In Chinese culture, "Lì Shì" (利是) or "Red Envelopes" are monetary gifts given during holidays or special occasions. The red and gold color are symbols of good luck and good fortune. At Lunar New Year it is tradition for elders, the married, or other supervisors/bosses to offer red envelopes to wish good fortune for the upcoming year.

Growing up Asian American, Lì Shì was something I associated only with Chinese New Year. My family would get together and eat a big meal, but that was a very common thing. Creating this was a way of honoring my Asian American traditions. My hope was to challenge myself to create an iconic item synonymous with Chinese New Year using textiles and embroidery. Only once I moved to Hong Kong did I start to celebrate the Lunar New Year more traditionally with offerings to ancestors (拜神), mandarin oranges and fai chun (揮春) to decorate the home and melon seeds for guests to eat; but still the thing that never changed was the Lì Shì that was given out. Maybe after moving to the US my family had to adapt to a more simple holiday. We weren't offered "days off" for this holiday, and we had to make do with celebrating on weekends or in the evening after everyone was let out of work or school. Choosing to make a Lì Shì instead of other holiday items was to honor the simple traditions my family kept in the US. 

Along with creating something with a huge connection to my cultural heritage, I wanted to create something timeless and sustainable. Year after year, I'd receive many Lì Shì packets from family members or aunties and uncles. I'd always think about how many billions of Lì Shì get printed, handed out, and thrown away. Although it's not tradition to re-use Lì Shì packets, I created this with the intention to have something everlasting.

I used DMC Étoile thread that left a sparkle to my pattern and I filled the front with seed stitches for texture while my back was created with felt.