chinese new year atcs

here are the cards i made for a atcards swap.


i rummaged through a drawer in the house for some used red envelopes. in chinese new year, all unmarried chinese people recieve red envelopes (w/ money inside) from relatives. i ripped and cut the gold designs, and composed them in an abstract sort of way.


the character in this card is my last name, Yu. one year, my mom's boss gave me a red envelope. it was funny because her boss isn't chinese and the design of the envelope included a last name! of course, she wouldn't know that the character was a last name...

Chinese stationery stores sell red envelopes with chinese last names on them. for red envelopes,there tends to be classic images, such as small chinese children, flowers, fish, the character fook - it means good luck and lots of intricate gold patterns. but i've also recieved envelopes w/ mickey mouse and other cartoon characters on them. banks and grocery stores also give away red envelopes to their customers so they can use them.