June 13, 2009

Happy Today, Happy Tomorrow, Happy Everything!


Has it really been two weeks already since I last posted to my blog?! I've missed all of you and want you to know that I'm still here...just a little busy lately!

Last weekend, I flew out to Las Vegas to spend four wonderful days with my daughter Katie and my younger sister Judy. We had such a fabulous time! I'll post a few photos in a separate post and tell you a little more about it.

As for this card, it's a bit different than my normal style. My goal was to keep the Chinese character for happiness the focal point. You know I love to use ribbon and embellishments so this was a bit of a challenge for me to keep it simple!
My sister Judy brought me this incredible set of 20 rubber stamps with the Chinese characters that she had purchased at Flax Art & Design in San Francisco. The stamps came packaged in this little wood box with and ink pad and a booklet to explain each symbol.

The one I've used on this card is HAPPINESS or "FU". The booklet says "The Great Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu considered individual happiness a result of doing what comes naturally, and thereby attaining a state of harmony with the natural world. Happiness, to him, was a state of tranquility. But for most people in his time, happiness was a less lofty pursuit centered around a full stomach. The wise ruler could ensure his subjects' happiness by guaranteeing sufficient food for each mouth under heaven--as suggested in the character for FU, which places the pictographs for mouth and ripe grain under the line signifying heaven."
For the inside of the card, I used a stamp from Small Sayings by Stampin Up:






Please let me know if you have any suggestions on other ways I can use these stamps. I was thinking just a simple black on white design would be good too. What do you think?
Thanks for blogging by today! Have a wonderful weekend and do what you makes you HAPPY!!!
Smiles 2 U!



Quote for Today ~
"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." ~Joseph Addison

3 comments:

Mrs. Fence said...

I just love simple and elegant cards. I have tons of embellishments, and still go for simple most of the time. Oriental cards are way out of my zone, but I sure do love this one. I'll look forward to seeing what you create next...

Michele Kovack said...

These are lovely! I know at Michaels I bought a package of Origami papers that have a definite oriental theme to them, some of them are really pretty. Maybe try that? Have a great weekend!

Thanh Vo said...

I definitely see these being incorporated into background paper as well as collage type projects Pam!