Indigo Art Box

          Since the debacle of InspireMe box, I've been waiting for this box to arrive. Well, not exactly a box since it arrived in one of these spongey envelopes but that is fine. The supplies were wrapped in blue tissue paper. 

  

The first thing I saw was the information page, which I set aside to read later. 

 

          The biggest thing in the box came next and that was the set of oil pastels. There are 16 colours in the set. 

 

 

I'm very excited about that, I had gotten a smaller set of oil pastels in the Paletteful Pack but they were not crayons and the colours were limited. I can't wait to get into them. 

          There was an envelope which contained some butchers paper (the folded large paper), 2 cards with art inspiration (Monet!), sketch paper and mixed media paper. 

 

 

 

          Finally, the box included an artist pencil and eraser and 3 blending tools. I'm very excited about the colour shaper (the rubber tip). 

 

 

          I can't wait to get into these supplies. The box also sends you to a website online, Indigo Art Box, where you can see two videos. The first video is about art history, this time it is about Monet and the second is about technique. I love getting instructions on how to use things. If I do something worth posting OR if it is a big failure and not just "meh" I'll post it here. Stay tuned! 

Robert Mason Mystery Box

          Seven reviews back, I talked about how my Robert Mason subscription ended because the store was closing. It still is but Robert Mason offered a one time Mystery Box for anyone who wanted one final hurrah so of course, I could not pass it up. Each box is different so no two boxes are the same. I was excited to see what I would get. 

          The first thing I saw was tonnes of pens so let me list them below and try to find their cost for you. All in all, there are eleven pens and two pencils. 

 

1. Pentel R.S.V.P medium purple. Cost: box of 12 on Amazon costs 6.80 dollars

2. Pentel HyperG 0.5mm red. Cost: 6.86 dollars

3. Pentel R.S.V.P. RT blue. Cost: pack of 2 costs 7.05 dollars

4. Pentel EnerGel 07 blue. Cost: 13.19 dollars

5. Pentel Twist-EraseGT mechanical pencil 0.5. Cost: pack of 12 costs 29 dollars

6. Zebra ZMulsionEX 1.0 blue. Cost: pack of 2 6.99 dollars

7. Paper Mate Profile Elite red. Cost: pack of 4 12.07 dollars

8. 2 x Pentel Rolling Writer R100 medium black. Cost: pack of 5 costs 13.71

9. Pentel Rolling Writer R100 medium violet. Cost: box of 12 costs 13.71

10. Handy-line S highlighter, retractable and refillable, green + refill. Cost: 9.95 dollars

11. Handy-line S highlighter, retractable and refillable, orange + refill. Cost: 9.95 dollars 

12. Supply Heritage company pencil. 

 

A Roaring Spring Wide Landscape pad 11" x 9.5", 40 sheets, premium recycled paper. Costs 2.99 dollars. 

 

I'll always need Post-it notes for my reading and research. Cost: 8.63 dollars.

 

         These two products go together: Moleskine address book and Moleskine Click Ballpen. Notebook costs: 18.83 dollars and pen costs 37.13 dollars. 

          I paid 50 dollars for the box and the Moleskine address book and pen are worth a little bit over that. Everything else in the box is extra. Add to that that everything in the box is quality and you know you got yourself a great deal! Another thing that you should keep in mind is that some of the proceeds from the box go to the Trevor Project, which is a good cause.

I'm going to miss Robert Mason...

Paletteful Packs May 2017 Box

          From the moment I saw this subscription unboxed on YouTube, I knew I wanted it. So I subscribed and waited impatiently for it to arrive. When it did, I didn't open it right away because I had a couple of boxes to review before it...so I hid the box until it was time to open it 😛

          Paletteful Packs on CrateJoy: They have two different boxes, the Young Artist box and the Premier Pack. The Young Artist box costs 29.95 dollars and the Premier Pack box costs 34.95 dollars. The Young Artist box has a selection of art supplies curated specifically for young artists, while the Premier Pack box has a wide range of products from pens to paint. So on to May's box.

          I was very surprised by the contents of the box, a few of the supplies I didn't even understand. I was thrilled. The box has 6 artist grade items with one of the items being a limited edition product. The theme of the box is Sepia.

          The first product I wanted to talk about is the Faber-Castell PITT Artist's Pen Set. The colour of the set...you guessed it, sepia. There are four pens with different size nib widths. It is an India ink and that means it is smudge proof and waterproof once it is completely dry. They are perfect for sketching and inking. I found them on Amazon for 13.07 dollars because they are on sale right now but normal retail according to Amazon is 17.55 dollars. Faber-Castell Pitt Waterproof Odorless Permanent Artists Pen - Sepia

          Dr. Ph.Martin's Bombay India ink is a pigmented ink which is waterproof when dry. You can use it without dilution in technical pens, airbrushes, dip pens, traditional brushes or dissolve it in water to use as a watercolour. On Amazon, the ink costs 9.46 dollars for 1 US fluid Ounce, which is the bottle I had.  Dr. Ph.Martin's Bombay India

          I...didn't know what that was until I looked it up on the internet. The information card that they had with the box called it a Sumi Bamboo Sketching Pen and that it is used for ink drawing but I still was not sure how to use it. Turns out an artist I sponsor on Patreon had a YouTube video about it so I'm going to add it here. I couldn't find the Sumi Bamboo on Amazon but I did find one exactly like it called Yasutomo Bamboo Reed Pen. It costs 10.91 dollars. 

          The next product in the box is the Derwent Intense Pencil. It is a water-soluble ink stick pencil, sort of like watercolour pencils, but it looks more like when you paint with ink. On Amazon, it costs 6.25 dollars. Derwent Inktense Pencil Madder Brown

This is the limited edition product in the box. It is a set of pastel sketching crayons. Besides the black, white, and grey there are shades of brown of which sepia is one. This product is called Conté á Paris.

I found the product on Amazon and it costs 10.99 dollars. Conté á Paris Limited Edition Tin

          To bring everything together the curators of the box included a Strathmore 80 lb Drawing Pad. This is great to use with pen and ink, pencil, charcoal, crayon, and markers. And in this box, you've got a few things that you can use with it. On Amazon, it costs 5.16 dollars. Strathmore Drawing Pad

          So, was this box worth the 35 dollars? I'd say yes and more. The total cost of all these items on Amazon comes out to 55.84 dollars. Of course depending on where you are in the world and where you shop you may find them cheaper or more expensive. For me, this box was a gold mine and I can't wait to use its products.

V. Paperie May 2017 Box

          I got the V. Paperie box last week but didn't open it because I had another box I wanted to review (Papergang). I kept looking at it but stopped myself from opening it until it was time to review it.

          For me the V. Paperie box was all about the cards and this box did not disappoint in that respect. I could also spy two things that I usually enjoy when it comes to stationery: pens and notepads.

          This pen looked rustic and funky so of course, I loved it. the only gripe I have is that there is no way to retract the nib of the pen. It has black ink.

          The notepad has a pretty design on it; unfortunately, it either didn't survive the trip or it didn't survive the Kuwaiti customs. The notepad fell apart but it is still very much usable I just have to keep the ribbon around it when I am done using it.

          The reason for the box, three greeting cards. The first says "Thanks", the second says "Congratulations" and the third says "I'm grateful you're my mum". Very pretty!

          Finally, a soy candle. It smelled flowery. I'm not a big fan of candles but I know someone who is so, I'm going to give it away as a gift.

          Even though I liked all the items in the box, somehow I felt disappointed in the contents. I can't put my finger on why that it. It just felt a little off to me, and not like the previous boxes I had gotten from them. Still, all the products are good quality and will be put to good use.

Papergang May 2017 Box

          I wasn't sure what I would get in this box; I had seen a few unboxings, which was what made me go try it out on CrateJoy. The box was just beautiful on the outside. 

          I saved the box to be recycled for some art project. The products were beautifully wrapped in some baby blue tissue paper, nice and snug.

          After I unwrapped the blue tissue paper the first things I saw were some stickers and what looked like a planner. There was also a welcome note and on the back of that was information on what is included in the box. 

          I loved that they included the price of each item so you know what the net worth of the box is. I think unless the item is handmade all boxes should do that. The sticker sheet was very cute, and it was an extra because I just could not find it on the information card. I'm going to use the heck out of the stickers because they are actually things that I would put in my journal.

          Next up are the greeting cards. There are two of them; one says Happy Birthday and the other says Thank You, designed by OHH DEER and AMY LESKO, they were printed in the UK and costs 5 pounds which is about 6.44 dollars.

          The weekly planner has the same cover as the outside of the box, which I thought was crazy cute. The planner itself is not dated, which I like, and it was designed by OHH DEER. It was printed in the UK and costs 9.95 pounds which is around 12.82 dollars.

          The curator of the box also included a Riso printed Calendar for the month of June. This is great for people like me who like to have a month at a glance page in their journals. I love all the adorable pictures that are on it. 

          Finally, there was an A5 notepad designed by AMY LESKO which retails for 5.95 pounds (7.67 dollars) and a pencil designed by OHH DEER which retails for 50 pence (64 cents). I love me some notepads and pencils!

         So the total cost of the subscription is 9.95 pounds (12.82 dollars) and if you add shipping it is 11.90 pounds (15.33 dollars). The total cost of the items in the box is around 21.40 pounds (27.58 dollars) and I'm not counting the items that had no price like the stickers and the paper calendar. So this is good bang for my buck, and it is items I know I'm going to use.

          One more thing, on the back of the box there is a drawing for an origami that you can do by yourself if you are so inclined, this month it is a rose.

Holly Journals May Box 2017

          I think that Holly Journals is fast becoming my favourite of all my subscriptions so far. The content is always fun and original and always usable. This box is no exception. 

          The first thing you see when you open the box is the set of prompts for May, a note from the curator of the box and the information card.

 

          The next thing I saw was an envelope full of goodies. There were stamps, some stickers for travelling and a paper clip shaped as a plane. 

 

          A beautiful necklace was wrapped in some bubble wrap as well as a charm to put on the journal which had a camera and a passport on it. They were both super cute.

 

 

          Next came the two pens. The first is a Sakura Gel Pen (colour white) and the second is a ball point pen. They will get a lot of use from me.

**I'm kind of glad I read the information paper otherwise I would have missed it, a mini pencil.

 

          No box is complete without some candy and this month it was peppermint.

 

          Finally, the reason for the box. It is a work of art as usual. I'm always surprised and excited by the bits and bobs included as scrap pieces in the journal. 

 

   

I LOVE THIS JOURNAL. 

Spotlight Stationery (April 2017)

          I was waiting for this box to arrive. I've loved everything in the February and March boxes and I really wanted to know what weird product was in this box. I wasn't disappointed. 

          As usual, Kuwait customs were not nice to the tissue paper. 💁 This month's theme is Flora and Fauna.

     Spotlight Stationery is one of the few box subscriptions that I get that does a personalised envelope and I really like it. The envelope had a collection of very beautiful and cute postcards.

1. The one with the leaves is by Elena O'Neill

2. The Space Wrestling Flyers is by Adam Forster 

3. Humorous Animal Character is by Yion Lim

4.  The Eleventh Hour is by Emily Clout

      

          The next two things go together. They are the Longtree notebook and Card. They both have very bold colours (two of my favourites in fact) and feature silhouettes of flowers and seed heads. I really enjoy the pocket notebooks as I go through them fairly quickly so I am always happy to see them in a box. With this card, my stash is growing nicely with different sorts of cards.

         These pencils are Rossi pencils. They are wrapped in Italian paper and are decorated with a peacock feather pattern. I'm almost afraid to use them, but use them I will...I go through pencils at an alarming rate.

           In every Spotlight Stationery box that I've seen so far, there was one product that made me go hmmmm. This pen was it. I kept trying to figure out how to open it and why it had a rubber tip at the end. Turns out you just extend it, exposing the writing tip and the rubber end can be used as a stylus for a smart phone or a tablet. The pen is made by Zebra.

      Finally, we have a notebook. The notebook is created by Lizzie Barker and it is called Creature Candy Notebook. Every time you purchase any product from Creature Candy, including these Creature Candy notebooks, 10% of the sale price goes to six different British wildlife charities.

You can subscribe to Spotlight Stationery on CrateJoy or you can find them on their website.

**The purchase of this stationery box includes a donation to Gloucestershire Young Carers, a charity which provides a range of services for young carers and their families.