Sister Stamps Release #16: Year of the Ox

It's time for Sister Stamps Release #16, and included with this newest release are the Chinese Zodiac Year of the Ox and Year of the Tiger stamps. Today I'm sharing an anniversary card I created using the new Year of the Ox stamp together with the Year of the Rat stamp (from Release #14). 

When my daughter and son in law were first dating, we were pleased to learn that he was born in the Year of the Ox, a good match (according to Chinese astrology) for her, who was born in the Year of the Rat. LOL, I know it sounds silly but coming from Asian roots, our family tends to hold on to these traditional beliefs. In fact, there is a very cute folk legend about the Chinese zodiac animals which explains how the clever Rat got to be the first and the strong, kindhearted Ox became the second animal in the 12 year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac. (Click on the link to read the story)

For this card, I decided to color the Ox and Rat in nontraditional fun colors to give it a whimsical feel...remember Paul Bunyan's blue ox? (I think this ox is waaaay cuter!) The Chinese character behind them is the Chinese symbol for "shuang xi" or "double happiness". MTC was used to create the cutfile for the symbol, cut in red cardstock and sprayed with Tsukineko Sparkle spritz.

Placed the symbol and stamped images onto gold cardstock and washi paper and onto a gatefold style card...

...and to keep the gatefold nicely closed, I added little square tabs to top and bottom on the right side of the card to slip into the gap on left side of the card.

The gatefold card opens...

...with some interesting Chinese astrology info on  relationship compatibility between the Ox and Rat...

...And this flips open for the anniversary greeting inside.

 

I guess this card would also work as a fun and novel kind of wedding card, by using the Chinese zodiac animals of the year the bride and groom were born.

Hope you've had the chance to pop in at the Sister Stamps blog to see the adorable sea creatures in this newest release and possibly even win one! And please check out the Design Team blogs for some fabulous inspiration on what you can create with these new stamps:

 

Jenny: Sister Stamps Official Blog

Debi:   Crafty Buzz

Eva:     Crafting This And That

Kerry:  Kerry's Chilling

Patti:    Creations By Patti

Laura:  By TKG

Linda:  Simple and Sassy Creations

Linda on You Tube: Lfundoo's Channel