I’ve been enjoying the process of creating imprints from some of our vibrant garden greens. In turn, I’ve cut those prints into panels or used dies to cut sentiments, before making them into cards.
I experimented with this technique nearly ten years ago. At the time, I tried different papers, including an old file folder, watercolor paper, craft paper, and vellum. I learned that not all paper is created equal, and the same goes for flowers and leaves. Some transferred beautifully, while others looked more like mud.
It was a pleasant surprise going through my sample booklet, seeing plumosa fern (Asparagus setaceus) and the catmint or catnip (Nepeta) prints still retained a lovely shade of green.
The subtle, earthy scent remains on the watercolor paper, at least initially. In some of the images, you can see the impression of the stems.
When I first tried this technique, our cat Mouse jumped on the desk, enticed by the lovely Nepeta, also known as catmint. I miss this sweet boy.
The fern in these prints has been with me since 1988, when I bought it for seventy-nine cents at a now-defunct nursery. I rented an apartment in those days, where the fern lived on my nightstand next to the bed. The plant followed me everywhere, and by the time we bought this house, it was huge. We finally planted it in the ground, and it’s done well in that spot for nearly thirty years.
It’s fun blending two hobbies into one.
Mirrored images: one fern frond pressed between two pieces of watercolor paper.
Gardening Nirvana 
You’ve managed to achieve beautiful prints there
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Thank you, Dawn.
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As inventive as ever. The plants kept well – enough to attract mouse
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Thank you, Derrick. Another comment of yours that landed in spam. I’ll have to be more vigilant, especially since this occured two days in a row.
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Lovely work, Alys. Such a delicate fern. 💚
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Thank you, Eliza.
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I love those cards. It’s fun experimenting to see how things will turn out. I was planning on making Easter cards and had fabric ready to start when my week was hijacked again. It’s those quiet moments of concentrated creativity that really do the body good and sooth the soul. Happy Easter, Alys.
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Dear Marlene, you’ve had far too many derailments of your time and energy of late. I hope life begins to settle for you soon. It is great fun experimenting.
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I love cards made from plant prints, and the ones you made are so lovely. Nature certainly provides inspiration. And such a cute picture of Mouse, which I showed to my cat-loving daughter. She concurred.
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Thank you, Laurie. I love the way the imprint reveals the texture of the plant. I’ve learned that low moisture foliage works the best for a clean image, but if you were into grunge or mixed media prints, the skies the limit.
Mouse was a character. I miss his gentle soul.
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₍ᐢ.̫.ᐢ₎ Happy Easter!
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Hi Cindy, A handful of recent comments landed in my Spam folder for reasons unknown. I’ve since “un-spammed them” and then searched your name to find this comment. A big thank you.
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I LOVE this idea! I have lots of blank cards which I originally bought many years ago when we were making cross stitch cards. I am definitely going to try this idea. Cards are so expensive to buy these days and these are far more personal
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I’m pleased to hear that you plan to give this a go. It’s an enjoyable process, and since you have blank cards on hand, you’re one step ahead.
I remember making cross stitch cards in the day. You could by kits from a catalog called Currents. Memories!
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Lovely results from using that fern.
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Thank you. I’m enjoying myself.
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These are lovely Alys. So cool that you can use both sides of the paper too. Did you use a flower press? Your fern has had a long and no doubt very happy life with you – amazing! 😁
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Thank you, Cathy. As the saying goes, “If that fern could talk!” eh?
I used a crafting tool generally used for cutting paper with metal dies or embossing folders. It works in the same way as a flower press, using pressure to imprint the colour and texture onto the paper.
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That sounds intriguing. I must look into that. Thanks Alys.
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Beautiful cards and nice memory of your sweet kitty.
I love that the cards retain an earthy sent from the printing!
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Thank you, Tierney.
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the botanical prints are lovely – I never thought of printing on paper, am going to give it a try. The cards are little works of art, so special. Enjoy your Spring garden.
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Thank you so much. Please let me know how it goes if you give it a try. They’re fun to make, and they can be turned into book marks, cards, gift tags, or simply gathered in a book.
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Another craft i haven’t tried! Your cards are lovely.
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Thank you! It’s good fun if you want to give it a go.
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I am always amazed at the varied items you use to turn into beautiful cards. Your creation that has stuck with me the most is using stamps for cards and for that table top! I have a little box of stamps in a cabinet I need to declutter — every time I glance that way, I think of you and those beautiful creations. :)
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Thank you for making my day. I love the challenge of using different things, new and old, up cycled and the like.
Best of luck with the declutter. Do you know about the “15 minute rule” where you set a timer for 15 minutes, and focus on one task. You work as quickly as possible, no distractions, and when the time is up you can choose to stop or continue for another 15 minutes. It’s quite effective.
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I am very good at the decluttering process, until it comes to the part about actually dropping things off! It is 20 miles to my nearest thrift stores, and they are all so stuffed already that no one can walk inside. And I live on a dirt road so all those donation trucks won’t come to me. A new grocery store is going in only 12 miles away and I am hoping that a thrift store will open in the same center! :)
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I didn’t realize you were so far from things. That’s got its challenges. My in-laws moved to Calistoga when they retired, not fully realizing how isolating it would be on rainn days. They had sixty inches of rain one year and they were stir crazy. Driving down the mountain in the heavy rain, in addition to the narrow roads was challenging.
I read a startling statistic regarding specifically clothing donations. Most thrift stores can only sell about 5% of clothing. Some of it is shipped off for industrial use, and for a time, to developing countries like Africa.
This is probably not a practical model, but wouldn’t it be great to have a service like Uber or Door Dash, in reverse. A person arrives at your door, loads up a truck or van with all your donations, then takes them to thrift stores, animal shelters, hospitals, etc. This would be a good Eagle Scout project.
All that said, I bet its wonderfully calm and quiet living off the beaten path.
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