Chinese New Year - The Year of The Snake

Happy New Year!  February 10th  is the beginning of the Year of The Snake.

 

 Chinese legend tells of a man eating mountain beast that came out every winter to feast on humans. People used loud noises, like fireworks, and bright colours, particularly red, to frighten him away. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations.

  Lucky money envelopes are given to children at New Year, they are always red as this symbolises good luck.

  The card has been cut to have three layers and three mats, this technique is known as triple time / layer stamping because all three (in this case two) layers are stamped at the same time to carry the images over the layers. Tack all three top layers together as they will be eventually and stamp, once decoration is finished gently separate the layers and re build to include the mats and the images will appear complete again.

  I have used a firework stamp and gold embossing powder for the background. Then an oriental style greeting that is meant to be the symbol for luck (I do apologise if this is not correct) on the centre panel along with a triple embossed coin. I stamped the coin on a separate piece of card and built up three layers of UTEE. Then while the last layer was still soft I stamped my coin, which was covered with Archival black ink, into it to make a deep impression. Once cold I cut out the coin and stuck it on the centre panel below the greeting.

  I love the striking simplicity of much of the oriental art and craft, sometimes less really is more. If you can't find the products on the J&C website give them a call, they're always happy to help.
 

Products used:

Red card / Black card

Bright Gold embossing Powder

Ultra Thick Bright Gold embossing powder

Stamps - Firework / Symbol / Coin

Ink - Perfect Medium / Archival Black

Rocky.