FINALLY! Three years in the making and a full year since I first contacted the printer, I finally have my tarot card decks.
They are so beautiful, I can't even describe how much I love them. The print quality is beyond my expectations.
I'm so glad that I held out for the 410 gsm art paper rather than settling for cheap plastic. It was a long search to find a place that would print on this but well worth the search and delays.
The rose-petal finish on the cards and box is exactly as it sounds - it feels soft like a rose petal in your fingers but it's a strong lamination to protect the cards.
I didn't want a shiny gold foil on the edges so I'm very pleased with the matte gold edging. It's close to the gold foil on the back of the cards and box so the deck and box feel very much in harmony.
The deck is thicker than a traditional tarot deck due to the thick paper I picked. The cards are still pliable and easy to shuffle though so it's a good result. Because the deck is so much thicker we had to make custom boxes and that resulted in many months-long delays.
I'm pleased with the gold foil on both the card backs and inside and outside of the box. The designer I hired for the artwork on the card backs and box was wonderful. She made exactly what I wanted which was something that represented life itself. I wanted the design to include the elements of life: calm water and rough seas, the air and earth, the sun, moon, and stars, and a central compass that we all possess. Her design is exactly what I wanted. The blue background is a photo of the night sky that I took many years ago. It’s not a spectacular photo of the stars but it is a special memory for me.
The box is hefty and substantial. It opens from the side and has 2 magnets for the closure. I wanted something worthy of storing this deck in and I'm pleased that I decided to go for the best option.
On the very bottom card of the deck there is a QR code and a website that takes you to a 50-page Companion guide that I wrote for the deck. There is no Little White Book because it would have taken up too much space in the box and I didn't want to do that. Plus I wanted something large enough for an adult human to read without a magnifying glass. I'll be honest that I'm not a writer so this was a real struggle. It's not worthy of any awards but it was the best I could put together with 3 years of hard work and countless revisions. I finally just had to stop or I would never release it. The internet is full of information about tarot so if I fell short anywhere there are definitely places to find more information. This guide is my personal interpretation and I feel strongly that it represents that.
This project took years longer than I expected and cost so much more than I could afford but ultimately I'm so happy that I did it. I learned a lot. I learned more about patience than I thought I could! I learned about handling disappointment after disappointment and accepting that so much of this was out of my hands. When I started the project I was very nervous that I had to put so much trust in the hands of my models and designers. I don't like not being in control but really they had far more control than I did. The thought made me very nervous and uncomfortable. Not only did they exceed my expectations but every single one brought their best and gave their all. Underwater modeling is really hard but they all did it in the roughest of situations and made it look completely effortless. I'm so grateful to all of them. They don't know it yet but I invested in decks for each of them, above and beyond the 1000 that I have to sell, to give them as a thank you gift.
I've put all of my eggs in one basket in that I funded this entire deck myself. As costs climbed up, the pandemic stretched on and a recession was building I could feel my heart sinking but I decided that if I was going to do this I was going to go all in. I've had well over a thousand people tell me that they were very interested in buying this deck so now I just have to put it out into the world and hope for the best. I have almost a thousand pounds of tarot decks sitting in my office taking up a considerable amount of real estate. Let's hope I can sell them all really fast because...I have another deck I'd love to get into production before the end of the year :)
I'm going to launch these decks tomorrow to people who have signed up for my newsletter. I promised them the first crack at the decks. They get 1 week to place their orders first then I open it up to the public. I'm sending out the newsletter tomorrow morning April 13th, my twin daughters' 25th birthday. That seems a fitting way to celebrate. They have been sooooo supportive and patient with me on this project. I'm so proud of the adults they have turned into.
Thanks so much for hanging in here with me :)
~ Cheryl