Part of something bigger - volume 2

Remember that I told you about lots of surprises for Julie in the mail and that is was part of something bigger?
Well, the mailbox got more of those and I'd love to share 'em with you. I still have not put together the entire poem as some words are still missing but I'm getting there. All of the gifts have a hanging tag and it will look so pretty when I will assemble the mobile. As soon as it's ready I will show you!
Anyway, here are some more words that came in the mail...

 Judit from Vadjutka (Hungary) send two times the word 'een' (means: a).

Anna from 'the house of mouse' (the Netherlands) send Julie the cutest sleep mouse. The mouse is holding the word 'slaap' (means: sleep).

Annemiek from TwoTreesWorld (the Netherlands) delivered her gifts in person. So nice to catch up with her. She made the words 'slaap' in the form of a flying porcelain sheep - cute! (means: sleep) and 'van' (means: of)

Anna Denise from The yellow umbrella (Belgium) drew something mighty cute - I love her drawings! Her word says 'reuzeke' (means: small giant)

Caro from Honoriginal (the Netherlands) made a supertiny & pretty book and a paper cloud with the word 'doe' (means: do)

Stephanie from PetitPlat (France) proves here that she can not only make tiny things, haha, she made a giant pea pod with the word 'reus' (means: giant)

Elles from Misusu (United States) send two intricately made patchwork pieces (amazing) with the words 'een' (means: a) and 'doos' (means: box)

Marijke from Sweet and simple stuff (the Netherlands) send a very soft and cute crocheted babushka with the word 'dicht' (means: closed)

And Kim from Viltalakim (the Netherlands) came to deliver her gift in person too. A cute felted heart with the word 'roos' (means: rose) and she also gave me a few tips regarding the poem.
Like that I was still missing about 8 words and that the poem consisted out of 8 lines.
Thanks Kim for clearing a few things up for me. I suppose that I'll be keeping an eye on my mailbox a bit more and hope that the mystery will be revealed soon.
Thanks so much everyone! You can't imagine how curious I am to see the end result! :)

Oh, and for those wanting to see how much Julie has grown, you can subscribe to my newsletter because I add images from her in there. We are a bit hesitant to post images of her on the world wide web...

European Streetteam Challenge

What a fun day this is today! I just got word that my singing birds that I made for this weeks challenge won the challenge! Woohoo! Thanks so much for picking them out of all the amazing entries dear Anna! That basicly means that I can be the boss for this weeks challenge and can pick a theme of my choice. I'd love to show you some pics to get inspired... by Babushka's! :)
I suppose the theme is no surprise for you...

The centerpiece of this mosaic is work from Claudia aka MundoGominola.
I have been thinking about her recently. I 'met' her on the European Streetteam
and unfortunately she passed away last December due to a rare heart condition.
Just a little remembrance of this beautiful person... you are missed sweet Claudia!

1. HAND PAINTED - Matryoshkas family, 2. Small babuschka, 3. ohrringe :::bonjour russland, 4. Matryoshka coasters - decorative objects, 5. Matryoshka ornaments, 6. P1010801, 7. Gingerbread House, 8. work in progress, 9. Moleskine's notebook cover: Matryoshkas, 10. fru muri, 11. Frida under water, 12. big russian doll & russian doll lavender scented sachets, 13. Piquete de mamushkas14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

Can't wait to see all the entries! Make it hard on me to choose my favorite! :)
You can work with lots of colors, russian themed, shapes, drawings, bags, jewelry... whatever resembles of a babushka will do!

This picture is another great example of Babushka-inspiration... :)

Black zipper babushka pouch by P8Accessoiries

Recycled inner tube bike babushka by Palepink

Babushka's - handpainted T-shirt by BHBKidstyle

Babushka's on the wall by heritagedecouleurs

Angel babushka from Meltemsem
Wetfelted Babushka dolls by ViltalaKim

Babushka card by Vadjutka

Matroyshska lavender pillow black and white by BlueTerracotta

Girlie Girl Matroyshka OOAK by Sabahnur

Babushka Happy family by Artistudios

Babushka, leather journal or notebook by Kreativlink

Babushka ring by Evihan

Babushka bag/key ring by Gifts and Stars

Confetti babushka felted bag by Ingermaaike

The winner of this challenge are the wetfelted Babushka dolls by Viltalakim. BIG congrats, Kim! :)

Secret Santa wants to know...

... if there is anything else that the Elves need to know...

I'd love to have a gathering for all of us in some place around Europe.
Like a stand in a colourful market in the city centre
of one of our amazing European cities.
Apparently I'm losing my mind with age so if he could arrange

for a replacement, that would be helpful. :)

I prefer small things over big things

I like Crocs

I'm 162,5m tall

I'm an Aquarius! Some day we will rule the world! :P

I'm a very difficult person to make a present for.

Lots of people claimed to have been a good girl this year...Oh yes! Please tell Santa I've always dreamt about braiding beads

into his wonderfully soft beard hair!
If he could please make that dream come true this year??
OOPS, looks like Santa doesn't want it this year... sorry!

Secret Santa is a game played by the European Streetteam on Etsy. The idea behind the Secret Santa is that you make something for a teammember and also receive a gift yourself.
Since I try to organise the game for our team, I get a lovely reward: reading all the questionnaires and knowing all the teammember's secrets! :)
What I also know is that lots of people of the team would like to read them all too... That's why I share part of the answers on the questions in my blog. And even though it's anonymous, it's still fun to read what other people wrote... Hope you enjoyed to have a peek in our team.

However, this was the last entry to this year's Secret Santa swap. All the gifts have to be sent out before the 10th of December. You can take a look at all the received gifts in our Secret Swap group on Flickr. Amazing things have been made so be sure to take a peek! :)

And there is more, this head Santa is retiring...
Now I know all the secrets, I think I completed my mission! Besides, after organising 3 swaps, I think it's time for a change. And guess what... a new secret swap person was on my doorstep. Best Secret Santa present ever as it's just an amazing woman with lots of enthusiam, a warm heart & lots of love for the European Streetteam.
She 's a very active woman as she's part of the EST Handmade blog-team, doing the then & now series on Scoutiegirl, has her own blog & runs a succesful Etsy shop.
I'm certain that you'll love to share your secrets with her - I know I will! She will be without a doubt an amazing secret swap chief! :)

The next secret swap will be organised by... drumroll...

Judit aka Vadjutka
You're already looking like a wonderful Spring Fairy!
Good luck to you!

Secret Santa wants to know...

... what makes you smile...

But unfortunately, Santa has been really busy and has not found the time to write this weeks blogpost. He would love it if you could help out and post a link to a picture that makes you smile or send it to mitsy@artmind.be.
He'll put the pictures on this blog asap! Please let Santa know if you would like this to be anonymous or not. :) Thanks so much for your help.

This is what makes me smile: steelblue sky with fluffy clouds & I love to find figures in them! :)
Kim from Viltalakim chose this picture and I love it! She also linked to a very funny video that will bound to make you smile! Check it out! :)This is Jessica Jo's little girl. Her name is Alice and I can see why she makes Jessica Jo smile!Suzi from preciouslovearts sent me this sweet picture of her cat Bob when he was only a few weeks. Smiles indeed! :)

PhotogenicGallery smiles at her nephew Jordan (he's 24 now) looking at this picture. This makes her smile reminiscing about how joyful he was (and still is) & I can remember how his laugh took over his whole body!

Hehe, this is Fleurfatale's photogenic son. Apparently he doesn't like to be photographed but I'm glad she did caught this precious moment where he shows off his drawing with a chocolate covered mouth! It makes me smile too! :)These rascals make Kylie smile. I bet she's mighty proud of her daughters being so silly - I love that one of them is doing the donkey-sign! :)Frida Khalo (her cat) is what makes Anapina smile. I love the picture in the upper right corner - what a cutie! :)This photo makes Vadjutka smile. It's a photo from a Mongol film called Story of the Weeping Camel. He weeps, because his mother left him after he was born, not feeding him with milk. Inhabitants of the local community try to convince the mother camel to feed her baby, but she is very stubborn. Int he end the magic violin-player comes, and he plays so beautifully that the mother camel starts to weep and gives food to her baby camel. On the photo you see the baby camel. :)
Thinking back on a holiday in Egypt makes Charlotte Hupfield smile.Ingermaaike gets very happy when she sees a briliant idea, some may need a little more work...This cutie makes DeerLola smile:The dogs of StarOfTheEast are making for many smiles...Bollywood movies is what makes Swiedebie smile:
Secret Santa is a game played by the European Streetteam on Etsy. The idea behind the Secret Santa is that you make something for a teammember and also receive a gift yourself.
Since I try to organise the game for our team, I get a lovely reward: reading all the questionnaires and knowing all the teammember's secrets! :)
What I also know is that lots of people of the team would like to read them all too... That's why I share part of the answers on the questions in my blog. And even though it's anonymous, it's still fun to read what other people wrote... Hope you enjoyed to have a peek in our team.

You don't have to be part of the team to send a link to something that makes you smile... I'd love to see it! :)

Secret Santa wants to know...

... if you like practical or whimiscal things...

OK, most people on our team did not understand the question right as most of them answered: 'both'. Hey guys, that was not a choice! ;)

All items below found via Etsy
One click on the picture will bring you to the listing! :)

Then, most people prefere practical things...And some peeps just love whimsical items...Secret Santa is a game played by the European Streetteam on Etsy. The idea behind the Secret Santa is that you make something for a teammember and also receive a gift yourself.
Since I try to organise the game for our team, I get a lovely reward: reading all the questionnaires and knowing all the teammember's secrets! :)
What I also know is that lots of people of the team would like to read them all too... That's why I share part of the answers on the questions in my blog. And even though it's anonymous, it's still fun to read what other people wrote... Hope you enjoyed to have a peek in our team.