Liverpool's crafty Christmas call centre

Something you may not know about me is that I'm a member of the QVC training team. I'm a facilitator of a wonderful 3-day course we provide for all QVC people, which is very positive and helps people to find great ways of working together and making the best of every day both at work and at home.

In this role I go to Liverpool several times a year, so many faces in Knowsley are familiar friends now. I visited again last week and I had the great honour of being asked to judge the call centre's competition for best Christmas display.

It was truly awe inspiring and the atmosphere was buzzing, with many teams also dressing themselves up! I tell you, those guys and girls are so much fun and there are piccies up around the place of the many times they've got into the spirit of things for our Breast Cancer Care event to raise much needed funds. I cannot praise them enough and I know so many of you feel the same. Now let's applaud their fab creations!

Finally making my Christmas cards!

This weekend I finally decided to get a start on all my Christmas cards so I invited one of my very best friends, Mel, for a girly sleepover complete with wine, junk food, and, most importantly, a table full of craft goodies to play with!

I was inspired by my teenage daughter's plans for an 'X-Factor final' sleepover with her friends coming over here. It was a great night and I was very pleased with the result too. Go Alex!

As you can see from the piccies we started off very sensibly and tidily but as the evening went on it did get sillier and we thought it would be a good idea to decorate ourselves as well as the cards (below left)!

It was great to just take a break from all the hustle and bustle of this time of year and just lose ourselves in crafting and giggling.

Welsh Farm Organic Food - yummy!

Hi everyone,

Let me tell you, with all the delicious food shows I've been lucky enough to present recently, my pilates machine is going to be working overtime!

The other day I scoffed my way through a whole hour of Lime Tree Pantry pies and cakes as well as recently presenting the premiere of Lindt chocolates. Well, if you're going to eat chocolates for an hour you gotta do it in style - a standard bar of mediochre choccy from the supermarket just won't cut it!

Tomorrow (Friday 14th November) at 4pm, I'll have the pleasure of hosting an hour of Welsh Farm Organic Foods. I received a parcel fresh from the farm this morning, so all at Chez Huntley will be feasting on roast Welsh topside beef with all the trimmings. I shall report back on scrummyness factor in the show!

Vote in the Craft Awards 2008

Hi everyone,

The Craft Awards are on their way and you can have your say on 2008's award-worthy crafters, retailers and products!

QVC favourites Dawn Bibby and Leonie Pujol are in the running. Dawn's been nominated for Best Overall Card Designer 2008 and Leonie's in the Best Craft Book category. Well done Dawn and Leonie.

You can also cast your vote for QVC as Best TV Shopping Channel For Crafts and Best Website For Customer Services.

Plus, by voting you'll be entered into a prize draw where you could win a holiday, or over £200 of craft products! Not bad, eh?

Vote for QVC now at craftawards.com!

Love Catherine x

Meet Dawn Bibby at the Hobbycraft show

Hi everyone,

How would you like to meet craft expert Dawn Bibby in person? Dawn will be at the Hobbycraft show at the NEC in Birmingham on Sunday 16th November.

You'll find Dawn at the Crafts Beautiful stand, so why not pop in. The show starts on Thursday 13th November and runs until Sunday.

You can check the Crafts Beautiful website for more details or call 01425 277988 to book your tickets.

Love Catherine x

Anna Griffin chats to Craft Etc.

Hi everyone,

We caught up with a busy Anna Griffin today in between promoting our Today's Special Value - a craft tote, wallet and organiser set. She talked to us about some of her tips, inspirations and how she works...

Enjoy!

What inspires you?

My designs are inspired by my collection of antique textiles and documentary prints. I've been collecting them for about 25 years now - someday I'll have museum of all these beautiful things. They're original paintings that were made for wallpapers, or rugs or ceilings of buildings. They're original designs and then I reinterpret them. I'm also inspired by fashion and the world around me.

Tune in for a craft TSV tomorrow

Hi all,

I'm currently enjoying a few days of relaxation but I wanted to let you all know about the crafty Today's Special Value offer we'll have for you on QVC tomorrow.

I can't say too much about it but what I will say is that if you love Anna Griffin craft materials then this is a TSV you won't want to miss!

Hope you like it!

Love Catherine x

Cards for the Cats Protection League

Hi everyone,

I have mentioned on air a few times that I sometimes offer support to the Cats Protection League by making a few cards from time to time for them to sell. As a result I've had a lot of interest from people who would also like to support this cause and would like to know what they can do to help.

If you want to make cards to help raise money for Cats Protection, cat-themed cards always sell best. I've made both cat and generally-themed cards and the cat ones go really quickly so, in the interests of fund-raising for the cats, let's 'keep it kitty' so they get the full benefit of our efforts!

Caroline Skelton works for the Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted branch and auctions my cards on eBay as 99kittykats to raise funds and it all goes to the CPL. Please feel free to send your cards to your local branch or to me at QVC and I will forward them to Caroline or, alternatively, send any donations to  the Cats Protection Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted branch if you'd like to support her work.

To my delight and surprise I received a whole box full of beautiful handmade cards from a very kind lady called Dee. I shall be stroking them for a bit before they go in the post, to Caroline from CPL, as they are just gorgeous, thanks Dee!

And thanks for all your cat piccies in my inbox, they always make me smile.

Love Catherine x

Some more tips from Dawn

Hi everybody,

Here are a few more crafty little tips from the one and only Dawn Bibby.

Remember if you have any questions for Dawn that you'd like me to pass on to her just leave a comment below or email me at craftetc@qvc.com

Also, if you've got any great little tips you'd like to share just leave a comment below.

Love Catherine x

Dawn Bibby's craft tips

• Once you get started crafting you will gradually find the styles and techniques you like the most and start to build up a collection of tools and products. It may seem like a big investment but the right tools will lead you to more professional results and a much better sense of satisfaction.

Your birthday cards!

Hi everyone,

We received some absolutely fantastic cards from you guys to celebrate QVC's 15th birthday and here are a few pictures of some of our favourites!

In the picture to the left you'll see a stunning fold-out card sent in by Jo from Bournemouth.

Gathered together on the QVC mantlepiece in the picture to the right are cards from a number of creative crafters. The two large cards at the back are (l-r) from Sue in Billericay and Hilary in Eastleigh. Along the front are cards sent in by (l-r) Karen in Newport, Linda in Lancing, D Andrews in Bournemouth, Veronica in Basildon, Sandra in Liverpool and Margaret (we didn't get your address but you know who you are!)

Click on the pictures to take a closer look and thanks once again to all of you who sent in cards to celebrate QVC's birthday!

Love Catherine x