Today is the start of Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year, so I’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year! Many of the students who Tom and I work with come from China and no doubt they’ll be celebrating in style! We are often given gifts to mark the celebration, and Tom was given a beautiful book of paper cuts depicting each animal from the traditional Chinese story. 2013 is the year of the snake and I love the intricate design of this paper cut.

All of the designs are very intricate with such vivid colours – I’d love to be able to make such gorgeous paper cuts. I was born in the year of the tiger and this tiger has a really cheeky face I think!