Toronto woman makes punny greeting cards that grow into wildflowers
Although a punny card is great, it'd be sweet if it could also grow into beautiful wildflowers.
Nicole Teschl has made that possible, putting her sense of wordplay to seed paper.
The kindergarten teacher ,who's always been big on card-giving, started her greeting card business, Sow Sweet Greetings, last March. Teschl says her love for cards is something she got from her parents.
"My mom was always one to stand in the card aisle for like 30 minutes, picking through every single one till she found the perfect card," Teschl told blogTO.
But creating ones with eco-friendly paper was a must.
"It bothers me when I go to shops like Shoppers Drug Mart or anywhere that sells greeting cards," she says. "I love the cards, I love the designs, but there are just unreal amounts of plastic being used."
That's why Teschl was ecstatic to discover the Manitoba-based Botanical PaperWorks that handmakes the seed paper used for her cards.
Made with recycled paper from businesses and schools in Winnipeg, each $7 card is embedded with six types of wildflower seeds including catchfly, sweet alyssum, snapdragon, bird’s eye, black-eyed Susan and clarkia.
Just rip off a piece of the card, plant it in a pot with soil, give it a good soak and wait about 10 days.
Teschl says you can end up with any one of the flowers, or a variety, depending on how large of a piece of paper you choose to plant and how big your pot is.
"When I'm at a farmers market and I'm selling them, I feel like I'm literally telling people I'm selling magic beans," she says. "It's exciting to talk about and share with other people."
Besides the beautiful flowers they produce, each card also features a some cheeky wordplay and an illustration, both created by Teschl.
"I've always loved to draw ever since I was a little kid. Even in junior kindergarten, that was all I ever wanted to do was draw and paint," she says. "And I'm that friend in the group that can't help herself when it comes to a pun."
She also says she's happy to take requests on her Instagram. Teschl created a card with a clever play on the word "bamboo" after a woman approached her at a farmers market requesting a card with a panda.
There are currently about 100 card designs across nine different collections on the website, though Teschl likes to continually add new ones when she's feeling inspired
Nicole Teschl
Join the conversation Load comments