One card. Two instructions.
Notice. Draw. Make.
You need an ordinary 52-card deck, any paper or journal, and a pencil or pen. The game turns one small observation into one page that could only be yours.
Notice any plant
Choose anything growing that you can see. You never have to identify, touch or pick it.
Draw one card
The suit gives you a piece of invented magical lore. The rank gives you a hands-on page action.
Make one page
Add what you noticed, your made-up sentence and the card’s action. Return the card and shuffle.
The result: 52 possible suit-and-rank combinations before the plant, season and your own observation make the page different again.
The hand before yours
Mara left the next page for you.
Mara Venn kept the old hedge before you. Her voice, notes and unfinished almanac run through the book—but the next observation belongs to your ordinary life.
You become the new Keeper: noticing what actually grows around you and inventing the impossible things the hedge is said to remember. A houseplant counts. So does supermarket rosemary, a tree through the window, a sprouting potato or the same plant again.
Her almanac is not finished. It is waiting for another hand.
The botanical cast
Thirteen plants with stories already clinging to them.
The illustrated field plates bring together observation prompts, cultural history and Mara’s world.
These thirteen illustrated plants are inspiration—not a scavenger hunt. You do not need to find them in real life, and you do not need botanical knowledge before you begin.
Use the field plates when you want company. Use the plant in front of you when you want the page to begin at home.
The engine inside the almanac
The cards stop the blank page deciding for you.
Each draw gives you both an imaginative direction and something concrete to do with your hands.
Four kinds of lore
Hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades ask for a comfort, worth, ward or warning.
Thirteen page actions
Work with silhouette, texture, scale, pattern, palette, reveal and more.
A pencil-only route
Every action has a simple version made with lines, dots and words.
Useful play aids
Keeper’s Sheet, seasonal wheel, banners and quick reference are included.
A seasonal shape, with no obligation
One page is play. All eight turnings are optional.
Eight turning dates can divide your almanac into seasonal chapters, with dates supplied for both hemispheres.
Missed time is not failure. An empty interval is simply marked UNRECORDED.
Exactly what you receive
The complete game, in two useful editions.
You receive two parts: the 56-page game book and the 8-sheet component pack. Each comes in a richly coloured edition and a cleaner, ink-conscious PRINT THIS edition.
Illustrated rules, Mara’s world, worked example and thirteen botanical field plates.
Full colour + ink-conscious
Cards, Keeper’s Sheet, wheel, suit prompts, banners and quick reference.
Full colour + ink-conscious
This is a digital product. The listing does not include a physical journal, playing cards, decorative paper, ephemera or a printed book. Nothing physical is posted.
Designed to begin with what you already have
No special garden. No art test. No catching up.
Any growing thing
Houseplant, weed, herb, window tree, sprout or repeat visitor all count.
Simple materials
Any journal or paper, one ordinary 52-card deck, and a pencil or pen.
Your own pace
There is no score, minimum number of entries or fixed play schedule.
Fantasy kept clear
The invented lore is not a plant-identification guide or herbal and is never health advice.
Read on screen or print at home
Choose the edition that suits the page you want to make.
The full-colour book is ready for screen reading or selected-page printing. The PRINT THIS book removes the decorative tint while keeping the same game.
- US Letter: print at actual size.
- A4: choose scale to fit.
- Smaller journal: choose 2 pages per sheet for roughly A5-sized pages.
- Action cards: keep these at full size.
Digital delivery
Your complete download is one button away.
After checkout, open the Artful Safari thank-you PDF and click Download your files. That button opens the ZIP containing all four PDF files.
Before you buy
The practical questions, answered.
You can begin without knowing how solo journaling games work. The book shows one complete card-to-page example before asking you to play.
Is this a download or a physical journal? Am I creating my own pages from the prompts?
Yes, it is a digital download, not a physical journal. You create your own journal pages from prompts the game gives you as part of a story. The story creates atmosphere and gives your imagination a bit of a kick-start, while what goes on each page is yours. The download includes the printable 56-page game book and reusable component sheets; nothing is posted to you.
Do I have to keep to a schedule?
No. There is no fixed length. You play at your own pace: a turn a day or a turn a week is up to you. There is no quota, and missed time is recorded without inventing entries after the fact.
Do I need a garden or art skill?
No. Use any growing thing you can see, including something indoors or through a window. Every action has a pencil-only version.
Are these real herbal remedies?
No. The magical lore is clearly labelled as invented fantasy. Field notes are included for history and interest only—not identification, harvesting or health advice.
Can I get a refund?
Changed your mind? Email us before downloading any files and we will refund your purchase.
What may I do with the files?
The licence covers personal and small-business use. Please do not share, redistribute or resell the digital files themselves.
Safety: You never need to touch, pick, taste or identify a plant to play.
Begin the next page
Let one ordinary plant become part of the almanac.
Instant digital access to the 56-page game and 8-sheet component pack in both full-colour and ink-conscious editions.
Game book + component pack · two editions · nothing physical posted
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