LeeSan's Paper Crafts: DIY Chinese New Year Red Packets

I started out very ambitious with the intention to custom make CNY red packets for my mom to give away during Chinese New Year this year. I thought she would need about 20 for family members which wouldn't be too difficult.

I ravaged through my supplies trying to find Chinese themed elements and couldn't find anything suitable. I was still determined to make them so I resorted to using Hero Arts Blossom Art and Trio Hearts stamp set. I thought the in blossoms looked a little like our CNY blossoms and the Hero Arts heart have a lot of flowers in it. As for the sentiment, I used my Happy Days stamp set from Papertrey Ink.

So I made two different packets first to see if they were nice and whether they were worth making. I embossed the sentiments and flowers / hearts using clear embossing, then accented using stickles / glossy accent. Once dried, I sprayed iridescent pearl mist to give them some shine.

After making one of each design, I found that the blossoms were too "heavy" so I decided to soften its look by omitting the clear embossing.

Well, making these red packets were much more time-consuming than I had expected. I also thought it was too much work and that most people are more interested in the content of the red packet rather than how it looks. So I ended up making only 9 for myself to give my parents and in laws.

Here are the 2 different red packets.