Blossoms everywhere....

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More stripe designs hehehehe......funny how I don't get bored doing it. LOL! This is another order I got from my regular customer. And as usual, I was given the chance to do whatever design I like. :) This design is a combination of that small design and the big design I did...hehehe.....except I didn't put any leaves on the flowers for this one. Because it will probably look too crowded.

I do like the pop up though.....because this time I popped up the wordings too! Not just the flowers with the vase, but yes, the wordings too. So that's a little different coming from me this time. It's all simple...nothing complicated. I just didn't have enough time to do something complicated because of the work load I'm having to deal with this month. It's just crazy lately over here hehehe......Well I hope you guys love this design as much as I do. I think it looks cheerful.....lots and lots of colors there. :)

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Ribbon inspired.....

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At last....I get to post these two Chinese New Year cards tonight......I had problems doing so this morning. My PC is acting up again!! Urrrrgggghhh!! I hate it when that happens. But what can I do, I just have to be patient and wait till the time is right for me to get me a new one. In the mean time, I am grateful for this PC, for it has helped me a lot with my small online business :)

Ok, now......lets talk about the CNY cards. :) I made two.....one with stripes and the other without. Somehow I kinda like the one without. Why? Because for me it's already pretty without the stripes. I thought to myself, the cherry blossoms ribbon itself is enough. I bought the ribbon a few weeks ago, just so that I can use it for this occasion. It has cherry blossom flowers on it. Lovely! Quite big too! I bought a few types including a couple for Valentines Day. I hope I can show you the Valentines Day cards soon. If all is good with this PC, hopefully I can do that. LOL!

I have not decided on the pop up yet for these cards. I have no idea what to do. Perhaps a seven pop up flower would be suitable too. Like the one I did last year. It does match with the designs of these cards. Well.....what do you guys think? :)

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Cherry blossoms...

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Thought of something really really simple for this year's Chinese New Year card last night. But I also thought of something complicated heheheh. The complicated ones I will post later on. For now, lets talk about this easy one. :) This easy one was made using a small note size card. About 10.4cm x 14.7cm in size. I used to love making cards using cards this size but nowadays when I look at it I realize how small the card is hehehe! Maybe because I've been so used to designing cards that are bigger in size lately.

I bought this new flower craft punch last year. I think it's a Unicorn brand craft punch. Anyways, it's super fun to use as it's really sharp. I love the cherry blossom pattern a lot. It's really pretty. All I did was just scatter the flowers on the cards, nothing challenging about it at all. Added some leaves next to the flowers and walla!! It's done! hehehe! I only added some glitter glue to add that special touch to it. I also made a simple pop up inside the card. It's a simple pop up that I cut so that I could weave the stalks of cherry blossoms in between it. :)

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Red cherry blossoms pop up card

See how the flowers pop up when the card is opened! I just love how it looks! :)

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I must say that this must be my most favorite Chinese New Year cards for this year....I simply adore it because this is one of my experiments with making pop up flowers. I've done the simple pop up lotus flower already and now I've done the seven flowers pop up card! Yay! I've changed the flowers a bit, plus I added some decorations on the inside of the flowers to make it look like a cherry blossom. I just love watching it bloom up when I open the card!! It's so exciting! :) Funny how simple things like this can excite me so much! Silly me! hehehe! LOL!

I made this design on a smaller sized card, but it can also be done on a bigger sized card, no problem at all......this is because the flowers can be made in different sizes according to the size of the card. This card comes with a matching soft pink handmade envelope.

Thank you so much to my dear friends who have inspired me to do this!! Appreciate it so much......especially to Michael.... :) I wouldn't have dared to do this without your support!!! LOL!

Have a look at this Youtube video tutorial below and also a step by step instruction  from Carol of Extreme Cards and Paper crafting blog on how to make your own seven flower pop up card! Check it out!

 http://extremecards.blogspot.com/2008/05/seven-flower-pop-up-card.html

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Lotus flower pop up card

The pop up lotus in full bloom

Top view of the pop up lotus

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I was finding a pop up card design that I thought would be suitable for a Chinese New Year card and so I thought, why not do a lotus pop up.....? I searched for the simplest one I could find in the net that has a video tutorial for me to learn from. And so I found one! It was the simplest one of all!

One thing about pop up cards is that not only do you have to think of the design for the inside of the card, but you also have to think about the design you have to do on the front of the card! Double work! I just couldn't think of a good one for the lotus pop up.....and ended up doing this design that you see here......it's pretty simple....nothing outstanding about it except for the dragonfly which I thought is a cutie! hehehe! First time I am doing that too....never done a dragonfly before.....I just drew it out on paper and cut it up and pasted it on the card....decorated it with some glitters.....

The lotus flower for the front of the card was cut out by hand as well.....and I arranged it one by one on the card to form a lotus.....does it look like one guys??? hehehe hopefully it does! :D The card comes with a soft pink handmade envelope too and on the inside of the card, it has ample space below the lotus flower for you to write on personal wishes :)

Here is a pop up lotus flower video tutorial for you to watch and try out yourself! Check it out!

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Mandarin firecrackers!!

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What would Chinese New Year be like without firecrackers...? No Chinese New Year celebration will be complete without it. I wanted to do the firecracker motif this year for my CNY cards......tried making one of those Mandarin firecrackers with paper hehehe....and gave it some dimension. Created a spark at the end of the string to show that it has been lit and all ready to fire up! :) It's very simple and very spontaneously done.....

I chose the tall slim cards again for this particular design....it suits the design well. The inside of the card is left blank for writing on personal wishes and it comes with a soft pink handmade envelope too.

Here are some information regarding to Mandarin firecrackers that I got from the net:
Did you know that this Mandarin crackers produced a less loud, duller thud when they exploded, compared to modern flash light crackers (which utilize a different explosive composition known as flash powder). Mandarin crackers produced a dimmer, less brilliant flash when they exploded also. Individual Mandarin crackers were most often braided into "strings" of varying lengths, which, when set afire, would explode in rapid sequence. Generally, the strings (sometimes containing as many as several thousand crackers) would be hung from an overhead line or high hook before being ignited. Most Mandarin crackers were colored all red and did not generally have designs or logos decorating their exterior surface (AKA a "shell wraps"). Occasionally a few yellow and green Mandarin crackers were created and would be braided into the predominantly all red strings, to symbolized the emperor and the ruling class, while the numerous red crackers symbolized the common man.

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Falling Cherry Blossoms....

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This is my first Chinese New Year card design for this year....there are a few more coming soon.. :) I really like this particular design for it's simplicity. Just a simple drawing of a few branches with cherry blossoms and having some of the blossoms fall on the ground.

For this design I am using a tall slim card, which makes it suitable for this design. In order to make it look like the blossoms fell from the tree, I would need a tall card to match the idea. This card too already has a simple wish printed on the inside of the card with 2 other layers of pink and red paper as part of the decoration. It has a matching soft pink handmade envelope too! :)

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Chinese lanterns....

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I am so excited about this design :) as I have never made a Chinese lantern before...how cool! Another fun project :).

Raising the red lantern is a tradition that began in China back in the 1600's during the Qing Dynasty. Chinese red lanterns are a symbol of happiness and good luck. These traditional Chinese paper lanterns are used on the fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year for the Lantern Festival, are bright, colorful, and in many different sizes and shapes, but mostly they will be red in color.

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Mandarin oranges...

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I got this cute idea to make a Chinese New Year card using mandarin oranges as a subject matter. Did you know........... that the mandarin oranges are the most popular and the most abundant fruit during Chinese New Year. Piles of oranges and mandarin oranges with leaves attached go on sale in the weeks before the New Year. Both oranges and mandarin oranges are round golden fruits surrounded by emerald leaves. Their shape and color symbolize the sun and connect with the yang principle, which represent the positive element and generative force in nature. Thus oranges are considered auspicious fruits and important symbols of the New Year.

The name of the fruit is gut in Cantonese, and therefore it symbolizes good fortune (dai gut). It is an important item for the household. At the New Year, a pair of mandarin oranges, together with a red envelope of money, is placed next to the pillow of every child in the family. This stands for dai gut lai see "good fortune and good business". The same items are placed on top of the chuen hop, the circular box, containing New Year's preserves and candies, as well as the family rice container, to bring good fortune for the home. Dishes of oranges are also placed in front of altars and on top of New Year's gifts for one's friends. Mandarin oranges are used as a "return" gift when one is given a New Year present. These are some infos I got about the mandarin oranges and what it symbolizes for the New Year....

So go and spread some wealth and good fortune to others with this cute card during this new year! :)

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Plum blossoms

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This yellow CNY card of red plum blossoms with a pinkish edge to it.....a real contrast to the yellow background of the card...with a matching red handmade envelope that has a red blossom at the back of it! :)

A striking red card with a soft pink matching handmade envelope added with a blossom at the back of the envelope...

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Don't you just love those plum blossoms?? So pretty when they blossom on the tree...I just love looking at them. My attempt to make Chinese New Year cards this year starts with this plum blossom motif. I love making cards with flower motifs and this one gives me great pleasure to design and produce. Each flower on these cards are hand cut using just plain scissors and layered with another paper beneath it and cut again for the second time. Only the flower buds are cut out using a paper puncher.

I made simple wordings for the cards on the outside and blank on the inside...I really enjoyed making these blossoms... :) . So much fun!

These are some facts I got from the net about the plum blossoms :). Did you know.........that it is customary for Chinese to decorate their homes with blossoms during Chinese New Year? For without flowers there will be no formation of fruit. The southern Chinese have a tradition of displaying a blossoming of peach tree or plum tree at home during the Chinese New Year, and immigrants have continued this custom. In Hong Kong and Canton, thousands upon thousands of peach and plum trees are sold in the annual New Year Flower Fair , and the Chinese buy these trees just as others would buy pine trees or fir trees to celebrate Christmas. The Chinese believe that blossoming flowers will bring prosperity (huakai fugui) therefore considerable care is taken in choosing these trees, so that many of the buds will bloom on New Year's Day. :)

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