If you still have shopping to do and are looking for bargains, stop by Shades of Blue in Carr Mill. All of the merchandise is discounted because the blue-themed boutique is closing. Happily, its going out of business has nothing to do with the tanking national economy. It has to do with owner Syd Cherney Clarke needing a little downtime for herself. She also owns Ali Cat toy store in Carr Mill, which remains open.

"It's too much work to run two stores," she said. "I've been working seven days a week for 10 years."

Shades of Blue opened in 1999. "Ali Cat started here in '91," she said. She first started it in Massachusetts in 1984 and then brought the toy business with her when she moved to the Triangle. She opened it in North Carolina in 1988 at Brightleaf Square in Durham before moving it to Carr Mill.

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• It probably wouldn't work as a last-minute gift, but Grimball Jewelers, located next to Whole Foods in Village Plaza, can now offer three-dimensional jewelry designs. New jewelry designer on staff Tony Nemyer creates designs on a computer with Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing (CADCAM). "It enables you to create three-dimensional designs," said owner Berkeley Grimball, adding that it is similar to computer programs used in the design and manufacture of automobiles and aircraft.

"You can send a file off and they can mill it or in some cases grow it in a solution," said Grimball. "It's exciting design-wise because you examine it in three dimensions. It is the next level. You simply could not do it if you were doing it by hand."

• At its holiday gathering Wednesday, the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce announced the recipients of its Business of the Year, Business Person of the Year and Helping Hand Awards.

The Business of the Year Award recipient is Cardinal State Bank, a relative newcomer to Hillsborough. It was originally opened by former CCB employees and is now owned by Yadkin Valley Bank and Trust Company. Danny Lloyd, city executive and first vice president of the Hillsborough branch, said, "We are committed to being good citizens of the communities we serve."

The Chamber's Business Person of the Year award went to Dave Gephart of Gephart Marketing Solutions. A former UNC football player, he is a member of the Board of the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce and the chamber's representative to the board of the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, where he serves as treasurer. He is active in a host of other civic organizations. His company, Gephart Marketing Solutions, has introduced two new lines this year, Gephart Green, featuring environmentally friendly items and Gephart Pink, supporting breast cancer research.

The 2008 Helping Hand Award went to both an individual and a group. The individual recipient is Mary Ellen Petrin, incoming president of the Hillsborough Exchange Club, and active with Orange County Schools and their PTSOs and sports booster clubs. The group recipient is the Kiwanis Club of Hillsborough. This roughly 30-member service organization provides support to Orange County Schools as well as individual students, recognizing their achievements through scholarships and through its Terrific Kids program. In 2008, Kiwanis was able to extend the Terrific Kids program to all elementary schools in the county.

Other nominees for Business of the Year included The Saratoga Grill, Telesis Construction Management and Home Helpers. Other nominees for Business Person of the Year were George Horton of Telesis Construction Management, Beverly Blythe of the Hillsborough Farmers' Market Group, Tom York of Hillsborough Sign and Trophy, and Kathy Lawrence of Home Helpers. Other nominees for the Helping Hand Award were The Orange County Campus of Durham Technical Community College, Neighbor House of Hillsborough and the Torains, Beverly Blythe and Barbara Descisciolo. "The Board wanted to recognize all the nominees this year," said Margaret Cannell, executive director of the Hillsborough Orange Chamber of Commerce.

• Looking for something fun to do downtown over the holidays? Sugarland, at 140 E. Franklin St., is hosting a Gingerbread House Throwdown, and the public is invited to name the gingerbread champions of Franklin Street. Six identical gingerbread houses will be decorated by either one of Sugarland's pastry chefs or a team of Sugarland's Sugar-"Peeps," the counter staff. All of the houses will be on display from Monday, Dec. 22 ,at 9 a.m. through Wednesday, Dec. 31, at 6 p.m. Sugarland visitors will be given ballots to vote for their top three favorites. Voters will be eligible to win tasty Sugarland treats. All of the houses will be donated to Children's Hospital at the end of the contest. Stop in any day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. to cast your ballot.

• Mark Sherburne, a 20-year hospitality industry veteran, has been named the new chairman for the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau. Sherburne replaces Lee Pavao, who led the visitor's bureau board for 12 years. Sherburne is vice president of lodging operations and development for East West Partners Club Management (EWPCM). Before joining East West Partners, Sherburne was the general manager of The Siena Hotel and Il Palio Ristorante.

"We are at a turning point in Orange County," Sherburne said. "We are seeing new hotels recently added to our landscape and new hotel projects on the drawing board. But we also have increased competition for the visitor and conference group, and must work together as a board and a community to increase hotel occupancy by promoting the assets of our towns."

• Ron Wilde, a Chapel Hill architect, has been selected for the 2008 Best of Chapel Hill Award in the Residential Architect category by the U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA). You can check out his work at www.ronwilde.com.