Friday, February 8, 2013

Chinese New Year Blog Hop, the year of the Snake


Welcome to the Chinese New Year Blog Hop! I'm so glad you could join us. The Year of the Snake officially begins on Sunday, February 10th so be sure to wish all your Chinese friends longevity, happiness, wealth and good fortune during this two-week festival!
  
My traditions involve eating a lot of good food, and usually getting some new clothes.  Chinese New Year was a lot more fun when I was a kid because I would get money in little red envelopes from my parents/aunts/uncles/grandparents, etc.  You could make quite a lot of money on that day, and the great thing was that you were allowed to spend it on whatever you wanted.
 
Unfortunately, I am now married, and have to return the favor by giving red envelopes to my kids and parents/grandparents. Ellie has already asked me several times how much money she is going to get for Chinese New Year because she wants to make sure she has enough to buy a Barbie.  (SUPER!)

Anyway, back to the hop:  how 'bout a few cards using the free digis created especially for this occasion?  If you're not an expert in digis, never fear.  I'm not either.  My cards are very low-tech.  I used Powerpoint for each of my cards.

First, a couple of cards made with the free digi from Dalhouse Designs.  I love quilts, and when I was looking at the image it kind of reminded me of a quilt block.  The actual image has 2013 on it.  I just imported the image into Powerpoint and covered that up.  Then I printed a whole bunch of the blocks on red cardstock and cut them out.



Then the fun part - embossing!  Each of the red squares was embossed with clear embossing powder.  It was interesting to see the effect on the printed image...the embossing powder embossed differently on the printed image vice plain cardstock.  It's hard to see in the photo, but it added some extra texture.  That gold piece is also embossed.



I couldn't decide if I like the snakes pointed in our out, so I made one card in each style.  I used a sentiment from CTMH's Say it In Style set to finish it off.  
My final card uses the digi from Fresh Squeezed Stamps.

The image is printed on vellum, and then I used alcohol inks (my first time using these....it's so easy and so fun!) to add that blue color to the vellum.  The lanterns were colored in using a Faber-Castell big brush marker and Spectrum Noir markers.  Using a tip from my friend JJ, all of the color was added to the backside of the vellum.



I was a little concerned about tihs one - I might get in trouble with my mom since blue is not a color associated with happiness/blessings in Chinese culture (it's a funeral color), but I only have a few colors of alcohol ink right now, and I'm just going to pretend that it's sky.



Here's who you'll be hopping with this week for a chance to win one of five fabulous prizes listed below:  

Designers

Artists/Sponsors







You have until Friday, February 15th at 11:59 p.m. EST to comment or enter your digital project for a chance to win one of the five fabulous prizes. The winners will be chosen via Random.org and announced on Emily's blog  Saturday, February 16th. Winners will have until Friday, February 22nd at 11:59 p.m. to claim their prize. Second chance winners, if any, will be redrawn and announced on Saturday, February 23rd.

Many thanks to our digi artists and sponsors for their contribution to this blog hop. We loved using the artists' drawings and we know you will, too. Thanks to our generous sponsors, we have so many amazing prizes to give away. And thanks to Emily for organizing this fun hop!

Thank you so much for stopping by to celebrate with us! Now it's time to head on over to Pamela Ho's blog!!

Supplies Used
Cards 1&2
Paper/Cardstock - Recollections - Red Cardstock; CTMH - Black cardstock
Stamps:  Dalhouse Designs Digital; CTMH - Say it in Style
Ink:  Versamark
Other:  CTMH - Gold and Clear embossing Powder; Tombow - Mono Adhesive
Card 3
Paper/Cardstock - CTMH - White Daisy and Black cardstock; Recollections - Vellum
Stamps - Fresh Squeezed Stamps digi
Ink:  Ranger - Adirondack Alcohol Inks Butterscotch and Stream, Blending Solution; Faber-Castell - Scarlet Red Stamper's Big Brush Pen; Spectrum Noir Markers - CR11; CTMH - Cranberry Grosgrain ribbon; Tombow - Mono Adhesive and Vellum Adhesive

90 comments:

  1. Well, ya learn something every day! I think both cards are SUPER creative!

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  2. Miriam, I totally cracked up over Ellie's question about money so she can buy a Barbie! LOL Seriously though, your techniques amaze me. Loving the patterns you made with the Dahlhouse digi and wowzers on the blue background. Thank you so much for contributing your talent to this hop!!

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  3. How awesome! Love your creations, Miriam! Wish you a very Happy and Healthy New Year! Congrats on your happy E-mail from PC! What a great way to ring in the new year!

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  4. Beautiful cards, love the blue background on the second one even though blue is not a traditional celebration color. Still very gorgeous sky! Happy New Year!

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  5. GORGEOUS creations!!! That second card is STUNNING!!!! And I really enjoyed reading your post and learning about your traditions!! Happy New Year!

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  6. BEAUTIFUL cards! I especially love the second one! So gorgeous!!

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  7. Clever and beautiful!

    Kris in Alaska
    funamom at yahoo dot com

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  8. Beautiful cards! The first one is so elegant and the blue one is VERY pretty!

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  9. Fab use of those images, Miriam!

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  10. Great cards! How interesting that you could embossed an image from a computer print! Love the redness of the cards which is so great for this festive season! Wishing you and your family "Gong Xi Fa Cai"!

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  11. Oh! I LOVE these! The quilted look - I can't decide which one I like best either. They are fabulous! And what a cool idea to emboss the entire square. I must remember to try that.
    I hope your mom can forgive the unlucky blue - because my goodness, that card is gorgeous. The sky suits the silhouette & lanterns so perfectly!

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  12. Love the little lanterns. Bye Irene

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  13. Miriam, your cards are wonderful...

    Your girl cracks me up...she's got her Barbie priorities:)

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  14. These are beautiful!! I loveeeeeee the colors and love love love those lanterns on the second page!!!

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  15. Gorgeous cards. Love the embossing....so classy. hugs,x

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  16. Beautiful cards Miriam!! I love your alcohol ink background - that's something I haven't really played around with yet but the results look spectacular!

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  17. I love your blue background. I hope your mom approves; it's gorgeous!

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  18. Fab cards, Miriam! I miss celebrating Chinese New Year as kid. I love it when we get to visit family & friends and get that little red envelope. :)

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  19. Stunning cards-I especially love the red and turquoise colors on the second one!!

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  20. Great cards! I especially love the first one- what a cool design!

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  21. Love the cards! Esp. the vellum one-thanks for sharing :)

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  22. Love the beautiful and bold colors!

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  23. lovely cards. Thanks for sharing them during this hop!

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  24. what a great card! love the blue background... it's cool :)

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  25. wow your card is AMAZING... great blog hop.. Happy Chinese New Year

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  26. Your cards are gorgeous, both have different style and both are so beautiful. Wishing you a Happy Chinese New Year xxx

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  27. Absolutely LOVE your design and color choices with these cards!!!!! :)

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  28. Wish you and yours a very Happy New Year.
    Such a beautiful cards. I love the cherry blossom card a lot..

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  29. your sky is great - don't worry about the blue :)

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  30. Your cards are gorgeous....I love the quilt idea and how you can have two very unique patterns depending on which way the snake is oriented. I love the look of the alcohol ink on the vellum too...I haven't tried that yet, but will certainly have to now. Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year to you and your family.

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  31. what great cards!! the LO with the square snakes is a great idea, and I hope they're ok with the blue background because it looks so beautiful!! :D

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  32. I can't decide which of your cards I love better! The black and red is stunning but, I love the soothing colors in your lantern card too! Beautiful, both!!

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  33. Very beautiful cards. The snakes do make excellent quilt style patterns. I love the look the embossing gave them. :)

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  34. I love the quilt look, and the blue one is beautiful. I hope your Ellie gets enough money to buy her barbie!! :)

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  35. Very nice cards...love the quilted look of the first two and the rich red colour. You did such a great job on the last card...the blue is stunning and is a nice backdrop for the lanterns. Happy Chinese New year!

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  36. These are very cool! That last one is so elegant--I love the sky you've created.

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  37. These are both pretty and use fun techniques! I love the texture added my the embossing on your first two cards, and the second card is stunning! Love the idea of printing on vellum and great tip about coloring on the back side, never would have thought of this! Thanks!

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  38. Your cards are amazing. Thanks for sharing. And, a Happy New Year too.

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  39. Such wonderful cards for Chinese New Year! Your use of alcoholic inks looks great! Hugs, Hanneke

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  40. Gorgeous cards, Miriam! I love the different looks on the snake cards just by changing the pattern. And your alcohol ink background is stunning!

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  41. Miriam, both cards are gorgeous! Love how you did the sky and thanks for the tip for the vellum. So, how much will Emilie get this year? Hmmm, lots :-P

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  42. I love the sky effect on your card. It's gorgeous!!

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  43. Fabulous cards - I especially like the snake card - it is stunning- Happy New Year to you!

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  44. Happy New Year!
    Lovely cards.
    Sandra ltb

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  45. Oh my Miriam, you've done it again!!
    Where to begin?
    I adore your cards, no matter what direction the snakes are pointing to ;-)
    I also enjoy learning more about your traditions so please keep on sharing.
    (i didn't know about blue, i thought white was the color for funeral?)

    Anyway, I wish you a wonderful celebration, Barbie and all ;-)

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  46. Great cards. Hope you don't get into trouble for the colour. TFS.

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  47. Great cards! I really love the black & red together!

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  48. Wow, these are two absolutely amazing cards! The embossing on the first card is so interesting the way it worked on the printed snakes! The second card is beautiful... even with the blue sky. ;)

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  49. Gorgeous designs, Miriam. I love that you played around with the alcohol inks, too. I love this whole idea of showcasing Chinese New Year. All the best to you and your family as you celebrate. Hope Ellie gets her Barbie!

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  50. These are fabulous designs Miriam! Is this what you were making with black embossing powder? :)

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  51. Great cards- love the spiral patters on those snakes and your lanterns card is so pretty! Thanks for sharing! :) & Happy New Year!

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  52. It does look like the sky. Beautiful!

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  53. My husband's name is Andrew too but we only have a daughter! This will be her second Chinese New Year and I hope she will enjoy this as much as I did as a child. Love your cards! The first one was my favorite! TFS!

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  54. Miriam~you did an amazing job with colors and textures here!

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  55. Love your cards Miriam esp. the vellum one. Happy New Year!!

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  56. beautiful cards! love the gorgeous background on the vellum! ;D

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  57. Miaiam these cards are awesome...thank you for for sharing!!!

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  58. Miriam- very creative using PowerPoint to cover up unwanted portions of the image!!! I'm gonna try that! Thanks for sharing your incredible cards!

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  59. i love the blue card, it is beautiful

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  60. awesome creation... love the colors...

    morentin1326ATaolDOTcom
    adventureofthecreativemind.blogspot.com

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  61. awesome creation... love the colors...

    morentin1326ATaolDOTcom
    adventureofthecreativemind.blogspot.com

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  62. Three great cards. Like you, I can't decide if I like the snakes in the centre or outer corners - both ways look great. I love the lantern card.

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  63. Love the black, red and gold. I too love quilts...;). Happy New Years,

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  64. Gung Hay Fat Choy! Love your snake quilted card!

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  65. Both cards are very nice. It's good to know that a print out image does emboss well on cardstock and thanks for sharing the vellum coloring trick with us too! Happy New Year!

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  66. These are amazing Miriam! Absolutely fantastic! Kung Hei Fat Choi!

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  67. the one with blue background catch my eyes...adorable cards all...Happy Chinese New Year...

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  68. Very cool! I love the background on the card with the lanterns!

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  69. Happy New Year Miriam! I hope the year of the snake is a good one for you and that you get lots of red envelopes and Ellie gets her Barbie (LOL, so cute!) Your cards are beautiful - I have never embossed digi images before (cool effect!) and I love the look of the alcohol inks on the vellum to create that pretty blue background behind the pretty red lanterns. Thanks for all the inspiration!

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  70. Miriam, thank you for sharing with us. I am so thrilled to hear about Ellie's question, I was just like that when I was a kid. Back to business, your techniques are motivating me to try digis.

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  71. These are fab! love the design!

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  72. Thanks for sharing! I never knew the vellum tip- guess I'll have to try it-

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  73. Fabulous cards! Love how you alternate the digit stamp to create your own style!!

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  74. OMG! I really like both cards! How did you manage to design the embossing part of the 1st card? It's awesome! And of course, the background of the 2nd card is simply stunning! great work!

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  75. What wonderful cards that show your big range of talents! I love them both, the quilt-style and the amazingly colored vellum. Wishing you and your all the best and thanks for sharing with us!

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  76. Gorgeous cards! I like the first one a teeny bit more ;)
    Happy New Year!

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  77. What a fun take on that snake, Miriam! Happy Chinese New Year; all the best in the year of the snake!

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  78. Oooh, I love your first card with the clean graphic look and your first attempt at using alcohol ink on the second is a rousing success! Both beautiful cards!

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  79. beautiful embossed snake card!!love it

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  80. WOW! Great cards and great idea for a blog hop!! Happy New Year!!

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  81. I laughed about what you said about the blue. I used white as the card base and when my mom saw it, she said it's really bad for CNY XD

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  82. Gorgeous cards! That red and black combo is so striking!
    DeniseB

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  83. Thanks for this post sharing
    http://www.stmag.info/chinese-new-year-2015-second-day/

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