chinese new year, fruit valentines and pencil chimes

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One great thing about being Chinese is the opportunity to feel that fresh "new year" feeling twice.  So, in the name of fresh beginnings (again), Happy Chinese New Year!  May the year of the rabbit be a great one for all of us, filled with love, laughter and great productivity.  (I have been traveling and bouncing about for what feels like months, and I am ready to buckle down and get lots of work done.)

In case you're curious about the Chinese Zodiac (or need a refresher), here are the basics:

Rat

Careful, creative, accumulative, lustful, hoarding and doubting

1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020…

Ox

Patient, preserving, receptive, obstinate, methodical, proud and aggressive

1901, 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021…

Tiger

Wise, compassionate, benevolent, short tempered, proud and aggressive

1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022…

Rabbit

Gentle, friendly, intelligent, discordant, fickle and furtive

1903, 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023…

Dragon

independent, strong-willed, aggressive, powerful, arrogant and prejudice

1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024…

Snake

Idealistic, Intuitive, insightful, financially secure, vain, jealous and egotistical

1905, 1917, 1929 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025…

Horse

hard-working, sociable, determined, keen sighted, high sensual, talkative, easy to anger

1906, 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026…

Sheep

warm-hearted, graceful, obedient, independent, creative, faithful, pessimistic and sensitive, timid

1907, 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027…

Monkey

Ingenious, resourceful, curious, susceptible, impulsive, scatterbrained

1908, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028…

Rooster

Visionary, versatile, clever, selfish, poor concentration and ostentatious

1909, 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029…

Dog

Honest, loyal, respectful, stubborn, assertive and demanding

1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030…

Pig

Serious, just, good disposition, reckless, impatient and inflexible

1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031…

Symbolic Meanings of Rabbit

According to Chinese traditional legend, rabbits are associated with the Alioth in astronomy. They have a nimble, quick-witted and gentle disposition naturally and are the symbol of good luck. In some coastal areas of Shandong Province in old time, wives usually took a rabbit in their arms when their husbands went to sea to fish, believing that this propitious animal would bring them safeness and good luck. And there is an interesting tradition going that a rabbit’s hair would become absolutely snow-white if it can live for 500 years!

And rabbits have been given many characteristics in China, such as longevity, loveliness, vigilance, fertility, timidity and good hearing.

(Chinese zodiac information from here.)

Now, onto our next upcoming holiday: Valentine's Day!  I know this is a day often greeted with groans and rolled eyes, but here is a cheerful treat that isn't covered in pink and red lace or filled with cheap, overpriced chocolate: fruit valentines, and you'd have to be a real grump not to smile at least a little with these:

So, go ahead and download these DIY stickers for free (yay) at Twig & Thistle and give them to everyone who makes you happy.  (Hey, Valentine's Day doesn't have to be only for significant others-- I say let's celebrate love for everyone we appreciate.)

Here are a couple more for you:

And I came across these at Design*Sponge and loved them.  So simple yet so fun and cheerful:

You can go to Vanessa Boer's Etsy shop if you'd like to see more of her work.