Thursday, July 31st, 2014

Arts and Crafts Festival Report

Dan wrote up a pretty concise report on the Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival, which you can see if you check out his website.Β It was a lot of fun, tho I wish I’d had time to actually check out the festival. I hear there was some good artΒ there. Tons. So muchΒ that nobody noticed ours. They did, however, notice the little sign that said “Tarot Readings Here.”Β I’m still hung over from doing so many tarot readings. Dan drew a picture about the scene. It’s better thanΒ accurate.

 

Arts-Crafts-Fair-2014-1000px-wide

 

 

In reality, we were in the same tent.

Saturday, July 19th, 2014

AmeriCU Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival

Dan decided he was going to have a booth at the AmeriCU Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival, and one of his friends suggested he bring me along. I’m good company and good looking and I have a unique product, so, I mean, really, the suggestion was a no-brainer.

 

Dan has a lot of new paintings and a load of prints for sale. I have myΒ excellent tarot deck and will be doing 5-minute (or 10-minute) readings. I’m offering a free reading with every deck purchased. In addition, I’ll be selling magnets of the cards for three bucks each or four-for-ten. Dan has some good deals, but you’ll have to stop by the tent to find those out. And to see his art. I mean, really, it’s awesome. So is mine. Come see us!!!

 

TarotReadingsHere

Saturday, June 7th, 2014

Re: Bags and Boxes for the Absurd

Crewel Twists

Dear Judyβ€”

 

The most amazing thing about books is how many ideas they contain and how they open the mind for dreaming. I think it must be important to have a backlog of dreams. I blame this on my mom, who had (and still has) books on how to make and do just about anything. I used to think that this was in case we kids wanted to do it, but the truth is, the books are the result of an endless curiosity about and admiration of how things are done. I fall into the same trap and have some wonderful books by delightful artists about paper machΓ©, book-binding, botanical illustration, macrame, pencil drawing, sewing useful things, and sewing beautiful things, leatherwork, jewelry making, and so on.

 

I used to do a bit of embroidery in my early 20s, possibly because embroidery canvas is everywhere you look and the supplies take up very little space and stitches are fun to master. However, because I didn’t live anywhere in particular, I never read books on embroidery. Instead, I carried around a pamphlet filled with descriptions of different embroidery stitches and their various uses. I would make a simple design and embroider it. Then I would invariably give it away. I remember seeing a magazine article about a woman and her embroidered curtains and just thinking of doing one tiny part of the work she had done overwhelmed me so much I could not read the article in fear that it, too, would be endlessly laborious.

 

My mother brings home piles of pillowcases with tatted edges and key-hole lace, cross-stitched finger napkins, crocheted antimacassarsβ€” exquisite thread-work. β€œJust look at this!” she says for each one and names a priceβ€” fifty cents, a dollar a pile, a dime and thenβ€” β€œHow could I pass that up?” The lives of hundreds of women are stitched in hope chests reclaimed by my mother, hope eternal. And now I have a very slight fear of looking too closely at handiwork in case I fall into it like some nightmare and am forced to dream each stitch, one at a time. But just today I saw a woman with a lovely embroidered yoke on her shirt. Of course I wanted to run my fingers across the stitches and flip it over to see the back. Instead I merely forgot the woman’s name. But not the stitches.

 

In sum: I’m certain the Absurd would be honored to be housed in a bag of Jacobean embroidery. Who would not?

 

On another note, tho, I bought back the deck that the complainer returned to Amazon. I loose a bit of money on a return sale, but that’s the way it is. I’d been wondering at her card and chanced a guess at it. It was the 9 of Blades. I was correct. Most of the decks end up with Major Arcana, I think, due to one printing mistake or another. I’ve always wondered whether I should include unfavorable or dull cards or cards I dislike when putting in a numbered deck-marking card. But then I think, you know, I can’t control these things. Open-minded people can take a negative card and search as hard as they can to find positivity in it. People who are closed to new ideas generally see flat-out negativity. I had a hard time with the Nine of Blades until I decided to call it “the card of the prodigal dreamer.”Β I don’t think that’s right, but I like the way it sounds. We have much to learn from our nightmares. When they are plentiful, they have much to teach us. If we study them long enough, they enable us to better reach our dreams. Eyes closed, the dreamer catches the falling sword by the blade. Does he awake unharmed?

 

Peace & Love,

Jessica Rose

 

 

9 of blades
Tuesday, January 14th, 2014

Show your love! Purchase a deck by February 14!

Due to a recent upsurge in sales of the Tarot of the Absurd, I have decided to celebrate by increasing the price of the deck by $2.00 on February 14th.

 

Two bucks! That’s right! Not even the price of a Starbucks coffee. Nonetheless, you may ask yourself, why so much?Β  The answer is simple: I need a raise. I make approximately $2.90 per hour on this deck, which was the federal minimum wage in 1979. Β I live in Vermont where the minimum wage is currently $8.73. How much more money will I make with a price increase of two bucks? Unfortunately, very, very little.

 

Lucky for you all, new price is still a totally awesome deal for a signed & numbered limited edition hand-finished 100% made in USA tarot deck. Buy one now!

 

sales photo