Lucky Cats
by Thrifty Stamper
Maneki-neko is Japanese for beckoning cat. These figurines can be found in many oriental owned businesses. I saw one in a Wally World at a nail salon. The owners were from Vietnam, not Japan. I had a long talk with the owner. He explained that the many oriental cultures have adopted talismans from each other.
Today, the Maneki-neko figurines are often made of ceramic. They have a raised paw that many of us (including me) think the cat as waving. The raised paw with the palm facing out is showing the "welcome" sign in Japanese where the fingers repeatedly flexed up and then down into the palm.
The Maneki-neko cats are referred to as Lucky Cat, Money Cat, Welcoming Cat, Fortune Cat or Happy Cat. Many oriental businesses display the Lucky Cats to welcome in customers.
The cats come in many colors and have a bib, bell, color, or coin. They can have all, or a combination of one or two of these.
Here are some photos I found on the internet of Lucky Cats. (Maneki-neko)
Mark's Finest Papers is releasing a new set next week called Lucky You. Guess what is in it? A Lucky Cat! I love the set because it has a Lucky Cat, oriental coins, and a Chinese Dragon-also considered to be lucky!
Here is the card I made for today's column.
You can find a full tutorial of this card here:
http://mfpspeedytv.ning.com/page/lucky-cat-card-tutorial
No comments:
Post a Comment