Saturday, January 21, 2012

Chinese New Year Blog Hop (Day 1)!!

Chinese New Year Hop
Chinese New Year Blog Hop 
January 22-23, 2012 
Year of the Dragon
   
Ni hao!...and WELCOME to the Chinese New Year Blog Hop! This hop is in honor of Alex, the little boy my friend April's family recently adopted from Taiwan. To celebrate his culture, we want to share some Chinese-inspired projects with you (although I didn't fully understand this expectation at first, so this first project that I have to share with you for day one of this two-day hop is more "New Year"-themed than it is Chinese-inspired, so I hope that's okay and that you will enjoy it anyway)! I will be sending this card to April and her family next week to congratulate them on their "brand-new addition"!! :)

If you arrived here from Dena's blog then you are in the right place! If you just joined us, you can also go back to April's blog at www.curlsandgrins.blogspot.com to see everyone's amazing creativity 
from the start of the hop!

For my project today I created this standard-size card...
(remember, you can click on my image to see it up-close!)
My card features products that are all from Close to my Heart! I used the Hooray Bouquet D1491 stamp set with the Roxie papers X7140B. The flowers were cut from our fantastic Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge that allowed me to cut my paper to perfectly fit the images I stamped on them (no scissors needed)! The "dry-embossed and then sanded with sand-paper" leaves and frame were also cut using this "must-have" cartridge! To create the "cracked glass" effect, I applied liquid glass about 1/8" thick to fill in the entire oval shape inside the frame (I did this after I stamped the sentiment; and make sure you use a permanent or pigment based ink for stamping as I didn't do here, water-based inks can bleed under the liquid glass and you may notice that my ink did run just a little bit). You can use a pin to poke any air bubbles that you might get as you are applying the liquid glass also. Then I let it dry over-night. To crack it, I simply put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes to get it nice and cold, then I removed it and bent my cardstock in different directions to create all the various cracks. Then I used a sponge-dauber with a Desert Sand ink pad to swirl the color over the cracks and let the color soak in. Wipe with a clean tissue to remove any extra ink residue and...you're done creating "cracked glass"!

We have some great blog candy to offer from April Nourse and PSA Essentials. To be eligible, you must simply comment on each blog on each day's post. We'd love for you to become a follower of each of our blogs too!
 THANK YOU for stopping by and
Happy Chinese New Year everyone!
Your next stop is Theresa's blog! Enjoy!!

17 comments:

Ellen Jarvis said...

Very nicely done card!

Fondly,
Ellen ♥ CardMonkey
http://cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com
E-mail: cardmonkey@comcast.net

JaniceA said...

Pretty card, love your bow and the bling on the flowers.
janiceaeschliman.blodspot.com

Edwina said...

Thank you for telling about liquid glass and how to get the cracked affect.I had never heard of it before, but I like how it looks. I love the colors you used on your card.The plaid paper is so nice! I love plaids.They are so hard to find too. i thought you made the sentiment look like that on purpose. It looks good. Thanks for sharing. Edwina Brown edwinabrown@comcast.net

Ashley Nicole said...

Cute. Nice being in the hop with you.
Ashley
http://theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com

Stacey Brucale said...

This is cute! I love the colors and that ribbon.

Her Craftiness (Lynne) said...

Great card and wonderful colors!! Pleasure hopping with you!
Hugs, Love, and Pixie Dust
Lynne

Unknown said...

Great card. TFs
Debbie
http://craftywizard.blogpsot.com

sunflower sue said...

Kung Hee Fat Choy! Such a beautiful card! :)

Unknown said...

I loveeeeeeeeeeeee this card, it is georgous!!! I really like the crackle look!!! I will have to get some!
Beautiful , just beautiful
I am a new follower!
www.scrapbookingforbeginners-naomi.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Very pretty card and I so want to get that cart!! Thanks
Cindy
cindilu2u at gmail dot com

Krista's Paper Cafe said...

Pretty Card for the New Year.
Gung hay fat choy!
KristaInMN at gmail dot com

Aim said...

How pretty!! Love the colors and design!! :)

Amy :) at www.lovetocrop.com

ibecircled.blogspot.com said...

awesome card and thanks for sharing the cool idea for the cracked glass look!! I am a new follower here!!! TFS!!

http://ibecircled.blogspot.com
ilovetonkinese2 at hotmail dot com
Rexann♥

Anita Braddock said...

What a great Card. love the colors and the papers. adding the bling gives that very special touch. thanks for sharing your beautiful Projects.
www.anita-craft-corner.blogspot.com

Karenladd said...

OH, this is so pretty..Love the flowers and the bling!

mommahobbit said...

very nice card!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lorby said...

Very sweet and beautiful card. TTS Jearise