Year of the Monkey

Tomorrow (February 8, 2016) is Chinese New Year.  This is the Year of the Monkey.

I created one of my annual tip-ins that I will eventually add to the book of tip-ins I made for this annual event.  This is the front, and I have watermarked the side with my watermark that I needed to leave unembellished.

I created lots of layers for this side, beginning with the Chinese Zodiac joss paper I glued over the used file folder I painted red on this side and cut to size (5.5 inches X 8.5 inches/13,97 centimeters X 21,59 centimeters).  Next I added book text, over which I added a different type of joss paper, this time with lots of gold that was difficult to scan.  Finally, I included the beautiful lanterns from ARTchix Studio (sent to me by my friend Cindy McMath).  They are also known as German Scrap and even have "Made in Germany" on the pieces you cut away.

As an aside, although I couldn't find a link to their brick and mortar shop online, ARTchix Studio have digital downloads, but no German Scrap.  I'm super fortunate to have received this, and use it sparingly when I create Chinese or Asian art.

More gold joss paper was layered over another Chinese Calendar joss paper.  Finally, I added the words that were computer generated, along with an oriental coin.

For side two, or the back side, I first painted lots of colors on the substrate, my used file folder.  I relied heavily on my computer when I generated the various texts, including February 8, 2016, Year 4714, Year of the Monkey, and
  this cute little monkey I turned into a black and white image, since I have no color ink for my printer.

I also created a mirror image and printed the images.  I have NO punch that size, or circle cutter, and I'm not very good at free hand fussy cutting when I don't have an exact line to follow.

The joss paper on this side of the tip-in is smaller, but exhibits the same design as the one found on the front.  It also has less gold on it, so was easier to scan.

Since some of the joss paper, the book text, and the used file folder were scraps, I am once again joining Moo-Mania and More where we show our "Scraps" this fortnight.

On my way to punching holes in my tip-in so it would fit in my Chinese New Year book,

I took time to peruse my previous tip-ins, as well as ones I received from others who participated in various Chinese New Year swaps I hosted over the years.  I really enjoyed looking back at this art that dates back to 2004.

Thanks as always for your visits, your support of my art, and your wonderful comments.  Don't forget to visit Moo-Mania and More for a ton of inspiration on how to use your scraps.

Today is possibly one of the world's most watched television shows:  Super Bowl 50.

For those of you who live in countries other than the US, that ball the players are holding and used in this game is an inflated oval with a bladder contained in a casing made of leather and known as a football.  It is not to be confused with rugby or soccer, whose balls are round!

It's a bit hard to believe this is the 50th Super Bowl, since some of us weren't even born when the first one was played.  According to Wikipedia:

The game is the 50th edition of the Super Bowl, first played in 1967 in anticipation of the 1970 merger of the American Football League and the National Football League; the league emphasized the "golden anniversary" of the game throughout the season with various gold-themed initiatives (including the adoption of gold-tinted logos across all NFL properties), as well as temporarily suspending the tradition of naming each Super Bowl game with Roman numerals (under which the game would have been known as "Super Bowl L"), so that the logo could prominently feature the Arabic numerals of 50.

The show will be seen worldwide, on CTV in Canada, BBC Two in the UK, Seven Network and Foxtel in Australia, Sat. 1 in Germany, W9 in France,  TV5 and Hyper in the Philippines, and on pay per view television in The Netherlands and Czech Republic.

I told my friend Erika who is a New England Patriots fan that this is the year of the animals (Panthers and Broncos).  Little did I realize I would be watching a LOT of animal football today, because I am not hosting my annual football party.  Instead, I'll be watching the Kitten Bowl on the Hallmark Channel, the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet, then the Super Bowl on CBS with like minded animal lovers and sports fans who are hosting. Now I must pack and get some sleep before joining my out of town friends for a true animal bowl.