Tips for edging cards

[TheFeeLion]

(Excuse the pun lol)

 

I’ve read a few different things of people edging their decks and was even gifted a Golden Universal edged in black (thanks again CharlotteK) and thought “oh! What a great idea! It can’t be too hard, I think I’ll give it a go.” So off I tottered and bought myself a couple of metallic sharpies (silver for my Shadowscapes deck and copper for my Froud Faeries Oracle).... I think I was a bit gung ho and didn’t do quite enough research though because after drawing all the colour on the edges of my Faeries (I should have chosen a better copper medium!) I put them aside to let them dry for a bit and when I came back to them to give them a shuffle (uh oh) they still weren’t quite dry and smudged copper ink all over the fronts and backs of the cards! *facepalm*

 

Once I finally let them dry properly I decided I actually kinda liked the copper smudges as they made the cards more mine. But I’m still unhappy with the did-I-even-do-anything colour on the edges. On top of that, the new copper smudges made the cards a lot more difficult to shuffle. They became less slip-slidey and more I’m-gonna-hold-on-for-dear-life which is not so shuffle friendly to say the least!

 

I have since gone over each card with alcohol wipes to get the worst of the velcro-nightmare-grippiness off, and thankfully that has done that job to make the cards shuffleable again.

 

So here is my question to all of you brilliant beings who have been able to edge their cards without the trial by fire: how do you do it?

[ilweran]

I mainly use Tsukineko ink pads.

 

Put down paper, gently wipe the ink pad over the edges, wipe off excess straight away, lay cards separately and leave to dry for minimum of 24 hours. Test a few edges, then leave it a bit longer just in case!

 

Oh, and before you do anything try and do a test on a spare card! On AT people used to rave about Tim Holt Ink pads so I bought one, did a few tests and it bled onto the front and back on every single one. So I went back to the Tsukineko.

 

I've used a black Sharpie on my Legacy of the Divine, looks lovely, but the borders are black anyway so less risk of mishaps!

 

You can see some on my Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/tar_miriel/

 

I've also just done my Shadowscapes with silver ink and I'm considering using a Sharpie on The Dreaming Way. I'll post some pics when I get round to it  :)

[AJ-ish/Sharyn]

I never had any success with permanent Sharpies, they rubbed black for ever more on my test cards. I love the Tashinko (?) effect,

I do all one side, one by one, giving a light back and forth swish across a paper towel, then go to the next, then back around another side.

 

Just one more way to understand and reflect on the deck. I only do it to decks I think call for it though. Like the copper on the Etruscan

[ilweran]

Oh well, I've started the Dreaming Way so fingers crossed. It's not heavily used though so hopefully it will be ok. It is looking very nice so far!

 

Also my five year old now has a couple of old decks as he wanted one of his own and now wants it edged in silver or gold  ;D  I have a couple of busy evenings ahead I think!

[Raggydoll]

I always use ink pads. They require time to dry afterwards, but you can wipe away any mistakes that you make as you go along (as long as the cards are laminated and not chipped). I have honestly never seen a sharpie job look really great up close. But I  am quite fussy about these things ^-^

[Raggydoll]

I never had any success with permanent Sharpies, they rubbed black for ever more on my test cards. I love the Tashinko (?) effect,

I do all one side, one by one, giving a light back and forth swish across a paper towel, then go to the next, then back around another side.

 

Just one more way to understand and reflect on the deck. I only do it to decks I think call for it though. Like the copper on the Etruscan

 

This is how I do it as well. Love those tsukineko ink pads!

[ilweran]

I've only used a Sharpie once before, for the Legacy of the Divine and it looks lovely, but of course the borders are black anyway.

 

The Dreaming Way is looking quite nice, but I'm only a quarter of the way through so we'll see how it looks at the end. I could always go over the edges again.

 

Oh, and my five year old couldn't possibly wait and had to have ago himself - under my supervision - so he is now the proud owner of an edged Shapeshifter Tarot. He's starting young  ;D

 

Not the neatest job ever, but it was done quickly and partially by him so I'm just glad there's no ink on the ceiling!

[odd_soul]

Katey Flowers on YouTube has a really great video on how she trims and edges her decks:

 

I definitely plan on giving it a shot at some point!

 

 

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[Grandma]

Perhaps this would be more appropriate as a new thread, and not to be naive, but what are the reasons for edging cards?

[TheFeeLion]

Thanks everyone! :)

 

@odd_soul that video was hugely helpful! Gotta go find me a good copper ink pad now lol

 

@Grandma I remember seeing books with coloured edge when I was a kid and thinking how awesome it looked, then saw some decks like that that others had done and just couldn’t resist having a go myself. It took me a while to build up the courage to do it though because I was always taught the sanctity of books, you don’t draw on/in books, and that has been transferred over to anything printed. That’s my reasoning for wanting to edge cards anyway :)

[ilweran]

Grandma[/member] sometimes it because they look so much better - Legacy of the Divine for example has black borders, black edges as well just makes it look better. I think there's also a bit of making the deck 'mine', personalizing it.

 

And I just find it quite soothing doing it!