Documented Life Project 2015 Week One

Hello Everyone!

I'm starting out the year making and surrounding myself with art!  It makes me happy!

Have you heard of the Documented Life Project?  It's a challenge by Art to the 5th Academy with monthly themes, weekly challenges, and journal prompts.  You can play along too by signing up with Art to the 5th.  There are weekly emails with the challenges, prompts and samples of pages.  The challenges and prompts are there to jump start your creativity.  What you create is up to you.  It is your choice to share your work or not.  I thought it would be a great way to ensure I get some creative play time in each week.

I am a bit behind as I was gone for 7 days to CHA (more posts on that later).  Today I'm sharing my week one page.  The theme for January is The Blank Page and How to Face It!

 The journal that Art to the 5th is using is my favorite - the Ranger Dylusions Creative Journal.  Those playing along can use this one or any journal or media of their choice.  I'm sticking with Dyan's journal.

I started with various book papers, maps, and tissue paper.

After adhering to page with gel medium I pulled out my Distress Stains - Salty Ocean, Broken China, and Picket Fence.

I added a pocket so that I could keep my goals private.  I also stamped a sentiment that reflects how I feel about the new year and all the possibilities it holds.

Using my favorite uniball signo white pen I added some doodling to the printed and stamped images.

These colors are so pleasing and this page makes me happy.  Looking forward to the next challenge.

Hope you make time to create art this year.

Happy Creating!  

Hugs, Sharon

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015 January

Happy New Year!

I have been having fun in the studio today making my version of Tim's January 2015 tag.  You can learn to make your own by checking out Tim Holtz blog here.  While you are there be sure to check out the archives for the previous years tags.  Lots to do and see on Tim's blog.

Love the artsy feel of this tag.  I didn't have all the colors and products that Tim used so I pulled from what I have on hand.  See the end of this post for a list of products I used differently than Tim.

I stayed true to his design with a few changes.

You can see right away that I did not have the Alpha Parts so I improvised by using the Alphabetical die for the letters and number.  I also added the tumbled glass distress glitter instead of the tarnished brash.

So fun that the chit chat stickers picked up the ink colors from the tag.

Closer look at my glittered 15.  The medallion is from the Paper Rosette die painted with distress inks.  My first intention was to use the Rosette for the numbers but it turned out to be the wrong scale for the tag so I just used the center medallion instead.  You can see that the medallion didn't quite cut right as I didn't have the paper lined up.  Instead of cutting another I just embraced it and now I really like the irregular feel of it.

Some more views of the tag.  Don't you just love all the layers!

This is one of those inspirational tags that I will display in the studio.  These words are a map to what I want 2015 to be.  The artsy, painterly feel of the tag just makes me happy.  Hope you like it too.

Products specific to my version of Tim's tag:

Distress Stain Sprays:  Pumice Stone, Forest Moss

Distress Paint:  Broken China, Iced Spruce, Antique Linen, Tarnished Brass, Brushed Pewter, Picket Fence

Pens:  Distress Marker-Black Soot, Sharpie Gold Metallic

Distress Glitter:  Tumbled Glass

Embellishments:  game spinner, jump rings, heart charm, ring fastener

Dies:  Paper Rosette (center medallion), alphabetical

Thank You so much for stopping by.  Happy Creating!

Hugs,  Sharon

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

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

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

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.

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 November

Good Evening!

Is it really the last day of November?  I swear Tim just posted his tag for this month.  Check out his fantastic tag here.  Be sure to also scroll down to the bottom of the page to see what everyone else created.

I'm just happy that I was able to make some time to create my version.  Since Thanksgiving has past, the leaves are falling, and its almost December I decided to do a snowy version.  Don't you just love the layered dies?  This snowflake is just amazing.

 I chose some blues and some iced spruce for my background.

Faded Jeans for the embossing portion.

A silver for the foiling.  Now that's really cool.

More blues for the corrugated cardboard.

Now here are when things took a decidedly dark turn.  I only have three colors of distress stain sprays so far.  So far, hee hee.  I used pumice stone and need some more practice on the spotty technique.  It was more spray than spot.  Looking quite dark at this point.  I wanted to lighten things up and get some "spots".  What to do?  Hmmm, could I do a flicking technique?  Well, yes.  I smooshed several colors of blue stain on my mat, hit it with some water and flicked it onto the tag.  Subtle, but I think it helped.  As you can see, I think I got more ink on my fingers than on the tag.  Don't mind a bit.  Love to get inky!

Determined to go with the flow and enjoy the process I went forward with this dark and grungy snow flake.  I added some white rubs on, ribbon, and the alpha parts.  So happy with the overall look and really felt good about staying in the moment.

Hope you like my version of Tim's November tag.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Happy Creating!

Hugs,  Sharon