Hello and thank you for visiting my Kickstarter project!

I’m Monica and I’m a free lance illustrator.  If you’re into Tarot cards, you might know my work from the Tarot of the Dead, a Day of the Dead themed tarot deck that I created.

The project I’m working on now is the Stolen Child Tarot.  The name and inspiration for this deck came from one of my favorite poems, the Stolen Child, by William Butler Yeats  -- in particular the refrain:

“Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a faery, hand in hand,

For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.”

To create the atmosphere of the poem, I’m designing the imagery without man-made objects like the usual tools you would see in a traditional deck -- for example, a crown could be represented by antlers, or an animal's form could represent the clothing for a human station. Also, there won’t be any adult figures.  The humans in this deck are all changeling children that have embraced different parts of the natural world.

My hope with this campaign is to be able to complete the 22 cards of the major arcana, plus 2 title cards, and produce a small print run of these as a complete entity.  My illustrations are done with colored ink and watercolor and have shading and detail that will not reproduce at good quality with online print on demand services--that's where Kickstarter comes in!

Reaching my Kickstarter goal will allow me to finish and produce this project with a local printer utilizing profession 4 color process that will accurately reproduce the color and detail of the originals.  Creating this art edition of the major arcana will hopefully be the first step to developing a full deck in the future -- and I've included some minor arcana artwork in the video.

To make these editions special for supporters of the project, each deck will be signed and numbered, a title card will include an area to personalize it to the recipient with a name or small drawing-- you tell me what to include! -- and packaged in a handmade art paper portfolio.  No two will be exactly alike!  About 10-20 of the decks will be hand embellished on the title cards with metallic ink and packaged in a sewn cloth portfolio with ribbon/button enclosure to create a deluxe edition.

All pledge rewards include shipping and all pledge levels will be signed up for behind the scenes updates on the project!

Along with the cards, I will create a PDF field guide to the deck with thumbnails of each image and interpretations, which will be available for all supporters of the project.

If you would like to pledge at the original artwork level, you can see the gallery of available cards here and claim your card!

If you would like to pledge at the Pendant level, you can see an example of what the completed pendants will look like here!

When will the project complete?

I should have all artwork completed by the end of the year and to the printer by early January.  My goal is to have completed decks in supporters hands by Valentine's Day.

What is Kickstarter?

If you are new to Kickstarter, Kickstarter is an all or nothing funding platform for creative projects.  You can pledge money at different reward levels, or at any amount you choose.  If the funding goal is reached, as a supporter, you’ll receive a unique personalized piece of art as a thank you from me.  If the funding goal isn’t met, the project ends and no money changes hands.

Thank you again for visiting my project, and a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who supports it by pledging and helping spread the word!