I soaked some cards in a pot of coffee for a few hours recently and crumpled them up while they were still wet (then I cut myself and bled on them). It worked great, but they almost immediately separated into two parts, front and back, and I had to glue them back together. It was totally worth.

I've heard that brown shoe polish works very well (it looks great on my bone casting set).

That's good to know (about the cards coming apart in the coffee). I'll probably avoid that part but the shoe polish idea - I'm assuming the paste type polish - makes me think of using direct pigment rubbed in with a soft cloth - French polish techniques. Tme consuming but maybe worth it for my uses.

MagicSanta, I will certainly report back and keep this thread alive until we/I figger all this stuff out. Thanks for helping.

I've also heard shoe polish works well. Never tried it myself.

I've tried shoe polish, but didn't like it as much as watered down paint or inks.

If there was a model railroad shop around here I think Id try some of the dry apply weathering products. I may have to order some from Micro Mark. One of the concerns Ive got about shoe polish and paint is the smell. Will decide about the dry apply tonight when I get back home from the shop and get a little me time.

Steel wool, cigar ash, and dark varnish.

I make my own cards just the way I need them through an online playing cards builder at http://www.printerstudio.com/unique-idea......rds.html Made several sets for different events.

Going back to the meanings of the cards, this site (currently offline but available as an archive) is, I think, a great resource for cartomancy:

http://web.archive.org/web/2007081817322......ncy.html

It's a little slow to load, but worth it.