Catherine Pooler | Celebrating Chinese New Year

I'm back with more inspiration for the Lunar New Year Challenge and, as I mentioned in my last post for the Challenge, I wanted to give a shoutout to all of our sponsors so today's focus is on Catherine Pooler Designs, who was our quarterly sponsor in both 2024 and 2025!

I made two very different cards using the same colour palette which was inspired by the artist Marina Zlochin. One card uses only Catherine Pooler inks and the other uses coloured cardstock I selected from my stash that perfectly matches those ink colours from the first card. All stamps and dies featured in these two cards are available from Catherine Pooler Designs.

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

My first card features products from five different stamp and die sets, including a sentiment and lanterns from Lantern Festival (still my favourite Chinese New Year set of all-time), dumplings and chopsticks from Hey There Dumpling (running a close second because it's so adorable), flowers from Happy Horseshoes, orange slices from Greenery of the Season and a frame using the two largest dies from Dots & Scallops Dies.

I started by stamping all of the elements using Do-Si-Do, Samba, Rouge, Tutti Frutti, Clay Mask and Cashmere, which is now my new favourite Catherine Pooler ink colour! It's literally the most beautiful pale, neutral colour and plays nicely with everything else.

I cut a second frame from white cardstock and glued the matte gold foil layer on top. After positioning all the pieces, I set everything aside and gold heat embossed the sentiment directly on to the card base. Then I used a combination of liquid glue, glue dots and thin foam squares to secure the scene.

My second card is a clean and simple design using the Circle Landscape Die, one of my favourite stand-alone dies. You can see more inspiration using this die HERE. Other products featured on my card include the sentiment from the Round of New Year Dies and stars from Happy Horsehoses.

Since there's no stamping at all on this card, I went through my stash to find cardstock that perfectly matched the ink colours from the first card and these are Concord & 9th Sweet Pea, Hero Arts Coral, Spellbinders Pomegranate, Taylored Expressions Pumpkin, Spellbinders Coral, Spellbinders Chiffon and Concord & 9th Black.

The base panel was cut from Pomegranate cardstock and I cut the five pieces of the Circle Landscape Die from Chiffon, Sweet Pea, Hero Arts Coral, Pumpkin and Spellbinders Coral (top to bottom, respectively). The sentiment and stars were cut from Gold Glitter and I added a black shadow layer behind all the pieces which were then popped on the base panel with thin black foam squares.

Visit the January Link-Up Party post HERE to see all of the design team projects and be inspired to create your own! You can find the Challenge Rules HERE. Please tag us @lunarnewyearchallenge on Instagram and use the hashtag #lunarnewyearchallenge so everyone can find and be inspired by all your amazing projects.

If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

Supplies:

Concord & 9th | Ringing in the New Year

It's been 10 months since I was able to create for the Lunar New Year Challenge so I was thrilled when I found inspiration on page 360 of Lauren Wager's newest book, Fashion Palettes: Color Inspiration, Meaning and Mood, which was on my Christmas list. I'm happy to say that I now own all three of her books which provide me with endless colour inspiration when creating!

I'm hoping to feature all of the 2025 sponsors and I thought I'd start with Concord & 9th since most of the colours from this palette were found in their cardstock swatches. My first card features the Bitty Banners Bundle. I haven't seen many samples for this bundle but I love the idea of making custom banners with this, much like I did with Best Friend Vibes.

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

After selecting the banner colours and die cutting the pieces from Sweet Pea, Creamsicle, Poppy and Clementine cardstock, I used one of Catherine Pooler's 1-1/4 x 3-1/2" Acrylic Grid Stamping Block and Concord & 9th's Black Ink Pad to stamp the letters individually.

After glueing all the parts of the banner on to the centre panel cut from Ballet Slipper cardstock, I framed it with a piece of vellum and attached it to a base panel cut using the Sunburst Cardfront Die on Simon Says Stamp's Audrey Blue cardstock.

My second card features the exact same colour palette but switched up. This time, the featured sets include  the Double-Cut Numbers Dies and the Merry Greetings Builder Stamp Set. The small stars on my first card feature the star dies from the coordinating Merry Greetings Builder Dies.

I cut the four numbers for the year 2026 from Ballet Slipper, Sweet Pea, Creamsicle, Poppy, Clementine cardstock and Gold Glitter Paper, then arranged them in a pattern and set them aside to stamp the custom sentiment.

Next, I created my own sentiment from the Merry Greetings Builder Stamp Set, which I stamped on the Audrey Blue centre panel using my mini MISTI. After the sentiment was finished, I glued the numbers in place and embossed an A2 base panel cut from Matte Gold Foil Paper with the Charming Embossing Folder.

After cutting the larger of the Slanted Shortcuts Dies from Poppy cardstock, I assembled the three panels pieces to finish the card. I hope you enjoyed these two designs using the same colour palette!

Visit the January Link-Up Party post HERE to see all of the design team projects and be inspired to create your own! You can find the Challenge Rules HERE. Please tag us @lunarnewyearchallenge on Instagram and use the hashtag #lunarnewyearchallenge so everyone can find and be inspired by all your amazing projects.

If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

Supplies:

Year of the Snake Shaker Card

Welcome to the March 2025 Lunar New Year Challenge! Once again, we’ve partnered up with your favourite craft companies all year long so that means there are giveaways every month! This month, we’re giving away ONE $25 gift certificate to Lawn Fawn, ONE $25 gift certificate to Altenew, ONE $25 gift certificate to Sunbird Spark, and ONE $25 gift certificate to Whimsy Stamps. That’s a total of $100 in giveaways in March!

My first card for March features the Tiny Gift Box Lizard and Snake Add-On from our returning annual sponsor Lawn Fawn, plus cardstock and a sentiment from our quarterly sponsor Concord & 9th! I partially cut the snake head so I could extend the body down. The coils you see are actually legs for the lizard and I love how I was able to make it look like a big snake coiled around itself a few times.

I cut the snake from Lemongrass cardstock and its details were cut from Nectar and Black. The background of the shaker was cut from Clover cardstock and the circle frame was cut from Poppy. To create the texture on the card front, I embossed a piece of Powder cardstock with the Wood Slat Embossing Folder, which is perfect since this is a Wood Snake Year! I created a custom sentiment using three separate sentiments from Merry Greetings Builder Stamps and curved them on the inside of the circle. Then I filled the shaker with sequins from my stash.

Visit the March Link-Up Party post HERE to see all of the design team projects and be inspired to create your own! You can find the Challenge Rules HERE. Please tag us @lunarnewyearchallenge on Instagram and use the hashtag #lunarnewyearchallenge so everyone can find and be inspired by all your amazing projects.

If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

Supplies: 

Year of the Snake Friendship Bracelets

Happy New Year, crafty friends! I hope 2025 is good to all of you. The Lunar New Year Challenge is now in its second year and we’ve partnered up with your favourite craft companies all year long so that means there are giveaways every month! This month, we’re giving away ONE $25 gift certificate to Altenew, ONE $25 gift certificate to Catherine Pooler Designs and ONE $25 gift certificate to Concord & 9th. That’s a total of $75 in giveaways in January!

My first card for January features the Best Friend Vibes Bundle from our new quarterly sponsor Concord & 9th! I’ve been seeing Chinese New Year lucky bracelets everywhere lately and they’re what inspired this design. I remember making so many of these friendship bracelets in the late 80s and, with the revival of custom beaded bracelets, it was impossible to resist this set. I just love its versatility.

Lemongrass, Avocado and Artichoke were already three of my favourite colours and this was a happy accident that those embroidered bracelets ended up looking snakeskin!

In contrast, I wanted to choose brighter, more cheerful colours, plus gold glitter and matte gold foil, to make the beaded bracelets as celebratory as possible.

The letter beads spelling out the sentiment were cut from Sunflower and the other beads feature Wildberry, Briar Rose and Buttercup. The background panel was cut from Ballet Slipper.

Visit the January Link-Up Party post HERE to see all of the design team projects and be inspired to create your own! You can find the Challenge Rules HERE. Please tag us @lunarnewyearchallenge on Instagram and use the hashtag #lunarnewyearchallenge so everyone can find and be inspired by all your amazing projects.

If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

Supplies: 

Lunar New Year Challenge + Giveaways | December 2024

The Lunar New Year Challenge is back and we’ve partnered up with your favourite craft companies all year long so that means there are giveaways every month! This month, we’re giving away ONE $25 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp, ONE $25 gift certificate to Lawn Fawn, ONE $25 gift certificate to RAM Stamps, and ONE $25 gift certificate to Sunny Studio Stamps. That’s a total of $100 in giveaways in December!

My first card for this month features products from Spellbinders, available from our December sponsor, Simon Says Stamp. The two sets featured here are the Bold Color Mix Numbers and the Halloween Icons Press Plate.

I started by heat foiling the snake with Sparkle Gold Hot Foil on an A2 panel of white cardstock. I guessed its position based on where the zero would be placed later. I wasn’t sure the foiling would work on top of Betterpressed ink since it’s not flat so I did the heat foiling step first.

The Bold Color Mix Numbers were letterpressed using (in order) Wildberry, Clementine, Poppy and Merlot inks. I did not use a registration guide for these numbers but simply estimated their placement based on the Betterpress grid. To finish, I heat foiled the sentiment with Sparkle Gold Hot Foil on Wildberry cardstock, die cutting a shadow from Matte Goldcardstock.

Visit the December Link-Up Party post HERE to see all of the design team projects and be inspired to create your own! When sharing your challenge entries on social media, feel free to save this badge and post it along with your project. Please tag us @lunarnewyearchallenge on Instagram and use the hashtag #lunarnewyearchallenge so everyone can find and be inspired by all your amazing projects.

If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

Supplies:

Lunar New Year Challenge | A Dragon Birthday feat. RAM Stamps

My second card for the November Lunar New Year Challenge features products from RAM Stamps and Spellbinders. The four main products featured here are the 'Year of the Dragon - Metal' Digital Stamp, 'Year of the Dragon' Digital Pattern Paper Pack, Always You Timeless Sentiments BetterPress Press Plates and Underwater Tunnel Etched Dies.

The 'Year of the Dragon - Metal' Digital Stamp comes with both outline and no-line versions, plus a few sentiments. I printed the dragon and bird image in two sizes on Neenah 80lb cardstock before deciding on a two-inch high version. I also printed out three patterns from the 'Year of the Dragon' Digital Pattern Paper Pack only using two of them in the end.

Before colouring the image with Copic markers, I selected a birthday sentiment from the Always You Timeless Sentiments BetterPress Press Plates, positioned it with Best Ever Craft Tape and heat foiled it with Matte Gold Hot Foil.

After printing the dark waves and dragon prints from the 'Year of the Dragon' Digital Pattern Paper Pack, I cut the Underwater Tunnel Etched Dies and Precision Layering A2 A Etched Dies together to create the overlay panels. After playing around with the position over the coloured image, I decided to cut an extra second layer from Matte Gold Foil Paper to highlight the foiled sentiment. I assembled all the layers with liquid glue to keep it flat and easy to mail.

The rules are simple. You must create a new Lunar New Year, Chinese New Year or a 2024 Dragon Birthday card and add the link to your post in the link-up party. For November, we're inviting you to continue making 2025 Year of the Snake cards! Multiple entries are allowed. Backlinking to an older project is strictly prohibited.

Our November Lunar New Year Challenge will run from 12:00am EST on November 1, 2024 through 12:00pm EST on November 30, 2024. We would love to see you using products from our four generous sponsors! The four lucky winners will be randomly selected from all eligible entries and announced at the start of the December Challenge. 

(save and share with your project)

Visit the November Link-Up Party post HERE to see all of the design team projects and be inspired to create your own! When sharing your challenge entries on social media, feel free to save this badge and post it along with your project. Please tag us @lunarnewyearchallenge on Instagram and use the hashtag #lunarnewyearchallenge so everyone can find and be inspired by all your amazing projects.

If you're inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you again soon!

Supplies: 

Lunar New Year Challenge + Giveaways | November 2024

The Lunar New Year Challenge is back and we've partnered up with your favourite craft companies all year long so that means there are giveaways every month! This month, we're giving away ONE $25 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp, ONE $25 gift certificate to Lawn Fawn, ONE $25 gift certificate to RAM Stamps, and ONE $25 gift certificate to Catherine Pooler Designs. That's a total of $100 in giveaways in November!

My first card for this month features products from Spellbinders and Trinity Stamps available from our October sponsor, Simon Says Stamp. The three main sets featured here are the Stitched Numbers Dies, Mistletoe Greetings Press Plate and the Art Deco Dance Foil Plate.

I've been obsessed with the the Stitched Numbers Dies ever since they were released and have used them many times in the past year, on both new year cards and birthday cards. I typically stitch on all of the numbers but decided it wouldn't be as noticeable to stitch on the Gold Glitter Paper so I only stitched on the Mirror Gold Foil this time.

I alternated the Gold Glitter Paper and Mirror Gold Foil between numbers and their shadows to provide interest against the busier Art Deco Dance Foil Plate, which I heat foiled with Sparkle Red Hot Foil. I love the rich tone-on-tone look with the red foil on Schoolhouse Red cardstock.

All that was needed to finish the card was a simple sentiment and I used Espresso Bean Hot Foil to heat foil the BetterPress sentiment on Nectar cardstock. To finish, I popped all of the numbers and sentiment strip on to the foiled background with foam squares.

The rules are simple. You must create a new Lunar New Year, Chinese New Year or a 2024 Dragon Birthday card and add the link to your post in the link-up party. For November, we're inviting you to continue making 2025 Year of the Snake cards! Multiple entries are allowed. Backlinking to an older project is strictly prohibited.

Our November Lunar New Year Challenge will run from 12:00am EST on November 1, 2024 through 12:00pm EST on November 30, 2024. We would love to see you using products from our four generous sponsors! The four lucky winners will be randomly selected from all eligible entries and announced at the start of the December Challenge. 

(save and share with your project)

Visit the November Link-Up Party post HERE to see all of the design team projects and be inspired to create your own! When sharing your challenge entries on social media, feel free to save this badge and post it along with your project. Please tag us @lunarnewyearchallenge on Instagram and use the hashtag #lunarnewyearchallenge so everyone can find and be inspired by all your amazing projects.

If you're inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you again soon!

Supplies: