2012 Calendar

No, I didn't make this cute calendar, though i wish I could take credit for it! Aunty Jan made this calendar for me and I have it sitting on my computer desk. Now that it's 2012 I can start using it!

The first thing that caught my eye (besides our Lion Dancer stamp) was the stenciled background. I'm fascinated by stenciling since I can't seem to do it right myself. The stencil is called Design in Squares by Dreamweaver and it was done in gold. On the bottom right corner she also stamped a Year of the Dragon stamp from 1141. It reminds me of a chop more than anything else.



Thank you Aunty! I love my calendar!

Li See Envelope Tutorial

It's Release Day! Yippee! It's our last release for 2011, but don't worry, we'll have some fun new designs next year.


Just wanted to share the instructions on how to make the li see envelopes I featured in yesterday's post. Since I couldn't find a tutorial online, I thought I'd share this with all of you!

Supplies:

• 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" red paper
• 6 3/8" x 3 1/4" red paper
• double stick tape
• Your favorite Sister Stamps New Year's Release Image

Tools:

• Paper trimmer
• Scoreboard
• Scissors
• Corner rounder punch
• Copics

Directions:

1. Score 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" paper with the 4 1/2" side at the top at 1/2" on each end.
2. Turn paper so that the 8 1/2" side is at the top and score at 1" and 7 3/4".
3. Cut off all corners on score lines.
4. Trim edges at slight angle to reduce bulk (optional)
5. Fold on all score line. Use bone folder for good crease.
6. Use the corner rounder punch and round the corners of the 1" flap. This will be the opening of your envelope.
7. Apply double stick tape to the two long flaps and adhere the 6 3/8" x 3 1/4" paper on top.
8. Apply double stick tape to the bottom flap (flap where corner is not rounded) and seal.
9. Stamp and color Sister Stamp image and adhere to front of envelope.
10. Embellish as desired.

Thanks for all the great feedback on this release! And thanks to our Guest Designer, Leanne Poe and of course Debi!

Li See!

Are you excited? Only one day left until Release Day! Just wanted to thank Debi and our guest designer- Leanne for all their awesome samples. Hope they've inspired you to get going on some New Year's projects or at least keep them in the back of your mind until you are ready to start making them.

Although I'm not Chinese myself, my cousins are, and I spent a lot of time with them growing up. I remember receiving Li See (or Lai See) packets for Chinese New Year or any other occasion. Li see packets are red in color since its considered to be lucky and normally have gold because red and gold usually mean wealth. And don't quote me but I read somewhere that "Kung Hee Fat Choy" means Good Luck and Prosperity, or something to that effect. So with all that New Year's info in my brain, I thought it would be most appropriate to make my own li see packets featuring our new images!


First up is the Lion Dancers image. My favorite corner die cut is from a Sizzix border die set. This one looks so asian to me, so I incorporated it into this project. I also used my Hero Arts Prosperity kanji stamp since you give li see to give them wealth/prosperity right? I embossed the image using black embossing powder on my favorite gold cardstock. Look who's back!


And here's a close up of those dancers...


Next up are the firecracker kids... Since this image is pretty wide, I decided to turn the packet sideways so that they would fit better on the envelope. For this one, I kept it simple and cut the kids and firecracker string out. Used the label die by PTI and embossed it using my cuttlebug embossing folder for some texture. Added on Island Scrapbooking's new "Kung Hee Fat Choy" sentiment. Don't know if you can tell, but I also added some gold glitter stickles to make it look like the fire crackers were popping.
Here's some close ups of the girl and boy.


And my last li see packet features Kiyoko. I used another stamp from that Hero Arts set- this time used Happiness. Embossed the gold background strip using the same Cuttlebug Embossing folder as the previous packet. Decided to paper piece Kiyoko's kimono using washi paper. Cut out Kiyoko and added some gold stickles to her sparklers to make them sparkle.

Here's a close up of Kiyoko...


Hope you enjoyed my li see packets! Don't forget you can pick up your new stamps tomorrow (11/1/11)! And there's still time to enter into our blog candy giveaways. Go back to each introductory post for this release for your chance to win by 11:59 pm HST (tonight).

New Year's Fun

Yay- its time to reveal our Guest Designer for this release! We were very lucky to get this "Groovy" gal to help us out at the last minute... Click here to see who we are talking about... I'm sure she'll have some fun surprises up her sleeve! Oh yes, and don't forget my CBFF Debi's blog to see what fun she's been working on..

And now for my card for today... This card took quite awhile to put together. I worked on the front but it looked kinda plain, so I distressed the edges using my weathered wood distress ink. It seemed to still lack something, so I finally decided to add a subtle hint of bling by stamping over the images with a Hero Arts swirls background cling stamp.. Yup, just stamped right over those kids faces. Then got my trusty gold mica powder and applied it all around the images so that the gold would not get on their faces. I like how it came out. I guess you can't really see it in this big photo, but I think you can tell on the close up photo.


The borders were punched with a MS crafts border punch on my favorite gold cardstock and then layered again with a red cardstock. Here's the close up... Oh yes, added in gold glitter stickles again to make it look like its popping.


And here's the inside of the card... Do you like my lion dance puppet? I think he needs a name... Maybe you can help me come up with one...


So the reason this card took forever was also because I could not for the life of me find my old old old fireworks stamp. I have a feeling I sold it at one of the rummage sales. So I checked out my local craft stores and couldn't find any there either. I guess I'm working off season. So I jumped online and found this awesome fireworks stamp by Stampendous. Its a large cling stamp- it only fit on my largest acrylic block, but it was good to fill up the black space behind the dancers. Because most of my card was made and I was just waiting for this stamp to arrive, I had a hard time stamping the fireworks. Some of the image didn't stamp well since it was going on several layers, so I ended up filling in using my Versamark pen. This was the first time I used that pen and it was just what I needed to fill in the gaps.

After stamping the fireworks with Versamark, I applied some gold glitter embossing powder and red glitter embossing powder to the fireworks. To achieve the effect of multi colored fireworks, I would only apply the glitter to a portion of the fireworks and tap off the excess, then apply the next color, etc... Then it was embossing time... If you've ever tried to emboss glitter embossing powder, its very tricky. The look doesn't change much like regular embossing powder does, so you really have to watch and make sure you are not burning the paper. I hold it up to the light while I'm embossing and you can kinda see some of the glitter glistening every once in awhile- that's my cue to move my gun around to another section.



I used the Sizzix scallop circle pop up die to make the dancers pop out. These dies make pop up cards a breeze! Finished off the card with a gold layered on red "Kung Hee Fat Choy" sentiment by Island Scrapbooking.

Here's a close up of the dancers. I dont' think you can tell, but I put some white fun flock to the lion's furry parts (around his face). I also used my favorite gold smooch to add some gold touch ups to his costume.


Phew! That was a long post! Now you know why this card took me so long to make! Plus it didn't help that I made it backwards!! ha ha ha! Oh well, hopefully you learn from my mistakes!

Don't forget to check out our Guest DT and Debi's posts for more inspiration!

Lion Dancing!

Welcome to our second day of introductions for Release #4! Today I have a pop up card to share with you using our new Lion Dancers image. We felt that the crafting world was lacking Chinese New Year images and what is more Chinese New Year that a Lion Dance??? But this image is not only for Chinese New Year... I know we often celebrate special occasions with lion dances like weddings, baby showers, etc., so you might find that this image comes in handy for other special occasions too.

I remember being scared of the lion when I was young, but I was always a scaredy cat... even now. But now that I'm older, I love watching lion dances! I love how everyone gets so happy when they see the lion approaching and how kids will run up to the lion to give it money. Businesses also welcome the lion as it brings good luck and fortune. Normally an offering is made in a li see (red envelope) along with some lettuce and fruit/veggies. In Hawaii, we also incorporate Lion Dances at weddings and baby luau's where the bridal couple/baby & parents will give the lion an offering which is suspended from a pole.


On to my card... First, here's the front of the card. I guess I was a little tired of using red and gold and decided to change it up with some purple.


Here's what the card looks like when its opened. I added in two red pockets to hold the good luck money that is normally given for New Year's. It is normally given in red li see packets, so I thought I'd better make them red. The die used to suspend pop out the dancers is an old Sizzix XL pop up die.





And here's a close up of the dancers. See how they stand up in the card?


Don't forget to check in tomorrow for our last introduction. And don't forget to leave a post on THIS POST to be eligible to win this stamp. See the Firecracker kids introductory post from yesterday for the other requirements to be eligible to win. Oh, and this time tell me about your favorite lion dance memory. Good Luck!

Release #4 Images Revealed...

Wow- can you believe how fast October is flying by? It's already time for our reveal of the Release #4 images! Yes, yes, we have some New Year's images coming up on 11/1, which should give you plenty of time to create all those New Year's projects. I have some special projects to share with you this week so check back to see all the fun. Plus I have another special guest designer helping us out this month, so stay tuned to find out who it is...