Modifying the Gaian Tarot to make it easier to handle

I love Joanna Powell Colbert’s Gaian Tarot. Her artwork is stunning and the accompanying book is wonderful. It is written with such love and compassion for both the user, the Earth, and those we share it with. There is however one problem. The cards measure 10cm x 14.5cm (4″ x 5 3/4″) which is huge. My daughter couldn’t hold more than a quarter of the deck in her hand and even though I have large hands I found it a stretch. Also, as I noted in my write up of this deck, it isn’t well suited for large spreads because it requires so much space. This meant that, as much as I loved the deck, I didn’t pull it out to use very often.

Fortunately, as part of my morning bridging practice, each day I select a different deck. The other morning it happened to be the Gaian Tarot and once again I was captivated and inspired by the artwork. I had previously considered trimming the deck to make it more manageable but I wasn’t sure how to do so. As you can see from the image below, just removing the blue border, (I have the Schiffer Publishing edition), wouldn’t make a huge difference. But you can’t just cut off the entire border because the image extends into the white border. I toyed with the idea of just cutting off those elements that protruded into the border but it didn’t feel right. So, I left it as is and it sat back on my shelf for way too long.

Fast forward to the other day and my joy in working with the deck again and I knew I had to do something to make it more workable for me. Initially I merely trimmed off the blue border but as I had suspected it didn’t make much of a difference. And, the white felt overly thick. I wanted to trim more of the white but, short of measuring and ruling lines on every card, I didn’t know how to do so evenly.

What I also noted was that the image was not centred on most of the cards. Fortunately that was the case for the backs and whilst not centred the backs and fronts seemed to align with each other. I checked several of the cards to confirm and then I looked to see what would happen if I trimmed around the white inner border on the card backs. You can see the line I’m referring to below.

Now, before I was game to take to the card again with my scissors, yes I simply trim cards with scissors, I checked to see that the Gaian Tarot was still available and wouldn’t be cost prohibitive to replace. I suggest this as a standard step before any modification. Once I was semi-convinced that I could justify rebuying the deck if I mucked it up, I took a deep breath and began.

Now due to the placement of the card titles I couldn’t cut around the whole border because on some cards I may have trimmed a bit off the bottom of the lettering. So to make sure that didn’t happen I trimmed the lower white outer border off with the card face up first. I made sure I did this cut first every time so I couldn’t accidently cut the wrong line when using the card back border as my cutting line. This is really important because this is the only deck I have ever flipped over and cut without being able to see the front of the card. It’s what made me feel so nervous. I wasn’t 100% sure what it was going to look like until it was done.

The next step was to flip over the card so I was looking at the card back and cut around the inner border indicated earlier. I have a paper trimmer but I feel I have more control with scissors. Others prefer to use trimmers or guillotines, I’m just not one of them. Instead I have a special pair of scissors with long blades that are dedicated purely to deck modifications.

Now since there was no white visible across the bottom of the card I knew that as long as I only cut only the inner white border on the sides I could see white border I would be fine.

Once I was done, I was so happy with the results. Normally, I’m not a fan of white borders but because of Joanna Powell Colbert’s realistic artwork the borders make each card look like a polaroid photo – a snapshot of someone or something in a moment in time. I love it. Below you can see what it looked like first trimmed and then once I had rounded the corners.

There is one thing I have to point out, which you will see in the full collection of transformation pictures below. In not trimming the deck evenly, at the bottom on the card back, the internal white border isn’t uniform. For the benefit of the result on the front of the card I am fine with that. Unfortunately I can’t see any way around it because the titles are not printed in the exact same place on the card. Some sit lower.

This is an issue for every aspect of the card. As you can see clearly below, the card image is not positioned evenly on the blue background so the blue border is much thicker on the left. Once trimmed that is no longer an issue. I believe the results speak for themselves and it was worth the time it took.

Generally when I modify a deck I finish them off by edging them with alcohol markers. However, in this instance I have chosen to leave them white.

Wrapping it all up

If like me you found the Gaian Tarot unwieldly, I believe you will find this modification beneficial. I have seen many comments about how people wish they had a copy of Joanna Powell Colbert’s original or the Llewellyn Publishing version that didn’t have the blue borders. I don’t have either of those versions, so I can’t talk in terms of cardstock, but I do feel, with this modification, I have created a similar aesthetic.

What I did

1. Check that the deck is still available just in case you are not happy with your results. For me this is is an essential step before any deck modification.
2. With the card image facing you, trim the bottom blue border
3. Turn the card over and with the card back facing you cut along the inner white border on the sides you can still see a white border, (only three sides).
4. Round the corners with a corner cutter.

Materials Used

I just use a pair of titanium coated scissors that came in a relatively inexpensive kitchen scissors pack. I like these particular ones because they have a long blade. As long as your scissors are sharp then whatever works best for you is perfect.

A few years ago now I purchased a Sunstar Kadomaru Pro Corner Cutter for my deck modifications. (I bought mine from Amazon). I have used it quite extensively for deck trims and for other craft projects and so far it is holding up well. For most deck modifications I use the medium corner but for this one I used the large one to ensure the blue corners were completely removed.

That’s it, unless you want to edge it, but I didn’t on this occasion. If you do this modification and you edge yours I’d love to see.

Publishing Information

Deck Creator:

Joanna Powell Colbert

Pictured Version:

Schiffer Publishing, 2016

Websites:

Gaian Tarot website

Joanna Powell Colbert