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Following the tradition of the international pattern, on the Ace of Spades the suitsign is a little bigger than on the other aces and this ace is also used to show the maker's name. In the Greek Myth deck the number of the deck and the total number of the (limited) edition were added here too.
The deck is a transformation deck. The suitcolours are integrated in the design of each numbercard, by Elaine Lewis sometimes in a surprisingly clever way. TO SEE all numbercards of each suit.......press the suit's ACE here above.
After studying her cards closely, her workprocess seems to be simple. She designs each card in black and white. Maybe multiple designs directly on one sheet, maybe seperate designs, but later brought together on a sheet. Then she photocopies the sheet in the number of the edition, and handcolours each of the designs. The backside is usually made of a colourful heavier paper and glued together with the designs before cutting the cards. Lately she finishes the sheets by laminating them too before cutting. The boxes are handmade too and often have one or two handcoloured cards from the deck glued to them.
Elaine M. Lewis must have produced 43 decks of playing cards between 1990 and 2005. Most of them in limited editions of 50 or less decks. Our research has produced the following list.
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J = Joker, I = Index Card, u = uncoloured, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, pnc printed number cards. |
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Transformational
decks |
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| Ltd Ed. | |||
| Alice in Wonderland |
/50 |
1996 |
52 +2J +I, bronze backs, bronze box with I + 4C |
| Alice Millennium |
/50 |
2000 |
52 +2J +I, pale blue backs, pale blue box with special box card. |
| (Alice in W.+ Through the Looking Glass) | |||
| Cascade |
/50 |
52 +J +I + card adv. Alice In Wonderland, gold backs, gold box with I | |
| Coney Island |
/50 |
52 +J +I +’checklist’ of E.M.L. decks, silver backs, striped box with I | |
| Greek Myths |
/50 |
2003 |
52 +J +I, red backs, Multicoloured striped box with 4C + 6D |
| Nursery Rhymes |
/50 |
52 +J +I, black backs, black box with I | |
| Regular decks | |||
| Ltd Ed. | |||
| Card Families |
/37 |
52 +J +Ju, bronze backs, bronze box with AS + AD , pnc | |
| Carousel |
/20 |
32 +2J, pink reflective rainbow effect backs, yellow/red box w. KD+8S | |
| Charms |
/50 |
52 +J +Ju +2I +Iu, black backs, black box with JH + Iu, pnc | |
| Circular |
/30 |
32 +J +2I, yellow backs, yellow box with AS + I | |
| Citicards |
/100 |
52 +2J +Ju, sky-blue backs, sky-blue box with AS + AD, pnc | |
| Cocktails |
/50 |
52 +J + 2Ju, green backs, silver box with JC + J, pnc | |
| Flamenco |
/30 |
32 +2J + I, grey/black marbled backs, striped box with AS + I | |
| Fonarama |
/50 |
52 + J + Ju, pink backs, pink box with AS + Ju, pnc | |
| Gay Paree |
/30 |
32 +3J, green textured backs, green textured box with J + I | |
| Ices’95 |
/50 |
52 +J +Ju, pale green backs, pale blue box with KC + Ju | |
| Magician |
/50 |
52 +J +Ju, deep purple backs, mauve box with JD + Ju | |
| Noah’s Ark |
/50 |
52 +2J,
deep blue backs, yellow/red box with KS + I Non-standard number cards; H+ D the same, C+S the same. |
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| Pattern No.7 |
/20 |
32 +J, deep blue backs, deep blue box with JC | |
| Peace |
/30 |
2003 |
32 +2J +I + dove (1st dozen), green backs, striped box with JH |
| Shepperton 72 |
/50 |
52 + J + QHu, pale green backs, sky-blue box with KD + JH , pnc | |
| Solo |
/30 |
? | |
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Erotic decks |
from Lipsmackers |
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| Ltd Ed. | |||
| Lips |
/40 |
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| Beach Baby |
? |
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| Paradise |
/50 |
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| Paradise2 |
? |
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| Pleasures |
/50 |
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| O’Diamonds |
/20 |
32 +2J+ title card, pink backs, pink box with QH
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| Shampoo |
/30 |
32 + 2J + title card, silver/blue mottled backs, blue
box with QC
|
|
| Shocker |
/50 |
1996 | 52 + 1J + title card, red backs, red box with 10D |
| Lipsmackers |
/40 |
32 + 2J, gold textured backs, yellow/red box with KD | |
| Sweet Sixteen |
? |
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| Costume Bridge |
? |
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| Flora&Fauna |
? |
? + 4J | |
| Cotton Candy |
/20 |
2002 |
32 +2J + title card, blue backs, pink box
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As you can see, this list could still use some additional information. Visitors who have one or more of the erotic decks, are invited to share any information that they can give about the edition. Please contact us.
The joker of the "Greek Myths" deck can be seen in the EL joker xpo.