Beth's Floral Ellipse Tarot

Have you ever heard the old saying, 'if you want something done right, do it yourself' ?

Well, that is just what The Crawford's did when they self-published the beautiful Beth's Floral Ellipse Tarot.

When I came first came across this deck on E-bay, I was surprised because I have never seen it before.  I was enchanted by it's warmth and soothing pastel colors.

Of course, I had to know, so I contacted the artist and Beth and Bill Crawford turned out to be just as warm and appealing as the deck.  Kindly, they shared the story of the deck and how it is made by hand through a labor of love and commitment to creative freedom.

It seems Bill encouraged and inspired Beth to create the deck which she began in 1990, using water colors, acrylics, pastels and colored pencils, and finished in 1994.

Bill and Beth are quite the combination.  Beth is 61 years young and a retired jack of all trades who did everything from designing marching band uniforms to, office work and bar tending. Bill is a retired chemistry teacher, 71 years young, and it is his background in math which inspired Beth to create the oval shaped cards.  Plus, he encourage her to use the floral theme because of her love of growing and painting flowers.  It seems she's the multi-talented artist and he's the brainy, mathmagician. :)

In 1994, while on a visit to Washington D.C., they stopped by the Library of Congress and copyrighted the deck. After exploring the publishing possibilities they decided not to go with a large publisher because they couldn't get a guarantee they originals would not be damaged and the oval shape of the card posed a problem.

Beth share's...I have a friend who is an artist and printer. Over the years she and I toyed with the idea of getting together and making my dream a reality. In 2003 she opened her own company in her home.  In January of 2004 we finally said "Let's do it"!   The originals were scanned, layered and the colored frames added.  The most economic way to do the printing was on double mate paper four at a time and then laminate them. Then there was the cutting. We tried a photo mate cutter, but that just did not get them all uniform. So, we had a steel dye made hoping to adapt it to a drill press..... that didn't work.  At a family gathering here, my little brother solved the problem by hitting the dye with a hammer... Truly a labor of love...it takes 2 hours to prepare the deck and cut each card out with the dye and hammer!!!   

I just love it when a Tarot Dream comes true!  The first deck sold on Ebay in May of 2004.

AND...we have a Tarot Channel EXCLUSIVE!!!

Read on to get the exclusive first peek of an excerpt from the introduction of the companion book to the Beth's Floral Ellipse Tarot.  Beth has just began to write it and graciously agreed to share it with us. :)

The Floral Ellipse Tarot is the combined idea of my husband and I.  I love growing and painting flowers and he thought of the perfect ellipse.  There are square, round and the usual rectangle tarot, but we had never seen an oval.

     Many years ago, a friend brought a deck of Tarot Cards to a Halloween Party at my house.  She had not really studied them very much, but we were all having a lot of fun with the small book and cards.  The Death Card appeared for one of the people participating and she was killed in a car accident about six weeks later.

     I never went near the cards again until quite some time had passed.  Then my best friend came to live with me and brought her cards and books.  She read them mostly for herself, but she thought I had a gift for reading for others.  I was still leery.  One night I woke up about three in the morning and could not go back to sleep.  I picked up one of her books and became fascinated.

     In the Floral Ellipse Tarot the 40 "pip" or number cards are flowers.  The flowers not only represent the four suits, but also the four seasons.  Roses signify Hearts, Cups, emotions, love and the season is summer.  Daisies are Diamonds, Pentacles, earth, material and fall.  Poinsettias are Spades, Swords, logic, reality and winter.  Dogwoods are Clubs, Wands, growth, talent and spring.

     I did not put full figured people in the minor arcana because I wanted to follow the format of the antique decks.  I also use color to set the mood.  For instance the four of roses is gloomy signifying a person who is not happy due to holding on to past relationships.  The six of roses is very bright representing peak, happy experiences with emotions.  The ace of poinsettias is a brilliant red all most a sun burst meaning victory and new beginnings.  The five of poinsettias is drab telling us we are at a point of change , but our situation is a "no win" and we must compromise to go on.  The nine of daisies is bright telling that we are close to reaching our earthly goals.  The ten is even brighter signifying we have it all.  In the two of dogwoods the color is subdued and quiet meaning a calm coming together of talents.  The seven is a bit lighter, also calm colors indicating maturity and growth.

Congratulations Beth and Bill, and best of luck with your deck from The Tarot Channel!!!!