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

Busy Thanksgiving Week

Hello!

Well, we are on the countdown to Thanksgiving in the US. How are your preparations going?  Things are in full swing at the Young Household. Busy doesn't even begin to describe it. 

Oh before I forget I wanted to share some pics of our front yard tree. I am lucky to live in an area that has some great fall color. These were taken a few weeks ago when the leaves were turning.  Our neighborhood looks fantastic and really puts me in the fall mood!

So, back to this busy week. At work this is always an especially intense time of year for me as the Human Resources lady. Short weeks like this one mean payday is early and it's a race to get payroll done before the deadline. Ok, today I checked that one off my list!  I also have a couple of new hires starting who need their orientation and initial training. That's tomorrow.  Wednesday will be all about collecting all the health insurance renewal paperwork and getting the new deductions set up in our payroll system. 

At home, preparations for Thanksgiving are under way. Since we don't have much family living close by and with my busy work schedule we tend towards keeping the day mellow. This year we are doing something a little different. My sister in law and our nephew will be joining us for dinner. Ok sounds good. Last week my husband said how about if we have prime rib instead of turkey. Um, ok, that sounds good too.  Except for one thing. I have never cooked a prime rib!  Um, ya,  I have to admit I'm a little bit scared over this one.  Looked up how to cook one and some nice sides and of course a horseradish sauce. Really, what did we do in situations like this before the internet?  Thanks goodness I was able to get educated.  Though it doesn't really help me feel any more relaxed about getting this big ol pice of meat cooked just right. Yikes!  What have I gotten myself into?  Breeeeeeathe!  We pick up the prime rib from the butcher on Wednesday!  Let the adventure begin!

Tonight I made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Can you say yum?!  Oh these beauties are a little bit of heaven.  First time making them and I'm in love!  The recipie called for brown and granulated sugar. Turns out I had about a teaspoon of granulated sugar so I just added more brown sugar. Both hubbie and I agreed it was just the right amount of sweetness. 

I hope that those who celebrate Thanksgiving have a wonderful time full of good food, friends and family and lots of laughter and love!  

Be sure to check back as I take you along on my culinary adventure. 

Thanks for stopping by. Happy creating and cooking!

Hugs, Sharon

Falling Leaves Table Runner

Hello,

its finally beginning to feel like fall here in Northern California.  Last week we had day time temps in the 90's!  It is cooler in the evenings and mornings so I know the season is changing.  I am lucky enough to live in area where we get the fall show of colors with all the trees changing.  One of my favorite things to do is create fall leaves for my home decor and other projects.

I already gave you a peek at what I've created so far in this post Fall Leaves and More on September 29th.  I showed my place card and table runner.  I have added some more leaves to the table runner and its now complete in all its rich fall colors and leaves.

The dies I used to create my leaves and pumpkin are all Tim Holtz Sizzix dies. Really, you can't be surprised by that choice, hee, hee.  The newest die in his die and texture fade combo series in the Layered Leaf (660039).  I also used the Autumn Gathering Sizzlits Decorative Strip(657454),  Tattered Leaves Bigz (656927),  Garden Green Bigz (659436), Pumpkin Parts (660031), Mini Acorn & Pumpkin Movers and Shapers (657457), Baroque Bigz (656633) and the Textured Leaves Set Texture Fades (658251).

I have found that Kraft card stock makes the most realistic leaves when I want to color them myself.  Using a variety of reds, yellows, greens, oranges, and even a touch of purple distress inks I created backgrounds on Kraft using Tim's Wrinkle Free Distress Technique.  See list below of the Distress Ink colors I used. Then I proceeded to cut out about 100 leaves.  Yes, that one hundred leaves!  Mostly with the colored background but I also used some core'dinations Time Holtz Kraft-core Nostalgic collection.  Check it out at the core'dinations website.

The centerpiece of the runner is a dimensional pumpkin made with the Pumpkin Parts die.  I cut 12 of the base pumpkin, folded them in half, and glued together.  I used fibers from my LSS, Chico Scrapbooks to create the stem.  The pumpkin was glued to the Baroque die cut.  That whole assembly was glued to a length of burlap ribbon. 

I also created some mini pumpkins and acorns to next among the leaves.  These were cut from the Kraft-Core paper and crackled.  I topped it off with a length of sheer wired ribbon that I curled.

It will make a great centerpiece to the Thanksgiving table.

Or will work on the mantle or a console table.

Check out some of the details you can achieve with these dies, texture fades, and inks!

The options on this runner are only up to your imagination.  For a mantle only piece I would make the leaves cascade on one side so that they would hang over the edge.  A round or square center piece could be created by using a larger card stock or chipboard base.

Happy Fall.  Hope you can find some time to create a fall leaf runner for your home.  If you are in the Chico area I will be doing a class on the Fall Table Runner sometime in early November.  Keep an eye out on the Chico Scrapbooks website and Facebook page for more details.  As soon as I have more info I'll let you know.

I've got several projects in the works.  In fact I've got three holidays on my desk right now.  Of course, the fall/thanksgiving leaf projects.  For Halloween I've got some cards almost ready to show you as well as a just started mixed media canvas.  Third is some winter/Christmas experimentation going on.  The next die in the layered series is a snowflake!   I'm working on the best paper and colors for the snowflakes.  Lots to share this holiday season so please come back and check out what's next.

Distress Inks used for Fall Table Runner:

Barn Door, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Rusty Hinge, Wild Honey, Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, Seedless Preserves, Dusty Concord.

Thank You for stopping by.  Happy Creating!

Hugs, Sharon