Kunik aka Eskimo Kisses

I've used this gorgeous Siku & Shiya digi stamp from Mo's Digital Pencil, my copic markers, some Stickles - Diamond and some crazy paper I thought I would never use and I love it! I've printed (in 6s) and then paper-pieced their coats, boots & hat and used the 365 card Day 204 challenge for today to make something I could never have imagined. I am making a habit of doing things in multiples so I can grow my stash a little faster, good thing because I have been caught one too many times without a card and HATE buying them ;) This one's an original though - those circles and the card are all cut by hand, thanks to a small bottle, a CD and some hand-eye coordination - yeesh!! What's the point if having a digital craft cutter if I don't use it?! Well, that's what happens when you are an insomniac-crafter with an almost 18 month old baby with a cold ;)

Now the best part is that this card wasn't made for my stash, it was made fro my new BBFF !! If she's lurking, she'll see it before receiving it in Aussie Land, but hey! That's what technology is for, right :) So, without further adieu, here's my card that will be sent to Jessica with her stamp called:

Kunik

Kissey Kissey

And a little bit of Canada on the inside

Now, you totally know that I started writing
before taking my pic so I put a paper band-aid on tee hee ;)

(From Wikipedia)

The act known as Eskimo kissing

in modern western culture is loosely based on a

traditional Inuit greeting called a kunik.

A kunik is a form of expressing affection, usually between family members and loved ones, that involves pressing the nose and upper lip against the skin (commonly the cheeks or forehead) and breathing in, causing the loved one's skin or hair to be suctioned against the nose and upper lip A common misconception is that the practice arose so that Inuit could kiss without their mouths freezing together. In fact, it is a non-erotic form of greeting that serves as an intimate way of greeting one another for people who, when they meet, often have little except their nose and eyes exposed.

When early explorers of the Arctic first witnessed this behavior they dubbed it Eskimo kissing. In its western form it consists of two people rubbing noses together.

Speaking of western, I thought this would be the most appropriate greeting to send accross the Oceans from Canada to Australia, and the teacher in me cannot help but mention that there's not one Eskimo people; there's the Kalaallit in Greenland, the Inuvialuit in Canada, and the Inupiaq, Yuplit, and Alutiiq in Alaska -- just to name a few. Some Alaskan indigenous people accept the term Eskimo. Other peoples consider it offensive, because it was a label applied by Europeans and others and simply translated means "meat eater". The arctic peoples of Canada and Greenland in general prefer the term Inuit - so I couldn't call my card Eskimo Kisses although so sweet... I called it "Kunik" instead. (This excerpy was also extracted in parts from Wikipedia)