Hello crafty friends! Happy New Year! Gung Hay Fat Choy! Today is the celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year so I'm posting a card I made to mark this special occasion. I love to make festive and pretty cards for this wonderful celebration. I have lots of friends who celebrate this beautiful cultural tradition, so I like to acknowledge it by creating something special each year. (CLICK HERE to see my card from last year) Do you and your family celebrate the Lunar New Year too? This year is the Year of the Pig. Is it your year? CLICK HERE for the list of the years and the corresponding animals. I am a DRAGON! Yep! Gotta love that. 1964 was a very good year indeed. I have lots of Dragon friends. We are strong and fierce!
People born in the year of the Pig are loved for their kind, honest, helpful and forgiving nature. Pigs believe in maintaining peace and harmony and they dislike anything which causes conflict. Those born under the Pig zodiac sign are self-indulgent and enjoy the finer things in life. The twelfth sign of the Chinese zodiac, Pig is one of the most likable signs out there. Pigs are honest, forgiving, good-tempered, cheerful, generous, and compassionate. They are responsible and determined. They will never refuse to give those in need a helping hand, but they rarely seek help from others. They are idealists who will do anything to keep the peace. They will remain committed for life to their friends and their principles, and would never do anything dishonest. Famous people born in the Year of the Pig include: Hilary Clinton, David Letterman, Stephen King, Elton John and Carrie Underwood!
I don't have any pig stamps so I used the gorgeous "Lion Dance" stamp set from Mama Elephant. I love this set soooo much. I used it last year too! The perfect dragons and sentiments. For the fireworks, I used the "Around We Go" stamp set, also from Mama Elephant. I tried a new technique of blending tone on tone with the same color ink and paper. I really like how it came out. Very dramatic on the red!! My card features red and gold with embossing and bright colors. I used an old stamp I had in my stash - the Chinese Calligraphy symbol for Double Happiness. This is usually a symbol to be used for wedding cards - but I thought - can't go wrong by wishing someone Double Happiness!! Plus, it's just such a beautiful stamp...
My card is a long skinny card - finished size 4x8 inches. I wanted room for everything! Especially those dragons! Here is a close up of the Double Happiness stamp. I embossed it in pretty gold embossing powder onto a stitched circle die cut. I used traditional colors of red, gold and black. It's so classic and strong!
I colored the dragons with Copic Markers and then added accents with Diamond Stickles. The sentiment was heat embossed in gold onto a strip of black paper. The 2019 numbers are from a very old stamp set (maybe 25 years old) and the company is no longer around. I love the characters. I also heat embossed the numbers directly onto my top layer. The card base is black, and then layered with a bit of gold paper.
Here is a close up of the ink blending and the fireworks. It's all tone on tone with shades of red and mahogany. I inked three shades of Distress inks onto the red layer. Then I stamped fireworks in red and mahogany. The effect is subtle and I really like how it came out. I used my Finetec Gold paints to splash gold everywhere! I was trying to evoke the feeling of a Chinese New Year parade. I used to go to the San Francisco Chinese New Year parade every year when I lived there. MAGIC. Pure magic. The colors, the sounds, the cheer. A true feast for the senses.
This is a second version.... For this one I also sprinkled gold embossing powder onto the red paper and heated it. A little bit of a different look!!
The dragons and the sentiment were attached to the card using foam tape.
I made some red envelopes using the Venice Envelope Die from Mama Elephant. Unfortunately it's not available any more. It has a die to make the small envelope and then a separate die to make the perfectly matching layering pieces. I used red and gold again of course. SO pretty.
GOOD CHEER and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Happy Lunar New Year - Year of the Pig! A chance to go out and celebrate a beautiful cultural tradition. Have a wonderful week everyone. I'll be back with a Valentine card on Thursday! (You may have seen the step out photos on Instagram stories!) XOXO
SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!
Beautiful card! I like the techniques/coloring you used.
I printed out the Chinese Zodiac. I am a tiger (1950) and a Capricorn (Jan.)! Wonder how they would get along?
Posted by: Rosa M. Vasquez | 02/05/2019 at 01:25 PM
Super cute!
Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Martha H. | 02/05/2019 at 11:35 AM
Beautiful !
Posted by: Nancy Hassan | 02/05/2019 at 09:22 AM
Stunning red card. Love it.
Posted by: Maureen sala | 02/05/2019 at 07:45 AM
These are just lovely! The color is so vibrant. Thanks for sharing! Have a wonderful day!
Posted by: Julie L | 02/05/2019 at 06:27 AM
Beautiful Wanda!
Posted by: ~amy~ | 02/05/2019 at 05:46 AM
Blending those reds onto your cardstock really make for a vibrant RED for your fabulous celebratory card, Wanda! LOve the fireworks, and those dragons - I'm a dragon, too!
=]
Posted by: Michele | 02/05/2019 at 05:06 AM