Hopping In with the New Year of the Rabbit

The Year of the Rabbit officially began on the the 22nd of January 2023. I had hoped to make some cute bunny themed red envelopes (lai si) and a Chinese New Year card but just like the rabbit in Aesop's Tortoise and Hare fable, I relaxed a bit too much during the holidays and it was too late when I finally started hopping to it. Fortunately,  I have wonderful, talented friends that always come up with the best fun and creative projects to share!

My very punctual and reliable crafty friend Bev sent us this super cute My Melody themed card a week prior to Chinese New Year. It was a good thing that she did because it was her card that finally inspired me to start working on my Chinese New Year cooky boxes.

With only a week left to come up with a box to share my almond cookies this year, I knew it had to be something that would be quick and easy. Sanrio's adorable My Melody bunny was the perfect answer! To make her card, Bev told me she used a Chinese New Year image of Hello Kitty to create her cut file, then swapped Hello Kitty's head with My Melody's head. I thought that was ingenius! So I did the same for the My Melody paper piecing too.

No time to design a new box style so I decided to use the same flip top box template that I had already created a file for a few years ago for Valentines Day.

My Melody's paper pieced body was attached to the box base and her head to the flip top lid. Each box had the capacity to hold 8 to 10 medium sized almond cookies.

As a final touch, I used the Print and Cut feature to add a print and stencil cut label to the back of the boxes.

This fun Chinese New Years Firecracker treat holder designed by Lorna once again shows her amazing creative prowess of thinking ouside the box. For this treat holder, Lorna cut Chinese red envelopes (lai si), rolled them into tubes and hung them from a wooden dowel to look like a string of firecrackers. She then very cleverly glued pony beads to the bottom of a condiment cup filled with treats as a stand to hold the wooden dowel in place. Love that cute little bunny dressed in a Mandarin jacket and the pretty gold blossoms at the base of the dowel.   

Thank you for stopping by today. Sending wishes for a New Year full of good health and prosperity to all!

"HOP"py New Year of the Rabbit

2023 is the Lunar Year of the Rabbit which promises to be a year of harmony and diplomacy with a focus on creativity and appreciation of the arts. Sounds like great year to be a crafter! 

This is the card I made to enclose my refrigerator magnet calendars and send to family and friends in celebration of the New Year. I used Make the Cut design program to cut a shaped window so the rabbit on the calendar inside could be seen on the front of the card. I also added an illustration of Japanese mizuhiki and a New Years greeting below it, using the Print and Cut function.

Each calendar was put into  a clear plastic sleeve and adhered to the inside of the card with double stick tape. I added our New Years sentiment underneath the window on the left.

I got the rabbit, pine and bamboo images to decorate my calendar from the Japanese digital image website, Pixta. Images were converted into layered svg files and cut using the Silhouette Cameo. Decorative plum blossoms and pine image on rabbit's body was done using the Print and Cut function.  

For the plum blossom backdrop behind the rabbit, I used a simple 5 petal shaped flower and ran it through Mpress Mystic Clouds embossing folder to add texture. Arial font was used to create the cut file for the "2023".Papers used include washi paper as a mat for the calendar togher with pearlescent and gold foil cardstocks for the paper pieced embellishments.

At the last minute I decided to add a recent family photo to the backside of the card, mostly since I was feeling a little guilty about not sendimg any cards out this past Christmas.These New Years cards doubled as our Christmas cards and thank you cards as well.

Before I close I'd also like to share another New Year/thank you card and a couple adorable New Year treats from friends.

This super cool NewYear card which doubled as a thank you card was designed by my dear friend, Bev. I love the pretty washi paper she chose for the front of the card and loved the fun pop up surprise inside even more! Bev used Karen Burniston's Parcel Pop Up mechanism to animate her card such that the traditional kagami mochi and tangerine rises up to the top of the "sanpo" pedestal as the card is opened... this is SO COOL! 

These two super kawaii Year of the Rabbit Daruma treat boxes were created by my sweet crafty friend, Lorna. The cute daruma with a carrot on her head held a container of white rice and the red daruma was filled with yummy Japanese candies. Of the twelve lunar zodiac animals, the Year of the Rabbit just might be the cutest of all, with so many adorable crafty possibilities!