Verve Sneak Peek

It's the 5th and final day of the Verve Sneak Peeks before the big Release Party on Sunday night!! I hope you've had a chance to stop by the Verve Blog this week and check out all the fabulous projects the Divas have been sharing. Today is my Sneak Peek day and I created this Spring Planting gift set.I used 2 of the new sets, Miracles Blossom and Floral Symphony. I used a brown cardboard box from my stash that some Origins skincare products came in. Using Mod Podge, I adhered some American Crafts DP to the outside of the box, sanded all of the edges, and wrapped it with Chocolate Chip ribbon. Using some Baja Breeze ribbon, hemp twine and a button, I decorated a brown flower pot. The little bag, cut from So Saffron textured DP using the Scalloped Bag Bigz XL die, holds a cutting from a Hawaiian Ti plant (more on the cultural significance of the Ti later in the post).

Stamps: Miracles Blossom, Floral Symphony (Verve)
Paper: American Crafts DP; So Saffron textured CS, Chocolate Chip CS (SU!); Pure Luxury white CS (GinaK)
Ink: Momento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko); Palette hybrid New Leaf (PTI); Copic markers for coloring flowers
Accessories: box from stash, ribbon (SU), nestabilities, page from Maja Road chipboard Tag Album, half pearls (Island Paperie), fower pot (home depot), Ti cutting from our yard.

You can check out what fellow Verve Divas Jen del Muro and Bethany Paull created with these sets (and enter for a chance to win some Verve goodies) HERE on the Verve Blog. And don't forget about our big Release Party Sunday Night at 8 PM Eastern Time in the Verve Forum at SCS.

And here's your cultural lesson for the day.... Even though Joel and I are both mainland-born haoles (or white), we have great respect for Hawaiian culture and tradition. We strive to raise our haole son to love and respect this beautiful culture as well. We feel very strongly that if you are going to make a place your home and raise your children in that place, you should embrace that culture and heritage. We are so fortunate that Dean is growing up in Hawaii where he can experience so many different cultures and learn to love and respect and be open and tolerant of everyone, regardless of background or lifestyle or spiritual beliefs. The Hawaiian Ti is a good luck plant, rich in Hawaiian lore. The early Hawaiians used Ti to make hula skirts, to wrap and store food, and also as roofing for their homes. It is thought to ward off evil spirits and is a symbol of divine power. Before we moved into our new home here on Maui, we had a traditional house blessing by a local Kupuna, or spiritual leader (this is extremely common in Hawaii). Just before the blessing began, we kept with Hawaiian tradition and planted Ti at all 4 corners of our new home to protect us from evil spirits. A few of our friends and family gathered with us as the Kupuna called upon Ke Akua (the Supreme Creator), the various spiritual entities associated with the land our home was built on, his own ancestors as well as my and Joel's ancestors. He also called upon our friends and family who were present to add their mana to the blessing, and then those who are to come after us. This is to remind us that the land was here before us, and will be here after us. We are merely current in a long succession of stewards. In some ways, in Hawaiian culture a land or house blessing is similar to a marriage ceremony. The responsibilities of the various parties are spelled out, and the new owners promise to cherish and protect this kuleana, or responsibility. Hawaiians believe that land ownership goes far beyond paper documents. Acquiring land puts one in a spiritual relationship with that land which can never be broken. It is up to us to work toward making that relationship a healthy one. And there you have it folks....consider yourselves culturally enriched!!!

I hope you all liked my Spring Gift box and maybe learned something new about a different culture today! Thanks for humoring me in this long-winded post!!!