On Sunday, we held the Hamilton Extravaganza in Gordonton and, although the day got off to a very chilly start, it was warm inside and we had a lot of fun. I was very occupied during the day, so I only got a couple of photos during set up (it's the quiet before the storm!)...

Each of my guests at the Hamilton Extravaganza received a small handmade gift from me. I used the Striped Treat Bags, which were decorated with the Happy Birthday Gorgeous stamp set, lovely Gold Mini Sequin Trim and new In Color ribbons. Inside was a yummy Choc Brownie Latte sachet and a Twirl chocolate bar (more about this later).

Stamps: Happy Birthday Gorgeous (photopolymer: 143662). Ink: Powder Pink (144084), Berry Burst (144083). Card/Paper: Basic Black (121688), Whisper White (106549). Accessories: Striped Treat Bags (144255), Library Clips (144130), Linen Thread (104199), Gold Mini Sequin Trim (144128), Fresh Fig 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon (144132), Berry Burst 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon (144133), Powder Pink 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon (144134), Lemon Lime Twist 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon (144135), Tranquil Tide 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon (144136). Tools: Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine (143263), Petal Burst Embossing Folder (141493), Banner Triple Punch (138292), Glue Dots (103683), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430).

There were even more gifts! During the day, we had prize draws and these are the gorgeous gifts we gave away (they were kindly donated by the demonstrators who taught at the Extravaganza)...

At the Hamilton Extravaganza, we have five teams of teachers who rotated around the room, teaching their projects, so everyone went home with five completed projects plus new techniques, tips and ideas. So what did we create on Sunday?

In this first project, Christine and Andrea used the Wood Words stamp set and coordinating Wood Crate Framelits to teach this lovely set of gift cards...

... and don't they look pretty, all package up in the wood crate. What a great gift!

Kay and Jenny taught at the Hamilton Extravaganza for the first time and did a fabulous job teaching this fun project using one of my favourites, the Colorful Seasons stamp set with the coordinating Seasonal Layers Thinlits.

This is a project has a lot of wow. Pull on the ribbon tab at the top and both ends slide out to reveal a "secret" message. This is called a double-slider card.

Irene and Rayleen used one of the most popular new In Colors for this birthday card; Lemon Lime Twist, black and white look so good together...

I think Irene and Rayleen used nearly every stamp in the fabulous This Little Piggy stamp set! Check out the inside of this flag-fold card...

Jacque taught everyone how to colour and use the new Embossing Paste, and created this gorgeous vintage card using the Wood Textures Designer Series Paper, stamped with the Sheet Music background stamp...

I love all the textures and fibres in this card. Can you see the Berry Burst Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon, Linen Thread, Touches of Nature Elements, Gold Mini Sequin Trim, gems and pearls?

And the final project was taught by me, and I used the Very Vanilla Thick card stock and Bundle of Love Specialty Designer Series Paper (both great for constructing) to create a gift box...

The top of the gift box was finished with the Happy Birthday Gorgeous stamp set inked in Berry Burst, Powder Pink and Old Olive. And, check out the shine on this specialty paper's gold foil design...

The inside of this box has a fabulous pop-up lining - a place for a credit card-sized voucher (delayed gratification) and space for a chocolate bar (instant gratification). This pop up gift box design is by Brenda Quintana.

The Twirl chocolate bar fits so well inside this box and my guests, who didn't each their chocolate from their gift bags early in the day, were able to fill their pop-up gift box to take home.

Overall, the Hamilton Extravaganza was a wonderful day, our guests loved the projects and the teachers enjoyed sharing and inspiring. The next Hamilton Extravaganza is in November, which will feature products from the new, yet-to-be-released 2017 Holiday Catalogue - Christmas, yay! If you want to know when registrations open, then sign up for my email updates. Just fill in your details at the top right of this page.