They arrived finally
I just got my deck in the mail yesterday and those cards are BIG, which is what I like. They measure 5 x 7 inches (might be a millimeter short of 7)
They were quite expensive here in Canada ($40 CDN) and I regret spending that much on them for what they are. You can hunt them up cheaper online (which I recommend if you're interested) but I can't buy online.
It's beautifully packaged and the cards are gorgeous, if a bit simplistic. I was disappointed with the book initially, but after looking at it again I could probably do a lot with it. The one thing I did notice and like in the book was that after each chapter's discussion of a card she has a section called "Going Further" which highlights exercises and questions to further make you think about what you want to write. She has an interesting section on writing techniques you might use to freshen things up, including writing with your non-dominant hand--a practice used by Leonardo da Vinci and espoused in the book "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci," a book on creativity and enhancing your intellect which was kind of interesting. They're all interesting! Anyway, several of these techniques we all remember from English class, like changing the point of view from first person to third person; changing the style from funny to serious; timing your writing; writing poems instead of prose; listing things; writing a song or an advertisement; fitting the words into a geometrical shape etc.
Charlene Geiss likes to mix words and art in her journals which is my approach too, and one I find meditative, fun and fruitful. I find a strictly written journal similar to a web log--it's too easy to repeatedly fall into rant mode and pour out diatribes on the minutiae of life. I've seen the pattern in my own and other web logs so I think the world needs to be saved from the negativity of such happenstance. <g> I love random creative exercises, but is ranting about ephemeral political situations and what your Mom said to you on Tuesday really creative or a path to wasting more energy in a passive manner? It's that "armchair critic" thingy, which is maybe not the best showcase for writing skill or resolving problems.
So with something like these cards you get away from that and into writing with more meaning, depth and usefulness. You could pair them up with a tarot or oracle deck. I think many people here already do that with various decks, but for those who don't, you might like these cards as a springboard to something new to do with your cards and mix it up in a fresh way. You can add some artwork or clippings or photographs to the mix, which is what the author of this deck teaches in workshops, and also something many people here do.
The other thing I thought of based on Mari's comments about handmade mini decks and postcards, was creating a twin deck to go with this. For instance, I'm looking at one of the cards here and it has a collage of lovely papers with the inked message "Wish upon a star." That song starts going through my head, Jiminy Cricket. I'm afraid the simplicity of this card kind of bugs me, so I could cut a piece of watercolour paper 5 x 7 inches and tape it down on a masonite board and then discover what comes to mind with "wish upon a star." Make a twin that *does* say what you want, or contains what you want graphically, and then you can paste your own words or poem on the back printed out in calligraphy or with a nice font on the computer. Pulling a tarot card to augment this meaning and exploration would be neat too. I've done this lots of times with decks, it's such a joy to try and match up odd cards and write and draw with them using your own words or the words from others. I think that's why this deck appealed to me, I didn't really need it but I wanted it just to think about what I could do.
I notice on the card "three years from now. . ." she has an image of a calendar--the very 15th century calendar illustration that is painted above a picture of the castle of the Duc de Berry and reproduced in a history book I have. I scanned this image into my computer back in 2000 and used it in a digital image. That's one of the handsomest cards in the Inner Outings deck.
Yeah, there are a couple of really, really neat cards in here. All are pretty simple as collage goes, but pretty. Some deep tones, browns and muted greyed-out colours so they don't appear inherently feminine.