All you need is Love!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you're doing something nice with your loved ones today.

I thought this year I'd have a go at baking some mini Red Velvet cakes with these cute heart-shaped silicone baking cases and they worked a treat! Turns out to be pretty tasty too - I used a Nigella Lawson recipe, since she knows a thing or two about yummy bakes.

I also spotted this rather topical knit over at Mochimochi Land - it's a free pattern to knit a tiny rose! So adorable and a lovely idea for a last-minute gift. Read this blog post to find out more and to download a copy :)

Image via Mochimochi Land

If you're looking for nice ways to gift wrap something for your Valentine, I also have a few ideas to give you some inspiration in this Valentine's themed post.

Sunday Treat

It's February (already?! Where did January go...) so I figured it's time to unveil the next part of my 2014 Desktop Calendar Project.

You can download the freebie desktop wallpaper calendar I've designed for February 2014 - click here to view (then right-click on the image and select "save image as..."). This is optimised for 1024 x 768 screen resolutions. (I'm happy to make other sizes on demand - just email info {at} catcodes {dot} co {dot} uk to request it!)

...Romance is in the air...

If you're looking for a little romantic inspiration, I happen to have a section in my WildCat Designs Etsy Boutique entitled "Be my Valentine" featuring some scarves with a heart pattern I designed. I can vouch for the fact that they are not only cute, but super cosy as I made (kept!) one for myself and love wearing it.

P.S. As love is in the air this month, and I'm feeling generous, I've extended the Super Scarf Sale! It will now run until Friday 14th February, giving you a chance to snap up a brand new scarf - or treat your Valentine.

Valentine's Giveaway Winner

Thanks to all who entered my little romance-themed giveaway!

I'm happy to announce that the winner - chosen at random - was commenter number three, Shandi Naugle, who said "I would choose blue, the most romantic thing my fiancée has done for me is get me flowers just because :)" - well, if that isn't romantic, I don't know what is!

I'll be in touch to find out her custom brooch design preference :)

S.W.A.L.K.

"Sealed with a loving kiss" - the S.W.A.L.K. acronym apparently originated during WWII when soldiers wrote letters to their sweethearts back home. Just a nice thought to get you in the mood for a little Valentine's day romance!

On that note, I have a few little wrapping ideas for romantic gifts for you to try.

Materials to look out for:

- plain or patterned tissue paper
(try stationery/art shops, department stores or the supermarket)
- deco tape
- plain, striped or printed ribbons
(I got these from local fabric shops/haberdashery or a cake decorating shop)
- lace trims
- washi tape with hearts and other motifs
(I got mine from Paperchase - just noticed they currently have a 3 for 2 offer on washi tape!!)

I also re-used little scraps of fabric, tissue, ribbon and strips of white tulle fabric I had around the house. Nothing wrong with a bit of eco-friendliness on Valentine's.

Ideas

• Try layering different colours of tissue paper to get a pretty effect - I layered pink under red with a little flash of the pink left visible, or pink tissue underneath a white patterned tissue (mainly so that it's not completely see-through as white sometimes can be).

• Instead of boring old plain clear sellotape, why not try using cute patterned washi tape or another type of decorated sticky tape! You can even use washi tape on plain tissue paper to create really cool decorative effects.

• Create your own "ribbons" by tearing or cutting up strips of fabric - I found white tulle worked really well for this.

• Gifts can be tied/wrapped with all manner of ribbons, raffia, trims or twine and you could even try using two or more strands to get different effects.

• You can write little messages of love or draw romantic doodles onto red tissue paper with a white coloured pencil.

• Lace trims look lovely over coloured tissue paper - a nice way to show off their pattern.

• Even simple ideas can work well: try decorative washi tape on plain brown wrapping/parcel paper (kraft) or use rubber stamps to print on it & make your own wrapping paper!

Looking for more DIY Valentine ideas? Inspiration ahoy:

- Check out these cute printable cards/notes from Mochimochi Land

- A set of modern & colourful printable Valentine's day cards on the Papernstitch blog

- Or, for the Star Wars fan in your life, how about a Vader-y Valentine?
(Found via "Death Star PR"!)

Also check out my previous Valentine's blog post for even more ideas!

Valentine's Giveaway!

It's been quite a while since I last did a blog giveaway so I thought it was about time I did another! Since Valentine's day is approaching, I figured it would be fun to do a prize draw themed around that.

So, I am giving away a custom-made sequin heart brooch! One lucky winner will get one of these lovely brooches made in the colours of their choosing.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post stating your colour preference for the brooch design (see colour choices below) and also tell me: what's the most romantic thing someone has done for you? Don't forget to leave an email address I can contact you with, in case yours is the winning entry!

Colour choices for the felt (in order shown):
red, white, sky blue, magenta, black, turquoise or purple.
♥ ♥ ♥
Colour choices for the sequins: black, silver, red or blue.

Closing date for entries is 5pm GMT on Thursday 14th February 2013. The competition is open to all, as I am happy to post worldwide. One winner will be chosen at random.

(Note that your comments will not be published instantly, as they are moderated, so please be patient.)

[EDIT: This competition is now closed. Winner will be announced here.]

New year, new ideas

Hello! I hope you've all had a great start to the new year. At the moment, I am having a phase of definite renewal and getting back into making things after a bit of a break.

I've been busily working on trying to finish my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project - really hoping I'll complete it in time! Enjoying it thus far though, it's so refreshing to get back to drawing and painting, something I love but don't make the time for very often any more.

Today involved playing around with this damask pattern motif and gold ink. Fun! I've also been sprucing things up a little online - hope you like the new blog banner and buttons on the sidebar.

I realise Valentine's day is just around the corner (already?!), so if you're looking for some inspiration, check out this post from last year: DIY Valentine!

Just because...

Lykke Li - "Little Bit"



Happy Valentine's Day x

DIY Valentine

It's nearly Valentine's day, but there's still enough time to craft something cute for the special person in your life - or you could always just make them for fun anytime.

Image via Rowan Yarns

Rowan yarns are offering a lovely crochet pattern for heart-shaped bunting as a free download, made using DK weight yarn. If only I could crochet! *sigh*

Here are a few more fun creative things to make for someone you love:

Cute Cupcake Toppers Tutorial on the Papernstitch blog

Behold: the Smitten!

Image via Coco Knits

These awesome, fun mittens are designed so that you can hold hands and still stay cosy. Genious work by Coco Knits :)

More DIY Valentine's ideas on the Fossil blog here (via Creature Comforts).

Or, if you'd rather simply buy some loveliness, why not these!

Hooked on You

Well, it's difficult to deny that love is in the air at this time of year. With that in mind, here are some rather nice February Finds!

Decorative Heart Wall Hook from Monkey and Squirrel

'The Shoe Collection' Print by Lola's Room

Tea Heart Teatowel by MrPS

'Stick Me' Valentine - a collaborative sticker book available here.

Valentine Kittens from Quernus Crafts

And the Winner is...

...(drumroll please)... Jennyflower! A goodie bag of handmade WildCat Designs Valentine-themed treats are yours :)





[I used the random number generator on www.random.org to make sure it was properly random & fair.]

February Fun

I'm not long back from a little trip up north to Stonehaven, partly to get away from it all, to catch up with a friend and also for its proximity to Aberdeen :)

On one particularly dreich day (no joke, it was raining cats & dogs!) I spent a happy half hour in a lovely craft shoppe in Stonehaven. Having seen some rather nice yarn in the window, my boyfriend knew it was inevitable that I would want to go in! I couldn't leave without having a good rummage and left with this little lot:



Additions to the ever-mounting stash, yay! :) The yarn is sooo soft and Rico Baby is a brand I haven't come across before - with some yummy colours in the aptly-named 'Lollipop' range. Just wish I'd had time to find at least one of the independent purveyors of yarn in the Granite City. Mind you, it's probably just as well since I have a bit of a problem walking out of such shops empty-handed!

For those of you who might fancy getting your mitts on some WildCat Designs handmade goodies, there's still time to enter my Prize Draw - plus, I've decided to extend the deadline to midnight (GMT) on Tuesday, 10th February 2009. What are you waiting for?!?

V is for Valentine

♥♥♥

Valentine's Day is fast approaching - yes it's that time of year again! - so I thought I would do a little prize draw. I'm giving away a Valentine's Day Goody Bag - handmade, knitted & felted WildCat Designs goodies that is.
To enter, just leave a comment for this post.
Closing date is Sunday 8th February 2009. The winner will be chosen at random :)

♥♥♥

Good luck!

[edit: I know some of you have had problems leaving a comment (sorry!) so I've modified my settings - please feel free to try again!]

For the love of Print

When reading through the Poppytalk blog recently, I stumbled across this post in which I couldn't help but be captivated by Katie Muth's gorgeous lino cut printed cards, which really caught my eye.

Needless to say, I loved them instantly and wanted to find out more. So I checked out Katie's website and I was not disappointed. As I'd been looking for a special Valentine's day card, I found just that - but couldn't buy just one card, so treated myself to one of her occasion card packs as well, covering various different greeting needs. I have to say I was impressed because not only are they lovely, they also arrived v quickly all the way from Toronto!



The cake one looks a bit like the lovely chocolate cake my folks and I have been demolishing this evening, in celebration of my mother's birthday! :)

Oh! I also finished my mittens, which makes me a very very happy bunny, not to mention one with much warmer, nay, toasty fingers. Soft, cosy and stripy. Just the way I like 'em.