Hello everybody! And welcome to Day 25 of Advent Calendar Extravaganza!! Merry Christmas!!
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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 25, 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 Papertrey Ink! What can I possibly say about the industry giant that started me on this creative path and made me a part of the crafty community?! Papertrey Ink were my ‘gateway drug’ – the first company that got me started on stamping. I’ve been a huge fan of the timeless designs and fun products for so many years now. Their creative founder, Nichole Heady, is someone I am honoured to call a friend, and I was beyond thrilled when I approached her about sponsoring this event and she said yes! Nichole has just recently stepped down from Papertrey to pursue other opportunities, but their legacy, their amazing products, and their fantastic designs and Design Team will live on and continue with the Papertrey name! I am so thrilled to have them sponsor the event this year!
Papertrey Ink are generously sponsoring a $75 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:
I’m finishing up this event with a modern take on a classic looking, folksy tree! I am kinda crazy about this colour combo, I have to say!
I used the tree and accompanying images from the O’Tannenbaum set to create my scene. I started by stamping the reverse of the stars stamp with a blush ink (misted a little with water before stamping), then stamped the branches/trunk with Cocoa Bean ink.
I stamped the branches with silver ink, then gold, then silver, then gold! This made a wonderful platinum effect – a great tip if you don’t have any platinum ink! I stamped the little stars, the star topper, the pot and the ‘snow’ (a baubles stamp from the same set) all with Versafine Ink. The sentiment is from the Pen & Ink Christmas set and finished off the look so well! I edged my card panel with white ink then heat embossed a little white embossing powder on it before adhering to my card base. I love how this turned out!
It’s not a party without a prize – and with prizes every day there are several chances to win! Today’s prize is generously supplied by Papertrey Ink so you’ll definitely want to get your hands on it! Simply leave a comment on this post to enter! Don’t forget to grab the other surprise destinations from behind the door, and head over to them to leave comments there as well to improve your odds even more! You have until 7am EST on Sunday 31st December to leave all your comments! /
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!
Before we close, I just want to take a few moments and thank you all for visiting here each day. I hope you’ve loved Advent Calendar Extravaganza (certainly from your comments it seems that way!). To say this event is a huge undertaking is actually an understatement – there’s so much behind the scenes work you don’t see, and so so *so* many hours that I pour into making this a celebration to remember. I hope you’ve been able to enjoy the festivities and that it’s made your holiday season a little brighter.
I also want to take the time to thank each one of the awesome sponsors and amazing guests that have helped make this event what it is. It simply wouldn’t be the same without them, and they have been so inspirational and generous with their time and their contributions. I hope you’ll take the time to show them as much love as you have me – they all deserve it.
Don’t forget you still have until the 31st of December to get all your comments in, so be sure to visit all the secret links and play along. Fit it all in during your holiday season, and I’ll be ready to draw winners in the New Year to get 2018 off to a good start!!
And finally, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! Thank you all so much for stopping by!! I hope you’ll still visit here between now and next year’s event too!!
Supplies
Such a great sponsor! Love their products!
Beautiful card!! Thank you so much for doing this hop. I found it last year and there was so much inspiration! I really looked forward to it this year.
Love this card, so soft and pretty!
25 days of fun, surprise and inspiration! Thank you Taheerah!
I love Papertrey Ink products so much, and your card is beautiful. Those branches are shaded and colored so beautifully. Thanks for this amazing extravaganza,Taheera. What a treat!
Sierra Winters
Wow! This is definitely in my top 5 favorites from this years event! Just love it!
Happy New Year! Thank you for this wonderful extravaganza! I learned some new tips, found some great new people to follow and saw some of the most beautiful Holidays cards ever!!!!
Amazing card, love the tip for alternating gold and silver. Thanks for hosting the advent calendar blog hop, I have so many ideas now.
Beautiful card!
This is a beautifully modern take on a Christmas card. I love the black snow!!! And the sentiment stamp set Pen & Ink Christmas is just fantastic. I definitely have to get that one!! Thanks for sharing! Happy New Year!!
Awesome card! Thanks so much for the entertaining holiday giveaways. 🙂
Oh my Taheerah, your card design is so beautiful. It is simple but classy. What a tip you have given us crafters about the platinum paint, thank you. Thank you for sharing your skills with us crafters. :O) Hope you have a great New Year with your family and friends.
Your card is Gorgeous! I love the color combo, gives it a vintage feel. You are amazing, thank you for this event so fun and so much inspiration!
So soft and pretty! Love this stamp set!
Thanks for all your work with this advent extravaganza, Taheerah!
I love PTI too! How clever of you to use the baubles stamp as snow!
Thanks for the extravaganza and hope you had a Merry Christmas!
This card is so pretty!
Love your modern take which is why I especially purchase stamping supplies from PTI!
I love the minimalist vibe of this card. This extravaganza has been quite an adventure. Hope you had a great Christmas.
Gorgeous card! I love Papertrey Ink products also especially the set you used! Thanks for sharing and thank you for giving us the opportunity to participate in such a fun and generous concept. Looking forward to next year’s already! ?
Your card is sooo cool!!!!
Oh, Taheerah. What an amazing effort you’ve put into this whole project. I hope that you get happiness out of it, even all the messy, fiddly arrangements behind the scenes, because I certainly have enjoyed it. I hope you can do it next year, but even if you can’t, it’s been a ton of fun this year, so please don’t feel pressured. You have created something really special as is. And I hope you can have a giant spa day very soon!
I feel like I fell into cardmaking kind of sideways, so I hadn’t heard of PTI until very recently, which feels kind of on par with missing someone like Tim Holtz or Simon Says Stamp. But now I know they exist, and I’m excited to see the projects with all of their products. I love what you’ve done with this one; it’s very chic, and the spicy yogurt cardstock adds so much fun texture to all the cards you’ve used it on. I’ll definitely have to check that out.
Thank you again for all your hard work and creativity and generosity. I hope that you’ve had a lovely Christmas season and that you’ll have a wonderful new year! (And thanks for keeping commenting open until the 31st; I was definitely too busy to even look at my computer over Christmas, so I appreciate the extra bit of time.)
This is such a beautiful card. And Papertrey is one of my all time favorite companies.
Thanks for all the time you’ve put into making this event happen. It was so fun and inspirational to see all the creations.
A very beautiful and elegant card! Love your color choices and the composition!
Love this card!
Cool design! Love your card! This has been a great Advent calendar season with you this year, THANKS!
O Tannenbaum is a favourite set of mine and your card is beautiful!
Thanks for the tip on creating platinum coloring – – silver, gold, silver, gold. I am in awe of your style and techniques. I like my cards – – they are nice. But I LOVE your cards – – they’re fabulous and so gorgeous. Thank you for your inspiration and super fun holiday blog hop!
Taheerah, what an amazing finale card!! I happen to adore and love Christmas trees. I have way too many in my house (of all shapes and sizes) and my husband groans every time I bring home a new one, so your card was right up my alley! 🙂 If this card were mine, it’d be framed and displayed every year at Christmas as it is just stunning (and because it is yours!). I love how you used the reverse of the stamp to create a layer of the tree. Thanks for the tip on how to combine inks to create platinum – filing that away for the day my platinum ink either dries up or I misplace it. 🙂
Your Advent Calendar Extravaganza is always so much fun as it introduces me to new designers, new techniques, fills me with inspiration, and gets me into the holiday spirit as I start making my Christmas cards around the time your Advent Extravaganza starts. This year was a little different because I never got the chance to make cards as something serious came up. When time permitted, every day I tried to find time to take a look at your blog to see what you had posted so it was a real respite from reality. I so appreciate all of your work behind the scenes as I can only imagine all of the hard work that it takes to coordinate over a hundred people to ensure they post on time and line up sponsors (and make your awesome and AMAZING cards!). The work does not go unnoticed and I just want to thank you for it. Wishing you some much deserved rest and relaxation! 🙂 Cheers to a wonderful 2018!
Great card
Cool contemporary card!
You are a talented artist. Thank you for sharing your designs.
Love this color combination, that soft pink is just right! I’ve been swamped this December, but have been keeping tabs on the extravaganza….hoping to loop through and leave some love!
I love the temporary twist for this folksy tree stamp! Its great to see new ideas for traditional stamp sets!
Beautiful card, I love this tree.
This is a delightful card. I love pink, silver, and black combinations. Thank you for hosting this event. I have never participated in something like this before and discovered it halfway through the event and had to catch up. I truly enjoyed visiting each secret link every day.
Wow! How generous of you! Love this! Can’t wait to look around and explore! Thanks!!
This has been so much fun. You have introduced me to so many vendors and projects were delightful. This stamp set was no exception.
What a fabulous card! Thank you for all you have done to make another great event this year…Awesome work! Merry Christmas!
Thank you for pulling this all together. Lovely card. PTI is an awesome company!
Lovely card…what a festive feeling it evokes! Well done.
What a pretty, understated card! Thank you for the chance to win such a great and generous prize!
This is one of my favourite Christmas stamp sets and I love how you used it here.
What a lovely looking Christmas tree. I wish I could see the gold, silver, gold and silver look in person. It must look awesome.
Thank you for all you had to do to bring this together. It has been so much fun to see new ideas every day and discover new companies.
Merry Christmas
Love your card and the colors you used. Again, thank you for all your work in pulling this Advent Calendar event together ! It has been such fun to see all of these inspiring works from so many designers!
Thank you Taheerah for another great Extravaganza! You are an amazing card maker/artist. I have enjoyed following the blog this Christmas season.
A beautiful combination of your style and PTI, with wonderful techniques and color palette. Many , many thanks for sharing a Holiday Advent Extravaganza. 🙂
First of all I want to “Thank-you” for this awesome opportunity. This Advent Calendar has definitely shown me so, so many beautiful ideas. I think this event shows the amount of time and effort that you, the crafters and of course, the sponsors have put into this for us! I don’t remember how I stumbled upon this last year, but I sure did remember it again for this year?.
Your card is beautiful, I think the color combo is so elegant.
What a fun card! Love this color combo and the whimsical tree combined with the beautiful font!
This is one PTI stamp set I don’t own . What a beautiful use of it. Thanks for including PIT as one of your sponsers. I’m still addicted to them!