Paletteful Pack June box

          The theme of the box for this month is Water-Soluble Graphite. When I first opened the box I was a bit disappointed because it didn't seem to me like I was getting my money's worth of supplies. I should have had more faith. So let us get into the items.

          I had no idea what these two discs were, I had to go look them up on the information card Paletteful Packs provided. These are ArtGraf Pigment discs. They are soft and water-soluble. 

          Versatil Synthetic Kolinsky Brush, a number 2 round. It has a nice feel to it and the hairs spring back to their original shape.

          General's Sketch and Wash Graphite pencil kit. It has two graphite pencils and a metal sharpener. They can be used for sketching or you can add water to them and make wash drawings.

          Fluid 100 watercolour paper block, 6x6 inches, 140 lbs and cold pressed. For those who don't know, the paper on this is glued down on three sides which prevent the paper from warping and saves on taping it down. I love the feel and size of it.

          Before I go into prices I wanted to show you a swatch of the two discs using the paint brush provided and the Watercolour easy-block. The paint dries pretty fast and it was easy to get gradients from the paint just by adding more and more water on the paint brush.

Now for prices:

Paletteful Packs Subscription: 34.95 $

ArtGraf Pigment Disc (Blue): 9.09 $

ArtGraf Pigment Disc (Yellow): 9.19 $

Versatil Synthetic Kolinsky Brush: 7.99 $

General's Sketch and Wash pencil kit: 6.09 $

Fluid 100 Watercolour Paper Block: 15.10 $

Total: 47.46 $

          So it is safe to say that I got more than my money's worth in this box. That will teach me to look at how much there is in a box without taking into account quality. I can't wait to use all the supplies from this box.

Indigo Artbox June 2017

If I had not seen previous boxes where Indigo Artbox had included something other than pastels I would so cancel my subscription. BUT, I shall continue on for two reasons. Even though I hate pastels, the supplies included in the box are actually pretty good for a beginner like me. The second reason is that I get instruction videos with the projects as well as a mini art history lesson which I really enjoy. So onwards!

This month's artist is Edgar Degas and the medium of choice is soft pastels. The package arrived opened by customs as per usual. 

So the package contains a drawing pencil and dry-erase pen and I must admit the dry erase pen puzzled me until I read the instructions for the project.

Reeves soft pastels.

A plexiglass sheet...yep, very puzzling until you read the instructions.

Two inspiration prints from Degas

Sketch paper, note card, and soft pastel paper (the coloured ones)

As usual, I am supposed to watch a mini history lesson on Degas and his art then watch the project video which gives exercises and then an idea of how to use the pastels. (Indigo Artbox) The dry-erase pen and the plexiglass are so you can practice your lines and tracing without having to use up papers or supplies.

I am going to give pastels another try and see how things go. These are my previous attempts using the pastels from the previous Indigo Artbox.

"The Road to Nowhere"

"The Castle"

V. Paperie June 2017

This box from V.Paperie had an interesting theme: Create for you!

Once you open the tissue paper you are bombarded with bright beautiful colours.

The reason for the box is the greeting cards and that is where I'm going to start. There are three cards by V.Paperie, one says "Happy Father's Day", the second says "Happy Birthday" and the third has no sentiment which means it can be used for any occasion. The fourth one though is the most interesting to me. It is a "Create Your Own Card" sort of thing so I can't wait to turn it into a project. I tried to find out the cost for these specific cards but couldn't find them anywhere so I looked for similar ones. They range between 2 and 6 dollars so I decided to go for the middle road of 3 dollars each: approximate cost for all four is 12 dollars.

Next up is a small sketchbook. The paper is pretty sturdy and its size is 5.2in x 4in. Again I could not find a price for this specific one but I found something similar for around 3 to 5 dollars.

I think this next item is my favourite of the whole box. It is Johanna Basford's Secret Garden colouring book but instead of pages, it is actually 20 postcards that you can colour yourself and send.  This book costs 4.97 new on Amazon.com. 

My second favourite item in the box and the final one is a bundle of markers. These are BAZIC 12 Fine Line Washable Watercolor Markers. They are conical tipped which means you can draw fine lines and they are water-based and bleed resistant. On Amazon.com they cost 4.33 dollars. 

The box almost comes up to 25 dollars, which is what I paid for it. I like this box more than I liked last month's offerings. 

Papergang Box

The Papergang box this month proudly supports Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

At the back of every Papergang box there is an origami project, so this month I decided to try it out.

I fussy cut the bumblebee and then put it together.

I had a lot of fun doing it and also a moment of losing myself in a small project that didn't need too much thought or planning. Now let us get into the box itself.

I was kind of surprised to find the box intact and not really opened. I'm guessing that because it was Ramadan no one wanted to really work 😏

So the first things that I noticed were the pencil and the postcards. They were both designed by Amy Lesko and the postcards were printed in the UK. The pencil costs 0.50 pence while the postcards were 2.25 pounds. There was also a Riso printed calendar designed by Amy Lesko and it is an extra in the box.

The final item in the box is an A5 felt Notebook with 3 inserts designed by Amy Lesko and it costs 12.95 pounds.

The box costs around 12 pounds so the cost of the items in the box exceed the amount I paid for it. Anyone who knows me knows I love notebooks and so this box is a big hit with me.

Holly Journal June 2017 Box

          I always look forward to the Holly Journal box because I know I'm going to get something interesting in the form of the journal, but this month's box, I think, went that extra mile. So let's get into the box.

          The first thing to come out the box was the list of items in the box and a list of quotes that was included in the journal. The reason the quotes were included was that they were written in artistic font and might not be easy to read. 

       

          This is one of the bonus items in the box. It is a beautiful tote bag and I forsee myself carrying it around to put all my supplies in.

          While the theme of the box is "Picnic Perfect" I would say based on the items here it is more like ladybugs ☺ I love the ladybug stickers and one of them is actually a magnet. The three pens are also cute though I have to say I've gotten that white pen in three other boxes so far. 😆

          Finally, the journal, and as usual I love all the different "pages" included between its covers. I love using the journals as art/junk journals and the pages make that so easy! Another awesome box from Holly Journals.

Planner Society Box

          This is a box that I've gotten twice before and have a love/hate relationship with. I like a few things that come in the box but have no use for others. The things that I like in the box keep me coming back.

          This is basically a subscription for people who use planners. It is a monthly kit for putting together your planner inserts for the month. It is crafty and it has a lot of interesting pieces and a lot of useless ones. Let me start this with a caveat. I don't use all of these supplies in the way they are intended. My planner is pretty much not your typical affair. It is very minimalist with almost no stickers or inserts. It is basically a diary/reminder with dotted/plain A5 pages and that is pretty much it. What I do use from the box are the crafty supplies for my other journal, which is an art journal, and my mixed media art. I won't open all the supplies but I will tell you about them. So let us get into the box itself.

So as usual, the customs officials got into my package. This time they didn't do much damage. 👀

          I love washi tape, and this box contained two. One of which goes with the theme of the box, which will be obvious soon.

          The packet on the left is a memo pad, it isn't very practical but it could be used to mark places or to write VERY short notes. The package on the right is, of course, a stamp...can you guess the theme? I love to use the stamps in my mixed media pieces. I might stamp with archival ink and then use watercolours or markers to colour it.

          These are, of course, stickers and section/page flags. Each of the boxes I have gotten before included something like that. These I might use in my planner, but more often then not they end up in a mixed media pieces or in my art journal, which is pretty eclectic. 

          This is something I've not seen before in their boxes (at least in the ones I've gotten so far). These are pockets. They are small and I'm not sure how useful they will be but I might use them in a different way to what they were intended for.

A pen, and a journal charm. I can always use a pen and the journal charm...you guessed it, other uses. 😛

          A paper clip, craft paper and ephemera, these are a few of my favourite things... yes I use these seriously in my art journal and mixed media pieces so I always love getting them. 

          I have to admit, I liked this box more than last month's box. There were a lot more things in this that I could use and repurpose.