Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Lunar New Year - the year of the Rabbit 2023!

Hi everyone! Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Lunar New Year 2023! It's the Year of the Rabbit! Lunar New Year comes early this year, and today's the day to celebrate! When it's time to celebrate the Lunar New Year is when I miss living in the Bay Area - there were so many beautiful celebrations and parades...and the food!! Oh my. I certainly miss all that! I have been lucky enough to go to the San Francisco Parade several times and it's so magical and festive. I feel like I can't even describe it and I wish everyone could see it at least once!! It's the Year of the Rabbit this year! Let's celebrate!

Last year was the Year of the Tiger - my husband's year! CLICK HERE to see last year's card!

People born in the year of the Rabbit are said to be gentle, quiet, elegant, and alert - as well as quick, skillful, kind, patient, and very responsible, and always faithful to those around them. They are characterized by treating people politely, with a gentle smile that makes people feel that they are credible and sincere. They are also said to have a pure heart. Do you know what your Chinese Zodiac sign is? I am a Dragon, so my year will be here again in 2024 - NEXT year! CLICK HERE for more information about the Year of the Rabbit!

For my new year card, I wanted to capture all the beauty of the holiday and the feeling of the Lion Dance parade... I decided to make a pop up card! Gosh this card was so much fun to make. It took a couple of days with all the coloring and gluing but it was worth it. I also made a red envelope decorated to match. I used stamps and dies from several different companies to make my vision come to life. I stayed with the traditional colors or red and gold, with dark rich black. I forgot how much I love to make a pop up!! Here is my card and envelope....

Here's a close up of the lions - the traditional animal in the parade besides the dragons.... This whole card started with me stamping and die cutting out six lions and coloring them with my Copics. I also added bits of sparkle with Diamond Stickles...

I added some lanterns and firecrackers to the top of the pop up card! This pop up, when folded, will fit into an A2 envelope. But since I added the banner with the lanterns I will just use a larger envelope. I felt like that perfectly captured the parade!

I stamped and colored everything first and left that overnight because I really wasn't sure what card layout I wanted! In the morning I got the idea to use one of my favorite dies from Lawn Fawn - the Scalloped Pop Up Box. It's so easy to assemble. I used pretty red cardstock to make my box and embellished it with black and gold and red panels to finish it off. For this back panel I used white paper and inked just the top with red ink. I stamped the sentiment and some fireworks to make the background for my little lion parade! I love how the fireworks look here.

Here is a top down view of the construction of the pop up. I attached my lions and staggered them ....

I added one more to the front flap. OMG my newest obsession are these glitter drops from Pinkfresh Studio! I got every color and they are DELICIOUS!!! You must get some!!!! They are sooooo pretty in person - so sparkly!!

Here is the back of my pop up card....

Here's the pop up folded in my hand! SO COOL! I am always so smitten when I make one of these!

Here is my matching red envelope! I used the WRMK Pocket Maker Punch Board to make the envelope out of matching red paper. I splattered gold paint over it (and everything else) and added some matching fireworks and a lion. It's so fun.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy New Year! Best wishes for a new year of health, wealth and happiness! Thank you for stopping by today and spending time with me! Have a great week ahead! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies used for today's projects (Affiliate Links Used)!