Spotlight Stationery

          The theme for this box of Spotlight Stationery is BLACK AND WHITE.  As with every box bought from Spotlight Stationery, the price includes a donation to Gloucestershire Young Carers  This is a charity organization that provides a range of services for young carers and their families. 

          The personalized envelope contains post cards by brilliant artists. This is the information for each card and the cards themselves. 

          The box also contains Leuchtturm products like a penloop and 2 Jottbooks one lined and one squared.

          Next up is a greeting card designed by Kate Moby. It firs perfectly with the theme of the box.

          I’m one of these people that is always looking for envelopes to put stuff in and can never find them so these two envelopes will be put in a safe place for later use. 

          Finally, we have two pens and one pencil. The pens are a white pilot Begreen Choose and one black Uniball Signo RT. 

          As usual, I am never disappointed when I open a Spotlight Stationery box. They are always full of beautiful, high quality stationery.

Art Tarte

          So as promised this is the last box I'm going to get from Art Tarte and just as it was with the previous two boxes it was...very disappointing. The theme for this box is, apparently, whales? Maybe?  I'm not even going to bother describing each of the items in this box...I'm that disappointed. I'm just going to dump all the pictures that I took of the items and you can just scroll through. There are two types of paints, some random pens and pencils, stickers, a tiny bookmark, a post card, a greeting card (I'm not even sure why they included those) a detail brush and some water color papers that were cut down to resemble small cards...they didn't even bother cutting them all to the same size. Enjoy...or not.

Owlcrate

          The September theme for Owlcrate was Mythical Creatures. The box was full of interesting things including something that I don’t think they have done before. Along side the informational card that they always include, they also included a booklet that has an interview with the author of the featured book and a look at how the Owlcrate cover of the book looks different than the original cover. There is also some book recommendations, a puzzle for fun and an interview with one of the vendors included in the box. 

          Now let us get into the box, because I just can’t wait to share with you all the goodies. I’m going to start with the silly bits which I like lol. A die-cut sticker from Susanne Draws which is Hagrid and Buckbeak of Harry Potter fame and the Owlcrate pin. 

          Next up is something that is going to my cousin who loves this sort of thing. Bath salts from the Soap Librarian. 

          I can’t resist a good bookmark and the wooden one in this box is especially beautiful. It has the Mother of Dragons on it and it was created by Ink and Wonder Designs.

          My coins always fall out if my wallet or bag and I can never find change when I need it so this next item is going to be put to good use.  I especially love the red dragons on it!

          This next item I am very excited about. It is a booksleeve and I’ve been meaning to get one but just never found the time to look. I’ve already used it. It can take a big book or two small ones and a mini ipad. It comes from Book Beau.

          Finally, the book. As usual it comes with a signed plate, and a letter from the author. In this case there was also an extra guide thrown in. 

The book itself is called Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows. From Goodreads: 

"Before

Mira Minkoba is the Hopebearer. Since the day she was born, she’s been told she’s special. Important. Perfect. She’s known across the Fallen Isles not just for her beauty, but for the Mira Treaty named after her, a peace agreement which united the seven islands against their enemies on the mainland.

But Mira has never felt as perfect as everyone says. She counts compulsively. She struggles with crippling anxiety. And she’s far too interested in dragons for a girl of her station.

After

Then Mira discovers an explosive secret that challenges everything she and the Treaty stand for. Betrayed by the very people she spent her life serving, Mira is sentenced to the Pit–the deadliest prison in the Fallen Isles. There, a cruel guard would do anything to discover the secret she would die to protect.

No longer beholden to those who betrayed her, Mira must learn to survive on her own and unearth the dark truths about the Fallen Isles–and herself–before her very world begins to collapse."

Paletteful Packs - September 2017

          Paletteful Packs box for September made me go hmmm, here is a skill I really need to develop and work on. The theme for the box is “Sketching” and there was some real goodies there!

          As you can see from the picture above, the first thing to come out of the box is a pack of Tortillion and Stump. These are used for blending and smoothing lines. The retail price for these is $ 5.99.

          Next up is the Primo Euro Blend Charcoal Pencil Kit. This kit also comes with an eraser and a sharpener. Tge retail price is $ 7.69.

          The next two pencils are the Conte Pierre Noire Drawing Pencil and the General’s drawing pencil. The first costs $ 2.69 and the second costs $0.79. 

        The box also included a Derwent Graphic Pencil set priced at $ 22.99. 

          With all these pencils you really need a good eraser and you can’t go wrong with the Tombow Mono Eraser which can be used even for the smallest mistake with out harming the paper. It’s retail price is $ 4.49.

          Finally, you need paper to sketch on and the people at Paletteful Packs have got you covered with the Strathemore Toned Tan Sketch pad paper. It is around 5.5” x 8.5” so it is easy to carry around and is priced at $ 6.59. 

          With this box the only excuse I have for not practicing my sketching is laziness.

The Nocturnal Reader’s Box

            The theme of this box is Monster Mayhem. Now there was an option to choose a t-shirt instead of a tote bag but I can never get the sizes right so I opted for the tote bag. So without further ado let’s get into the box.

          The first thing I pulled out of the box was a water bottle. It is an exclusive metal water bottle with the Miskatonic University logo. 

        The next thing that caught my eye was the Frankenstein’s Monster quote tote bag. I’m going to use it to carry my books and iPad places. 

          I’m not a big fan of sleeping aids but I make exceptions for herbal stuff and the box included an organic herbal sleep oil called “The Sandman’s Despair” created by Natura Amantis. 

          I love notebooks and this exclusive notebook is my new love. It is from The Howling and I love the picture on the cover!

          There are two books in the box as usual one is a previous release and one is a new one. And there is a one in four chance you get a signed copy. 

New Release: The Wicked by James Newman

From GoodReads: AN ANCIENT EVIL RISES...BURNS...KILLS... After a fire consumes the Heller Home for Children, the residents of Morganville, North Carolina thought they knew evil... They were wrong. Unaware of the turmoil in their new hometown, the Littles--David, Kate, and seven-year-old Becca--are moving from New York City to Morganville in hopes of repairing their own lives, which were recently shattered by an act of sexual violence. Before long, David realizes that his family's troubles are worse than he could ever have imagined. An ancient demon lurks beneath the town of Morganville, an unholy creature conjured into existence by the Heller Home tragedy. Its name is Moloch. It is hungry for the souls of the townspeople. But most of all, Moloch wants the children. It will not rest until it has them. All of them.

Previous Release: Greener Pastures by Michael Wehunt with a one in four chance of getting a signed copy. 

From GoodReads: In his striking debut collection, Greener Pastures, Michael Wehunt shows why he is a powerful new voice in horror and weird fiction. From the round-robin, found-footage nightmare of "October Film Haunt: Under the House" (selected for The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror) to the jazz-soaked "The Devil Under the Maison Blue" (selected for both The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror and Year's Best Weird Fiction), these beautifully crafted, emotionally resonant stories speak of the unknown encroaching upon the familiar, the inscrutable power of grief and desire, and the thinness between all our layers. Where nature rubs against small towns, in mountains and woods and bedrooms, here is strangeness seen through a poet's eye. They say there are always greener pastures. These stories consider the cost of that promise.

          Also in every box there is a suitable scary print and I really love this one by Ivan Belikov called The Great Old One. 

          Finally, there is a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde enamel pin and a magnetic bookmark featuring The Night King of Pop.

I’m never disappointed with my current book subscriptions. 

V. Paperie

          This is probably my last V. Paperie box for a while since I am trying out a couple of new subscription and I didn’t want to go over my budget limit. 

          It looks like the Kuwaiti customs decided to take a look inside the box. 

          The first thing I saw when I pulled the wrapping paper back were the greeting cards. There are three of them to add to my stash.

          The next thing to come out of the box is a pair of ballpoint pens. They have a metal body and sport black ink.

          The box also has two useful things that went straight to my workstation at home, a box of binder clips and some sticky notes. 

 

          Finally, a pack of two pocket size notebooks. They each have 128 lined pages. 

          I like that this box had a lot of useful things for me. I’m hoping to put them to good use.