Happy Chinese New Year

Sunday Feb. 14th was not only a Valentine's Day, but it was Chinese New Year too. This year is the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese lunar calendar. I consider myself a citizen of the world and I like to celebrate in many cultures andcustoms. I have been living as an expatriate in the last 30 years of mylife. I have met and made friends with people from all over the world. Many of my something special to celebrate Chinese New Year. We all brought in homemade Chinese food to share during our lunch break. We exchanged gifts like KrisKringle, but we called it Ching Chingle just to be unique.

The above Chinese New Year card was sent to me by my friend Mel after the event. I just love it because it is mostly red, my favorite colour at the moment.
We booked one meeting room to use for the day. We spread out the delicious homemade lunch and grape juice bubbly on the table, but I told them I needed to take some photos before they can start. In the photo from the left is Wan, Mel and Nan. Having them at work made my day very enjoyable.Thanks girls for the delicious food and the effort that you put into making it.

I got Mel for my Ching Chingle. Mel is a fountain pen collector and I know she has been wanting a pen roll to keep her pens together. I made her this roll from re-purposed jeans. It was quite fun and easy to make.
I got this cute Oriental print to use for the lining and pockets. I like it so much that I made one for myself too. HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR everyone, itcan't be hard to be happy even though you are not Chinese...! If you are interested in reading about the Chinese Lunar Year you can go here.