Comments on: To Crop or Not

By: Reader Request and Crafty Goodness

Reader Request and Crafty Goodness — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:07:37 +0000

[...] To Crop or Not [...]

By: Donnaleigh

Donnaleigh — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:33:36 +0000

This is so fantabulous. I love the cropped look. Where do you find fanning powder, Barbara?

Great blog! Love those pictures.

By: Theresa Reed

Theresa Reed — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:05:49 +0000

This looks gorgeous but I don’t trust my cutting talents – I’m more butcher than artist!

By: Leisa

Leisa — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:35:44 +0000

I’d really like to encourage you to try. Using a paper trimmer makes it easy to line up the edges. They don’t end up being absolutely the same size but its withing a half a millimeter.

And you can practice on the extra cards. Or if you want I can send you some cards from my vast collection of misfit decks.

By: Barbara Moore

Barbara Moore — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:34:41 +0000

Beth, of course! Share away! I’m delighted and honored.

Now, about the preciseness issue…just be careful and go slowly. Many people do this and with a good cutter, it is very doable. I only practiced on the two “extra” cards that come with many decks.

The sanding makes a huge difference. It eliminates tiny imperfections and, counter-intuitively I think, makes the cards easier to shuffle, so don’t be alarmed if they seem hard to shuffle before sanding.

Have fun!

By: Beth Owl's Daughter

Beth Owl's Daughter — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:03:45 +0000

Ha! As usual, Ferol and I are on the same wavelength. Hope that it’s okay for me to do the same for our Raleigh group!

Thank you for this great idea, Barbara! My Osho Zen deck has been driving me crazy for years, because I find that the keywords printed on the cards are very distracting and downright misleading for my clients.

But like Corrine, I am spooked about having my cuts be less than precise… I have lots of old decks to practice on, though.. I just might do this!
– Beth

By: Barbara Moore

Barbara Moore — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:29:37 +0000

Ferol, I would be honored if you shared this link. Leisa’s visuals are so inspiring…I want to trim my RWS and Thoth sometime soon. And maybe my Druidcraft, like Helen did.

By: Ferol Humphrey

Ferol Humphrey — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:11:26 +0000

Hi Barbara! Wonderful post, wonderful visuals, wonderful comments by wonderful people. Kudos! I will email to see if I may link this on Living Tarot Facebook. Seeing the results increases the value of the discussion. Leisa’s visuals and observations on her page added as well. Thank you all!

By: Sean Salsman

Sean Salsman — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:47:42 +0000

Cropping a deck seems like something that a more experienced Tarot reader/enthusiast would do. I don’t even have the experience, intuition or insight enough yet to know what I’m looking for (or what I could be looking at) without the titles of the cards. Okay okay, that’s true with the titles as well. But I do like the notion of relying on intuition and imagination to do the work. Thank you!

By: Lunaea Weatherstone

Lunaea Weatherstone — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:03:54 +0000

I have cropped one or two decks, and have thought about cropping others but haven’t gotten around to it. Your reason for cropping — to let the images speak for themselves — is a great one! My reason in the past has been because the decks I cropped didn’t just have the name, they had some sort of five-cent interpretation too (Six of Cups: Nostalgia). I’ll interpret my own cards, thankyouverymuch! And you know, I actually own a heavy-duty cornering tool, from when I made my own original deck, but I’ve never used it on any other decks. Now, where did I put that…….?