Hello everybody! Merry Christmas! And welcome to Day 25 of Advent Calendar Extravaganza!!
If you missed Day 24, click here!
If you missed Day 23, click here!
If you missed Day 22, click here!
If you missed Day 21, click here!
If you missed Day 20, click here!
If you missed Day 19, click here!
If you missed Day 18, click here!
If you missed Day 17, click here!
If you missed Day 16, click here!
If you missed Day 15, click here!
If you missed Day 14, click here!
If you missed Day 13, click here!
If you missed Day 12, click here!
If you missed Day 11, click here!
If you missed Day 10, click here!
If you missed Day 9, click here!
If you missed Day 8, click here!
If you missed Day 7, click here!
If you missed Day 6, click here!
If you missed Day 5, click here!
IMPORTANT: Day 4 had an extra secret destination added part way through the day. If you want an extra chance to win, click here and open the door again to get your final link!
If you missed Day 3, click here!
If you missed Day 2, click here!
If you missed Day 1, click here!
I’ve always loved the concept of Advent Calendars. There’s something special and magical about those little treats hidden behind those little doors – and the idea of a secret little something to be unwrapped every day really is a wonderful way to build the excitement towards Christmas, not to mention a fun tradition as well!
As the years roll by some of these types of tradition can be lost when we grow up, and it seems a real shame to lose some of that magic and wonder. And really there’s no reason at all why something such as an Advent Calendar can’t be revamped and repackaged for grown-ups, crafty grown-ups… grown-ups like you and me!
So one day in November I dreamed up a fun idea for a event. I didn’t know if it would work, or if anyone would be interested. I approached some crafty friends, and others recruited themselves – everyone loved the idea! Behind the scenes I worked hard to put together something rather different and very special. So a month later, after much organising, coordinating and planning, I’m really thrilled to finally bring to you a very special, very fun, very festive series!
Advent Calendar Extravaganza is -the- festive event of the season! This ‘hop with a twist’ was dreamed up by Taheerah Atchia and features surprise destinations each day! Joining in the fun with Taheerah are over 60 special guests – each serving up some fantastic Christmas inspiration! Just like an Advent Calendar, you’ll never know where you’re going to be visiting next until you ‘open the door’!
And that’s not all! With 25 *amazing* sponsors taking part as well, your crafty wish list is bound to get a boost with a chance to win a prize EVERY SINGLE DAY!!
Join in the fun every day at taheerah-atchia.com to see what special surprises wait behind the door!
Eek! How fun does that sound?! 25 full days of surprises, inspiration and prizes!!
In case you’re wondering just how it’s going to work, I’ve put together this little video for you:
I’m so excited to be bringing you this event! I really hope you’re going to enjoy it as much as I am!!
Let’s get on with Day 25, shall we?!
I’ve got some really awesome guests and surprises for you today! Just click on the door to reveal today’s surprise destinations and prize! Tip: click at the side of the door, not in the middle! And also, open on the blog directly, not in a feed reader!
Exciting right?! Isn’t it fun to not know what’s in store at the other end of those links?! Make sure you click each one to reveal the surprise and leave comments at the destinations to win!
And speaking of winning…
Simon Says Stamp are giving away a $50 gift certificate to their store! I wanted to make sure that Advent Calendar Extravaganza went out with a bang and thanks to the generosity of Simon Says Stamp I’ve managed to do that! I just know you’ll enjoy spending this one!
As this event is drawing to a close, I want to take the time to thank each and every one of my sponsors and guests for their support, generosity and time in helping to make Advent Calendar Extravaganza a reality. You have all been amazing and I couldn’t have done it without you! And to all of you who have left comments and paid visits to all our destinations, thank you for all your kind words and for taking part as well! I hope you’ve all enjoyed Advent Calendar Extravaganza and have come away feeling inspired and having had lots of fun along the way! I would love to know what you’ve thought of the event and whether you’d like to see it return next year too!
So before you go visiting our secret destinations for the final time, some inspiration from me:
I broke out the Build A Snowman set and created this fun card! I loved stamping his body very lightly and then adding some very subtle washes of water at the edges to bring in some shading from the ink to make him look 3D!
The pieces in this set are all so versatile, so I could position the nose and smile so that my snowman was looking up at the sky!
I pulled out my embossing paste and Falling Snow stencil to add some snow to my Distress Ink sky, and the snowbank was an outside-the-box use of the Lawn Fawn Speech Bubble Border die! And finally, I couldn’t resist adding one of the 3D bows from The Ton’s Holiday Bows set to set off his scarf!
And with it being Christmas Day, I’m bringing you two cards! The second having a religious feel:
I loved playing with the A Blessed Christmas set from Paper Smooches!
I paired it up with some ink blending with the Rose Gold Bangle ink again and some watercolouring and splatter!
I stamped the figures with both Versafine and with Distress Ink in Gathered Twigs so that when I watercoloured I’d also get a lovely little bit of bleed of brown around the edges! The sentiment from Papertrey Ink finished things off perfectly!
I hope you love this event just as much as I do! I would love to know what you think of Advent Calendar Extravaganza! Do you love the format? The secret destinations? The endless inspiration? I bet you certainly love the chance to win prizes! Please make sure you leave a comment below! Thanks so much for stopping by – and Merry Christmas!
Supplies – Warmest Wishes
Supplies – Glory to The Newborn King
Both cards are beautiful and your event has been amazing! Merry Christmas to you!
Fantastic cards, Taheerah. And an amazingly fun advent event. Thank you so much for putting this together. Merry Christmas!!
Fabulous cards….what a fun event!!
Love the creations that you have made–so beautiful.
Love the vintage feel of the second card!
What an adorable snowman! All the projects are pretty! Thanks for the fun!
What a terrific snow scene! Thanks for all your hard work in putting together such a fun hop!
The idea of seeing handmade goodness everyday is wonderful. This is a busy time of year and I appreciate people taking time out of their busy schedules to create. Thank you for sharing your talents! Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Great cards, the snowman is so cute. What great fun.
Thank you for all the tremendous effort you put into this amazing Advent blog hop. It was SO much. I like both of your card posts today,especially building a snowman.
Love that snowman. It's so cute!
Thank you so much for the Christmas hop. It was truly inspirational and I can't wait to use some of these techniques. Thank you to all the sponsors too. It's always nice to find new places to shop.
A wonderful 25 days. Merry Christmas
Great cards. Thanks for sharng
The cards are lovely! Thanks for a fun, creative, inspirational 25 days of Christmas! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
Your cards are fun and
pretty. Have so loves
this fun event everyday
and do hope it will be
back next year! Lots of
work and thanks for all
the supporting crafters!
Merry Christmas!
Carla from Utah
What a grand event this was!
Thank you for taking the time to pull this all together.
Thank you,ndesigners,mor sharing your fabulous talents.
2015 has been a wonderful crafting year.
I wonder what excitement 2016'will bring.
I know I've said this numerous times, but it bears repeating, THANK YOU so much for this wonderful hop. I can't imagine how much work it was to put it all together and then to pull it off, but I really appreciate it. It has been so much fun to see who was in the other side of the door each day. I have found so many cool crafters, bloggers, and companies to follow no found tips and inspiration at every stop. Your cards have been incredible every day, and I have no idea how you managed to pull off all you have and create such wonderful cards to boot! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, you really made my Christmas season so much brighter. God bless you and Merry Christmas.
DITTO!
Merry Christmas!
Thank you for this wonderful event…both of today's cards are fabulous!
I love that snowman card he is so sweet and the snow is so real. Thank you.
thanks for organising this! I've really enjoyed the days I had the time to join in on!
Loved your Christmas cards. I had no idea you were doing an Advent event until I saw it on Simon Says Stamps. Thanks for your inspiration.
Beautiful cards! I, too, just found out about your Advent Calendar Extravaganza through the SSS blog. This is wonderful. Hope you do it again next year!
I loved the snowman. This was my first visit and all of the cards were great.
Love the happy snowman. It would be very sad if he was here today – the sun is out and
it's getting warmer. No snow in sight.
thanks for doing this event. It's been a lot of fun.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Just found out about your wonderful Advent calendar event through SimonSays blog. Really excited to join in:)
Day 25 already?! I guess I was a little late to the event, but it sure was fun! Can't imagine how much work it took for you to gather all the sponsors and participants! Thanks so much for all the inspiration!
Here for the first time. Love your card. Merry Christmas!
Very cute! Love the cards. Fingers crossed for the giveaway!
Cute cards!! Merry Christmas everyone!!
Gorgeous cards! I am a snowman collector, so your first card is fun! Love the falling snow stencil; will have to put that on my wish list. And your second card is very special, since Christmas is all about our newborn King. Merry Christmas, Taheerah.
I really love the snowman card. Thanks!
The touch of the snowman looking up at the sky is so cute and creative.
Lovely cards! Thanks for the past 25 days! It was great fun. Happy Christmas to you.
I love both your cards. Thanks for including the real reason for the season in this post. What a great idea for a month long celebration. Merry Christmas to you.
Amazing cards! I love the 3D effect for the snowman!!! This has been an awesome event — so creative — great job! Merry Christmas!
Beautiful cards! Thanks a lot for this event, I enjoyed every day, so much inspiration and new blogs to discover for me:-) Merry Christmas!
I think this is a wonderful idea! I have to check out that rose ink, looks gorgeous!
what an adorable set of cards!!! I love that snowman one most of all!
Cute snowman card! I've enjoyed the days I've been able to visit the sites and see all the wonderful inspiration.
How did I miss this? What a lovely idea. I love your cards! I must go back and look at each one soon. We are visiting our daughter and 2 year old grandson in Ohio and having a very Merry Christmas this year. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Merry Christmas! I love your days event. Everything you make is artistic and inspiring.
Like the snowman creation. I have the snowman stamp set and have yet to use it so you have inspired me to use it.
Melissa
"Sunshine HoneyBee"
Congratulations on such a wonderful, spectacular event! Your non-stop creativity and energy and enthusiasm have given me a lot of inspiration! Thanks for the series and I hope you'll put your feet up and have a cup of hot chocolate knowing you've done a fabulous thing for so many crafters!
I am loving the snowman card and can see this for winter birthdays, too!
This event was not just fun, but so inspirational. Thanks to your own creativity and Herculean efforts, we all saw so many new products, ideas, and techniques. Thanks from the bottom of my heart, & Merry Christmas. (PS~ Today's snowman card is beyond cute!)
Both cards are great! Merry Christmas, and thanks for 25 days of fun inspiration!
Excellent Work my friend…you made it! 25 days! Way to go out with some BAM…not just 1 awesome card but 2!!!!!!
Such a FABulous event!
Beautiful. I can't believe the 25 days have gone so fast!! Now you can rest and relax….maybe! Lol! Merry Christmas….
I have enjoyed all 25 days of this extravaganza that is loaded with new ideas and products that I have never seen before! Thank you so much for putting this together! Your cards have been delightful to view and I especially like the fun snowman today with those wonderful bows from Tons (a must have for me!).
Enjoy all 25 days very much with loads of inspirations! both of your creations are fabulous!
Wishing You A Joyful and Healthy Christmas!
Love both of your cards! You have such a talent for creating a variety of cards. Thanks for putting together such a fun event…I know that there was a lot of work behind the scenes. Merry Christmas!!!