I’m from Nepal, and cards are a huge part of Dashain and Tihar back home. Families get together and play for days, mostly teen patti, marriage and call break. I always wanted a deck that felt like Nepal, so I designed my own, and it’s finally printed.

I redesigned the suits. Diamonds are the Nepali flag, since the double pennant shape is already pretty close to a diamond. Clubs are the side of a madal, the drum you hear at every festival and wedding. Spades are two khukris (Nepali warrior knife) crossed over each other, and the hearts have a peacock inside them which symbolizes love.

I used Nepali kings, queens, and generals (jacks). I replaced jokers with Lakhey and Jhyalincha. Lakhey is a fierce, thunderous guardian demon who stamps through the streets to ward off evil spirits. Jhyalincha is a nimble, dragonfly-like boy who playfully taunts Lakhey to spark a high-energy chase for the crowd. I also used Nepali numbers from 2 to 10.

Since it’s my own deck, I’m using the Ads flair. It’s on Etsy here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/4593058701/nepali-art-playing-cards-dashain-gift

One thing I’m unsure about is the kings, queens and generals are sketch style with no color filled in, and I left them that way on purpose, but I keep going back and forth. Do you think they’d look better with color, or does the sketched look work? Also, would you prefer english numbers instead of Nepali? I intend to use your suggestions for the next edition of the cards!

I have been doing card magic for like 6 months, and I just recently moved to Santa Barbara near the beach so there is a lot more humidity. But before, I would get maybe 2 weeks of use out of a deck before I moved. But now I get 2 days before it is fully clicked and unusable. Is there any way to preserve the decks I'm not entirely sure what it is doing this to my cards. I have tried using faros and they haven't really worked. What can I do to get more use out of these decks?