thrilled, but I was very aware that I wanted to create pieces especially for them, and with the romance of Valentine’s Day in mind. I’ve started building a Pinterest board to help me research the collection. It contains images of my major, regular inspirations – including ballet dancers and classic 1940s and 50s styling. I have added some images from the recent film version of Anna Karenina, which has really caught my imagination, but I’m not sure yet if I will use them for this collection, or for a winter collection on my website . What I really wanted to avoid were the clichéd “Valentines” images – the occasional di...

It's competition time! Would you like to win a one of a kind bracelet made from a vintage brooch, chunky amazonite nuggets, rock crystal, pretty pink Peruvian opal and Swarovski crystals? One that fastens with a cute heart-shaped toggle clasp? I thought so! Just to whet your appetite a bit more, here's a couple of pictures: Because it's nearly Valentine's Day I thought I'd have a bit of a soppy theme. So, to win all you have to do is follow me on Twitter here (if you're not already a follower, if you are you can get retweeting right away) and RT any of my tweets that mention the words "Valentine's", "love", "romance" or "romantic". For each RT you will be entered into the draw (no more than one an hour, though!). For two bonus entries, just blog about Made With Love or this competition. The competition runs until midnight on February 9th and I will be announcing the winner then via this blog. Good luck!

Flowers, chocolates, diamonds... They'd all be appreciated, but for a really special Valentine's Day gift why not look a little off the beaten track? To start with the more traditional gifts, there are plenty of finds on Folksy incorporating hearts. This cute felt brooch is an inexpensive gift, perfect if you are in the early stages of your relationship and want to show your affection without going over the top. In fact, at just £3, why wait until Valentine's Day? You can buy it here . For a more serious gift, jewellery is always the best option. This silver heart necklace by Ali Bali Jewellery is contemporary and stylish: Or for a more vintage style, this resin heart incorporating an original print of tree branches and a vintage button is the perfect gift. You can buy it here . Of course, my jewellery also incorporates real vintage bits and bobs. I suggest this Fly Away With Me necklace , which is made from pink freshwater pearls, a brass swallow from New York, a gorgeous...

Haven't blogged for ages - mostly because I've become a bit disheartened with the whole hand-made "community" - yes that's right, I'm still waiting for my refund from My Vintage Charms. However- I sold three necklaces over the weekend, which is always bound to boost a girl's ego, so I have listed a few more items on Folksy: Buy it here Buy it here Buy it here I am also compiling my favourite Valentine's picks (hopefully the boyfriend is an avid reader of this and will come looking for hints!) which I will post up over the next few days. Finding stuff for the girls is easy, but what about the boys? Does anyone have any suggestions?

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...