No-Line Watercolor Gingerbread Card

I made this card for my grandmother to give to her great-great granddaughter, Louisa.  She turned 94 this December!  

Cute, sweet and adorable for the cute, sweet and adorable Louisa.  (I know, I know but...Grandma, remember!) 

So fun to watercolor.  And it still makes me smile.
It's almost Christmas - it sneaks up on me every year.  I knows it's coming, but I'm still somehow surprised when Christmas actually arrives.  
Have a wonderful Christmas!

Visions of Sugarplums Day Two Winners + A Sweet Christmas Card

Doesn't that polar bear hug just make you smile?  You know cute and sweet makes me happy!

Let's make a couple more people happy, shall we?  

 The giveaway for Visions of Sugarplums Day 2 is two sets of House Dies. 

The winners (randomly selected by husband - sorry Louisa was already gone) are:

Congratulations, Connie and Maria!  Email me with your address and I'll get the dies off to you.  

Thank you to everyone who left such sweet comments - that makes me happy, too!

Visions of Sugarplums Winner #1 + Elf Christmas Card

Today I'm announcing the winner of Visions of Sugarplums Day One giveaway - a darling Stampingbella stamp set!

This card features another adorable Stampingbella image.  I love this little elf and tiny reindeer.

Super fun to color and you'll see I created the background the same way as a couple of the gift card holders from Visions of Sugarplums Day One.  
The winner (selected randomly by Louisa from a basket)  of the above stamp set is:

Congratulations, Theresa!  Email me your address and I'll get the stamp set off to you. Thank you to everyone who left a comment!
Check back for more Visions of Sugarplums to come...

Visions of Sugarplums Day Two: Home at Christmas + Video + Giveaway

The loose theme of today's post is Home at Christmas.  That has more than one meaning for me this year.   Louisa and her mommy and daddy now live close enough to come home for Christmas!  I'm looking forward to it and so glad that I don't have to fly.  

I've got a video on how to make this house shaped box.  And free images to download.

This is the second day of Visions of Sugarplums (the abbreviated version).  If you would like to see the first post, click HERE.  Check out the new giveaway below.

I love the gold and white of this box.  I've never been able to resist a house - stamps or dies.  (Or boxes, it seems.)  All sides have houses - embossed ones on the back and sides.  The little santa's sleigh and reindeer seem perfect in the gable of the box.

Neither of these houses are actually decorated as houses, although you could certainly do that.  I really love this sweet candy cane girl and she's ready to be downloaded below.

I've included a card made with her as well.  I think the die cut as a base for the card and the two-tone gingham frame are really fun.

Here's the House Box Video:

Keeping loosely with the Home for Christmas theme, I've also included a mailbox in this post.  These dies are from the Parcel and Post kit from Papertrey Ink several years ago.  Sometimes it takes me awhile to get around to using things!   When I came across the card with the little girl and her dog at a mailbox, I thought it just might be perfect for the front of my mailbox.

I've also got her ready to download, if you would like to create a little something with her.

Download Candy Cane Girl  HERE.

Download Girl at Mailbox HERE.

I've posted Visions of Sugarplums Challenge #2.  The theme is Home at Christmas.  Doesn't have to have a house - you're free to stretch the theme as you wish.  

The prize (winner by random selection) is $20 to Simon Says Stamp.

Let's keep the number of links per person to 4 maximum.  Thank you!

You can find the link up HERE.

The giveaway for this post is this great set of house dies.  There are trees, stars, lamp post and clouds. 

 I don't have any idea where these dies are from.  I bought a box of stamps and dies recently - a wonderful box of about 40 items - from an antique, vintage, junk store that's only open one Saturday a month. There were three sets of these dies in the box.

I created a quick card and tag with them.  

I'll give a set to two of you that leave a comment.  Be sure to let me know that you would like to win the house dies.   Winners will be announced Wednesday, December 12th.

Whew!  I hope I remembered everything!  So glad you stopped by!

Visions of Sugarplums Challenge #2: Home for Christmas

Welcome to the Visions of Sugarplums 2018 Challenge #2!

The prize for this challenge is a $20 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp!

If you want to get a chance at more prizes check out the other 2018 Visions of Sugarplums blog posts.  You can see the first one HERE.   For the second post,click HERE.

Be sure to link to chouxchouxpaperart.com in your post and link up by Saturday, Dec. 15th.

Limit your links to four, please!  Your entry doesn't have to have a house, you can stretch the theme.  Looking forward to seeing your Home for Christmas creations!

An InLinkz Link-up

Visions of Sugarplums (Abbreviated Version) + Gift Card Video + Challenge!

Welcome to an abbreviated version of Visions of Sugarplums!   Time got away from me this year and I just didn't get everything organized.  I'll miss the hop part of Visions of Sugarplums - everyone always makes such wonderful Christmas projects - so hopefully I'll get it together next year.  A lot of my time went to Louisa, so that's not too bad!

My plan for this year's Vision of Sugarplums, is to post a couple of videos, some fun projects and a challenge or two with prizes.

Today, I've got a video showing how to make these easy gift card pockets.  I also do a little mini review of the brushes (see one above) I've been using for Distress Inks.

I fell in love with these mice dies - they're adorable!  I used the baby one on the gift card pocket and one of the bigger ones on this card.

Here's the gift card pocket video:

To read about (the prize is $20 to Simon Says Stamp) and link to the first Visions of Sugarplums Challenge, click HERE.

I'm also giving away the Little Bits Skating Quartet stamp set - so cute, I mean seriously cute - to one lucky winner!

 How do you win the Little Bits Skating Quartet?   Comment on this post and  let me know that you would like to win.  One winner will be selected randomly and will be posted on Sunday, December 9th.

Hope you find the gift card pocket useful and easy!  Check back for the next Visions of Sugarplums post...

Visions of Sugarplums Challenge #1 2018

Welcome to the Visions of Sugarplums 2018 Challenge #1!

The prize for this challenge is a $20 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp!

If you want to get a chance at more prizes check out the other 2018 Visions of Sugarplums blog posts.  You can see the first one HERE. 

Be sure to link to chouxchouxpaperart.com in your post and link up by Saturday, Dec. 15th.

Looking forward to seeing your Christmas and Winter creations!


An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

Make a 3D Truck without Dies Video + Smile!

Hi, there!  I've had a great weekend with Louisa here.  It's been getting colder, so we stayed in most of the weekend playing with buttons and paintbrushes.  Who knew it could be so much fun to pretend to paint pictures on a bedroom door?!

When we were outside, the wind would gust and blow leaves off the trees and Louisa would say, "What is that?"  She asked me about ten times and the thought still makes me smile!

This adorable image makes me smile, too!  I had so much fun coloring it.  It reminds me of Louisa pulling leaves off the tree to help them out!

I really wanted to make some 3D trucks for Thanksgiving.  I thought a truck would be so cute with pumpkins and a small bag of pumpkin shaped candy in the back.

I was a little sticker shocked when I saw the price of the 3D truck dies.  So, I kept thinking surely I could figure out how to make one without dies.  First, I looked through my stamps and I didn't have a truck stamp big enough. 

So then I looked through clip art on Etsy.  Found a watercolor truck set that I really really liked.  Thought about how it might work and decided to buy the file.  It was a little more than I usually spend on digital files, but I thought even if it didn't work out for a 3D truck, I might use it for something else.  It has a cute car and other pretty elements, as well.  Besides, $7.99 is waaay, less than $48.00!  

Then I set out to figure out how to put a 3D truck together.  Turns out, once I figured it out, it was really easy to do.

I put a video together to show you just how to make your own 3D truck.  Check it out:





I may even put some trucks together for Christmas - that would be fun!

Fall Scarecrow and Vintage Wishbone Kids

I love fall and Thanksgiving!   The cool weather, the colors and the Thanksgiving dinner.  

This will be the first year since Louisa was born that they've lived close enough to come for Thanksgiving.  Can't wait to have them and get back to fixing our traditional goodies.  Pecan Pie, anyone?

Scarecrows are perfect for fall, of course.  I've had this one for a year and finally had time to create a card.  I've combined images from several stamp sets to create the scene.

Had so much fun coloring all these sweet images!

Speaking of sweet, aren't these kids adorable?  Love the huge wishbone.  I created a Z-fold card that when opened reveals more of the image and that cute turkey. 

A band of vellum keeps it closed.

You can download the kids below.  The download also includes the Make A Wish (slightly off the edge), so that if you want to make a card like this one, all you have to do is cut off the top portion of the paper and a little bit off the right side, then fold.

Download Wishbone Kids HERE.

Are you like Louisa and her mommy and daddy planning to travel for Thanksgiving?  Or are you like me, cooking with everyone coming to you?