A Bit of Earth – Secret Garden seed packets EDIT

image above is borrowed from Ariel of the BoroBoro! art collective
- stop by the original blog post to view full size pic

Swap description: A Bit of Earth – seed packets for a Secret Garden

"After supper there was still a long clear twilight to work in and that was her quiet time. She could sit upon the low rough wall and look on and hear stories of the day. She loved this time. There were not only vegetables in this garden. Dickon had bought penny packages of flower seeds now and then and sown bright sweet-scented things among gooseberry bushes and even cabbages and he grew borders of mignonette and pinks and pansies and things whose seeds he could save year after year or whose roots would bloom each spring and spread in time into fine clumps. The low wall was one of the prettiest things in Yorkshire because he had tucked moorland foxglove and ferns and rock-cress and hedgerow flowers into every crevice until only here and there glimpses of the stones were to be seen."

Send your partner an empty seed packet to store their garden seeds. The packet should be made and/or decorated by you, inspired in some way by Frances Hodgson Burnett's 'Secret Garden'.

Please tuck a short, friendly note inside your seed packet, explaining your relationship with 'The Secret Garden' and/or your own garden, and include an extra small, flat (related) gift. The gift may be store-bought, handmade or vintage/thrifted (gently used is fine, but dirty/broken/unuseable is definitely not). The focus of this swap is on your seed packet design, so there is no $ value for the contents, however please make sure you send a package that will be fun for your partner to open.

Please note that due to international import restrictions, it is strongly advised against sending actual seeds if your partner is overseas. However, if you have a partner in the same country as yourself, seeds (with sowing/growing instructions) are indeed a viable option. :)

Some templates

Not sure where to begin? If you would like to make your own seed packet from scratch, here are some free online templates for you to play with:

• ATC-size origami envelope – printable template & folding instructions
• Another origami seed packet - if you use this design, you might want to include instructions for opening, as it can be a bit awkward, if you aren't familiar with it!
• A collection of Print & Paste and Folded (no scissors/glue) envelopes – these all have pre-printed designs, but you could easily adapt the basic templates
• Matchbook seed packets! – oh, I so love this idea!
• Mirkwood Designs - many printable templates, lots of different shapes & sizes
• Tea envelopes – very simple & adaptable principle, easy to enlarge and/or use different materials (e.g. paper!) - with hand or machine-stitched sides
  *...and many more...!

Swap requirements

• 3 partners = 3 seed packets sent & 3 seed packets received
• Each seed packet should include a short note about your relationship with the Secret Garden and/or your own garden, plus a small, flat (related) gift (see above for more detail).
• Unless you & your partner reside in the same country, check the receiving country's import restrictions if you wish to send your partner actual seeds. If you send seeds, please include sowing/growing instructions.
• Seed packets may be altered-storebought or entirely handmade. They should be at least (approx.) 2” x 3”, and seal securely.
• Seed packet decoration may be text only or text plus illustration.
• Seed packets may be decorated using any technique, from hand-drawn/painted artwork, to collage, to embroidery, to PhotoShop (or similar), to any other creative technique. Designs must be your own original work but may include copyright free clip art & illustrations.
• Please send on time!

The obvious bit

As well as meeting requirements as outlined on group homepage, participants must have no late swaps on their dashboard, no 3 ratings in the last 3 months, and no 1 ratings in the last 12 months. I will check before assigning partners, so please contact me if you are concerned. I will take extenuating circumstances into account, but the happy swapping of the majority is the most important factor.