Before I get started today, I want to say thank you to everyone who responded to my post from Thursday last week. Thank you thank you thank you! I received such overwhelmingly positive feedback. Notes, messages, coffees, shopping. SUPPORT. Thank you everyone! I'm going to keep going and I'm going to pray for your continued support through the year. Bless you!
Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Lunar New Year 2024! It's the Year of the Dragon! The Wood Dragoon, to be exact! And....I am a Wood Dragon so it is my year! Woohoooo! And since each zodiac only comes around 12 years that means that I am going to be 60 later this year! Holy guacamole. Not really sure how this happened, but here we are! So I'm going to embrace it! I love to celebrate and honor the Lunar New Year. I lived in the Bay Area for many years and I really came to know and love all the Asian cultures and the beautiful traditions and celebrations. Maybe this year since it's my year, I'll try to go to the San Francisco parade next month! That would be amazing. It's been a while since I attended a parade! The Lunar New Year starts on February 10th this year. Do you know what Zodiac sign you are?? CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT!
Last year was the Year of the Rabbit - CLICK HERE to see last year's card! Last year I made a super cool pop up card!
The Dragon is a majestic and lucky creature in Chinese folklore, symbolizing bravery, creativity, and innovation. According to the Chinese horoscope, 2024 is a year full of potential and opportunities for personal growth, professional success, and social impact. People born in the Year of the Dragon are charismatic, ambitious, adventurous, and fearless. They have confidence, independence, and vision. They are not afraid to pursue their dreams and goals. They are optimistic, ambitious and adventurous. They like to explore new ideas and challenge themselves. They are also generous, compassionate and loyal to their friends. CLICK HERE to read more about the Dragon!
One of the traditions of Lunar New Year is to give Red Envelopes to friends and family. For my project for this year I made my own custom red envelopes! I used traditional colors of red, black and gold and made the envelopes and decorated them with stamps and dies and stickers. This was really such a fun project!! I made three envelopes and the finished size is 5.75" x 3.75".
I used this GORGEOUS new die to make the lovely lanterns in red and gold. I layered two red pieces and then die cut the lantern again with gold paper and filled in the openings. I cut off the bottom part in red and made that part gold. I embellished with gorgeous red gems! This die is so pretty! I'm also envisioning it in spring in pastel colors - maybe a little banner?? Love it!
The Happy New Year was die cut in gold paper. In this close up you can see my stamping on the envelope! I used clear ink and different stamps to add bamboo and fireworks behind the main image. The cutest little panda bear die set fit perfectly on the front of this envelope! The blossoms are old stickers from my stash. I used black gems to add impact on all the envelopes. SO classy with the red and black together...
Each envelope is slightly different. Here I layered black and gold cardstock to make a feature for the beautiful lantern.... I stamped the fireworks in black and also the sentiment.
For this one I added the year 2024 in gold embossing along the left side of the envelope. I used a VERY old stamp set I've had for 25+ years!!! It's from All Night Media and it's fabulous. You know how you have those things in your craft room you will never get rid of???
All the envelopes are splattered with gold paint for good measure!
I made my envelopes using my Envelope Punch Board. Do you have an Envelope Board? If not, you should definitely consider it. It allows you to custom make your own envelopes to any size!! I use it all the time. I stamped the bamboo on the envelope before gluing it together. SO much easier this way. I also used Distress Ink and a blender brush to ink the tops of the envelopes and shade them....it comes out so rich. Tone on tone distress ink blending - you gotta try it!
And here are my finished envelopes!!
I used foam tape to attach the lanterns to the envelopes. I really love how these came out!!
I just ordered/received some new Mama Elephant Lunar New Year stamps in the mail the other day. I'm going to try to make some more cards before the 10th. We'll see what I can do! Until, or if.... This might be my Lunar New Year project for 2024!! Gung Hay Fat Choy!
That's it for today! Happy Sunday! Go Niners! Hope you have a blessed and happy day today and a great week ahead! Thanks for being here and thank you for your support! XOXO
CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST FOR TODAY'S RED ENVELOPES PROJECT! (Affiliate Links Used)!
Love these colors together! Happy Lunar New Year and it isn't bad to get older. Heck... I will be 75 years old in October! How did that happen????? Hang in there my sweet friend!
Posted by: Anne Sturgeon | 01/28/2024 at 07:58 PM
Gorgeous cards.
Posted by: Jean Marmo | 01/28/2024 at 08:09 AM