Monday, November 18, 2013

Cards You Can Grow! (and a GIVEAWAY with TWO chances to win!)

Hi everyone,

I'm back today to share a little project I've been working on! I'm quite excited about this one as it's a collaboration with Sarah Hemingway of Sarah's Kitchen Gardens. Sarah is a friend I went to university with... I don't think I've actually seen her since but we've kept in touch through facebook and I'm totally in awe of her and her creativity, both in the garden and the kitchen. (I kind of want to be her when I grow up.) :) Along with her blog, Sarah has a facebook page where she also shares what she's up to in her kitchen garden. If you follow her blog, you'll see that she has free resources for growing your own food organically, including a spreadsheet calculator where you can just enter your frost dates and it will calculate when to plant everything for you! (I SO need this)!! Sarah also hosts local workshops and sells seedlings in the spring. I hope you'll check out her blog!

Anyways, we got to talking a few weeks ago and the end result was that she was going to make some seed paper for me to play with. I thought that was pretty cool! I'd have some pretty paper to play with and we'd both have a little giveaway. It wasn't until we talked some more that I realized that you can actually GROW stuff from this paper! WHAT!?!? Sarah wrote all about it here. Isn't that incredible?!

using homemade seed paper

I thought it would be fun to make some card sets for various occasions by die cutting some of Sarah's seed paper. The seed papers can all be easily removed from the cards by untying the tags or removing the seed paper from the envelopes. They can then be used to grow various plants (see descriptions/ instructions for using the seed paper below).

Here are my cards:

White: Basil and Curly Parsley

Blue: Calendula

 Brown: Old Fashioned Annual Flower Mix
 Pink: White, Pink, and Burgundy Cosmos
 
Brown, White, Pink, Blue

(Copied from Sarah's Kitchen Garden) 
Here’s a list of what seeds are in the different papers:
   Brown: Old Fashioned Annual Flower Mix
The brown paper mix is best grown outdoors, but it can be started indoors in April or May. You can keep it moist as is, or you can plant the paper in soil after wetting it so the roots can establish themselves in soil before being transplanted outside.
   White: Basil and Curly Parsley
The white paper mix can be grown indoors for winter herb production, but you’ll need lots of light if you choose to grow indoors. You can also start this one indoors in April or May, using the methods mentioned above.
   Pink: White, Pink, and Burgundy Cosmos
This is an outdoor plant – Cosmos are big and bushy annual flowers! Again, see above for instructions.
   Blue: Calendula
Calendula is an edible flower that looks like an orange daisy. It grows best outdoors as well, but can also be started indoors for a head start on the season.
   Grey: Broccoli, Radish, Red Clover, and Alfalfa
‘Spring Salad Mix’ was the description on the seed packet for this blend of sprouts. Definitely intended to be grown indoors, and no need for soil! You’ll be eating them about a week after planting them, so they’ll use the nutrition stored in their seed flesh to grow into a nutritious snack.
 
I didn't end up using the grey seed paper because when I ran it through my die cut machine it squished the seeds and wet the paper. Now that I think of it, using a punch with that one would work really well. :) Also, I made sure to save all my little scraps of seed paper so I can grow them myself. ;)

Now for the giveaway part! Sarah and I are BOTH giving away a set of the 4 cards you see here along with two 4" x 5" sheets of EACH color of seed paper (so you can play with it yourself)!!! To win my giveaway just leave a comment on this post by midnight Sunday November 24th and I'll announce a winner on Monday the 25th. To win Sarah's giveaway like her Sarah's Kitchen Garden facebook page and follow her giveaway instructions there.

Supplies used:


Thanks for stopping by!
Sarah

30 comments:

rcwidow (Linda) said...

Beautiful cards and great idea!

rcwidow (Linda) said...

Beautiful cards and great idea!

Pat said...

Whoa--this is so cool! What a great idea...

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh - what a wonderful idea to include that paper as a part of your card.

Janet a.k.a. swanlady21 said...

Wow - Seed paper - Love that idea! And you have made such wonderful cards with it too.

Anonymous said...

What a great idea and love the cards!
Margaret K.

Kailash said...

Gorgeous cards. Such an innovative idea, love it!!!

pcm said...

this is awesome!!!!

Lucy Schmidt said...

I just visited Sarah's Kitchen FB page. I love this ultimate recycling idea.

Sabrina said...

What a cute idea and such beautiful cards!!

Lin said...

How FUN, Sarah! I love this whole concept! Your 4th card with a little sampling of all of Sarah's seed papers in the envelope is my fave!

jeannine said...

Beautiful cards! I just love the idea of seed paper, so cool! What a fun thing to play with!

Bev Karolak said...

Beautiful cards! Fantastic idea using the seed paper. :)

IamUniquelyImperfect said...

What an awesome idea! Thanks for sharing. I love your card layouts too!!

joy said...

How clever is this?? Your cards are so nice and it would be great to play with those seed papers.

Unknown said...

It is just amazing to me that one can grow seeds from this paper. Amazing!

{VICKI} said...

these are Fabulous!

Marcie Sharp said...

That is just way too cool. I love the idea of using the paper to grow plants!

Vijaylaxmi Siyal said...

Beautiful n fun cards...Grt Kit..!!

Sue D said...

How cool! Love the cards you made.

Janis said...

LOVE this idea!! Wonderful card set.

How lovely of you to offer us the cards and some of the seed paper to play with ourselves!
<3 J

Unknown said...

Cool idea! Reuse paper and grow from it:-)

Anonymous said...

My husband made me some homemade paper a while back and I loved it. I know he never thought of putting seeds in it!

S`andra V. said...

AWESOME, What a great gift idea. I have made home made papers years ago. I would have never thought to use seeds for growing later. Thanks for sharing your talents and double thanks for giving us an opportunity to win and try these out. Super Cool!!
http://OhMyScrpas2U.blogspot.com
By the way, I am a follower.

Anonymous said...

Cool cards! What a great idea.

Julie R.

jasann said...

I just love these cards, they are all so pretty, thanks for sharing
!!!

Francesca said...

I never heard about seed paper! after leaving this comment I will go to read her page to see how she make it. This is a cool idea for a card with present included...great idea if you have friends overseas to who you would like to send a Xmas present! Love it love it love it!

Shona said...

Your cards are FABULOUS and I adore the idea of seed paper!

Anne S. said...

This is such a neat idea! I remember someone gave my mom a card with seed paper inserted inside a few years back.

Froggietalks said...

LOVE the papers Sarah!