Happy September everyone! It’s been a while, but things as usual have been incredibly busy here. Just going to go into it this time around.

Golden Thread Tarot Deck, First Edition is Sold Out, Second Edition is out!

Since the cards have sold out, it’s actually been a welcome break - since I actually do all the shipping, packing, printing myself, in my apartment. What is usually a hectic mess, has actually left me with a lot of time to think about what to create next and focus on the other projects at hand instead of with the daily print, pack and ship.

Well, sort of - the past month, I’ve also been managing the process for the next edition of the tarot cards, which I’m so incredibly excited to have out there, because of all the reasons that you can read in this dedicated post. The main reason is that we’re introducing a big material upgrade, making the cards much more durable (and even waterproof!).

Labyrinthos Academy - Foundations are Done, Front End 90% complete.

In app-land, I’m happy to report we are deceptively close to what I would consider the first release. I've hooked up our back-end, so that the biggest issue we had with Golden Thread won't happen again: local data being deleted upon reaching a data threshold on your phones.

Very late into August I sent out this storage-less (and probably very buggy) version of the app to friends, and am working on sorting through some feedback for the UX and the overall usefulness of the app. I'm collecting feedback and working on some small improvements that will hopefully be useful before expanding testing to a small number of you guys on the mailing list!

Luminous Spirit Tarot Deck Illustrations are Complete

So...admittedly the thing that I spent most of my free time on this month has been drawing the new deck. Probably because making art is probably my most favorite thing to do out of all the things I mentioned here earlier. Unlike writing this post, or talking to printers, or even writing about the cards, it’s not something that I sort of have to force myself to do. It’s just something to do when I’m stressed out (which is most of the time) that makes me feel calm and collected again. So out of all things, I think this where I’ve progressed the most. 

I've just ordered my prototype from the printers, with the box and all, and received a quote on pricing. The idea here is to build two editions, both of them influenced by how we interact with light. As of now, the plans for the second version will take some time to make, as the process here I think will be scanning the original black and white artwork, printing the pieces on art-paper, and then coloring over the printed work with marker.

Paco’s Monthly Guidance for September

This month, he says, is a month for adventure, and then naps. What does that mean? We caught up with him in his ceremonial garb for an answer.

A charming romantic will lead you on a journey to find great treasure. Whether that treasure is in your heart or in your hands, or in YOUR LOINS, you will have to wait and see. But what we do know is that you’ll need a lot of sleep after.

Another insightful (?) thought by Paco. Thanks pal.

Questions for Everyone

So with all that said, I’m hoping to hear from you all - your opinions and thoughts are always guiding what I do and build, and I’m having an especially hard time figuring out priorities, as I have so many things that I want to build!

So...what are you all excited about more?

• The Luminous Spirit Deck?
• The Labyrinthos App?
• Anything else?

Finally, having a second deck brings up more questions. There’s a lot of work that I want to complete with the Golden Thread Tarot App as well, that mostly revolves around bug fixes, and creating a persistent storage system.

I want to say what I will next without making any promises, as things always change in the future, and I know myself well enough to admit that I always make grandiose plans, that may sometimes be untenable...so nothing here is set in stone. This is especially true since I’m not a back-end programmer, and much of what I want to accomplish here is dependent on development skills that are basically like black magic to me.

I want the Luminous Thread Tarot to have its own app as well, and admittedly, I’m not sure I’ll spend too much time on it other than creating an app that has similar functionality as the Golden Thread Tarot App. But there’s also the question of how to build this ecosystem. How will the apps be connected? I’m personally hoping to create a centralized database with Labyrinthos. You can log in with the same credentials as you would with any of our apps, and see the relevant data. Within Labyrinthos, you can get an overview of your user profile across all your apps.

Maybe.

Does that sound appealing to you all?

Anyways, please do write me if you have thoughts about these questions. You can always respond to me on the contact form, and I’ll get your message, though sometimes I might be too busy to respond.

With love and awkward hugs or maybe handshakes,
Tina and the Alpacas