Thursday, November 17, 2011

Eco Card: "Living Letters" Holiday Gift Accents

So one of the things I miss most when going into Winter, is that all of the plants and flowers and trees that bloom and grow their beautiful, colorful leaves...lose those leaves, for months. Leaves in shades of greens and yellows, and here in Ohio, Reds, Browns, Purples...really our Summer leaf collection is about as colorful as a good autumn turning.

Don't get me wrong, I love Winter for it's own charms, and I am indeed a snow baby, I learned to ski at age 2, because my father's family always had started their kids young. It snows quite a lot in Ohio, sometimes we get 2-3 ft over-nighters, and rarely (but often enough) 15-20 below, so I am no stranger to the cold and snow - and the cold weather creates wonderful sunsets...

Outside the SS studio

But my yearning for my friendly tendrils has had me reflecting on some of the DIY eco projects I grew up with, that can be applied even in the winter.

I am adding one of these projects as an item in my store and at this year's CCAD student - alumni Holiday art sale.

I call them "Living Letters", handmade paper cards and tags that not only add a gorgeous, rustic touch to any gift, but are useful as well and a great treat for those Eco conscious, garden loving, guerrilla seeding friend or loved one. These handmade paper tags and cards are seeded with different Organic heirloom seed mixtures.

The particular mixture I am starting with is one of my Ohio blends with Organic Arugula, Parsley, Cinnamon Basil, Sweet Basil, Flax, and Thyme.

I will be focusing on Ohio and Midwest blends this winter for my local show, although most of the seeds I use are fine for all zones in the US, they just may take longer to germinate or grow quicker, depending on the area.

They make great little thank yous in cards, as plant-able tags for gifts, guerrilla gardening cards to leave in those sad and abandoned dirt lots---or anything you can come up with!

I have spent a couple of days shredding all of our studio recycling for my paper (it's been a long time since I've done it and forgot how sore your fingers get!)
Normally I would try to rope a younger relative or friend to help out with it, but alas I am on my own until I get my next helper or intern.

At some point after the holidays I will do a DIY basic paper making tutorial for you all. This is a great project to preoccupy the little ones while stuck indoors this season, and just a fun project to do with a friend, or even on your own (hey we all like a little alone time!)


I will be adding <---these to my arsenal of Living Letters and other growing gifts at The Simple Siren; our Tera Balls, seeding balls (aka seed bombs).


Sturdier than the paper balls, these clay and vermi-compost combination is a strong deterrent to animals and insects, since most won't eat things covered in clay  or it's dust.

These sprouts are the beginnings of the Ohio - Midwest blend Tera Bomb, and only took about 3 days to sprout (some seeds in there take a bit longer so we will see what happens with these!) I have always been able to grow these indoors so we shall see what sprouts up!

Like my Little Morsels Soap and Subtleties line, these Tera Seed Bombs are stamped with a nature themed stamp and finished in a versatile & festive way (but I'm not sharing that part until the show! ;)
                                                                       Tera-form your yard or indoor environment with this very fertile start for new seedlings to spring forth into the world. (Speaking of Tera Forming your indoor environments..Check out our local friend Maxe Smith --- and her friend Chomsky The Desk Gnome, at
 http://www.etsy.com/listing/74073716/chomsky-the-desk-gnome. ---Maybe he can help you out :)

Combined with black gold vermi-compost and other special ingredients, these babies will even grow indoors as you can see. Just water, throw in a pot, or throw somewhere they will get plenty of sunshine and water, and these Tera Seed Bombs will grow for you :)

...so stay tuned and grab your first pick December 3rd at the CCAD student Alumni art sale! I hope to see you all there!

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