Another Chinese New Year Card!

Another Chinese New Year card today to share with you, probably the last one for this year. I actually made a couple of them but didn't get to take the pictures as I was sending them out overseas and time was pretty tight. It usually takes 3 weeks for my family and friends to receive them so I had to get them out the mail as quickly as I could.

Sharing with you today is a card made using Crafter's Companion products. Downtown Abbey collection die and Sheena's A Little Bit Oriental stamps! For a complete list of supplies used, see the end of post. I first use Sparkle Pens to create the red and gold background on a watercolor paper then overlay it with cutout from Downtown Abbey die. The border in red is also created using Sparkle Pen. For the lantern and sentiment, they were printed and foiled using Heidi Swapp Minc machine, I simply love the sparkly gold effect!

Supplies:

- Downtown Abbey Ornamental Screen Die

- Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens

- Crafter's Companion Watercolour Cardstock

- Kimono Blossom Branch Die

Others:

- Heidi Swapp Machine

- Gold Foil

Foiling on Matching Card and Envelope

Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas / Holidays! Can't believe we are in the new year already and what's coming next is the Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year! The Lunar New Year falls on the 28th of January this year (it's different each year referring to the Lunar Calendar). So I make some cards with matching envelopes to be sent to my family who live on the other side of the planet (I miss them dearly!). 

To those of you who are curious about why red is the color? In Chinese culture red symbolizes good fortune, joy and prosperity. Which is why red packets/envelopes and Chinese New Year cards are usually in red. 

First I printed some Koi images on a cardstock with my laser printer (only the toner from laser printer will work with the foiling process). I then run the images through Heidi Swapp foiling machine with gold foil sheet). Next step would be coloring the foiled images using Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers. Fussy-cut the images out for use on the card, apply double-sided foam tapes on the back of the cutouts and position them on the card for a dimensional look.

For the envelopes, I printed the same image on the corner of my envelopes using my laser printer then I run it through the foiling machine as shown below. The foil sheet should be placed over the printed image, note that all printed area should be completely covered with foil or the toner will stick to the transfer folder (the clear plastic shown in picture). Also, make sure there is no small particle in between the printed cardstock and the foil sheet or it will result in unevenly foiled image. Choosing the right paper/cardstock is also very important in foiling, I researched and learned that cardstock with smooth/glossy surface will give a perfect smooth and sleek (spotless) foiled surface compared to a textured one.

See picture below for before and after the foiling, don't you just love the sparkly gold? It's so cool to receive this in the mail! And it matches the card, how I wish someone would send me one! :)

For the address label, I used the Avery label you can find in CutCardStock store. Did you know you can print the labels on Avery website? Besides, they are a lot of free templates you can choose from. I also just found out you can choose to print on certain labels on the page instead of the whole sheet of 30 labels! This is good when you only want to print few labels for one per person and use the rest for different addresses. 

I hope you like this project, I will be back to share more project ideas soon! Happy crafting!

Supplies:

  

DIY Red Packets for CNY!

Hello all! I'm back today with another CNY project, red packet/envelope! They are usually given out during Chinese New Year (by married couples) to friends and family who come to visit or when we visit them (only to those who are still single). My mom used to give them out to all of us right after CNY eve dinner. Money will be put in the red packet and it carries the meaning "money warding off evil spirits".

So here it is! Check out the tutorial below to make these. 

Supplies:
- Craftwell Cut 'n' Boss Machine
- Craftwell Teresa Collins A4 Embossing Folder - Bella Rose
- Craftwell Teresa Collins Die Collection - Girl's Best Friend Collection
- Floral Patterned Paper
- 6 x 6.5" Red Card Stock (to make one red packet)
- Scoring Board

Directions:

Step 1: Place 6 x 6.5" red card stock on the scoring board (portrait) and score at 1/2" and 5", rotate card stock 90 degree to the left and score at 1/2" and 6".

Step 2: Trim the scored card stock to the following shape.

Step 3: Round the opening/closing flap for the packet with corner punch (optional)

Step 4: Emboss the red card stock with a floral design embossing folder and prepare flower die-cuts. 

Tips: Always secure your metal dies with a piece of tape especially if you are using multiple dies at one time. This is to avoid the dies shift position and accidentally overlay your other die while cutting or shifting away from the cut area).

Step 5: Fold along the scored lines and glue the red card stock to form a packet. Finally, embellish the red packets with the flower cut-outs. 

That's it! I hope you enjoy the tutorial and will have fun making these. They are so cute and I can't wait to give them out on Chinese New Year day. 

Have a great day! - Alexia

Chinese New Year Banner with Tutorial!

Hello! I don't know how many of you celebrate Chinese New Year but I'm for one very looking forward to this day. It's the year of Monkey and this year it falls on the 8th of February (yep, it's different each year depending on the lunar calendar). When I was young the celebration was huge, everyone would come home for the Chinese New Year Eve dinner - reunion dinner. But ever since I got married (especially when I'm so far away from home) I don't feel that kind of excitement anymore. There is no "reunion dinner" because I will not be around my mom and siblings. 

However, this year I want to change it up a little bit, I want my children to know what part of their culture is - being half Chinese. So we will be taking them to see the parade this year (if the weather permits!) and get involved in other CNY activities. My first project was to create this banner so I can decorate the living room, bring on the festivity! The characters "万事如意" means: Wish you the best of everything or hope everything goes your way. 

Supplies:
- Craftwell Cut 'n' Boss Machine
- Laser Printer
- Laminator / MINC Machine
- Four 8 x 6 red card stocks
- Four 8 x 5.5" patterned card stocks 
- White card stocks (for making the doilies)
- Gold Foil Transfer Sheet
- Doilies Die
- Circle Die 
- Flower Embossing Folder
- Red Ribbon
- Bows

Step 1: Use your laser printer,print the Chinese characters on a red card stock (make sure to leave some space between each characters). Please see attachments for template.

Step 2: Cut squares of gold foil and layer it on top of each characters, make sure to cover the entire print area. If you prefer, secure the gold foil with a piece of tape to keep it in place. 

Insert the red card stock with goil foil (one at a time) into a folded A4 paper (like a sandwich!)

Step 3: Run the A4 sandwich through the laminator.

Here is what you will get...sparkly! Remember to cut each character out in circle shape (use circle die if you have one!)

Step 4: Make the doilies die-cuts with Cut 'n' Boss and emboss the patterned papers

Step 5: Adhere the embossed patterned papers on top of the red card stocks, then cut fish tail shape on each of them.

Step 5: Adhere the characters to the doilies. Then apply double-sided foam tapes on the back of the doilies and adhere it to the patterned paper. Finally, punch holes on the each banner piece and string the ribbon through the punched holes. 

That's it! I hope you like the project!