Robert Loves Box (Final)

          I haz a sad. 😢 After almost 25 years in the business, Robert Mason Co. is closing... they just could not recover from a fire that happened in 2014. I wish I had discovered them a while back. As it is, their site is selling out pretty fast and they have 30% off of things so go get your unique products from them. I wish they would have continued their subscription box at least, people would so subscribe to them because they have quality products at good prices.

          Anyroad, this is the last box from the Robert Loves subscription and it is amazing as usual. The theme of the box is Bullet Journaling which I am a big fan of and do religiously.

          Robert Loves is featuring one of the bullet journalers that I follow and she has some good tips for you so if you don't follow her you need to check her out at Tiny Ray Of Sunshine. Also if you are new to bullet journaling go to the source of it all Ryder Carroll's website Bullet Journal. So without any further delay let us get into the box.

          This box has 8 amazing products chosen with care by the Robert Mason team and they are items that most bullet journalers would use but heck, anyone can use them. I'm going to use the information page they sent to talk about the items.

1. Sharpie 24K Colour Burst Limited Edition (Ultra fine point) and these are a set that I have been eyeing for a while now. They are a thing of beauty. I can't wait to try them out in my journal.

2. Blackwing Volume 205 - The Jade Pencil Limited edition. This product is already sold out in their stores, this is how awesome these pencils are and how much they are wanted. 

3. To go along with the Blackwing pencils, Robert Loves Team also sent out the Blackwing Long Point Sharpener. This is a two-step sharpener, where you first sharpen the wood and then precision sharpen the graphite core to a long, fine point. It also comes with two replacement blades and a brake to stop the pencil from sharpening too much. It also lets you only sharpen the graphite core so that your pencils last for a long time. 

4 and 5. The next two items I'm combining together because they are similar to each other. One is a Post-It set of 5 multicolour page markers and one is a super sticker 3x3 notes multicoloured pack. I can always use more post-its, they work for everything.

6. C-Line Slide-Open Tray Pencil Case with snap closure. I love pencil cases and this one is pretty! They also have leather ones that are similar to this one in their online store.

7 and 8. I left the last two items to the end because while all the other items were amazing these two are considered the holy grail in most Bullet Journaling communities. I've never used one and have been thinking of getting one...but something always stopped me. Now I have one!

LEUCHTTURM1917 and a matching pen loop. Yes, they included a Leuchtturm1917. The colour is purple because Robert Mason supports causes like Anti-Bullying and this box is dedicated to The Trevor Project. The proceeds from this box will go to that organisation. To learn more about them check out The Trevor Project. 

          I'm really sad to see this box subscription go. I'm really sad to see a quality business with good products and great prices go, such is life. Robert Mason, thank you for giving me happiness for the past two months. If you ever decide to just curate boxes with the Robert Mason products I will be the first to resubscribe. 

Indie Book Connect (April 2017)

          This is a subscription that I came across on Instagram but then later found on Cratejoy. On Cratejoy it says: "Indie Book Connect is a subscription box for the reader who walks into Barnes and Noble and feels like they have read it all. Allow us to introduce you to the wonderful world of independent authors and all of the books that you have been missing out on. Every month you can expect to receive two new fiction books from two separate authors." I was really looking forward to this because everyone talks about the well-known authors but no one talks about the independent ones.

          The first thing I noticed about this subscription is that it is not a fancy one...and that is totally okay. Fancy is nice but in a bookish subscription, it is not necessary. So the package was just sturdy enough to protect the books and that was about it.

          I opened it and pulled out all the books and stuff inside. I looked at all the papers included in the box first before looking at the books.

           So the first thing that caught my eye was that the curators of this subscription have a group on Goodreads to discuss the books that they have included in their subscriptions. I like that. It helps one find reading buddies and someone to chat with about your feelings on the books. The second thing was the beautiful card with a quote and where to find Indie Book Connect online. And finally, a gorgeous bookmark with a link to the shop that it came from so you bet I'm going to check them out whenever I need new bookmarks.

          Now let us look at the books included. The subscription gives you two. The first one that I looked at was Dreamer by M. J. Neal. It is the first book in the series Raphim Rising. It is a fantasy novel, which is a genre that I love to read but have not done so in quite a while. I love the cover and I also love that I've never heard of the author or the book. This is going to be an adventure for me. I also love that they included the first book in the series. Nothing worse than getting the second or third book in a series you've never read or heard of...I usually give those away. The first book in the series though makes me want to try the series out to see if I like it and the writing style of its writer. Good job Indie Book Connect! There was also a card that had the author's information on it and where we can find her. I like that too.

          The second book in the subscription was Last Chance Baby by Ashley Gallegos. This one is a romance novel. This is a genre I used to be interested in but have not been reading a lot of (at least in the m/f category), so again I'm going to go back to my roots in reading. I started out my book dragon status (I refuse to be called a bookworm 😛) reading Mills and Boon books (don't judge!). I love that the book was signed by the author and that they included a Do Not Disturb sign to hang on the door with the book.

          This subscription is a keeper so far. It is a no fuss no muss subscription centred on books and only books, and I love that I am going to get books by authors I've never heard of and books that might not be well known. Widening my horizons is a good thing.

Inspire-ME Crate (April 2017)

          The description on Cratejoy says, "Inspire your inner artist with quality art supplies and creativity sparking lesson plans." I...wasn't inspired...at all.

          The box that arrived was really cute, it had their logo on it and it looked really nice. I'm giving them points for that.

    

          The first thing you see when you open the box is one long wrapped package and one that is as big as the box. 

          The long package contained the "art supplies": one brush pen (brown), one colored pencil (green), one micro-line pen (brown), one pencil (it is an eco friendly pencil in that it is supposed to have a casual with seeds at the end of the pencil for planting, the capsule was broken and the seeds gone) and finally one oil pastel (yellow). I know that individually they are good supplies I just wasn't sure what to do with them. Had I gotten a set of lead pencils or a set of pens or even some cheap sets of pastels I would have been happier. 

I so wanted this box to be redeemed by the other larger package in the box but...

          This was the booklet that is supposed to give you some warm up exercises. It was okay but it is not a WOW...

          I'm not sure what this booklet was supposed to be. It had a sort of story to read then you were supposed to create characters based on questions you are asked. I was just confused.

          Finally, there was a small booklet with blank sketching paper. The size was too small for me, I can't use this for sketching anything really.

          I don't think that this box is for me. It might be something that others might enjoy. I like my boxes to be a little more substantial. I would not have minded a few online videos with a single good sketch box, or even just one box of oil pastels (even cheap ones). I canceled my subscription.

V. Paperie April 2017 Box

          This is the second box I got from V. Paperie and for the second time, I am not disappointed. April is Letter Writing Month and the people at V. Paperie have put together a box to reflect that. But I'm getting ahead of myself. My holding box service has been very erratic in bringing me my boxes of late and I was worried that my V. Paperie box would not arrive, but it did.

Of course, Kuwait customs had to take a peak. I'm starting to think that they like taking a look at my boxes. 😏 But what really caught my eye was the poem that the curators of the box included to tell me (well, the recipient of the box anyway) what the theme of the box for this month is.

I do find the second line of the poem a bit ironic since I've been waiting on letters from International Correspondence Writing Month...that was in February. But that has nothing to do with the box. ONWARDS!

I laughed so hard when I saw these stickie notes. They so sound like me when I am not in the mood for anything. Who knew? Stickie notes with character 😆

Paper Mate Flair (M) in blue this time. I say this time because in a previous box (the Robert Mason Box) I'd gotten the yellow one. I'm enjoying that, I might just end up with the whole collection and save myself the trouble of ordering them 😜

I always look forward to the cards that come in this box. They are usually very pretty and varied enough to be useful and these were no exception. I especially liked the one with the typewriter. I seem to have an obsession with them.

Look at that beauty! The journal is sturdy and has a beautiful cover. I love the feel of the paper and that it is lined. It looks very elegant.

Another amazing box from V. Paperie. You can find them on cratejoy.com.

Old Jobs New: Bookbinding

          Aeons ago, I learned the art of bookbinding, then I promptly forgot about it because...well there are tonnes of notebooks, journals, and sketchbooks out there. Do I really need to make my own? Fast forward to the end of last year when I came across a YouTube video by Sealemon on bookbinding and the spark was rekindled. After watching all the videos she had on her channel, I looked all over YouTube for videos and started watching those too. There are so many methods out there! There are things that these amazing people actually came up with because they wanted to bind different things and make them special and pretty. So finally, last month I decided to take the plunge. I was going to make my first handmade sketchbook for a class I am taking. I went about gathering my tools, and I came across an amazing listing on Amazon that had them all. I bought the kit, along with some book binding glue (it has to be PH neutral) and some bookbinding tape. And I was ready!

Come with me on my adventure!

Materials used:

- Book press (see picture above)

- Bone folder (see picture above)

- Awl (see picture above)

- Needles and bookbinding thread, which is linen and waxed (see picture above)

- Punching cradle (see picture above)

- Paper (depending on what sort of book you want to do, I used sketchpad paper because I wanted to make a sketchbook)

- Bookbinding tape 1.5in (I used 1.5 inches for my spine but the size depends on how big your book spine is)

- Bookbinding glue (I used PH Neutral PVA glue)

- Card stock paper for the end pages.

- Chipboards for the cover (I wanted a hard cover but if you want a soft cover use heavy card paper)

- Tissue paper (or whatever you want to use to decorate your cover)

Now, the first step is to prepare the papers you will need for your text block. You can use lined, blank or dotted, depending on what you are trying to make. I was trying to make a sketchbook so I used some paper from a sketch pad and folded it in half then trimmed it to around A5 size. Then I made signatures. A signature is when you put the folded pages inside each other to form a packet. I had five folded pages in each signature. I made ten signatures.

Next, I needed to make a template for the holes that I needed to make in the spine of these signatures to make them ready for stitching. How many holes and how far apart they are is completely up to you so long as you are careful that they line up on all the signatures. I used the punching cradle and Awl to make the holes with my template as a guide.

I was ready to stitch my signatures together to form the inside text block. I used to the instructions from Sealemon's videos to stitch my text block using the Kettle stitch method. It was a bit hard on the fingers but it came out beautifully.

Next, I put the text block in my book press and added PVA glue to the spine. Be very careful that the glue doesn't go too far between the signatures or that it doesn't flow over the sides and make the pages on the back and front of the text block stick to the book press...yes I ruined a text block because of that and had to start over. I added three coats of glue and in between each one, I waited at least 15 to 30 minutes for the glue to completely dry.

While I was waiting I folded two black cardstock papers in half using my bone folder for ease to add later to my text block. I also measured out the back and front cover on the chipboards and a spine and cut them. Make sure your spine is exactly as wide and as long as your text block spine. Next, I glued my chipboards to some tissue paper I had leaving an eighth of an inch between the covers and the side of the spine, this is so you can open and close the book with ease. Because glue tends to warp chipboards I put the cover under some heavy books to dry so that it dries straight. I had taken pictures of all of these steps, but I was also babysitting that day and the little monkey erased them 😞...After the text block dried I put a ribbon on the spine of the text block and glued it down. I waited until the bookmark was totally dry then I added some bookbinding tape on the spine to give it some extra strength. I put some glue on the edge the pages near the spine and stuck the black folded pages on it. Then put it in the book press to dry.

I trimmed the black pages down so that they were the same size of the text block and now I was ready to stick the cover on the text block. I started with the black page on the end and stuck it to the back of the chipboard. I made sure that it was possible to open and close the back cover and then I moved to the front. Again using the black page, I glued it onto the front chipboard. Do NOT glue down the spine. 

Now that I was sure the covers were stuck on correctly, I put the sketchbook inside the book press so that the book covers stayed straight while the black pages dried.

When I got the sketchbook out of the book press I noticed that the tissue paper on the spine cracked a little (okay a lot) because the tissue paper was very thin.

So what I did was look for cardstock paper, cut it to size and glued it on the spine and the sides. This gave it extra strength for when I opened and closed the book and also covered up the cracked tissue paper.

          I wanted to share a few things I learned. Bookbinding thread is great...but because of its thickness it doesn't work well with a kettle stitch. Now I think that the kettle stitch (and this is my opinion) is the best way to bind signatures together so the next time I'm going to use normal sewing thread and maybe wax it so that it doesn't tangle. Double check your measurements for the papers you use. I found myself re-sizing a few things after binding because I'd misjudged a measurement. When making signatures there will always be page creep at the end. This is when the pages end up not being all flush with each other. Don't panic. Some people, like me, like the rustic look. If you are not one of these people just use an Exacto knife and trim the edges down then use sandpaper or nail file to make the cut paper smooth. If you don't have an Awl, just use a tack pin or even your needle to poke holes. Instead of the bone folder to fold down pages, you can use a metal edged ruler. And if you don't have a book press, just use anything heavy.