The Card Shop is the longest established and most successful of Mustard Seed's income-generating projects. So successful is the venture that in 1996 an order for 900,000 cards was filled.

The making of banana bark cards online on this site. To visit theis a creative, innovative and artistic project that provides the largest share of Mustard Seed's income.

(Note: We now sell banana bark cards online from this website. To see the shop, please click here.

The cards measuring approximately six inches by four, are made from banana bark which is collected, dried, scraped, varnished or painted before being cut into the desired shape and glued onto card.

With the order books full, the work provides an income for up to 45 local women and their families and the surplus is used to support Mustard Seed's numerous children's homes.

The production process is not high-tech and is very labor intensive. The bark of the banana tree is stripped and dried, painted and fashioned, and cut and pasted by several people employed on a piece-rate system.

These greeting cards are another means by which Mustard Seed not only provides income for itself, but also offers employment and a skill to people in its communities.

The card shop has generated revenue from the local market, but the overseas market has been the most lucrative by far. In peak periods, upwards of 750,000 cards have been exported.

Importantly the cards assist in spreading the message of Mustard Seed Communities both locally and overseas.

From February 2001, the card shop will receive orders directly from the MustardSeed.com website. For the first time, Mustard Seed will have a truly international method of making its beautiful handmade cards available for sale around the world. It is expected that sales through the site will substantially increase the amount of work currently being undertaken in the card shop.