Here in Silicon Valley the Chinese New Year is celebrated almost as much as Valentine’s Day. Next year is the year of the dragon, so there are lots of dragon toys and dragon-shaped sweets in stores right now. The Lunar New Year is on February 10, 2024. Traditionally red and gold are associated with the Lunar New Year.

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Mama Elephant has a Lion Dance Stamp Set that works well for the Lunar New Year. I started by stamping two of the dragons and a little boy and girl in Ranger Ink Archival Coffee on watercolor paper. I watercolored them with Distress Mica Sprays, mainly in the shades Flickering Candle for the yellow fur accents and Yuletide for the flat surfaces. For this I used a #2 brush.

When the watercolors were dry, I cut out the images with the coordinating die set. I also cut out duplicates from Accent Opaque and layered them for stability and dimension.

Cardbase & Matting

I created my cardbase by scoring a sheet of Accent Opaque across the short side and then cutting it lengthwise to get two top-folding A2 cards.

I also cut a card front to be 4” by 5.25”. Finally I cut red foil cardstock to 4. 125” by 5. 375” for a shiny, thin, red border around the card front. I layered the card front and the red foil mat.

Sentiments

The stamp set I took my sentiments from is called Lunar Sayings. It’s also from Mama Elephant. As I don’t read Chinese, it’s great that the stamp set includes translations.

I figured out my layout and decided on the sentiments. Then I stamped them in Ranger Ink Archival Red Geranium. It’s a great stamping ink, not just for Chinese New Year, but also for the winter holidays.

Assembly

I popped up the dragons and glued down the children on the stamped card front before adhering it to the cardbase. Finally I scattered a few Ruby Radiance Rhinestones across the card. And that finishes this clean & simple New Year’s card.

Happy New Year of the Dragon!