The Lantern: A New England Folk Oracle set

YOU DID IT, & we’re totally making that coin!!!
4 months ago – Thu, Apr 02, 2026 at 07:10:33 AM

Thank you all so much!! We are so grateful and encouraged by the support that this campaign received. Thank you for backing the work of a real human artist and author— versus some AI bot. Thank you for sending all those words of encouragement… and even the passionate cries for changes showed us how much this work means to you. We are genuinely thankful.

This project surpassed our studio’s previous records, which is no surprise when you consider that it was the stupendously awesome Laura Tempest Zakroff (crowd chants “L-T-Z! L-T-Z!!”)

And so what if it wasn’t exactly 100K on the nose!? Hunh? We’re still forging that coin!!! 😆👏😆👏
Love you guys!

LPS + LTZ

Choose Your Adventure!
4 months ago – Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 04:52:14 PM

Hello everyone! LTZ here - I continue to be blown away by the support for this project. We're less than a week away from wrapping up and close to 90K - that's phenomenal. THANK YOU!!

We've got one more stretch goal to meet at 100K, which means that the beautifully designed Land/Sea Choice coin will be unlocked. But wait, there could be more - and I need your help in crafting it!

If we break 100K, I'd like to add two more cards to each deck - extending the number of cards to 50, meaning  100 cards total when you combine the decks!

For the Sea deck, I want to break out two concepts that I ended up putting as part of the locales imagery, and bring them back into being cards entirely on their own: Chowder (chowdah!) and Seaside Sweets. I had made that decision partly because I had so many ideas for the Sea deck, so I combined ideas to keep as much as possible. But the other reason is that unlike the Land deck where the market/food category settled nicely into its own group, there's a lot of sea life that doubles as both for many people. But much of their folklore focuses on the lives and histories of these creatures, so it felt weird to me. By being able to add these 2 bonus cards, chowder and treats form their own special category. That feels really good and fits in nicely with the whole of the deck.

However, for the Land deck, I have THREE ideas and I need your help on getting it down to 2. Let's vote!!

As we just had a landmark blizzard where we got 3 feet of snow where I live in Rhode Island, beating the measurements of the infamous Blizzard of '78, I was thinking that might be a fun card. (I promise it won't be all white, though that would be pretty funny!)

The second idea is a card that commemorates the Great Molasses Flood of Boston (1919). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood (I promise it won't be just a card of molasses, it's a pretty heavy disaster card...but yet, so curious and bizarre...)

The third idea is inspired by the current season here in Rhode Island and has been the favorite of everyone I've talked too about it: The Pothole. For folks outside of the region, this may sound like a weird card and you probably think, "What's New England about a pothole? They're everywhere." But Pothole Season is a very specific occurrence that happens in early Spring. The mess of snow begins to melt and reveals so many potholes created by the plow trucks pulling out road plugs. It's quite treacherous, though often repaired fairly quickly. Until next time. Which in terms of an oracle definitely holds a lot of meaning.  

I think we can break 100K and so I'm getting ready to make 4 more cards, and I'll need to get the two additional Land ones done ASAP as it will go to the printers first. So what will those cards be? Blizzard? Molasses Disaster? Pothole?  (yeah, they're all pretty brutal, but we're New England strong!)

Comment below with your vote!! It's okay to choose two—we can't wait to hear :)

• Blizzard
• Molasses Disaster
• Pothole

Two notes: 

1. The poll will only let you choose one, so you can comment with both if you have two you feel strongly about.
2. There is a Nor'easter card in the Sea deck, but it's a different feel and approach than Blizzard. 

Thank you!

~ LTZ

Meet the Lighthouse
5 months ago – Tue, Mar 10, 2026 at 06:44:05 AM

Laura here! It's now been a week since this project launched, and the response has truly blown me away. We can't thank you all enough for your excitement, enthusiasm, and support for The Lantern. 

I know many of you are already familiar with my work and previous decks, but I would like to share a little more of the process - especially for those who may be unfamiliar.

People often ask me how long it takes to make a deck. It's really hard to measure as the bulk of the time actually goes into doing research and working out what needs to be included. My list of ideas for cards starts out much longer than what can possibly be shuffled - which is a large reason why it was quickly obvious that this project deserved two decks. (And still, not everything can make it in!) This process takes the greatest amount of time - spanning months and even years in this case. There's the stacks of books checked from the library, taking reference photos, visiting museums and sites, consulting friends with who are experts in their fields, as well asking as folks in general. The actual art happens much more quickly, once all of the information has been gathered. 

When it came to selecting which lighthouse to feature for the Lighthouse card, I experienced some serious choice paralysis. There are approximately 200 active lighthouses in New England. How to choose? I didn't want to just do a generic lighthouse - I felt it had to be an active, real one. 

Also, I'm no stranger to lighthouses. From ages 15-18, I worked at a gift boutique on the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk that sold these beautiful, detailed sculptures of famous lighthouses. I quickly became familiar with all of them - and quite a few of those are located in New England. I've had the pleasure of seeing and photographing many of them from ferry rides and adjacent shorelines. They're all special and interesting! 

So I asked folks for which New England lighthouse was their favorite. It also needed to be iconic (for the card) and preferably a tad haunted (not actually such a tall order). After much deliberation I landed upon the Nubble Light House in York, Maine. What put it over the edge (besides satisfying my criteria) is that Nubble is just way too fun to say. This detail should give you an insight into my brain - I am all about the research and overthinking things, but I'm also delighted by words and names. Nubble. NUBBLE! 

I decided to put it against a stormy sky and sea. There's nothing quite like a day when the sky is darkly brooding and the ocean turns this amazing and peculiar shade of murky greenish-blue. The depiction also makes us think about what we associate with lighthouses - they're often used to symbolize hope, a beacon, safe harbor. Which makes sense when you're on dry land. But in practice, a great many lighthouses were designed to warn ships of dangerous waters - stay away from these shores! When you're in the thick of things on the water, their purpose becomes evident. They often are something to help you navigate AWAY from a situation, versus toward. Which when you consider an oracle deck, that's a very distinct and important message. 

Also, while the Nubble Light won the feature, there's still more cards were lighthouses may make an appearance in the background. Oh yes, I have a very long list! It's actually very tempting to play with the idea of a whole deck of lighthouses. Though I'm afraid the messages might be a bit too similar across the board: you are alone, steadfast, and probably haunted. 

We have added some SWEET stretch goals!!!
5 months ago – Thu, Mar 05, 2026 at 02:28:10 PM

We are blown away by this launch!

Thank you all for showing up and supporting this labor of love with such gusto. Laura is completely stunned and so glad to see all of this support for her work.

We have been working behind the scenes

After seeing the first few hours of overwhelming support, we knew right away that we needed to find meaningful (and also fun) ways to spend that money, and show as much love as we can to you, our Backers.

Chime in with other ideas, but...

...we asked around, and Laura started a discussion on her socials, to find out what kinds of Stretch Goals resonated with you guys. We were already providing laminated bookmarks and reading cloths, but you guys have been SO GENEROUS!!! Let's add more stuff... life is short, right?

So we have been shopping. 

Clearly stickers are a must

Never underestimate the power of stickers, says Laura. So who are we to question the things that make us all happy? Stickers it is! Already unlocked.

Have a look at the stretch goals that we added 

We added an infographic to the campaign, so you'll see it there, but... We would LOVE to offer every single Backer a commemorative divination coin. You don't have to use it for divination if that's not your thing, but the idea is to create a special Yes/No or Go/Stop kind of coin that you can flip for answers. Laura has suggested a Land/Sea combo, which you can assign meanings that feel right for you.

We are working with a New England-based medallion and jewelry designer, and she is drawing something up for us to look at! YAY! We will share with you once we have a design or mock-up.

We're thinking a Russian gold or antique bronze, with some heft, in order to ensure that this is something you (and we) will treasure and keep for many years to come.

Thanks everyone!! Truly we are really grateful. We're going to make you so glad you supported this campaign.

~ the La Panthère Studio team

Thank you!!!
5 months ago – Tue, Mar 03, 2026 at 09:24:31 AM

Wow! I am so blown away by the response - I can't believe the project was fully funded in less than 90 minutes. THANK YOU all so much for believing in and supporting this creation! 

A week ago, I was staring out my window at 3 feet of fresh snow - on top of the pile we received a few weeks prior. It's been one of those rough winters in Rhode Island, where each flake feels like it lands right on your soul. And while we're all not thrilled about the circumstances, we're still out in the streets shoveling out our neighbors, making sure folks are fed, offering space to friends without power, and giving rides to those whose cars have become frozen archaeological finds. 

And the forecast says that in another week, we'll be hitting the 60's. It'll melt, there will be mud, and there will be SPRING again. Hope is on the horizon. 

This is New England - the weather is capricious, but the folks are steadfast, creative, and amazing. And you all just proved that in record time. 

Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU!