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
Beautiful Taheerah, thanks for setting up this amazing blog hop, I’ll be back next year if you do it again!
Happy Holidays!! I’m looking forward to see your cards next year, all year long!!
Oh what a lovely you made and the one from PTI. How fun is this and what great idea doing a advent calendar with all these cards ! So nice to see and so much inspiration even though it done by now..
I love your take on the stamp. It’s beautiful. Papertrey Ink is
My gateway drug – I had idea what would it would lead to. Thank you for featuring them!
Pink and black go so well together. I just love all the stamping. You’ve outdone yourself for this Extravaganza and I thank you so much!!
As an artist, just coming up got air after the holiday rush. Delighted to learn of your site. Threat ideas.
Love all the cards today with my favorite Papertrey Ink!
Thank you so much for this month long celebration of the holidays. I appreciate all your work, organization, enthusiasm and talent. I learned so much from you and your talented guests. Merry Christmas!
Oh, that tree is so charming and I love the scripty sentiment! Thanks for all the wonderful inspiration and fabulous prizes for your extravaganza! Happy Holidays!
Love this card. That bit of pink is just so elegant
Love your cards!!!
Love the color scheme!
What a beautiful card!! Merry Christmas 🙂 It was amazing playing along all the 25 days and thank you so much for the giveaways and all your efforts in this extravaganza!! I’ve left some love on all the participating blogs for Day 25 🙂 Thanks again!
Just happened to get in on this since I follow Lilybeanpaperie. Now I will have to check out the other cards!
Beautiful card. Thank you for all the time, planning and creativity that went into sharing with us again this year.
Love the natural feel of your card. So pretty!
I’m a big fan of Papertrey Inc. also. I’m much newer to the company, but just love seeing what the design team creates. Thank you for sharing your pretty holiday cards and thanks for putting together such an inspiring event.
A beautiful tree! And love the font. I enjoyed this Advent hop! Thanks for the fun.
Your talent and creativity is truly Inspiring! This event has been unlike any other, truly a labor of love! Thank you so much for all of your hard work. The crafting community is blessed to have you!
This was a fun event! 1st time for me. I got lits of inspiration and my wish list grew,lol.
I love these colors on this card and the large sentiment from Papertray ink. Great job!
Beautiful card! I look the neutral colors!
Beautiful!! I love the watercolor shading around the tree — fabulous color combo!!
What a fun event this is! I did not find it until the 25th day, but I plan to go back and check out the other days. Thanks for all the work in organizing this – I’m sure it was ALOT of work! We appreciate it though! Merry Christmas!
What a beautiful card! This Advent Calendar hop was so much fun! Wish I had found it sooner!
Wow! Double wow! So much amazing ness!! This PTI CARD from Melissa is soooo beautiful!! Thank you for hosting!!! It’s been truly inspirational!!’
Gorgeous card!! Merry Christmas Taheerah!!! Have a creative, happy & healthy 2018! I look forward to seeing all you share in 2018! xo
Beautiful Card!
Such a pretty card
Wonderful card! Thanks for doing this series again loved it! Happy. New Year!
Another fabulous card! Thank you, thank you, thank you for dedicating the time to organize this wonderful event! I will enjoy catching up on a few missed days and am gathering up so much inspiration along the way!!!
Love how you stamped in the different colored inks for your platinum effect plus the subtle touch of pink. Thank you for all your hard work putting this fun event together. Happy holidays one last time.
I agree about the colors–beautiful! And…I am so glad I read about how you did it. I didn’t even notice the white “frame” around the edges, but It is one of those details that you can’t imagine NOT doing once you have seen it! Thank so much…for this idea as well as the whole hop. It’s been a blast! (I really enjoy the smaller posts with fewer designers at this time of year–all the blog hops with new releases are hard to keep up with and still get all my stuff done too! This is perfection, and , as Carissa told us yesterday, we can adapt the design to create thank-you cards, so even the day after Christmas is not too late for a Christmas inspiration or too early to start cards for 2018!
Beautiful card! I love Papertrey Ink as well. The Advent Calendar hop is a great idea.
Your card is beautiful as were all the previous cards !
It’s been again a great year of Christmas celebration “Extravaganza” with plenty inspiration. Thank you for all the work done to offer us the chance to discover all these fantastic creators and the great products available.
Merry Christmas !
Beautiful card and a great idea to organize the Christmas blog hop.
What a gorgeous colour combination you’ve used for the tree!
Such a great card!
Merry Christmas!
Beautiful card, I love the folk art look you achieved. Thank you for the fun blog hop!
This is such a beautiful card. I love this color palette! Taheerah, thank you SO much for doing this Extravaganza, This is my second year participating, and you provide SO much inspiration and enjoyment for me all 25 days! I understand what an incredible amount of work this is to put on. It is a labor of love, I can tell, because I can feel the love you put into it each and every one of the 25 days. Merry Christmas and blessings for the new year.
Cute Christmas Tree! Love your color and design!
How adorable. Brilliant how you stamped the branches to get platinum. Your creativity has been so inspiring throughout this super fun event. I
Hope you had a merry Christmas and happy new year!
What’s not to love about Papertrey Ink products?! They are hands down some of my absolute favorites! Beautiful card, Taheerah. Thank you for such a lovely event! Can’t believe this is the first time I heard about it, but rest assured I’ll certainly be checking it out again next year!
Lovely card. Thanks for a fun hop and thanks to all the wonderful sponsors .
This is AWESOME, Taheera. I love how each branch of the Christmas tree is stamped and shaded so perfectly. Another super inspiring card from my all-time favorite company. Words alone can’t express my sincere thanks for all the work you’ve put in to make this event SO special for us all. THANK YOU and please know that I really do appreciate everything you’ve done for this event.
Blessings to you at Christmas and all year,
Karen Letchworth
Beautiful colors in your card. Love the stars.
Love your card and colors. And Papertrey ink!
Love the unexpected colors scheme & the great design! This has been such a fun hop & I’ll be looking fwd to next year’s. Thanks so much for all the information!!
You’ve made another beautiful card for your Advent Calendar you shared with us. It’s hard to believe we’ve been visiting and enjoying it for 25 days. Thank you for all of your long hours and hard work in getting it all set up for us. It has been an amazing journey visiting your blog everyday to see what you have planned for us and seeing your gorgeous cards while reading how you made it. The fun didn’t stop there. You were able to arrange for 25 incredible sponsors to participate so we could visit their blogs and see examples of their work and products. Thank you so very much for another fabulous adventure! Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
PTI was one of the first companies I started following! Still love them! This card is superb!
this has been the most fun hop! beautiful card, as always! thanks for the fun!