More Swords today–this time the Seven, a card of betrayal and lies and sneakiness all around. The curled muskrat teeth make the “slipping away” imagery easier to portray (I’ve mentioned before it’s tough to anthropomorphize bones sometimes!) Plus there’s that gnawing action–chewing away at trust and honesty, nibbling around the edges of what one thought was true. Not all swords are stick-straight, after all.

Also, we are just TEN DAYS away from completing the Tarot of Bones IndieGoGo campaign! And at $8,365, there’s just $635 to go before we meet the next stretch goal of $9,000, where I’ll do an exclusive online class on how to use the Tarot of Bones once backers have the deck and book in hand. Here’s the link–go check out the awesome perks that are available!

Progress continues apace on the Tarot of Bones assemblage pieces! I just finished my 30th piece, the Two of Swords. It’s a card of difficult decisions, where there are no easy answers and any choice you make could cost you. Not a fun card, but definitely a reality many of us have had to face over the years.

Honestly, that’s one of the reasons I rather prefer the Minor Arcana over the Major. The Majors are such great, archetypal forces that they sometimes feel a little out of reach. The Minor Arcana, on the other hand, are the shared, common experiences of humanity, no matter who we are. We all have those tough decisions, and we also all have moments of joy and triumph. The Major Arcana is the pageantry; the Minor is the everyday life.

Finally, just a reminder that the Tarot of Bones IndieGoGo campaign ends on May 19! It’s a great opportunity to get the deck and book and a much-reduced price from what the final cover cost will be–and it’s also a wonderful way to help make sure I can get the set out on time. So if you haven’t had a chance to back this campaign yet, or you know someone who may be interested, let today be the day!

Despite not being a particularly joyful card, full of challenges and self-detriment and the like, the Eight of Swords was fun to sculpt. It’s hard to tell from the picture (I need to get a better one for the deck), but the gray stone walls on either side of the piece are 3-D sculpted epoxy putty, with coyote teeth sunk into them like gnashing fangs ready to bite down on the journeyer going through the narrow pass. The piece is about 2″ deep, so I need to adjust my settings to capture the depth. I’m not an especially good photographer; the camera’s been doing most of the work for me. But this is a good piece for me to practice on so the final shot will be a better one.

So I just realized that I am over 1/3 of the way done with the assemblage pieces! The Eight of Swords is my 28th assemblage piece completed, which puts me a bit ahead of schedule. (26 is the 1/3-of-the-way point, and the end of April is 1/3 of the way done with the year.) So hooray for that! I’m already plotting the next assemblage piece, in between taking time out for other artwork.

We also hit a little sadder milestone–yesterday was the first day that I didn’t have a single new backer on the Tarot of Bones IndieGoGo campaign! Okay, so I’m not really all that upset because for pity’s sake, it’s 157% funded today and there are 22 days left! Still, backers dropped off a lot once we hit the initial $5,000 asking level, and it’s been mostly a trickle of 1-2 new people per day. The fact that we got halfway through the campaign before getting a no-backer day is really impressive, and again I’m really appreciative to all of those who have chipped in!

That being said, if you have not yet backed the campaign, or you know people who may be interested, now’s a great time to back it and get the word out! We’re just $170 away from $8,000–and once we hit $9,000 we’ll achieve our next stretch goal. And I’m still quite a ways away from being able to break even on the production costs for this deck (though materials are covered and I have a nice chunk of money to put toward the aforementioned expenses). So the more we raise on this campaign, the easier it’ll be for me to make sure the Tarot of Bones gets into everyone’s hands in Summer 2016! Here’s that campaign link again, and thank you 🙂

The Nine of Swords is a card with which I have all too much experience. It represents worry and anxiety, and the sleepless nights that they can create. As someone living with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, while I do a lot of self-care and other management, I have still had too many times when I’ve awakened in the wee hours in the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep because my mind latched on to some worry or another. Instead of peaceful stars in the sky over the landscape, this card shows chewing, gnashing teeth, ready to gnaw away at my sleep.

I admit it was cathartic to create this piece, though. It gives more of a face to that experience, and even attributes something beautiful to it. Sometimes I’m able to talk myself through the worry before it gets too bad; other times I come up with solutions, and the resulting peace of mind lets me go back to sleep. So it’s not uniformly bad; I just need to be able to manage my relationship to it.

Just a reminder–the Tarot of Bones IndieGoGo is still going for another 24 days! We’re less than $1,500 away from the next stretch goal–at $9,000 I’ll be planning a Livestream workshop on how to use the Tarot of Bones after the deck and book are out, exclusively for IndieGoGo backers. And although I am exceptionally grateful the campaign is now 150% funded, every dollar counts toward helping me get closer to breaking even on the many costs of this monumental project. So if you haven’t had a chance to back this campaign yet, today’s a great day to change that! And please share the link with other people who may be interested–word of mouth is VERY important. Thank you!

I completed Judgment today–and what a cutie she is! I got this pretty little domestic dog skull (probably a pit mix) from Steve Dean of Frozen Critters to represent the second-to-last card in the Major Arcana. Why a dog, though?

Well, whereas Justice is the moment you realize you screwed up on something (and you might get eaten by the crocodile as a result), Judgment is where you get the chance to make it right. It’s a card of leaving behind a soiled past full of mistakes and resolving to be a better person going forward. It’s full of self-forgiveness and untangling hard feelings all around. Ideally, you’ve taken responsibility for your actions and it’s time to lay them to rest.

And who is still waiting for you no matter how much you mess up? Why, your friendly neighborhood dog! And here she is, waiting for you in a flowered field, with her favorite rope toy in her jaws. sure, she’ll still nip you if you play too roughly with her, but mostly she’s just been eagerly awaiting your return home. It’s up to you whether you accept her forgiveness and go out into the field to play, or let yourself be weighed down by your worries about your past.

I do have to admit I really loved making this card; its energy is quite positive. And it’s another card full of earth tones, my favorite palette. Plus, y’know, *moss*.

In other news, the Tarot of Bones IndieGoGo campaign is almost 150% funded! It’s at $7385 as of this writing. If you haven’t backed it yet but want to, now’s a great time–there are only 18 Slightly Later Bird Combos left. (There are plenty of other perk packages to choose from, of course.) And word of mouth is still important; please pass the link on to anyone you feel may be interested in supporting the Tarot of Bones!

Here’s another card that’s near and dear to my heart–the Three of Wands. When it pops up in my readings it often signifies a time of travel and adventure, or even mental expansions of awareness. In any case, it says I’ll be going places so I should have my bags packed.

I used a trio of coyote ulnas for this piece; coyotes do tend to range far and wide, particularly in areas where food is a bit scarce, and they’re highly adaptable creatures. The leg bones definitely get them moving! The map was a last-chance thrift store find; rather than paper, it’s made of a thin, brittle plastic that had seen better days, and the edges had already cracked significantly. There weren’t very many large, undamaged pieces left, but I managed to cut out this topographically interesting section. I did back it with heavy cardboard for extra strength.

And here’s the obligatory plug for the Tarot of Bones IndieGoGo, which is now 144% funded at $7,215 (thank you!!!)