Happy year of the horse

Happy Chinese New Year!

What year are you - I'm a horse, so this is my year... I hope ;)...

Check out my travel blog for more about Chinese New Year celebrations around the World - Celebrate Chinese New Year and ... eat.

Chinese new year cards: 2014, year of the horse

Well, those of you that celebrate (and probably some of you that don't) will know that it's Chinese New Year at the end of the month. On 31 January 2014, it will be the year of the horse. Just happens to be my year too :)!

So, whilst back in the UK I was cornered by my mum and several long standing customers to make a few cards for the occasion. A quick emergency card stock request resulted in 3 designs in the end... 48 cards later!

Here's 2 of the designs:

Stampin' Up! fans may recognise the artisan label punch that I've used to create a lantern shape on the first card and then a border on the second. I can't get away from the lovely Stampin' Up! products even though I'm not longer a demonstrator, they are just such great quality.

The image is actually just a printed design that I've run off a batch load of, on my printer, to save time.

Hand painted... everything/anything

Whilst I was in Chiang Mai (Thailand) recently, I visited a handicraft centre just outside of the main city. 

The focus there, is on handmade paper items, mainly umbrellas and parasols, but there are some other items like the mulberry paper flowers I used in the card in my recent post.

As well as paper there's the opportunity to meet with local artists and choose a hand painted design for them to adorn whatever item you choose.

Many people were just getting items of clothing they were wearing decorated. If I had thought far enough ahead I would have brought items that I could use as gifts for family and friends, although I'm not sure how I would have carried them all home...

Instead, got my bag painted. It's one I acquired a few months back after the one I left home with fell apart. It's just a cheap one I picked up in Bangkok but I'm hoping it will last a bit longer as I'm likely to be treasuring it after my trip, now that it has been painted :).

This is after a couple of months of wear and tear, but you can still see the glitter (not too clear in the photo).

Check out more details of the places I visited where paper handicrafts were everywhere - over on my travel site if you are interested: Paper handicrafts in Laos and Thailand.

Beading bracelets on the road

I'm not entirely sure how this all came about, but at some point whilst in Thailand I acquired some cord and beads. 

With limited internet and in need of a crafting fix, I got busy making a few bracelets. 

A sample

There are many tutorials on the web showing how to make things using macrame knots. After a few goes I was in my element creating new designs :).

The question is what do I do with all the bracelets I have made... any ideas?