GETTING ARTSY Part 3

Following my research last week, I've begun gathering some of the supplies I will use in the deck. I want to find a box or basket to keep everything in specifically for this project. I have a Sterilite tub with all Halloween embellishments/ ribbons in that I still need to pull out. While I'm not seeing much chance for play this week, I am going to try. I only have a 4 day work week so we'll see how this goes.

Here are some close-ups:

Michaels had ALL Halloween crafting supplies 50% off last week. I snagged this package of acetate frames. I believe there were 6 in the package. Though I know I'll have to cut them down, that also lends potential to getting 2 cards out of each sheet.

The cat/ bat/ pumpkin/ spooky stencils came with my Close To My Heart order last week. And that JoLee's embellishment is one of my favorites to play with. When I'm doing stuff for 'public', I don't hide who I am but I do downplay the aspects some. I don't appreciate other religions getting in my face and I try not to do the same. 

So while this is NOT the post I had planned for this week, you do have a glimpse at some of the things I'll be playing with. 

Creative Blessings!

~Rain

GETTING ARTSY Part 2

After this post, I'll be sharing the Altered Playing Card Challenge (APCC) on Mondays. But I wanted to bring you up to speed on the project.

When I first started this project I knew there would be a recurring theme but wasn't sure what that common thread would be. After seeing Claudine's first challenge I knew I wanted to do a 'educational' deck on the Practice.

While enjoying some unexpected downtime at my favorite coffee house yesterday I did some research. I used the following books as my benchmark:

SEASONS OF WITCHERY By Ellen Dugan
EVERYDAY WITCH BOOK OF RITUALS By Deborah Blake
EVERYDAY WITCH - A TO Z By Deborah Blake

The Deck will include the following cards:
13 Esbat
12 New Moons
8 Sabbats
4 Elements
3 Maiden/ Mother/ Crone
1 Each:
   Altar
   Besom
   Candle
   Cauldron
   Challice
   Familiars
   Libra (my sign)
   Numbers
   Passing
   Power of 3
   Rede
   Wheel
 
As I made my notes about associative colors, stones, tools, etc. some things began clicking with me - confirming this is the project I was meant to take on at this point. Perfect as I approach the New Year. Can you believe Samhain is one month away? I'll be talking more about my celebration in the coming weeks.

Creative Blessings!
~ Rain

GETTING ARTSTY

I thought I'd spend some time catching you up on my latest artistic project - well the one I can talk about anyway.  This is a 52 card deck that I've gessoed the faces on in preparation for an Altered Playing Card Challenge at Claudine's Art Corner.

I also gessoed the back with a homemade mixture of white gesso and black acrylic paint. I'm very OCD in that I can not begin a project until I know where I'm going and have all the pieces in place. So although we were only asked to gesso the one side during the first week in prep for the artsy stuff to come, I decided taking care of the backs BEFORE the embellishments were put in place on the front would be easier. As you can tell by the card on the left, this was probably a wise decision. 

Next, I've taken an extra card from the deck (this one had a torn corner so I swapped it out for a joker) and trimmed 1/4" off on all four sides to help create a template so I could do this:

I'm using a gold metallic paint pen and going around the outside edge of all the cards. For the final step, I will stencil a gold pentagram in the center of each one. THEN I can flip them over and get caught up on the challenges. 

Tomorrow I'll talk about the common thread that will tie this deck together when all the cards are finished. 

Creative Blessings

~ Rain