The secret project... work in progress

First of all my humble apologies for scaring you in yesterday's post... it's not 35 days till X-mas but 45 days. So sorry if I made you run off to get the X-mas deco out & shop Etsy for gifts.
And a second apology for not checking out the Flickr favorites yesterday. I was so occupied with the preparations of my newest listings on Etsy that I just didn't have time to look at them. But I did just now and found some real beauties out there! Thank you for playing along and sharing!
Did you spot my newest creatures 'Oh, Deer!' in my shop yet? Let me introduce you to all of them at once:And then back to the secret business...
What we have here, I don't know really. They kind of just happened. Didn't discuss this with my secret partner so it was a surprise for her too.
Don't know if they can and will be used either.
I loved making them though, so much fun. To me, they are fluffy clouds, while my secret partner thought they looked like tiny ghosts. :)
I might try making them in 3D instead of 2D - just to try and see the effect.To know the idea behind the secret project, go read the first blogpost here or click on the label 'the secret project' to see all the posts about it.
Can't wait to receive your guesses but think about it carefully 'cause you can only guess once! :)
You can send your guess to mitsy@artmind.eu and can not change your guess so think about it carefully...

Flickr Favorites

1. [2007.12.08] Happy Whatever, 2. Antlers, 3. mtt_mo4.5_02a">mtt_mo4.5_02a, 4. Red Nosed Reindeer

A bit early for antlers? No not at all... Christmas is only 35 days away.
(OOPS correction: thanks to those for reminding me it's 45 days away! Sorry to those I scared!)
Besides, I made some special one of a kind creatures for the holiday season. Make sure to check out my shop today to see if you can find them.

Don't forget to go look at my favorite from last week.

If you like to play this week, make your mosaic and add a link to your blogpost (NOT your blog please) or Flickr in Mister Linky (click on the button below and fill in your name with the link to your blogpost or Flickr picture).
I'll pop over to have a look at yours. Can't wait to see your creations and find new favorites! :)

Surprises

Last saturday I decided to start making a few granny squares for the European Streetteam granny square blanket. Baahar initiated this project and I'm very happy to participate! You can read more about it here.
But as I wanted to start, I couldn't find my number 3 crochet hook. Bummer, need to buy a new one I'm afraid. Anyway, as I was all set to do my very first granny square ever, I decided to start anyway and make something I have been wanting to make for a long time.
It's not finished yet but I'll show you my progress... and will show you the result when it's done.
So it's quite a surprise for making a big granny square instead of a few small ones... but I think I'll be making more of these soon too!Talk about surprises...
This morning the postman brought me this...
My friend Ingermaaike sent it from Norway! I just LOVE the scarf from the fibers and the card made for instant laughter! Thank you Inger for my 'unbirthday'-gift! :)
And last week, I got another surprise from my friend Petronella from Kraplap.
She sent me a squash and a yummy soup recipe. I'll make it sometime later this week. I love soup & trying new recipes!
Apart from the squash, she also sent me a beautiful set of Russian nesting dolls. Can you believe that I didn't have my own Babuschka doll set yet? So I'm sooper dooper happy to adopt these.
They have a very special place in my new rack! I see them when I work & love 'em to pieces. Thanks so much, Petronella!

How to make recycled bags?

All the credit for the first part of this tutorial goes to my good friend Ana from Nanouke as it's her idea. I met her in Portugal recently after having virtually met through Etsy before. She's cool and crazy and you can only love her! :)
She gave me a beautiful Babuschka brooch and it was wrapped in coolest packaging ever. I asked her if I could do a tutorial on it and she didn't mind since she doesn't have time herself at the moment. So sit back and relax as this is easy as pie!

What do you need?
Old magazines, tape and sciccors

Tear out a fun page of the magazine.

Fold it in half.

Put tape on the open sides.

Cut away the tearing edge.

Fold over the top and cut part of the paper out.

A perfect bag for little items to give out on your market or fair.

If you need bigger bags, you can go to your local decoration store and
ask if they have old wallpaper books that they are getting rid off.

Tear out a page.

Fold it in half and add tape on the edges.

Cut off the tearing part.

Fold the top over and cut out a part.

Big bag for bigger items.

And here are some more simple but effective packaging ideas:

A brown paper bag adorned with paper doilies.

Add some stars to a transparant plastic bag.

Use some decoupage paper and put it with a white paper in a plastic bag.

Stamp a nice stamp on a Pergamin bag and add a paper doilie inside.

Add a fun stamp to white paper bags and close with a tiny clothespin.

In case you are purchasing something in my shop, most likely you will get something in your mailbox that looks like this. I scored some new packaging materials and I love to play around with wrapping. Nothing is more fun then getting something nicely packaged!

Dream in progress... part 17

I can't believe I sewed in ALL the ends on my Babette blanket this week. Yay, I'm such a good girl sometimes! And what a relieve to get it over and done with too.
I also would like to thank you for all the lovely suggestions I got on the use of the border color last week. Kylie suggested to be a rebel and not use a border at all. Even though I AM a rebel on many things, I do like a border somehow. Still I couldn't make up my mind so I decided to do some quick samples to show you.
Turquoise and (soft) green were two suggestions that were mentioned most. I also liked the idea of a red border somehow. I remember that in the very beginning of my blanket I found the red kind of harsh and then someone mentioned in the comments that it would look really good on the blanket in the end. I didn't believe her right away, but I certainly do now. Thank you to whoever convinced me not to leave the red out.
Will you help me pick one last time? I promise to show you a completely finished blanket next week! :)

Here is the blanket with 4 different corner colors.A close up of the corners.Some suggested to use black or cream/white.Difficult choice huh?

Psst... the yarn for my new project arrived too! Wanna see?
Click on the picture to see where I got the yarn... Beware dangerous place! :)

Secret Santa wants to know...

... who is an inspiration for you...

Flickr inspires meBlogs inspire me... here are a few I love...

oh hello friend
something's hiding in here The small object
studio violet
Tokyobunny
Ashley Goldberg
Japanese craftbooks

(via Lisa Tilse from TheRedThread)MadonnaAyala bar

The many creative souls at the European Streetteam.My sister.Li Edelkoort

Free spirits, those who follow their own ways,
but with respect for other people.
(found via Flickr: D Sharon Pruitt ) Dalai Lama

Mother Theresa

Nature, textures, shapes,...
(and it has a sense of humor too)

David Bowie

John Galliano

Gabriel Garcia-Marquez

My mom (via designsoftheheart on Etsy)Tamar Mogendorff

Ann Wood
Look at these fantastic castles here.Martha Stewart

My family

Gustav Klimt
My GrandmotherFrida KahloSanna Annuka (Finnish designer)My husband

(via icehousecrafts on Etsy)

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.