I've been enjoying a quarterly training day with my wider Stampin'Up! team today, so have lots of lovely new craft things to share with you over the next week or so. The theme of our swaps today was 'masculine'; I'll share mine with you in the next day or two when I have a half-decent photo. Meanwhile, to get you in the mood another non-card project today, keeping with the masculine theme: I made these Angry Bird punch art bookmarks a while a go and for the 'little men' in my life, they were certainly a big hit:

Aren't they just the cutest? They take a little while to make and use lots of different punches, but they're really effective. Guaranteed to make even the most reluctant reader want to open their storybook! They also make a great party bag gift for a child's birthday, either ready made or in kit form: contact me at [email protected] if you are interested in either of these. I made lots of these so here's one more picture of the whole collection:

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Cardstock: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Basic Black, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango

Tools: Heart Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Small Heart Punch, Owl Punch

I have been very busy exhibiting at my first wedding fair today, so today's work is that of a guest crafter - my daughter! Today is Chinese New Year and as my daughter is very fortunate to learn Mandarin at school, we decided to make a new year card for her Mandarin teacher, Wan Lau Shu (or Mrs Nelson to the uninitiated - apologies for  the poor phonetics!!) and a small gift.

So first up, the card:

This year is the Year of the Snake, so we decided to decorate the card with a golden snake (yellow/gold is considered the most important colour and the colour of Imperial China) made using a paper-folding technique learned at a lunchtime 'Maths through Art and Design' club (aren't schools great these days?!). We stuck the snake to a bright red card, as red is an important colour in Chinese culture symbolising good fortune and joy and is very popular during new year celebrations. To finish, my daughter carefully wrote 'Happy New Year' in her best character writing alongside it.

She then also made a small gift of a punch art panda bookmark to go with the card. Isn't he cute?

Just a few simple punched shapes, diamantes to give his eyes some sparkle and a red bow for luck. So to everyone out there who is celebrating today, a Happy New Year! Until next time, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies (Panda Bookmark only):

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black

Tools: Large oval punch, 2-step bird punch (the wing), owl punch (circles for eyes and heart for nose), diamantes