Made With Love by Kat

This month's Like For Ever kit is called "Carefree" and it's gorgeous ! I think it's my favourite so far. The papers are from Elle's Studio Sunny Days and Fancy Pants' Millie & June and Life is Beautiful collections. Both sides are gorgeous - for the first time I wish I'd ordered the extra paper pack. What I DID order was the mixed media add-on which had a fabulous stitching template and some lovely ombre silk thread. I also got the stamping add-on which was a gorgeous collection of tiny stamps by Lia Griffith . I love Lia's website and I intend to make lots of her crepe flowers to decorate my wedding venue next year. The ephemera this month is Fancy Pants' Life in Beautiful. Technically I think it's Spring themed, but as Summer this year has been non-existent and there's been plenty of April showers in July I think that's perfect! I particularly love the bicycles and balloons, and the florals are really strong i...

I was so excited to get my first Glittery Hands Box ! This was a project that I backed on Kickstarter a few months ago and I'm so glad to see it come off. The box had a great mermaid theme, which was very different to other craft boxes I've seen recently, and I particularly loved the shell ephemera - particularly the "100% mermaid" cutout. I'm also looking forward to playing with the anchor stamp and I've been adding the lilac paint to all sorts of bits of scrap paper to use in my next layout. I've got some ideas for projects I want to make with the contents which I'll share with you soon, but for now, take a look at this unboxing video to see what I got. 

I was so excited to pick up these gorgeous goodies from Hey Little Magpie . I'll be using them to make my friend's little girl a birthday card, and to start filling my Spring Project Life album (I'm waaaaaay behind schedule - SUCH printer woes!). I really love the My Mind's Eye On Trend 2 collection - it was really hard to stop myself buying all of it and I'd still like to get the decorative brads and the wood veneers ... 

Hi folks - here's the latest in my sporadic series of craft news pieces and features. The Guardian had a lovely piece last month about macrame superstar Emily Katz, which you can read by clicking here , and another about how craft isn't just a "nice activity" for people to do - it can make a real difference to lives. Read it on their Culture Professionals Network here . Female First revealed the results of a survey which suggested 52% of people like to sit at home and do some crafting after a stressful day (although I'm fairly sure there was some bias, as the survey was carried out by craft TV channel Hochanda). And scrapbooking fans will enjoy this article in Time magazine about a WWII sailor's scrapbook from the war - read it by clicking here .

I'm really enjoying playing around with some mixed media projects. A bit of paint here, a bit of paper there... add some acetate or some vellum... When I look at Google images for inspiration, a lot of the pictures I see seem a bit (whisper it) old fashioned - hence why I love designers like Heidi Swapp whose collections have a really fresh feel.  This tag was made using one of the painted kraft tags I blogged about on Tuesday as a base. I added ephemera from my Heidi Swapp, Maggie Holmes and Docrafts stash and a Docrafts puffy sticker (I LOVE the Docrafts geometric pieces - about as far from stuffy old fashioned scrapbooking styles as you can get). The little peg was just a plain wooden one from Hobbycraft which I painted with my neon pink paint. I plaited some embroidery thread just as a change from using twine. What do you think? Share your links to your latest projects below - I'd love to see them. 

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...

I have so many projects I need to share with you! I've actually had a touch of that creative disease where whatever you're doing you want to be doing something else - it's so annoying! So as soon as I start on a big 12x12 PL spread I want to be making a mini album. I start a mini album and see an amazing idea for a necklace I could make. I get out my jewellery making kit and spot my watercolours... and so on! However that does mean that I've got loads of great things to show you here just as soon as I've got them photographed. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this picture of an adorable little bear that I spray painted gold, and who now lives on my windowsill with my succulents (which are definitely the easiest plants I've ever tried to keep!)

I'm actually going to the theatre tonight, so it's more likely to be a soggy Thursday project, but I couldn't resist the alliteration! I fell in love instantly with this dip dyed watercolour stationary project from Paper & Stitch - definitely one for me to have a go at! I have card, but I also have little craft envelopes and TAGS (brilliant!) that would look amazing with this done.

Looking for something to do this evening once the bonfire has died down and the firework displays have finished? Why not curl up in front of the fire and try your hand at one of these fabulous firework craft projects? How to take sparkling fireworks photos: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2014/06/take-sparkling-fireworks-photos.html Rocket favours: http://www.marthastewart.com/353633/rocket-favor-packaging Cupcake liner fireworks art: http://www.alittlepinchofperfect.com/2015/06/cupcake-liner-fireworks-craft.html Sparkler firework craft: http://kidscraftroom.com/sparkler-firework-craft-for-kids/ Bonfire night hoop art: http://www.molliemakes.com/craft-2/embroidery-patterns-bonfire-night-hoop-art/ What's your favourite Bonfire Night craft? Share in the comments section below! Follow

This post from the amazing team over at Jamball makes me very happy - can't wait to see what they come up with!

Not many crafty articles in the newspapers this weekend - a missed opportunity I think! However, we did rather like the Mirror's fun and simple lollipop fridge magnets how-to , and this amazing interview in the Independent with Shinji Nakaba, who makes tiny skulls from pearls. The Telegraph's picture slideshow of "endangered" heritage crafts is also well worth a nosey - as a half-Dutch half-Lancashire person clog making holds a special place in my heart!

I've spent the weekend merrily spraying things gold and I am SO pleased with how these vases have turned out. I used electrical tape to make a strip around one of the jars that would be left free from paint. I love electrical tape as it peels off easily, but you could use masking tape, too.  After spraying: Then it was just a case of choosing the colours of washi tape I wanted to use and adding a pattern: And voila! Two fabulous mini vases!

Hurrah for the Bank Holiday weekend! Even though we only came back from camping in beautiful Norfolk a few weeks ago, I'm already feeling like I'm ready for another holiday. I'm rather hoping we can go to the fire fiesta in Valencia next Spring, but after we had to scrap our planned trip to London this month I'm hoping we can sneak in another weekend somewhere before that. In the meantime, I'm planning on making lots of beautiful things this weekend. I've been having fun creating marbled clay feathers which I'm going to turn into necklaces (maybe even with a bit of gold leaf... hmm..) so I need to photograph those and share the how-to with you guys. I'm really loving working with marbled clay, and I've been having a great time over on Pinterest collecting inspiration for colour combinations . I also need to get some mounts so I can finish my embroidered book pages and maybe even get them listed in my Folksy shop . I have some packages to pick up ...

For my day job, I’ve been writing about students from the Manchester School of Art who have been chosen to show at this year’s Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. But it’s such an amazing event, I wanted to write about it here, as well. The GNCCF runs from October 8 th to the 12 th , and this year will be at Old Granada Studios. Organisers are promising that there will be pop-up studios, craft workshops, and Artist in Residence and an Installation Artist making exclusive work at this year’s event. In addition to our 11 students (and one lecturer!), visitors will be able to see work by a total of 175 designer-makers in a variety of disciplines including interior and fashion textiles, glass, jewellery, ceramics, metalwork, furniture, print-making and more. Visitors can learn about the inspiration, materials, making process and stories behind the work.   Angela Mann and Ann-Marie Franey founded the GNCCF in 2008. Ann-Marie said: “There is a growing fascination wi...

I remember a time when there seemed to be loads of articles on craft on the newspaper websites. Sadly that's not the case any more - we've been overlooked in favour of 10 New Things To Do With Your Spiralizer* - but there's still the Guardian's excellent "Do Something" series. I know, I know, I am soooooo late to this party, but I loved this article on making things from clay (and the fact it was written by my University friend Becky, all the better!) The Guardian also have this useful article for anyone thinking of setting up a craft business. However, as lots of us will know, it's not necessarily the initial push that is the hardest part, but keeping the excitement and inspiration going year after year. That's why I'm planning a series of interviews with craft sellers who have successfully run their businesses for five years or more, to find out how they keep their fires stoked. * I should admit here, I own a spiralizer. I'm not even re...

So once I got started with the embroidery thread and the book pages, I found it difficult to stop… Yesterday’s blog post dealt with embellishing an existing illustration, but from there I started to get more ideas. I’d seen lots of cute embroidery hoop wall arts with words – why shouldn’t I do that with silks and paper instead? First I found a page that was covered in text, then (after a few practices on a piece of scrap paper) lightly wrote the word that I wanted to embroider on to the page. Then just as in the previous project, I used a needle to punch holes along the lines for the stitches to follow (this is very important if you want to avoid tearing the paper), then backstitched along. I was so pleased with the outcome! I’m going to combine the illustrated pony, this page and another idea I have in mind (wait and see!) to create a gorgeous collage for my friend’s little girl – all made out of her mum’s book. Once I’d done one page, I started to play ...

The other day my friend and I were looking through her books from her childhood, picking out the ones that she wanted to read to her little girl. Sadly, one of them hadn’t stood the test of time, and had lost many of its pages. Rather than throw it away, I suggested she give it to me, and I would try to turn it into something nice. Actually, I have so many ideas for what I can do with it which I’m excited about sharing with you over the coming weeks. The first thing I wanted to do was preserve one of the gorgeous illustrations. The book was Mice & Mendelson by Joan Aiken, featuring a fluffy, hairy pony and his two mousey friends. The illustrations were really cute, and reminded me of the Thelwell pictures I loved as a pony-mad kid (before I became a pony-mad adult). I decided to use embroidery thread to embellish one of the pictures, so after cutting it out I punched holes using a needle along the lines I wanted to follow. I then split skeins of thread in half, so there were th...

My lovely friend Laura gave me some succulents this week that had sprouted from her own incredible collection (she's far more green fingered than me). As they're still growing, I didn't want to plant them up in fancy pots, but the plain old plantpots looked a bit drab on my windowsill, so I cut strips of patterned paper to create sleeves for them to sit in. Easy to make, easy to change - just be careful that you lift them out before watering! From this.... To this!

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.