Crystal Tarots by Elisabetta Trevisan

Laura Borealis

Le Fanu convinced me to trim the Crystal, and it's the only way to go. This is how Lo Scarabeo should print the deck (but larger). And they should gild the edges. And they should make a little book box, something like this (see pictures).

That's beautiful! Did you make the book box? It's so perfect.
 

Dee Ell

Le Fanu convinced me to trim the Crystal, and it's the only way to go. This is how Lo Scarabeo should print the deck (but larger). And they should gild the edges. And they should make a little book box, something like this (see pictures).

Oh my goodness AGVIZ - that is gorgeous! What an amazing job you did! Kudos on your graphic artist skills (I think I was probably in the last year of people learning the "old" graphic arts skills in college: we had lessons both on the computer *and* using illustration board, xacto knives and paint.... creating graphic arts projects both digital and analog (my professor was a former illustrator for the automobile industry - he would have to paint those crazy cutaways of engines, etc and then MAIL them to the client... he had some FedEx *horror* stories about months of work getting run over by trucks and even submerged in water somehow!)) I'm guessing you're either just a naturally crafty person or you also had traditional graphic arts training? ;)

Gorgeous work, either way - you should send those images to LS and nudge them in the right direction! Those gold borders make it all the more sumptuous (and I'm not a fan of gold, usually, but this is the perfect place for it).


And speaking of your article, I hope you won't mind my posting a link to it here; it may be of help to anyone considering the Crystal. I really like the Temple Garden comparison!

Mahalo for the link!

Le Fanu - great article and as a painter myself I absolutely agree that I don't see Klimt's influence in these. LOVE the Klee image you posted! (Sometimes I think people have such a narrow understanding of Art History that they lump so much art into well-known categories/comparisons (like the over-use of "Impressionistic" simply because it's one of a couple of terms most people know)).


When we were organizing decks by elements, I chose the Crystal Tarots to represent water. The lavish use of blues and greens and the glassy style of the art make the cards appear as though submerged underwater. Artwork from Atlantis.

Aeric - love that analogy of Atlantis. I am a very "watery" person so it explains my deep attraction to this deck! :)

(and I'd love a link to wherever you were organizing these decks by elements -- sounds interesting!)
 

Aeric

My old thread is long gone, maybe I'll restart it. It's been years and plenty of new decks have emerged to fit the bill.
 

agviz

Thanks Laura and Dee Ell for the nice comments. While I have both art schooling and craft self-training, I must confess that I didn't make this box from scratch. Which is good news because then you can more easily make your own if you're interested.

The box is a modified gift card box made by Punch Studio and sold at Barnes and Noble. I don't know if it's still available because I didn't see it listed on the B&N site, but perhaps it's sold in stores only.

Unfortunately the box isn't quite deep enough to hold the cards. So I stripped out the inner box part, leaving only the cover. Then I resurfaced the interior with this paper and added a little spacer near the binding. Final touches were to add a ribbon to tie the covers together and paint over the bar code on the back cover.

If anyone is inspired to gild the edges... I've tried a number of gilding products - pens, pigmented inks, rubs - and they all come off with use. If you use the decks a lot, forget it.

Dee Ell, getting back to your original question about this as a first deck... Perhaps you should get two first decks. Another for basic tarot learning, and this for your first art deck. I see you're an artist too, so you might enjoy trimming the deck, fiddling around with it, and perhaps making your own box. Over and over I see people talking about how they bonded with a deck by doing this very thing. It might be a good experience for you.
 

Dee Ell

Dee Ell, getting back to your original question about this as a first deck... Perhaps you should get two first decks. Another for basic tarot learning, and this for your first art deck.

Well, it looks like I'm about to have THREE "first decks" ;) Roots of Asia, Via, and Aquarian -- all very different! (And despite me not being a collector of anything).

I think I'm wanting to hold out on this one in the hopes they will reprint it larger :p It's just sad to me they're so shrunken...

(I live on a small island with no major bookstores, so I can't pick something like that up to use as a base for a box - great idea though and love your details! :) )
 

agviz

Well, it looks like I'm about to have THREE "first decks" ;) Roots of Asia, Via, and Aquarian -- all very different! (And despite me not being a collector of anything).

Some nice choices! I especially like the Aquarian.

Living out on a small Pacific island sounds especially nice to someone who has just endured an especially cold, snowy, and exasperating winter in the Midwest US.
 

Dee Ell

Some nice choices! I especially like the Aquarian.

Living out on a small Pacific island sounds especially nice to someone who has just endured an especially cold, snowy, and exasperating winter in the Midwest US.

Glad to hear your opinion on the decks - I'm really looking forward to receiving them :)

As for living in the Pacific on an island: trust me - I'm not complaining! I love living in the tropics (I lived in the South Pacific for a few years before moving to Hawaii several years ago) and I cannot stand cold weather - literally. I went to high school and college in Illinois so I know *exactly* what you're suffering right now. When it drops below 60 degrees I'm in pain and I even sleep under a down comforter in winter HERE! So yeah, I really feel for you and the winter... My experience with the midwest was that there were only about 5 days of "nice" warm weather per year: maybe 1 day of "spring" and a few of autumn, but really winter goes straight into hot, humid summer... so it's either cold and miserable or hot and miserable :p
 

agviz

Hah! Some truth there. Let us know how you like the decks!
 

Aerin

Le Fanu convinced me to trim the Crystal, and it's the only way to go. This is how Lo Scarabeo should print the deck (but larger).

I would still like the original borders though - not really borders but in fact the edge of the cards, chopped off. There is so much more picture than the LS modern version gives room for.

Dee Ell, nagging may work. You never know! I suppose the problem may be that the pips were designed to be chopped off pictures to begin with? although perhaps not - Ric would know or maybe be able to find out.
 

AJ

should have looked, sorry