"Gong Si Fa Tsai!"

Morning friends!

I have some exciting news to share.  Jenny from Sister Stamps asked me to help her and Debi with the previews for Release #4, Chinese New Year stamps!  I was so over the moon when she asked.  I have been a big fan of these wonderful stamps even before they were available.  If you have been over to the Sister stamps blog you already know what to look forward to with Jenny's wonderful creations.  Over the next three days, Jenny, Debi and I will be previewing all three images.  Yay!  Jenny's very talented sister went all out and gave us some really wonderfully themed images to help ring in the Year of the Dragon!  They are one of a kind, and so fun to play with, especially when you think about there not being very many cute images for Chinese New Year.  You'll probably see a lot of reds, golds, blacks and tons of glitter.  It's definitely a celebration!  So sit back and get ready for some fun!

First up for me is Kiyoko playing with some sparklers.  The giving of red envelopes or Lai See, aka lucky money, is part of the Chinese New Year tradition.  Here is a fun fact I found on the web:

Chinese Red Envelope Tradition- Part Of A Custom Of Showering Blessings

It is a tradition that during the Chinese New Year, the young generation of the family is given money in Chinese New Year red envelopes to pray for their abundance. It is considered that both recipient and giver benefit from this custom of giving Chinese New Year red envelopes. The elders who give money open doors for new cash flow in their lives and wish that the youngsters enjoy complete opulence. Red color symbolizes fire and it is believed that it wards off all the negativities and insufficiencies from one’s life. This Chinese red envelope tradition is a part of an important custom followed in China called Lai See in which money is given in the form of gift on all the special occasions. It is believed that this combination of red envelope and money brings in good luck. 

I have been fortunate to have been a recipient of Lai See or lucky money given to me by some of my married Chinese friends.   I am also very fortunate to work for a pretty popular Chinese restaurant chain and we have been lucky enough to receive Lai See from the owners each year.   I asked one of my co-workers to help me write some popular Chinese New Year words and I made them in to banners to decorate my red envelope.   In the center is Kiyoko and her sparklers.  The banner on the left reads New Year and Happiness or Happy, aka Happy New Year.   The middle banner reads Gong Si (Congratulations) Fa Tsai (Wealth, Prosperity) and the banner on the end reads Dragon and Year or Year of the Dragon.  I wrote in the year.  To "anchor" the banners to the paper I used bright yellow floss.  Punched out 8 black 5-petal flowers with gold suns in the center and to add a fun touch I popped some gold dots on each of the banners using a gold Pearl pen.  Here is the front of the evelope:

I stamped and cut out Kiyomi, minus the sparklers.  Once I finished coloring her and put the finishing touches on the envelope, I stamped her again in the center and then mounted the colored version of her on top of her outline.  I used Stickles for her sparklers.  Not sure if you can see it, but I tried to show the light from the sparklers casting a glow on her.   Here is a close up, it's not really that pronounced, but it's there I swear!  (hahaha)

I might be a very busy gal with these CNY stamps once my co-workers find out I have them.  It should be fun to see how many will want to create their own envelopes using this cutie or any of the other images.  Now I just have to figure out who to give this to...  Hmmm...  :)

Well I hope you like the first up in a 3-day long preview.  Don't forget to stop by Sister Stamps and Debi's blogs for a chance to win these cute stamps.  Release #4 will be available on Tuesday, November 1st.  For a list of vendors check out the side bar on the Sister Stamps blog.

Xie xie for stopping by!!  Have a wonderful Saturday!

Hugs,

Leanne