Paletteful Packs-February 2018

          As usual Paletteful Packs provided everything you need to complete a full project from paper to sketching tools, to coloring tools and their accessories, including cleaning materials. So let us check out what is in the box.

This set of 24 oil pastels from Faber-Castell has a pretty cool range of colors in it. 

The terpenoid natural bottle and the Chamois can be used to clean brushes but also to add some mixing effects to an oil pastel painting.

For your sketching and marking needs as well as your blending needs the people at Paletteful Packs included a Tomboy Mono Drawing Pencil, Sharpie white and black China Markers, and blending stumps.

This brush is good for Acrylics and oil paints, it has a long handle and natural bristles. It is a Princeton Snap Bristle Brush.

Finally, you need something to draw on so a pad of Strathmore Mixed Media paper was included. I love this size of paper.

As you all know pastels are not my favorite form of drawing/painting media, but that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate good quality when I see it. As usual Paletteful Packs did not disappoint.

My Thrill Club

          Because of the way that my post office works I’m not sure this box is from what month as usual, but I think that this is the last box which will include a movie if I am not mistaken. I’m actually sad about that, I loved the quirkey selection of the movies. They were all ones I had not seen and are very...B movie-esque 😂

So into the books and movie.

          From Amazon.com: "Operation Valkyrie tells the astonishing true story of a bold German plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler - and the man who risked everything to make it happen. Sebastian Kock (The Lives of Others) stars as Claus von Stauddenberg, a once-idealistic German army colonel whose exposure to wartime atrocities and personal battle injuries move him to conspire to eliminate the power-crazed Führer. The heroic tale remains a fascinating, must-see example of the German resistance to Hitler's oppression.

Date: 2004

Starring: Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur, Hardy Kroger Jr.

Runtime: 1 hour, 35 minutes"

          From Goodreads.com: "From the acclaimed author of Ruin Falls and Cover of Snow comes a breathless new novel of psychological suspense about a dark, twisted turn of events that could shatter a family—a read perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, Chris Bohjalian, and Nancy Pickard.

Sandy Tremont has always tried to give her family everything. But, as the sky darkens over the Adirondacks and a heavy snowfall looms, an escaped murderer with the power to take it all away draws close.

In her isolated home in the shadowy woods, Sandy prepares dinner after a fight with her daughter, Ivy. Upstairs, the fifteen-year-old—smart, brave, and with every reason to be angry tonight—keeps her distance from her mother. Sandy’s husband, Ben, a wilderness guide, arrives late to find a home simmering with unease.

Nearby, two desperate men on the run make their way through the fading light, bloodstained and determined to leave no loose ends or witnesses. After almost twenty years as prison cellmates, they have become a deadly team: Harlan the muscle, Nick the mind and will. As they approach a secluded house and look through its windows to see a cozy domestic scene, Nick knows that here he will find what he’s looking for . . . before he disappears forever.

Opening the door to the Tremont home, Nick brings not only a legacy of terror but a secret that threatens to drag Sandy with him into the darkness."

          From Goodreads.com: "Rise the dark. These were the last words written in Lauren Novak's notebook before she was murdered in a strange Florida village. They've never meant anything to the police or to her husband, investigator Markus Novak. Now the man he believes killed her is out of prison, and draws Markus to the place he's avoided for so long: the lonely road where his wife was shot to death beneath the cypress trees and Spanish moss in a town called Cassadaga.

In Red Lodge, Montana, a senseless act of vandalism shuts the lights off in the town where Sabrina Baldwin is still trying to adjust to a new home and mourning the loss of her brother, who was a high voltage linesman just like her husband, Jay. As the spring's final snowstorm calls Jay deeper into the mountains, chasing the destruction on the electrical grid, Sabrina is abducted by Garland Webb, the man Markus Novak believes killed his wife. Drawing them all together is a messianic villain who understands that you can never outpace your past. You can only rise against the future. "

**This book is the second in the series though it can be read alone according to reviews, but it will also leave you with a cliffhanger so be warned.

Spotlight Stationery

          Hey everyone! I’m back today with a brand new box from my Spotlight Stationery subscription. It is their second anniversary and their 25th box. Before I go on let me put in some information about the subscription. The purchase price of this stationery box includes a donation to From Me To You  a charity which encourages people to write letters to cancer patients. 

          Now back to the box. The theme for this anniversary box is Silver. It is a complete box of things to write in, to write with and to send out in. You’ll see what I mean in a second.

          I’m always excited to look at the personalized envelope included in every box because the postcards inside always have beautiful and inspiring art. This envelope was no different. My favorites would have to be...all of them. Don’t make me choose!

          I want to start small then build up so the first things I want to show you are the cute tiny silver tipped eraser, the four silver binder clips and the beautiful silver washi-tape.

          Now that we are done with the accessories the next things I want to show you are 4 silver C7 envelopes with butterfly fastenings. The material that the envelopes are made from is almost cardstock quality and the texture of each one is amazing.

          Next up comes the writing instruments. In the box there was 4 writing tools: 3 pens and a pencil. The pencil is a silver Progresso woodless from Koh I Noor Hardmuth. There is a silver-inked Pilot G-1 gel pen and finally two silver-barrelled Staedtler Triplus Fineliners: one in blue and one in red.

          Finally, the beauty in the box. A silver Leuchtturm 1917 special edition silver metallic covered notebook from their 100 year celebration. That means I got both the Gold and the Silver from different boxes (stoked!).

Isn’t it pretty?!

As usual, Spotlight Stationery delivers bangs for the bucks, and while the main theme is silver the underlying thread that ties the things in the box to the charity chosen for this box is writing. Very clever and well done.

NEW SUBSCRIPTION ALERT - Cloth & Paper - January 2018

          Hey gang! I've got a new subscription from Cratejoy and Cloth & Paper to show you all. This is a subscription that offers two boxes for you to choose from or you can do like I did and subscribe to both 😆. The cost of subscribing to both is 48 dollars with shipping. The small box is called Peninspiration because it is a subscription of purely pens and the larger box is called Stationery Box. The theme for the two boxes for the month of January is "You're a Boss!"

          So let's begin with the Stationery Box. The box itself was a little banged up from flying around the world but the stuff inside was all safe and sound, and there was a lot of stuff!

          First up are the foiled index cards. There are two packets of 12 index cards 14 pointed uncoated card stock with matte gold foil finishing.

          If I should ever lose my mind and show you a picture of my desk you'll understand why I am always so happy to have sticky notes...these are a bit...MORE. 2 packs of Memorandum sticky notes each pack has 25 pages so 50 pages in total.

          This is the Memorandum notepad with 14 point card stock pages and simple design for writing down things on the go if you don't have your Agenda with you. This would fit perfectly in any bag.

          I was thinking of shaking up my Agenda a bit and this product is perfect. It is the A5 Memorandum insert notepad and I'm looking forward to adding it to my William Hannah to see if it works for me.

          This is really cute, it is a sticker sheet with all the interesting little icons that could be added to any agenda or organizer.

          Now, the final product in the Stationery Box is the pen. The Icon Rollerball pen is peach colored and writes in black. What I love about this is that it is refillable.

          Now let's look at the Peninspiration subscription. This box has 6 pens, the pink black and silver pens that look the same are all by Miaguang and write in black. The other pink and green pens are by Aihao and write in pink and green. Finally, the black one that looks like a Sakura pen is called Truecolor and writes in black. I've never heard of these pens but they write consistently and are very smooth. 

Zakka Kit - January 2018

          The new January Zakka Kit from Neko Box is themed Lucky Charms. The box carries a collection of stickers, a stamp and its ink pad, a print, a pen and a Lucky Charms Memo Pad.

          As usual the items are wrapped by a beautiful strong paper which I have used in mixed media projects and it has held up pretty well. I'm sure this one will hold like its predecessors. 

                     
          The first sheet of stickers is called Lucky Symbols Stickers and they are by Shinzi Katoh and Seal Do. The sheet features Japan's lucky symbols like Koi fish, maneki Neko, plum blossoms, pine leaves, ribbons and cranes.

          The Lucky Stamp and the Gold Stamp Pad are by Kodomo No Kao. Two different stamps were included into the box this was the one I got. I got Daruma while some others may have gotten Maneki Neko Design.

          One of the cutest things I found in the box was the Lucky Charms Memo Pad by Greenflash. It has for different patterns on the inside some of which would be great patters to use for my mixed media projects.

          The second sheet of stickers that was in the box is Maneki Neko and Inu Hariko stickers by Pinup Japan. They are printed with metallic ink on washi paper.

          If you know me you know I have an obsession with pens and this pen is pretty cool. It is a Sarasara Clip Pastel Gel Ink Pen by Zebra. I love the blue ink it writes in. It is the color of the sky. 

          Finally, a Lucky Charms Print by Neko Box. I think I might use it in a project or even as an inspiration for a new art composition.