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By admin, February 9, 2010 2:26 am

The mystery finally revealed… the topic for January on our blog was CHINA!  Congratulations for all of you who got it right!!! For those who mentioned the reuse and recycle theme, you are also right… but that subject will always be present on our blogs. Please read who the lucky winner is at the end of the post and next week we  will start featuring our Design team members that you have chosen, that is… Sarah! Katrina! Ria Mojica! Keely! Meghan! Kim! Sophia! and more.

So, what is the deal with CHINA? Isn’t it an amazing country and culture? I love China!! I lived in Beijing for a few years before moving to Canada and I must admit that I always want to go back because I feel there are still many things to be learnt and enjoy there.

As many of you know, I love to travel and now that I have to stay home more than I used to (because of my babies) I travel in a different way. How? Through the eyes of others, communicating with my friends there, eating exotic foods here and reviewing old pictures while I choose a few for my next scrapbooking project.

The Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the New Year and ends on the full moon 15 days later.  The 15^th day of the New Year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.  The memories of this celebration inspired me to design the Kiki Art collection called CHINA.  The reason why January was chosen the month to feature this country is because around this time New Year is celebrated over there, but it always falls on a different date each time.   In 2010 falls on the same day we will be celebrating St. Valentine in the west, so while we exchange chocolates in North America people in China will be greeting each other for the beginning of the year of the TIGER!!!

New Year’s eve and New Year’s day are spend as a family affair, a time to get together and play, celebrate, thank each other and be comfortably having a good time with loved ones. The food is amazing too!  While I was living in Beijing my neighbor (Professor He) invited my husband and I to spend the holiday with her family and after that, they sort of adopted us always supporting and giving lots of love to us, making us feel part of their family.

China and its people are beautiful in so many ways that I wanted to share a little bit of my experience with you. Here are some pictures of my wonderful time there and the memories I will always keep close to my heart.   新年快乐我的朋友！

And the winner for the LOVE and Hot Air balloon Collection is Cristal Hobbs

who wrote on Facebook:

Cristal, please send us your postal address  at info@kiki-art.com so the goodies can get to you soon. Thank you!.

Happy NEW YEAR of the TIGER and enjoy FEBRUARY, month of LOVE and FRANCE!!!!

Besos,

Kiki

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By Ellen, February 9, 2010 2:02 am

This month on Kiki Art we want to spotlight France and I have made a layout about Paris (the capitol in France).

I just love Paris and have been there three times and I am sure I will go
back.

The pictures is from our honeymoon in august 2007. We took the underground to the Eiffel Tower and wow, late at night the light at tower really sparkle! A beautiful sight! And the carousel is closed
by the tower.

I have used black cardstock, Antologia Amor – Corazon Multicolor and
enrejado G and Antologia China Llamaradas YFF.

Maybe you dream about going to Paris? Go for your dreams or at least; scrap about it.

Lots of love from Ann-Katrin!

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By Sarah de Guzman, February 5, 2010 7:15 pm

…giving away some Kiki Art goodies! Here is what’s up for grabs:

What’s that?! You say that you want this loot!? Well, all of that could potentially be yours. To win, just head on over to this Creating Keepsakes post for more information. You don’t want to miss out on this opportunity.

…and Paper Popsicles is hosting a RAK with Kiki Art products. Check it out here.

Hugs,

sarah.

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By Ellen, February 5, 2010 3:00 am

Today I would like to share a layout with you  about my son Larsen. He is definately one of the LOVES of my life.

I started off with the Antologia Amor Corazonmulticolor E Pattern paper and used the back for my base which has lovely embossed hearts on it. I then used the back of the Antologia Jardin CercaYflorcitas pattern paper and the Antologia Amor CarozanMulticolor pattern paper under my photo. I cut strips from antologia Amor CorazonEnreladoE Pattern paper and tucked them under for a layered look.

Thank you for supporting Kiki Art!

Kim Jefress

Comments (1)

By Sarah de Guzman, February 4, 2010 11:46 pm

Ella Publishing Co. is talking about us!!!  read this post .

I know a lot of you have been asking me where to get Kiki Art products, and the truth is, it’s brand spankin’ new, so a lot of retailers don’t have them on their shelves yet. Boo Hoo! (We are working on a list of stores that currently carry Kiki Art products, and we’ll make sure to keep everyone updated).

…so no Kiki Art in your area?! No fret! Keep talking your local scrapbook stores into getting some of her fabulous stuff. In the mean time, there’s another way to get your hands on Kiki Art.

Kiki Art is having a HUGE giveaway for our Facebook fans! What’s up for grabs?! Well, stuff that you are going to LOVE, of course! Here’s some of the paper that’s up for grabs (to see ALL of the paper, click here):

Hot AIR Balloon

Love/Amor

I know you are all thinking, “How do we play?!” Here’s what Kiki wrote on Facebook:

Ok… let’s do something fun today!!! The prize? The complete LOVE/AMOR and Hot AIR Balloon collections. How to get it? Tell us what was the general theme for our blogs in January and who was your favorite author for that month. You can also leave her a comment at her post, and that will increase your chances to WIN!

Let me recap that for everyone.

1. Log onto Facebook. Then, become a FAN of Kiki Art.

2. Go to the Kiki Art’s Facebook Page, and leave a comment on her wall post stating the theme for the blog in January. Don’t know what the theme is?! Check out the Kiki Art blog to review what the majority of the posts were about. …or if you are really stuck, email me at redoaklines@gmail.com, and I’ll give you a little hint.

3. For another chance to win, leave a wall post stating who wrote your favorite blog post in the month of January.

4. You have until Sunday night to play, so get to it!

You know you all want FREE paper! Besides, you can be one of the FIRST people to get the latest papers! Seriously, if you don’t play, then you are totally missing out!

Just sayin’.

Hugs,

sarah.

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By Ellen, February 2, 2010 3:00 am

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I wanted to do a layout about two of the most important people in my life, and what better way to celebrate the special bond between  father and daughter!

And some close-ups…

Supplies Used:

Antologia – Familia
#050102 – Parejita
#050115 – Botones y costura
#05010 –  Puzzle chico
#011501 – Fun Bling
#010304 – Chipboard glitter shapes

Misc- Letters/ribbon

Michelle

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By Ellen, February 1, 2010 11:24 am

Hello from Brunei!

To celebrate the month of love in February, I want to share a little bit about the Brunei Malay wedding. This isn’t like any other wedding because for a complete wedding traditional process, you have to have 10 different ceremony occasions. Yes you read that right, T-E-N! But no worries, most of these are just a customary rituals since nowadays, most people only perform at least 1 or not more than 5 types of ceremonies. I get to witness my cousin’s wedding late last year and she decided to hold 4 different ceremonies only within 3 days in a row during the weekend :-

1. Berbedak Mandi (powdering bathe ceremony)
2. Nikah (solemnization);
3. Malam Berbedak (powdering event); and
4. Bersanding (being royalties of the day).

The Berbedak Mandi [ver'bay'duck • men'dey] is the powdering bathe ceremony. This is an indication to bless the soon-to-be groom and bride by close family members especially the parents, siblings and elders in their own homes. Here, they are scrubbed with traditional body-scrub powder which is applied to the face area by the close family members. The old folks said, this symbolizes fertility and wealth.
The Nikah [knee'car], is the ceremony in which two people are joined together formally in wedlock by taking a marriage vow. Normally this will apply to the Muslims which involved the groom to converse the vow in one breath with no breaks or pauses and if he does, he has to repeat it until he could say it. This is the most important ceremony out of all as this is the one that says you are married in the eyes of God. You can skip out the rest of the ceremonies as long as this one happens.

The Malam Berbedak [may'lamb • ver'bay'duck] or Night of Powdering is a ceremonial event where family members and friends/family are invited to ‘bless’ the bride by applying the bride (either on her hands or forehead) with an ointment made from colored rice flour and scented oils. The bride is dressed up in traditional Berbedak attire with a traditional songket (or woven cloth with gold thread) wrapped around her waist that was given by the groom as part of her dowry (hantaran). The bride is also wearing a heavy brass (sometimes gold plated) headgear that has either a symbol/figurine of a chicken (called Ayam-ayam) or dragon (Naga) and is wrapped around with scented flowers. The groom has this ceremony as well, only his outfit is different and is wearing a songkok (Muslim hat) or Dastar (crown made from songket cloth). Both is also adorn with brass/gold plated arm bands, wrist bands, ankle bands and necklace.

The Bersanding [ver'sand'ink], is being the king and queen for a day. This is the most grand of all the ceremonies because you get to invite all your families/friends/acquaintances (where it is quite unusual to have a guest lists that goes beyond hundreds) and sometimes if you hold this at your own residence, most invitees could be the whole (almost) villagers in your neighborhood. Both bride and groom will be wearing traditional attires with colorful accessories. There will also be a wedding stage or dias where the bride will await for her groom to come over with his entourage before the photo session takes over. And so this marks the closing of a general Brunei Malay Wedding.

I created this page for the newlywed couple as a gift and hoping that they would like it. Luckily, Amor Collection met the ‘love requirements’ to fit into this page.

Products Used:
- #10133 Amor Corazón enrejado G
- # 010108 – AMOR Corazones R
- #10101 – AMOR Corazón Twirl
- #010104 – AMOR Corazón multicolor
- #010173 – AMOR Corazón enrejado E
- #010114 – AMOR Corazón multicolor E
- # 011501 AMOR bling heart

Spread the love people!

xo
Vivi Rahman

Comments (7)

By Ellen, January 29, 2010 1:01 pm

So who is hungry? Ria Mojica sent in these gorgeous layouts for the blog

I love Chinese Food!

Hi everyone! Ria Mojica here again. From among the Kiki Art
DT, I would probably be one of those with the most experience with our theme for the month: China.

The Chinese were already doing business in the Philippines
when the Spaniards came in the 1500s. Thus, a lot of Filipino culture, food and architecture bear Chinese influences. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, my
grandmother’s grandfather was pure Chinese complete with the long braided hair.

One of the best things that the Chinese have brought with them
is their food. I love Chinese food and can eat it everyday if my weight could
afford it.

So for this month, I created 2 LOs on the topic of food using
the Anthologia China line.

Let me introduce you to one of my comfort foods – Barbecued
Pork and Rice. For some reason, I only look for this when I am in Hong Kong (which I consider my 2nd home), even if it is available in Manila.
Just like a visit to In ‘N Out is first on my agenda when I’m in LA, one of my 1st meals in HK has to be this.

I’ve been going to Hong Kong every 3 years or so since I was
in my teens because it’s only 2 hours away from Manila by plane. Barbecued Pork and Rice was the easiest thing to order since all we had to do was look through the restaurant windows to see if they had it hanging and point to it.

I created a simple LO to bring attention to the main photo.
I matted the photo with China Twirl paper and then placed it on China
Farolitos paper over black background cardstock. I cut out a few swirls
from the China Twirl RY paper to add interest. I then used the China
Fun Tape to create my journaling lines.

Ria Mojica

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By Ellen, January 28, 2010 3:22 am

Today’s post is coming from the lovely Sophia in South Africa.

With keeping in the theme of the Chinese New Year, I have also made
some paper lantern variations. The first ones are small ball like
shapes that hang in doorways, on trees to add a festive cheer. The
other I made is a lantern that can be carried around by it’s handle,
where you can add a candle inside to add a nice romantic ambience.

What is the true meaning behind the Chinese Lantern?

While many people are gradually returning to the routines of their
daily lives following the celebrations of the Spring Festival,
others are busy preparing for the arrival of the Yuanxiao Festival.

Also called the Lantern Festival, this event is an important
traditional occasion, falling on the 15th day of the first month on
the lunar calendar.

People often refer to the festivities of this occasion as “Nao
Yuanxiao”, meaning to have a spree. People in general agree that
this festival marks the real end of the New Year celebrations.

“Yuan” means “first” while “xiao” means “night.” With the two
characters combined, the word refers to the first time that the full
moon is seen in a New Year.

Similar to the Mid-Autumn Festival, this celebration is considered
an evening for family reunions.

To highlight the festival, people are expected to eat small
dumplings, also called “yuanxiao”, that are made of glutinous rice
flour with fillings that range from red bean paste to minced meat.

The symbolism of the dumplings’ shape is more important than the
taste. Their roundness is considered harmonious with the full moon
of that night.

That these shapes are in agreement is regarded as auspicious, subtly
indicating the reunion of the family and complete happiness.
I hope to see some of your paper lantern creations.

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By Ellen, January 27, 2010 3:00 am

Today’s Delicious Post comes from Nicole Renee Martin!

Hello Everyone!

Today I want to share a layout I created using the Kiki Art China products. They are amazing.I know last’s months theme was  China but still I wanted to share one of my favorite things about the Chinese culture… the food.

One of my favorite little restaurants in Arlington, Texas has the most amazing fire cracker shrimp and spring rolls. So good that I had to take pictures of the deliciousness. This particular time I went with my best friend Tamara, it was one of the most fun lunches in my history.

For the layout I wanted to do something different. I decided to cut a piece of plain white card stock into a shape and then added a piece of my favorite China paper to the bottom. I wanted to keep my monochromatic yellow and white theme going so I rummaged through my box of vintage bits and found some yellow measuring tape, a yellow ride ticket and some scalloped edging from a package.

I also wanted to add my title so I placed chipboard letters on a clear circle accent. I even added an old rubber stamp to the layout for texture and then layered it all for my full effect. I love the result, it is amazing how much those little vintage bits add to layouts. Next time you are playing with your Kiki art products find some vintage tags or ribbon and let loose! And if you don’t have anything look around when you are out and about on a Saturday antique store run. You may be surprised with what you find.

Nicole Renee