Sunday, December 28, 2014

Looking Forward and Thanks!

Good Morning!

I hope that your Christmas was filled with family, love, laughter, and of course some art! 


Has it really been since December 15th that I posted?  Oh, sorry about that. I was in full swing making Christmas projects, gifts and decorating when I got sick.  I'm getting better. Not 100% yet but much better.  So everything stopped including gifts in progress, new projects, and of course blogging.   On top of all that this is one of my busiest times of year at work. I'm human resources so that means benefit renewals, short weeks where I have to get payroll done early, and closing out the year.   Whew!

I am looking forward to the new year. New projects. New inspiration. Always feels like a fresh start. 

So excited for CHA in early January. Will be traveling with my girls from Chico Scrapbooks, Jodie and Terri. We have a good time and manage to laugh and giggle our way through the long, long days.  Look for Facebook and blog posts from CHA. 

Speaking of Facebook. Did you know that I have a FB page?  Would love it if you would check it out and follow me.  It's SY's Studio-Papercrafting with Sharon Young. 

Thanks so much for your support, comments, and good will thought the year. I really appreciate each and everyone of you.   Wishing you many blessings for the new year!

Happy Creating!

Hugs, Sharon



Monday, December 15, 2014

Tim Tags - a Chico Scrapbooks Tradition

Happy Monday!

Hope your week is going well. I had a busy weekend at Chico Scrapbooks with a crop on Saturday and a Tim Holtz inspired Christmas tag class. 

Jodie, the owner of Chico Scrapbooks, has created a Tim tag set every December since she opened. This year I was honored that she asked me to help her design some tags. For those of you who know me it's no secret that I'm a fan of Tim's work and all things Distress. She didn't have to ask twice. I jumped at the chance to get inky.


Each of the backgrounds were created using Tim's techniques. Plenty of stencils, dies, and inks were used. 

Look how festive St Nick looks on the mowed lawn foil embossed background. 


This one is one of my favorites. I absolutely adore this background technique using the a Christmas stencil and mini ink pads.   What really got me excited was what I did with the Industrious stickers and UTEE. 


I wasn't sure it would work but to my delight it did.  I inked up the ornament die cuts, adhered the industrious stickers and then used embossing ink at add a couple of layers of UTEE.  It has a cool enamel feel and look!


I used some pewter stain to create a plaid background on the sleigh tag. It's subtle but adds some wonderful texture and shine. The sleigh is glittered with clear rock candy and filled with gifts, a tree, and a metal adornment wreath. 


The packages are rectangles and squares cut out of The Merriment paper stash.


Jodie created this snowy festive gent. He is cut out of a script paper and covered in UTEE. We do love our UTEE at Chico Scrapbooks. Hope you can see the gorgeous fibers on all the tags. Jodie has quite the talent for finding unusual and beautiful fibers to use on our projects. 


Our last tag features the layered snowflake over a harlequin background. 


Fun aren't they?  I had a blast being a part of creating something for a Chico Scrapbooks tradition. Thanks Jodie for including me. The icing on the cake was being able to teach these techniques in class on Sunday.  It makes me happy to see the ladies learning something they can use in future projects. 

Thanks Tim for all the inspiration and products that make tags like these possible. 

Thanks to all of you for visiting my blog and commenting and encouraging me  

I hope that you take time to enjoy the little moments that make this season so magical. 

Happy Creating!

Hugs, Sharon








Monday, December 8, 2014

Thanksgiving Recap and Christmas Preview

Hello!  How is your December going?  We are in full holiday swing now.

Warning!  Grab a cuppa and sit back as this is a photo heavy post. 

I just wanted share the results of my Thanksgiving culinary adventure. We went a little non traditional this year and had prime rib instead of turkey. Never cooked a prime rib before. Nope. Never. I was a bit scared but forged ahead. Turns out it was easier than I thought and it turned out great. 


Almost there. We cooked to about 130 so it was medium rare. 



My husband and nephew getting ready to enjoy the meal. 

Good day, good food, and good company. 

With Christmas fast approaching I am in full swing on some personal projects and some for Chico Scrapbooks. Some of the personal projects are gifts so I will have to share later. I can give you a look at the December tree at Chico Scrapbooks and a sneak peek at an upcoming class. 

This year one of the other designers at the store, Terri Camilli has been decorating a small tree to celebrate the seasons and holidays. I joined in about six months ago.  Take a peek at the December tree. 


All the ornaments and decorations are created with Tim Holtz Merriment paper stash and Tim Holtz Sizzix dies.   I made the rustic lanterns and the topper and Terri created all the others. She is amazing!





It was hard to see the topper but wanted to give you a closer view. It's an up-cycled project with paper towel rolls. Kind of funky but I'm happy with how it turned out. 


Jodie has traditionally done a Tim Holtz style Christmas tag class every year at Chico Scrapbooks. This year she asked me to help out with some of the designs. Here is a quick look at two that are still in progress. 




Whew that was a lot of photos, huh?  Thanks for hanging in there. I'll give you some more looks as I complete more Christmas projects. Hope you are getting some time to enjoy the season. 

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Creating!

Hugs, Sharon













Friday, December 5, 2014

Compendium of Curiosities 3, Challenge 16

Happy Friday,

Thank You so much for all your kind comments about my last challenge post.  So appreciate you taking the time to visit and give me some encouragement and love.

Challenge 16 in the CC3C is all about layering stencils.  As per the rules I can't let you in on the technique but you can check it out yourself on page 50.

I needed a masculine birthday card.  I wanted something beefier than cardstock so I started with a chipboard base.  I then covered the card with various Tim Holtz papers from French Industrial and Laboratorie.

Front view.



Closure undone and ready to open.


The card opens as a gate fold to reveal an interior birthday card.  The card is held in place with a belly band.




I kept things pretty simple and free of dimensional embellishments as I wanted to be able to mail it.  The chipboard card will fit in a 6 x 9 envelope.

Have you joined in on the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge yet?  It is a lot of fun making our way through Tim's latest book.  Each week there is a "Curiosity Crew's Choice" winner who will win some Tim goodies courtesy of Tim and Mario.  Another lucky winner will receive a $25 shopping spree from Linda Coughlin over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

Be sure to head over to Linda Ledbetter's blog to check out what the Curiosity Crew has created as well as the others who have played along.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!  Looks to be a wet one in the North State.  We have been getting some much needed rain.

Thanks so much for stopping by.