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This is another custom rune set made with my favourite blue runes that are hand-dyed to look like subtle clouds and sky. They are painted with a deep grass-green enamel to symbolize the grass under the sky. The bag was embroidered with my interpretation of Odin's world tree, which I thought worked beautifully with the theme of sky, grass, and runes.

This is another example of using outdated materials to fashion something trendy and funky. I had been given some plastic amber beads by a friend, and I gathered some handmade marbled FIMO beads, unakite chips, and copper tubing, but it was still missing something. I bought some beautiful necklaces that were terribly out of fashion, and took them apart and mixed some of the beads, gemstones and wooden coconut shells into this along with a FIMO pendant with a yin/yang design. The copper and gold accents look beautiful with evening wear.

When I ordered The Saint Deck by Karen Prioletti and Ann Trump, Ann sent me a lovely devotional card and pewter medal of St. Anthony of Padua. Inspired by this nice gift, I made a necklace and earring set. I created two editions and then decided on the more subdued second version. This is a good example of turning a devotional or meditational item into a useable piece of jewellery. I have seen some lovely enamelled Catholic pendants and pendants of Hindu deities that would work up into gorgeous necklaces.

This is one of my custom origami designs made for a customer who prefers brown and earth colours in her clothes and jewellery. The jasper and agate chips, riverstone, glass beads, and ceramic beads are enhanced by a handmade origami pendant in similar earth tones.

A necklace commissioned by a customer who favours the colour brown in jewellery. She wanted something with pink to go with a summer t-shirt. I decided on this funky pendant with dyed shell, wood, and tigeriron beads. Simple and summery doesn't have to mean boring or off-the-rack from the discount store. Tigeriron is a gemstone with streaks of hematite, tigereye and red jasper that looks dark brown at a distance but has marvelous colourations when viewed up close that make the simplest necklace look extraordinary.

An origami necklace and earring set made using hot pink and green colours of glass and ceramic beads with a wild-looking polka dot paper in the handmade origami pendant. It's a beautiful looking set that is one-of-a-kind for casual or elegant clothes.

This is an example of a cemetery bag I made for a customer with a photograph I took of a family headstone. The handsome granite bench had an etching of a pug dog on it which didn't photograph well, so I did a rubbing of it. After scanning, resizing and cleaning up the rubbing, I printed it and appliquéd it on the back of the bag. This is a familial treasure customized with their own history, and makes a poignant keepsake to remember a beloved father and grandfather.

I make pastel and collage tuckboxes for many of my decks that need a smaller box. These take anywhere from 5 to 10 hours to make due to the layers and protective coatings needed. I often scan in symbolism from a specific deck for the collaged elements.

This was a very special and labour intensive (30 hours) box that I made for The Compass of Fate deck that is available online from the author, Robert Kalin, to download and print. The deck is based on Mah Jongg and is quite thick. Rather than use black ink, I printed the deck in three subtle colours of teal, green, and dark blue, and then collaged the box and the matching journal with pictures of antique maps and quilted compasses.
http://www.angelfire.com/alt2/robertkalin/tcof.html

The Vacchetta Tarot is a deck that is available online to print in black and white. I printed the line drawings in an olive green colour rather than black, and made a coordinating tuckbox and bag for it. The bag has an overdyed toile fabric lining to give it an antique look to complement the heavy embroidery and beaded floral motif.

This is an interesting example of how I use my card collection as a jumping-off point for more serious study in a subject. I gathered several books and a deck as items for studying The Divine Comedy, and a matching bag I created picks up the colours in the cards and completes the study set.

I have ongoing studies of Shakespeare, the Saints, the Poetic Edda, and the books The Flowering of the Middle Ages and Symbolist Art all tied into decks of some sort. I have a large collection of art postcards including botanical art and various playing cards that I like to use to study disparate subjects.