Clothe and Paper - February 2018

          This is the second box I got from Clothe and Paper. It contains two subscriptions in one. The first is a subscription of pens called Penispiration and the second is a stationery subscription called Cloth and Paper Stationery Box.

I'm going to start with the Peninspiration subscription.

The ICON PEN in glossy black, it has new and improved ink flow and a lacquered barrel. 0.5mm, pull cap, brass coated and writes in black.

The ICON PEN in white (but you could have also gotten a nude or grey), it has new and improved ink flow and a lacquered barrel. 0.5mm, pull cap, brass coated and writes in black.

The NEEDLE NOSE PEN, it is steel grey with open clip design. 0.48mm nib and writes in black.

The SKINNY MINNIE, it is a seafoam green slim pen. o.43mm nib writes in black with a pull cap. 

The OHUHU DUAL TIP ART MARKERS, it has a brush tip on one end and a finaliner tip on the other. There are different colors but I got the sky blue. 

These are all great pens, I tried them out and they write smoothly though because of my LUPUS I prefer the ICON PENS to the other skinnier pens since my hand doesn't ache when I hold them to write. If you want any refills for these pens please go to the Clothe and Paper website.

Now the Stationery Box.

“HELLO” COMPLEMENT CARDS | A pack of 12 cards. I'm not sure when or where I would use these but I might use them in my journaling somehow.

I think they may have fallen from the Penispiration subscription envelope into the big box that holds both subscriptions. I went to their website to see where it fits and I saw pictures of it with the Peninspiration kit. It is a pad (25 sheets) of ruled 4x3 post-its.

TRIANGLE DRAFTING RULER | It is made from solid brass (yep it is heavy) and I can't wait to use it with my planner or for drawing. 

“CIAO” GREETING CARD | This is a folded card printed on smooth matte finish cardstock paper with a grey envelop. It is recommended to use a permanent marker with this card. 

“NOTE” GREETING CARD | This is a folded card printed on cardstock paper with a black Euro flap envelop.

“NOTE” NOTECARDS | 12, mixed color (white and pink) cardstock papers. This is a good thing to have around when you are old fashioned like me and love to take notes about the books you read and don't like to hurt the book.

GREY & PINK MEMO NOTES | 4 X 6, 25 sheets of pink notes with adhesive and   4X3, 25 sheets grey notes with adhesive. Basically, fancy post-its!

MEETING “NOTE” PAD | 6 X 9 tear away notepad which has 20 pages and is printed on thick cardstock paper. I'm thinking of shaving a bit off the bottom and using it in my planner which is A5.

I'm very impressed with the stationery box but not so much with the Peninspiration box, so I might cancel that part of my subscription for next time...

Spotlight Stationery

          I’ve been catching glimpses of this box for a bit now and couldn’t wait to get for it to come. It was like it was made for me when it came. It had two of my favorite things in the world. The theme of the box is “What’s Your Story?” 

      

The first thing that pops out at you is a beautiful journal. It is a reproduction of covers from classic literature. 

The next thing that caught my eye were the pencils. Each one has an opening line from a novel.

The pens are just awesome, the color of each pen matches the color of the ink inside and two of the pens are fountain pens by Zebra.

Finally, there was a beautiful bookmark of Alice in Wonderland, specifically the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party scene.

I don’t think I’ve ever not liked a box by Spotlight Stationery, this one is kind of special though because of the beautiful journal and the fountain pens. I think I’m always going to love whatever Spotlight Stationery offers.

**Note: The purchase price of this box includes a donation to From Me To You, a charity which encourages people to write letters to cancer patients.

Owlcrate - February 2018

          The theme for Owlcrate’s February box is Hidden Worlds. At first I thought the box just didn’t have as many things as it usually does but then when I saw the items I knew why. So let us dive in. 

          This beautiful Skeleton Key Pendant Necklace is inspired by the story of Coraline and was designed by Team Owlcrate.

          I love the candles that Owlcrate have in their boxes. This one is a handmade soy candle of pine, mint, and vanilla and is created by Books on Candles. 

          I love pouches with zippers. I can store a lot of things to carry safely in my bogs when I travel or have to go somewhere. This one is inspired by Daughter of Smoke and Bone and was made by Risa Rodil.

      

          This cute sticker is from Naomi Lord and is obviously inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. 

          This was the surprise of the box for me apart from the book. It is a wall tapestry by Evie Bookish. The design is beautuful and the material is gorgeous! 

          Finally, the book. From Goodreads:  "Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong."

The Zakka Kit - February 2018

          The Zakka Kit is one of the subscriptions I can never really wait long to open. It always has something that will wow me and this box is no different. The theme for February was Vintage! 

The first item that caught my interest was this beautiful Nostalgic Wood Mechanical Pencil by OHTO. It is a mix of old and new. 

Next up is a Classic Iroha Washi Tape by Shinzi Katoh and Seal Do. There were two designs either vintage symbols or vintage flowers and the one I got was vintage symbols.

The Vintage Colour 365 Notebook from 365 Notebook is just beautiful. It has the traditional thin calendar paper and comes with the Japanese writing guides to help keep things neat. 

These stickers from Midori are really cute, and can be used to decorate journal pages and much more.

These papers and postcard are really beautiful! They can be used for mixed media art or origami.

This cute guy is really cute :-)

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.