We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Melanie Marquis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Melanie below.

Alright, Melanie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I care deeply about all the various projects I choose to pursue, so it’s impossible for me to choose a single one as the most meaningful. One current project I’m doing that is very close to my heart is the Stuffed Animal Tarot. I have loved stuffed animals my entire life, and to this day, I still enjoy playing with my plushies. As a tarot reader and tarot deck creator, I always have cards around the house in pretty much every room. One day, I wondered what would happen if my stuffed animal friends stumbled upon a tarot deck and decided to play tarot. The Stuffed Animal Tarot was born! It’s a 78-card deck modeled after the well known Rider Waite Tarot, featuring plush toys dressed in handmade costumes acting out the familiar scenes of the tarot. I’m creating the costumes and props myself, and it’s been tremendous fun to design and create. I’m passionate about encouraging others to stay imaginative and never stop playing, and I hope this deck will help spark that creative innocence that we have as children and often lose as we grow older.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m an author of magick books, a creator, and an event producer. Some of my books include The Witch’s Bag of Tricks and Llewellyn’s Little Book of Moon Spells. I also designed the Modern Spellcaster’s Tarot, which was illustrated by Scott Murphy. Locally, I produce the Denver Pagan Pride Day annual event, and most recently I’ve launched the Mystical Minds Convention. Mystical Minds is held a couple times a year in California, and I’m hoping to expand to other regions including Denver. It’s a convention to bring together people interested in magick, metaphysics, the paranormal, UFOs, and other fringe interests. Of all my current projects, the Stuffed Animal Tarot is one that brings me a lot of joy personally. I love making videos with my plushies for my Stuffed Animal Magick Shop channel on TikTok and YouTube, and creating the Stuffed Animal Tarot has given me a whole new way to play with my friends.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My ultimate goal is to have fun and enjoy life, and create something that helps other people to do the same. Success is never guaranteed, so if you’re not having fun with the creative process, you’re not yet doing what you’re meant to do. If you enjoy it, creating is its own reward regardless of any financial rewards or recognition your work may bring.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

If you need to buy a gift for someone, check out artists and other creators and see what you can find. Unique gifts are always more special and likely to be treasured by the recipient, and you help creators to actually eat and pay their bills.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.melaniemarquis.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melaniemarquisauthor
• Youtube: StuffedAnimalMagickShop
• Other: https://www.mysticalmindsconvention.com

Image Credits
Melanie Marquis