First Look: Sardines Playing Cards by Squiddle Ink

Here’s the first look at Sardines Playing Cards designed by Stacey Jay Kelly at Squiddle Ink. With this deck, Stacey wanted to walk the line between clean, modern art and vintage detailing to create a deck that could be mistaken for an artisanal product packaged in a Spanish sardines canning factory.

The tuck box will have a nautical theme using anchors, rope, and marine vegetation with the back of the tuck being reminiscent of traditional sailor’s tattoos. The deck will include a custom seal on the flap of the tuck box. The tuck stock is a pearlescent card stock which will really give this deck a nice shimmer. The details on the Tuck will be embossed to really elevate the level of texture and beauty. The tuck box interior will be printed with a yellow background and a wave pattern to give a nice pop of color when opening the deck.

This is where the theme really comes into play. The card back is a two-way design depicting a sardines tin with the lid being peeled back to reveal four little sardines inside. The area where the tin is peeled back will be hot foil stamped as though revealing the silvery metallic qualities on the inside of the tin lid. The placement of the Sardines is perfect for the fish to peep out of the card fans. Stacey is excited to see what Cardists can do with this fan and believes this detail will bring some joy to a flourish.

The Kings celebrate the hard-working sea fishermen with waves crashing around their boats. The Queens are a collection of every fisherman’s favorite, open-water-mirage… mermaids. They are wearing roped robes and marine crowns and their tails can be seen amid the waves. The Jacks are a collection of young skippers-in-training accompanied by seabirds such as pelicans and seagulls.

The custom pip features nautical elements such as Sailor’s knots, seaweed, shells and anchors. Meanwhile, Ace of Spades is embellished with nautical details and, of course, features a sardine tail. The Jokers feature one of the most endearing mammalian ocean predators… the gentleman sea otter. They will be holding ace cards in their paws.

The deck will be printed by Legends Playing Card Company on the durable Viper Finish. This is a hard-wearing card stock that can withstand high levels of humidity, making it the perfect sea-fishing travel deck.

Sardines playing cards will be available to back on Kickstarter from the 10th of November 2022 18:00 PM GMT. Don’t miss out!

High Flyers Playing Cards, Less Than 48 hours Remaining!

High Flyers is the new deck of playing cards from Squiddle Ink that celebrates the featheriest of achievements. The deck is filled with beautiful illustrations of the most impressive birds that fly the highest and the fastest. The designer Stacey Jay Kelly wanted to create a deck that belongs in the gift shop of a fictional aviation society, owned by birds. 

Inside, the eye-catching mirrored card backs served as the initial inspiration for this deck. When the cards are spread or fanned, the feather along the edge of each card spreads out like a bird's wing opening. The pastel blue falcon design has intricate feather detail, that sits perfectly alongside the leaf detail. 

The flight feathers have a bright pop of yellow and cream so that when the cards are fanned the bird's wing is immediately apparent against the background. The wing fan adds a dynamic effect to card flourishes.

The court cards depict incredible birds such as the Peregrine Falcon, the Anna's Hummingbird and the Alpine Chough wearing vintage aviator outfits, leather jackets, goggles and helmets. Each card is unique and champions the most incredible bird species and their achievements. The vintage-style pip cards are embellished with traditional airmail stamp designs.

All the stamps on the face cards are custom-made and feature important dates in aviation history, along with fictional airlines such as Royal Albatross Airways and Swift Aviation Group.

The Ace of Spades card features the owl’s watchful eyes, peering through special die-cut lens holes on the tuck box. On the Joker card, there is an ornate Falcon hood with a feathered plume and Stacey reserved the second Joker card to create a classic airmail postcard design.

The tuck has pearlescent shimmering paper stock, teal foil elements and embossed areas to give a luxurious texture. All this is combined with highly detailed leaf illustrations to frame the birds in the design. 

Printed by Legends Playing Card Company using Viper finish. Pledge starts at $14 on Kickstarter.