Hello everybody! And welcome to Day 12 of Advent Calendar Extravaganza!!
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 a couple of years ago 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 a quick video that explains how to find those special links!
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 12, 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 Sunny Studio Stamps! Another fairly new kid on the block, I’ve been falling in love with their assortment of layering, cute, and detailed stamps! The designs really have a classic yet modern quality about them that make Sunny Studio stand out! I’m so thrilled to have them sponsor the event this year!
Sunny Studio Stamps 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:
Isn’t this tree and lights card just perfect?! Normally I play with newer stamps for Advent, but I didn’t get a chance to play with the awesome Holiday Style and Merry Sentiments sets last year, so I just had to use them now!
I inked the pine branch stamp from Holiday Style with a couple of Distress Inks, spritzed the stamp, then stamped onto my card. I repeated this over and over to build up my full tree look, varying the amount of water I spritzed to allow for more or less detail. I added a touch of mist and water splatter too, to add a little touch of bokeh!
The Christmas lights from the Merry Sentiments set are so perfect! I stamped them with a variety of Catherine Pooler inks, then trimmed them out and coated them with a lot of shimmer from my Wink of Stella brush pen! I adhered the lights in place with Pinflair Glue Gel for varying dimension, drew the cord to join the lights, then added the sentiment from the new Festive Greetings set to finish!
Don’t forget the 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
The lights look amazing… so real!
Love the card – nice colors
The background pines are stunning! I am so loving this card!
Such a fantastic card! I love the Christmas lights – so cute and shimmery!
Great card, I love how the background looks, very nice!
So pretty! Love the colors you used for the lights. So soft and perfect!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this card!!! I am a fan of Christmas lights….so I love everything with lights!! But the background is what makes this card so special. Really nice job.
Beautiful card! I really like how you used the branch to create the tree. Awesome!
You made again an awesome card Taheerah with those lights and pinetree.
Bit behind with looking but seen some wonderfull cards again behind door 12 ;o)
You made a great, very festive card ! [email protected]
I love Christmas lights and I have a stamp that has a string of 3 or 4 Christmas lights like yours. The way you colored yours they look so real! I love how colorful they are. We always have colored lights on our tree. Mom and dad and I never liked white lights. All year long your house has white lights in every room. Christmas is the only time you can have colored lights unless you live in a disco! LOL That’s why we love colored lights. Of course you used my favorite color in the whole wide world not once but twice on your card, yellow. 100 extra points for you! LOL Today I am wearing all yellow. 100 extra points for me too! LOL
I love your card so much and I thank you for showing it to us. I also thank you for giving us the chance to win something. I hope I win!
I just have to get this set!! This is so cute and so versatile!! The first thing I noticed was that the bases of the light bulbs looks sooo realistic!!! Great job!! Thanks for sharing!! Merry Christmas!!
Love this card with the softness of the lights and overall feel.
This is just lovely! I love the soft colors of your lights.
Love the way you used varying colors of soft inks for the lights! Great card and beautifully composed.
Fantastic card Taheerah. Those lights look so real! Love the soft colors and the spritzed background!
Very pretty card
Gorgeous background for those fabulous lights!!
OMG, I love this card, I love how you made that look like a string of lights and then built up the tree. I know you can’t make a video with all the cards you had to make up but I wish you had one for this card, I really really love this card, its awesome and would love to try to make it.
Your card is beautiful ! I did create some cards last year with the Holiday Style stamps set, but I had to play with it this year again as it’s such an awesome set.
The tree branches are so amazing!! And the lights just look so real; love this card!
So gorgeous!!
Great card, thanks for sharing
Beautiful card! Love the soft colors and the composition.
I absolutely adore those lights!!!
I love your card! And I just got both of those sets! 🙂
This is so beautiful! I love the beautiful color and dimension you achieved with these Christmas lights! So pretty!
I love this card!
I love this card. The background is so soft and pretty-perfect for the string of lights.
Gorgeous card! Lovely colours! Thanks for sharing. ?
What a beautiful card!
Lovely card!
This is fun. It seems pretty complicated too. Thank you for doing this!
I love this stamp set. Beautiful card.
Your lights look like the real thing! Amazing ?
Oh so pretty! I love your style!
Those lights look so real. Lovely card.
Love the card, it is so beautiful. Plus I love it when I see Christmas lights it really gets me in the Christmas spirit. I have to admit I have those set of stamp but has not used them yet. See and reading this tutorial make me want to get my butt in gear and create. Sunny studios stamp has done a great job in producing this stamp. I can’ t believe how real looking the lights are. That shows good quality. Thank you for the inspiration, take care of yourself this crazy holiday season
Oh Oh this is one of my favorite cards so far! I love the way the lights are raised and sparkly. I can’t live without my wink of stella. I have seen so many sets in your calendar that i am interested in but I think this one is a must have. hope Santa is listening (LOL)
I Love the softer colors that you used. It made a huge difference on the card. Thank you so much for sharing your card and this windfall Advent Calndar!
those bulbs look real!
Love this card with the
darling string of lights!
So festive.
Carla from Utah
I love how realistic these stamped images look. Beautiful card design!
Love this gorgeous card.
So nice colored!
LOVE your awesome card! The greenery looks fabulous and those lights are so incredibly realistic.. These sets are definitely going on my wish list!
WOW! This is so beautiful. Love the Advent Calendar!
Lovely card–I really love the Sunny Studio realistic looking lights!
Love this!!!! Festive and fun!
Gorgeous card!! Very stunning!
Love the string of lights!! So festive!!