On Sunday we held the Hamilton Christmas Extravaganza, show-casing some of the fabulous new products from the Idea Book & Catalogue. At this Extravaganza we had five pairs of demonstrators who taught a project, moving from table to table so that, at the end of the day, everyone of the 70ish stampers who attended took home five lovely creations using a variety of techniques.

Everyone who attended received a bag of goodies from their demonstrator, usually with a name tag. As it was a Christmas Extravaganza, I decided to make crackers for each of my guests using a very easy Cracker Tutorial by the talented Delys Cram...

Stamps: Delightful Decorations (wood: 121502). Card/Paper: Early Espresso (121686), Whisper White (106549), Letters To Santa DSP (122349). Ink: Riding Hood Red (111836), Crumb Cake (121030), VersaMark (102283). Accessories: 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon (Crumb Cake: 122332, Rose Red: 121884, Always Artichoke: 121000), Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (102023), Heat & Stick Powder (100625). Tools: Ornament Punch (119847), Stamp-a-ma-jig (101049), Heat Tool (106586), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430).

You may not be able to see it in the photo, but each of the ornament-shaped tags were stamped using ink and VersaMark, coated in Heat & Stick Powder, heated, then coated in Dazzling Diamonds glitter, and heated again.

As a part of the day, all the demonstrators contributed items for door prizes. For my contribution I make a "cookies-in-a-jar", which is a preserving jar jam-packed with all the dry ingredients to make Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookies. The jar decorations were inspired by the gorgeous Flirtatious fabric I used on the top of the jar...

Stamps: Delicate Doilies (wood: 124960, clear: 122592). Card/Paper: Melon Mambo (119980), Basic Black (121688), Whisper White (106549). Ink: Pink Pirouette (111838). Accessories: Flirtatious Designer Fabric (122335), Whisper White 5/8" Taffeta Ribbon (109070), Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (102023), Black Brad (Neutrals: 119736). Tools: Big Shot (113439), Top Note Bigz Die (113463), Doily Triple Layer Punch (122465), Sponge Dauber (102892), 2-Way Glue Pen (100425), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430).

Here is a selection of some of the other door prizes given out on the day...

And here are the five fabulous projects we created on the day:

A telescopic Christmas Card using the very versatile Pennant Parade stamp set (see page 37 of the catalogue) and matching punch (page 153)...

The Petal Cone Carry Bag, which was inspired by Delys Cram, and uses the Petal Cone Bigz L Die for the box (see page 160 of the catalogue) and the gorgeous Lace Ribbon Border Punch for the handle (page 151). It came complete with lollies...

A double-easel Christmas card using the Stitched Stocking stamp set and matching Stocking Tag Punch. These were the promotion items during October and if you missed out on them, then they will be available in the Summer Mini Catalogue, which will be released on 1 December.

A fabulous Top Note gift box with matching Christmas gift cards, complete with glitter...

And finally an awesome pop-up balloon card (for something different to everything Christmas) using the fabulous the Up, Up & Away stamp set (see page 33 of the catalogue)...

The day was a wonderful success and everyone I spoke to had a great time. I really enjoyed it too! Keep watching this space for the next Extravaganza.

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