http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-fun-natural-holiday-cards.html
How to Make Fun, Natural Holiday Cards
Nature provides some of the most beautiful designs in the world. Just think of the perfect the design of a nautilus shell, or a milkweed pod, or a Ginkgo Biloba leaf.
You can easily make fold-over notes using natural forms such as small leaves, fern fronts, or seedpods as printing stamps, and the project is fun for kids and adults alike. One idea to inspire would be repeating a pattern, such as the pattern of a Ginkgo Biloba leaf. I have seen this done before and the results are stunning.
Here are five simple steps for how to decorate fold-over holiday cards, inspired by Nature Crafts, by Marilyn Oliver. They do not need an envelope!
If you want to have the cards be self-mailers, leave the front of the notes blank so that the address may be written.
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add your comment »The "fabric" between leaf stems on palm trees is great for collage on greeting cards. I've taught crafts on cruise ships, and emphasized making art from found objects, such as leaves and this "fabric", which is actually layers of stranded fiber, each layer going almost perpendicular to the one below it. Twigs can be used in binding little booklets. We made greeting cards and little books.
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This is a great idea, but not environmentally friendly by any means. The best would be to use the leaves themselves as cards, now that's something I'd be interested in reading about.
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If you don't have paint or want to avoid the "mess", rubbings of leaves are also nice. Place the leaf vein side up, place your paper (such as regular copy paper or stationery) over the leaf. Using a crayon, rub over the leaf. You will have a nice imprint. I prefer to use the long side of the crayon ( the large "kindergarten" size are especially nice) rather than the point.
Another crayon option is to CAREFULLY melt bits of different colored crayons in a muffin tin over hot water or in a very low oven to get a "rainbow" crayon. This uses up those broken crayons quite well. I prefer not to use brown or black or more than 3 or 4 colors in the mix because they can turn muddy. Again, watch CAREFULLY while melting the crayons!!
Chalk or sketching charcoal can also be used but will need a fixative to keep from rubbing off. I have heard of people using hair spray but have never tried it myself.
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This is nice article
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