The Lesson of the Cherry Blossom...

You have to savor life while you can...Memoirs of a Geisha.

As the cherry blossoms prepare for their delicate descent from the trees, one must pause to ponder the fleeting beauty of one of nature's most breathtaking creations. And such is the philosophy of 'Hakanasa'. It is difficult to translate this Japanese word, but the meaning is closest to evanescence~ the frailty of Life.
 
In recognition of that, we are dedicating our Team Challenge this month to the theme, 'Hakanasa', to bring more awareness to the plight of the Japanese people and their enduring strength and dedication to each other and their country.

Upcyclers, an Etsy team of artists, are bonded by a common appreciation of what our planet offers, abundance of life. We thrive upon not wasting it's gifts and finding new from what may have been discarded~ thereby perpetuating it's existence and value. Our entries will be posted on the team's Flickr group during the next two weeks and can be viewed by the public.

We also want to take this opportunity to tell everyone that this year's National Cherry Blossom Festival is asking for donations for the victims of the Japanese disasters. You can donate to their Red Cross Online Donation Site to help.

Finally, last weekend we had a giveaway as part of our series, Love 2 DIY on the Weekend. We are thrilled to announce our very first giveaway's winner was Mary! We hope she will contact us before Monday, April 4th at noon to claim her prize otherwise we will have to draw another winner. So congrats, Mary~ and hurry! We loved your idea of adding them to your cigar box creations! Be sure to check out our new DIY project tomorrow!