Chip Bag Tarot by Anne Weshinskey is exactly what it sounds like and somehow much more. It is a full tarot deck where both the Major and Minor Arcana are represented by potato chip bags collected from around the world.
It is unexpected, a little unconventional, and completely intentional.
Anne has been reading tarot for over twenty years, but this is her first time creating a deck of her own. The idea did not come from a traditional art background. It came from something much more personal and a little quirky.
The Story Behind Chip Bag Tarot
The deck grew out of Anne’s work on the Memory Chips Museum, a project centered around her collection of more than one thousand potato chip bags gathered during her travels as an artist and circus performer.
“I don’t know which is weirder,” she says, “collecting empty potato chip bags or making a tarot deck from said bags.” For her, though, the connection makes sense. “The bags are like friends with their own individual personalities.”
Tarot has always been a tool she uses to explore emotions, make decisions, and reflect during difficult moments. Bringing those “chip friends” into the process felt natural.
The story behind her connection to tarot goes even deeper. She recalls a moment in 2010 while living in Istanbul, where she gave a tarot reading to a fellow artist named Arni using a Rider-Waite deck. His reading pointed to upheaval and rebirth. Not long after, a violent incident in the street left him seriously injured. Anne helped get him to the hospital and supported his recovery. That moment led to a lasting connection. They stayed in touch, collaborated creatively, and eventually got married. Today, the Memory Chips Museum is one of their shared projects.
Designing a Tarot Deck With Chip Bags
The process of creating Chip Bag Tarot was hands-on and experimental. Instead of illustrating original artwork, Anne scanned real chip bags from her collection and matched them to the meaning of each tarot card.
She used simple tools like PhotoScape to add text, borders, and backgrounds. The result is intentionally imperfect. “The quality of some of the scans were not great, but this was not really important for me,” she explains. “I like a messier aesthetic.”
For the suits, she originally considered organizing them by flavor but did not have enough matching bags to complete each set. Instead, she grouped them by color, creating four distinct suits in blue, green, yellow, and red.
One thing she plans to change in the future is the labeling of the Major Arcana. She included traditional Rider-Waite names for accessibility, but in the next print run, she hopes to remove them and let the imagery stand on its own.
Reactions to Chip Bag Tarot
Anne is very aware of how unusual the concept sounds. When she first introduces the deck, the reaction is usually laughter.
“It makes me feel crazy,” she says. “People laugh and tell me I’m nuts, in a good way.”
But once a reading begins, that reaction shifts. People start to see how the imagery connects to the meanings of the cards, and the experience becomes more grounded.
There is also a sense of pride in creating something so specific and original. As she puts it, she may have designed “the world’s only tarot deck based on potato chip bags.”
Challenges Along the Way
Anne did not come into this project as a professional designer, and that came with a learning curve. She had some experience creating promotional materials, but building a full card deck required a different level of precision.
“I didn’t really know what I was doing,” she admits.
Support from the staff at Shuffled Ink during the production process made a big difference. She asked a lot of questions and took time to understand each step. That patience helped her move forward instead of giving up when things felt overwhelming.
Advice for First-Time Creators
Anne’s advice is simple and practical: “Don’t work in a vacuum.”
She encourages new creators to seek out collaborators, experts, and others who are willing to help, whether that support comes through paid work or shared passion. Having the right people involved can make the process smoother and more enjoyable.
Where to Find Chip Bag Tarot
Chip Bag Tarot will be available at the Memory Chips Museum gift shop in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, as well as directly through Anne and the museum’s website.
The deck is also part of ongoing fundraising efforts for the museum. Supporters who contribute at certain levels will receive a deck as a reward, and additional opportunities to win one will be available during local fundraising events like the “Chip Olympics.”
Anne’s larger goal is to open the Memory Chips Museum, where visitors can not only explore the collection but also experience tarot readings using the Chip Bag Tarot itself.
Website: v4larts.com/memory-chips-museum
Instagram: @memorychipsmuseum
Fundraiser: Memory Chips Museum Crowdfunding