The Chinese New Year characters can be seen HERE if you want to know your animal. There are 5 earth elements- Wood, Fire, Metal, Earth and Water that 'everything' comes from. (Wu Xing + woo sshing). The year you are born is associated with the above signs, so in China, even though the animals rotate every 12 years, how they are associated with the 5 elements dictates how your year will go.
Also, the number 4 is si which is similar to the word death in much of China- so it is like our number 13. In China, you will not see floor 4, 14, 24 etc in an elevator. It is not lucky on your license plates or as your house number either..... That is why I used three goats in my layout, and the signs for Happy New Year in the 4th box.
Michael Strong gifted this freebie image to us this past January on his blog HERE. If you follow his blog, he does nice things like that on occasion : ) Also, if you love his stamps, look up the Yahoo Group- daily inspiration by members give us tons of ideas to use the stamps.
Thanks for stopping by!
Shelly
12 comments:
Shelly this is gorgeous - love the tan and red colour combination - and your cardful use of the number of images you used.
Blessings
Maxine
Wonderful New Year card, Shelly and I even learned something new about the number #4 in China.
Like the panels on the background with Chinese characters.
Happy Holidays!
What a wonderful card Shelly! You find your inspiration from the most amazing things and unique places, I really need to follow your lead a bit more!! Love that image and how you did the four panels! hugs :)
Very cool design and a wonderful Chinese theme too!! :) Very inspirational!! HUGS
Oh, what a clever design for showing off that image, Shelly! I love the neutral tones in your color combo and the repeated image.
What a beautiful card!! You colored the images perfectly!! Love this!! Have a great day :)
Lisa
A Mermaid's Crafts
Very unusual, and I liked the 'zentangle' look of the stamped design (and I've liked Michael Strong since he used to appear on the old HGTV Carol Duval show). Enjoyed reading about the Chinese Zodiac (I'm a monkey, married to a Monkey, and we have a goat!) TFS the nifty card, and the links to an interesting read on a dreary afternoon. Hugs
Shelly, I have learned quite a bit here today! Love your coloring of the images and overall design! Fabulous!
I love the zentangle feel of this goat! Thanks for introducing me to this wonderful artist, Shelly! I love your beautiful design with this wonderful image!
Beautiful card and very interesting facts about China! Love the colors you used and the way cool backgrounds, especially on the 4 individual pieces! Didn't now about the number 4 being un-lucky! YIKES, I've mentioned it twice already!
Way cool! Love the design, Asian flavor, and distressing! :^)
Hugs, Penny
It just so happens, I'm a goat. It's my year! Love this card and thanks for all the interesting facts!
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