Review By Sheri Harshberger
Whimsy Lenormand by Pepi Valderrama
Self-published and available through her website, http://depepi.com
Retail: Between $18.00 and $35.00 plus shipping with $1.00 to $2.00 of each purchase going to Kiva (find out more about Kiva in the sidebar below).
There is no dispute that there has been and continues to be a great variety of Lenormand and Lenormand-variant decks available to readers. One of the latest and cutest has to be the 40-card Whimsy Lenormand by Pepi Valderrama, which is available as a Limited Edition run of 200 decks. This deck features insightful and colorful images that are as interesting as they are cute.
The deck this review is based on is the Collectors Edition, which has a different back design and has 4 extra cards, which I will talk about later in this review. This deck came packaged in its own plastic box and included a title card that indicates the number of the deck in the run and the URL for Pepi's website. The Whimsy Lenormand is available in a Collectors Edition, Normal Edition, Mini Normal Edition, and Game Crafter Normal and Special Editions which range in size, features and price. Sizes range from the larger 2.75 inches by 3.75 inches size of the Game Crafter Editions down to the miniscule 1.75 inches by 2.5 inches of the Mini Normal Edition. The Collectors Edition I am reviewing is 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches.
The cards feature a somewhat textured, matte finish and have rounded corners. They shuffle and handle well... just as playing cards would, which is a plus.
The cards are very colorful in a pleasing way. The backs of the Collectors Edition feature an abstracted combination of blues and violets that reminds me of watercolors. The front of each card features the Lenormand image along with the card name, number and applicable playing card rank and suit. The card name, number, and playing card rank and suit are centered at the bottom of the card and are printed in what I would call a "weathered" black with the background of that area lighter and transparent. Interestingly, the printing is not really distracting at all, which I attribute to the "weathered" or faded look of the black printing against the vibrant colors of the actual card images.
As I have mentioned eariler in this review, this Lenormand deck has 40 cards, which is 4 more than a traditional Lenormand deck of 36 cards. The extra cards are: 37 the Goddess, 38 the Cat, 39 the Mirror, and 40 the Rainbow. These extra cards can be used with the rest of the deck together, or as replacements for other cards in the deck, such as substituting the Cat card for the 18 the Dog card. She also renames the 15 card (traditionally the Bear) as the Panda. She provides meanings and use information on these cards on her website.
The card images are stunning. The colors are vibrant and Pepi's distinctive style is very attractive. The eyes of her figures are piercing, but not in a bad way…they have to be in order to balance the bright oranges, pinks, blues, greens, purples and yellows featured in the card images. The imagery is imaginative. I really like that 27 the Letter shows a letter written in Futark, 22 the Crossroads shows the paths coming out of a person's head, and 21 the Mountain shows the mountain as a sleeping face.
This deck has quickly become one of my favorite decks! You can use it anywhere with anyone!
I highly recommend Pepi's website! It is chock full of great information, provided in an entertaining way. She has tons of cool decks for sale, and she has some amazing freebies, also. She offers Lenormand workbooks and worksheets to assist readers with the process of getting to know their Lenormand decks…whether they are hers or by others. I am a huge fan of her free Lenormand Workbook… it actually takes you through a year's worth of study! And it's FREE!