Hello everybody! And welcome to Day 11 of Advent Calendar Extravaganza!!
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 11, 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 Avery Elle! Another of my favourites, Avery Elle have a great mix of cute and trendy stamps and dies – often with clever touches thrown in too! They are headed up by my awesome friend Jamie, who is a great designer and cultivator of talent alike! I’m so thrilled to have them sponsor the event again this year!
Avery Elle are generously sponsoring a $20 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’ll confess – I fell completely head over heels for all of the retro-style Christmas sets that my *awesomely* talented friend Caryn designed for Avery Elle! I just had to have them all and use them all!! This first card features the Kitsch Christmas set as its main focus. Oh those deer!
I had so much fun stamping out several images from this set (and a couple from the Retro Ornaments and Dear Santa sets too!) and colouring them with… you guessed it – Prismacolors! I studied lots of images of vintage Christmas cards before designing the projects for today’s post, and that definitely helped me with figuring out how best to colour them! I think they turned out awesome!
A *ton* of detail on this card! I stamped the pine branches and then watercoloured over them with my NEW! Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Markers – I have been coveting these for over a year now and I finally splashed out on them! They helped create the perfect look and blended so well for my scene!
I added iridescent glitter for my snow banks (another nod to the vintage style card), and heat embossed some snow and the glittery stars! I assembled all the pieces with quite a bit of dimension, and the finished look was exactly what I had in mind!
I was having such a good time that I had trouble putting my supplies down for today! Cue another card!
I let the brilliantly designed Retro Ornaments set take centre stage here! I combined it with a few elements from Kitsch Christmas too – all these sets work so well together!
I took my time building up my design on some shimmery cream cardstock, heat embossing every element. I worked in batches so that I could mask some images after they were embossed, so that I could give the illusion of some images being behind others.
Once all my embossing was done, I used the white from the Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolours to paint over all the images, then watercoloured with my Zig markers. Again taking my cues from a vintage design helped me with my colour choices and also with the style of the watercolouring too!
Some splatter finished things off nicely. Just look at all that golden goodness!
Finally, I pulled out the Dear Santa set to create a gift tag!
I die cut a tag then stamped my cat and his hat using Stormy Sky Distress Ink. I then masked the images off and blended the same ink all over my tag.
I then painted on some adhesive in stages and glittered my cat and hat with white glitter, and some of the accents with gold. As you can see, you can still make out the detail of the stamping because I was careful not to get adhesive on any of the lines!
I added some black details and heat embossed my sentiments before adding some awesome sparkly ribbon to finish!
And here they all 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
Vintage Style Deer Christmas Card
Retro Ornaments Christmas Card
Define Naughty Christmas Tag
Very vintage! Those deer are adorable! The tag is a giggle!
Very retro, I feel like I’m in the 50’s, super cute!
All of your projects are beautiful. My favorites are the retro deer and ornaments.
OH my gosh – Taheerah, these are precious. I hope your’e having as much as fun as we are 🙂
Brilliant Extravaganza!!!
Beautiful stamping and coloring!I love the deer one!
Beautiful cards! I love the reindeer and the foxy cat, so endearing!
These are all really pretty but my favorite is the deer.They’re stunning.
Wish I had time to let these cards “carry me away “. What fun. Look forward to making all of them
all so lovely! this is so fun!
Oh, so hard to pick a favorite!! The ornament and deer set are on my list to get from Avery Elle as I love the retro sets too. I think the deer card edges out the ornament card (just by a hair) as the coloring is just wonderful and I love the darling deer!
Awesome projects, especially love the reindeer card!!
I love all 3 cards and the retro colors!
Being a vintage person, I remember images like those from my childhood. The deer look so much like Bambi in the Disney movie. My favorite piece, though, is the cat tag. I love the white hat on the white cat and the gold sparkle elements.
LOVE that retro kitty and all the Avery Elle products but since Bambi was my favorite movie growing up, I have to pick your cute twins for my favorite card!
I LOVE what you created. Thank you for inspiring me!
Avery Elle are fast becoming one of my favourite stamp companies! Your cards are delightful – I love the playful vintage vibe!!!
Love all three of your projects and the colors you used. I really like the deers which remind me of Bambi!
I LOV E this stamp set!!!! So cool, so retro. you did a fantastic job with this!
Love the prissy cat.
Fantastic cards.
thanks for sharing.
Love the reindeer card.
You have a lot of work in all of these! Favorite? I love the deer… they just look so sweet.
All three are just lovely, brilliant stamps I am so inspired by your cards and tags. Great job as always Taheerah. Thank you so much x
I absolutely love the vintage look of your cards and tag!!!!! I am definitely vintage, and these remind me of my childhood!!!
All three cards are adorable. Love the Vintage loo./
Love both of your cards – so softly colored! That tag is fantastic!
These creations are absolutely gorgeous! I am in love with your coloring and these images are super cute!
I’m in love with the boughs! I want to stamp them on everything!
WOW! These speak to my vintage-loving heart — holy cow these are gorgeous! Your coloring with the Zigs is terrific!
My favorite is definitely the tag — you gotta love the sentiment and the cute cat! But I love how you designed the scenes on the first two cards! You really captured the vintage look!
I love all your creations! The cat gift tag is the cutest though!
Adorable cards. Who doesn’t Love Avery Elle. The retro ornaments look just like the ones I splurged on at the flea market the other week. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
These are awesome. The designs and coloring are really good! Thank you for sharing!
Adorable! I especially love the tag you created using the cat.
I love your vintage cards! Brings back memories of my childhood. We had glass ornaments like those and a plastic deer like that too!
Beautiful projects. I grew up having ornaments similar to that hanging on our tree. My favorite is the card with the deers.
Love your projects. They have such a retro feel.
Your cards are wonderful, each one with so much personality.
Oh my these are cute…love the vintage feel to the cards and that tag is sooo cute!
All the cards are beautifully crafted, but my favorite has to be the one with the deer. However, I would be happy to receive any of these.
totally retro!
love the two tones of your branches and that cat is just too much fun!
Very sweet projects! You totally got the retro vibe down, but in a really soft way!
I absolutely Love Retro Christmas images so I am loving everything you did today!
I love Avery Elle. and your projects especially, the 2nd card with ornaments! Love the splash of watercolor combined with gold embossing–it looks so pretty!
Beautifully colored retro Christmas cards and kitty tag, they really have that vintage style like in my old Little Golden Books! I love both cards and tag but my favorite is the retro ornaments card – the card design and masking you did was amazing, even before your awesome watercoloring!
AWESOME cards using awesome stamps with some pretty amazing colouring!!
The deer are so cute. But you really wow’d me with your ornaments! Ever so pretty and light.
Awesome cards and tag. My favorite is the deer.
I love your cards and gift tag!!! They are all so pretty. I love how you have the ornament attached to the bow around the deers neck!! So cute.
I love these sets! I especially like how you colored the deer card. I will have to try this!