Hello everybody! And welcome to Day 15 of Advent Calendar Extravaganza!!
In case you missed Day 14, click here!
In case you missed Day 13, click here!
In case you missed Day 12, click here!
In case you missed Day 11, click here!
In case you missed Day 10, click here!
In case you missed Day 9, click here!
In case you missed Day 8, click here!
In case you missed Day 7, click here!
In case you missed Day 6, click here!
In case you missed Day 5, click here!
In case you missed Day 4, click here!
In case you missed Day 3, click here!
In case you missed Day 2, click here!
In case 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 last year 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. After much organising, coordinating and planning, I’m really thrilled to finally bring to you a very special, very fun, very festive series! It was *hugely* popular, and so, by popular demand, I just had to bring it back again this year!
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, here’s last year’s video (I’m afraid my filmmaker friend was unavailable to help in time for this year!) to explain it:
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 15, shall we?!
I’ve got some of my very favourite designers lined up today to continue the fun! Just click on the door to reveal today’s surprise destinations and prize! Tip: you will need to do this from the blog itself, not from a feed reader or e-mail!
The door is a bit different this year (curse of moving over to WordPress!). So, now you’ve opened it, please use the image below to find your secret links! As you see, there aren’t any text links, but tap or click on all the decorations/presents in the image below and you will find your secret destinations! *wink*
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…
Today’s sponsor is Concord & 9th! One of the newer kids on the block, Concord & 9th are near-famous for their calligraphy alphabet stamps! But that’s not the only tool in their box! They have an awesome array of very cleverly designed stamps and dies, and have such a unique take on bringing modernity to the traditional! Concord & 9th are headed up by the dynamic duo of Angie and Greg, who are just simply awesome people! I’m so thrilled to have them sponsor the event this year!
Concord & 9th are generously sponsoring a $25 gift certificate to their store! With an amazing array of products you’re really going to be spoilt for choice spending it!
Now that you know what you can win, I’m sure you’re eager to head off to all those secret destinations to check them out! But before you go, some inspiration from me:
After having OD’d on cute recently (well, maybe not OD’d, but certainly gorged!), I was happy to embrace the clean and simple modern feel of this card! I used stamps from the O Christmas Tree set, which has many versatile elements!
I heat embossed all my ornaments with a bevy of WOW! embossing powders, added some gold splatter, and added a sentiment! Done! 🙂
And I couldn’t sing the praises of the calligraphy alphabet sets (Sophisticated Script) without showing them off too!
I spelled out the first line from the lyrics from ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ and heat embossed it in gold. I love how it turned out! The letters are actually a lot easier to use than they might first appear, so don’t be intimidated! Practice a couple of times on some cheap paper first to get your eye in, that’s my tip! And even then, they are actually reasonably forgiving in their look, thanks to the nature of the style!
The letters are meant to have a ‘bouncy’ appearance, so I love how the card ended up, though I have to say I’m not 100% happy with *every* single alignment of *every* single letter. 🙂 But it is rather hard to get that perfect when you’re only stamping with Versamark! *wink* And yes, I know my card says ‘Oh’ instead of ‘O’. I’m calling artistic license on this one – I just felt it fit/looked better/more balanced for my design. 🙂
And here they both are together. Which is your favourite?
Don’t forget Advent Calendar Extravaganza runs from 1st-25th December inclusive so make sure you visit taheerah-atchia.com every day for fabulous inspiration and amazing prizes every single time! Merry Christmas!
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 – I’ll see you back here tomorrow!
Supplies
It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas Card
O Little Town Of Bethlehem Card
Just lovely!
I am in love with the silver and gold colors!! Totally amazing cards!!!
Great cards!
Dear Santa…. please bring me a heat embossing tool…stat!! ?
Awesome cards! Again, so appreciate your immense effort in pulling this together…it has been such fun to be introduced to different designers and companies!
Oh Taheerah, mu first thought was to say how very c— this is because of it’s loose lines. However, I thought better of it and do appreciate the clean modern look. So much so I’m saving it for future reference.
Lovely cards, lI am enjoying all teh sliver and gold for this holiday season.
love them both–how the words cover the card and the classy feel of both. I think I love the first one a smidge more!
Your clean and simplistic designs are beautiful!
Your cards are simply perfect!
Simply elegant and beautiful!!
Love your clean and simple card. Sometimes less is so much better. Fantastic! Thanks for sharing.
Cuteness is the word! Love the simple designs… those snowflake ornaments are so pretty hanging there…
I adore the simplicity. Gorgeous
So beautiful!!!! Love that font!
Beautiful cards! I love the one with ornaments 🙂
Love those Scripty Letters but the firstt card has my heart. Love the simplicity & those tiny images!
love the silver and gold!
I love your card, and I love that sophisticated script too! This is such a fun event!
Love the embossing. So pretty with the ornaments!
These are so clean and beautiful! I LOVE them!
Simply in love with the simplicity of both cards.
Both lovely cards! Clean and simple!
Both projects are so elegant. Love them! Fabulous holiday insspiration!
Sammibug in Ohio
It’s beginning to Look a lot like Christmas is my favorite…and we have snow right now, so it really does look like Christmas here in Oregon! I love the simplicity of this card!
Both cards were very nicely done. I like the ornament card, it is clean, crisp and airy.
Both cards are gorgeous! I love the baubles hanging in the background!
I love the gold, the silver, the glitter and the elegance of both cards! I am inspired to make more cards, but I have already mailed mine!
Great cards! And awesome use of the alpha for the second card.
These are both so pretty!!! My favorite of the two is the one with the hanging ornaments!! It’s so cute ?
These cards are beautiful! Concord & 9th has some of the coolest designs and I love their scripty alphabet stamps.
Love these classy and simple cards! I am sure it takes some practice to use the alphabet stamps, but the results are stunning.
love all the glitter and great inspiration:)
Beautiful card !
This is a really great day, all the card are great.
So pretty!! I love them both, but I think I like the hymn better. Such a great idea and one that I will definitely have to try!
Simple yet stunning!! Love all the sparkling!
Both are lovely projects, but I love the modern design of the first card – it’s so graphic and delicate at the same time… I would never dare to try creating a card like this, I’d definitely mess it up, but you did an amazing (and sparkly!) job 🙂
Very nice card with delicate babbles of Christmas!
Lovely cards.
I love the clean and simple look of these cards ! The delicate ornaments with the fabulous sentiment (I love to see different fonts used together) makes a stunning card! I didn’t notice any alignment issues on the second card !
Love the shine!
I just got one of their script sets. I can’t wait to use it!
I love the simple but elegant touch on both of these.
The card with the ornaments reminds me of a stamp I have. It has hanging ornaments like that on it and its kind of a big wooden stamp. I don’t know why I like big stamps because I always have a problem with them. I have child sized hands so they are hard to use. I like how you used the different colors of embossing powders. I’ll have to try that when I do mine again.
I love those words and how they are done in gold. Someone just told me that they loved my handwriting but it’s really not as good as the handwriting on your card. My sister was really good with calligraphy. Me, not so much. I thought it was hard and I could never get it to look like what I was supposed to be doing.
My fave would be the ornament card though. It’s just so me!
So pretty!
Awesome cards! Love gold it is very bright and bold.
Great cards. My favorite is your first one. Thank you for sharing.
Nice cards. I like the bold letters.
Love the ornament card, but also love using the script stamp set. It is so versatile.
Oh, do I have to choose? I love them both. I love the “beginning to look like Christmas” for it’s playful CAS theme, but I love the “Bethlehem” one because it is all about the 1st Christmas. Thanks so much for the inspiration again today! 😀