OwlCrate - July 2017

          Before I get into the box I'm just going to say I'm going to take a bit of a break from the OwlCrate box because I have so much books that I have not read yet and I'd like to make a dent into them before I restart my subscription.

          The theme for the July OwlCrate box is “Strange & Unusual”.  There is a lot of interesting bookish things in the box as usual so let us get into it. 

          The first thing that came out of the box was a cute keychain Funko, and you could get one of two options - Dustin or Eleven - from Stranger Things. I got Eleven.

          I love spooky things and this box included two that are really cute and spooky. The first is Ouija Board mints from Boston America Corp, and the second is a set of spooky skull push pins created by the Team OwlCrate. 

          The wallet they included in this box is really interesting and beautiful. It could also work as a clutch bag. It came from Reverie and Ink.

           There was supposed to be a vinyl sticker in the box created by TJ Lubrano. But either they forget to pack it or it was lost when the customs officials opened the box to check what was inside. I think the second option is probably correct. So let me move on to the beautiful art print created by artist Aun-Juli Riddle. I love that it has things that I love...whale, books and coffee cups.

          The last bookish item to come out of the box is this pennant flag designed by Risa Rodil and inspired by Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

          Finally, we come to the book and the goodies included with it. The book itself, My Plain Jane, is a fun retelling of Jane Eyre. You’ll be taken on a journey through orphanages, and the Victorian occult scene. The book was signed by it’s authors and as usual has a hand written letter from them. Included with the book is a fun paper craft inspired by Mr. Rochester’s eerie home. 

          I loved all the items that came in the box especially the wallet and the push pins. I can’t wait to read the book.

         

New subscription Alert!! Neko Box - Kissaten Coffee

          This is my first Neko Box. I get the Zakka Kit from the same company though and I love it. The theme for this box is Kissaten Coffee.  The first thing that I saw as I opened my box was the information booklet. 

          Inside the booklet there is the information on what is inside the box, information about the Kissaten Culture and information on an antique cafe. On the back of the booklet there are two recipes, one for coffee and one for cake.

          Then I opened the wrapping and took at the first item; Asanoha Cotton Cloth by Seirai Gokachi. I love the material of the cloth!

          The next two items are linked together. A coffee cup and its saucer, both of them striped, by Tokusa. There are three colors dark blue, rich brown and cream. I got the brown one. 

          The next item is really cute. It is a two-color Glazed Mini Bowl by Tasai Kitchen. It either comes in blue or cream, mine is blue and it is used to either serve sweets or sugar. 

          Finally, a Kissaten Art Print by Neko Box. It is printed on Japanese paper. It arrived a little crumbled but nothing that can’t be fixed.

          Overall, I’m very please with my first Neko box. I love my coffee cup and saucer as well as the mini bowl and cloth. The print is really pretty too.

The Zakka Kit - June 2018

          The June Zakka Kit had a “Summer Days” theme. The wrapping paper as usual looked really interesting. 

           Of course the first thing I noticed was that there was no card the usually tells me what is in the box so I tried to find everything on their website. 

          The first thing to come out of the box was the washi tape. It is a Blue Girl washi tape by Classiky and Mihoko Seki. I love the color and the fact that it is not a thin role of tape.

          The next two things are the marker and the pencil. The Pen is a Zig Clean Brush Pen by Kuretake Zig. They are usually sold as a set I got the purple colored one. The Uni Colored Pencil from Mitsubishi Pencil usually come in a 36 pencil pack. The color I got was green.

          These papers a Tsubame Bird Washi Paper by Classiky and Sekihandou. I have so many ideas running in my head about what to do with them.

          This Noble notebook is really cute. I’m going to keep it in my hand bag for notes on the go.

          I love the texture of the origami papers (there are 4). They are so colorful and I can’t wait to work on them in my mixed media projects.

          Finally, there are cutesy fish stickers, washi Goldfish, there are supposed to be four but I only found two of differing sizes.

          This was a cute box from the Zakka Kit people as usual I’m loving all the things in there that fire my imagination.

KPOP Project 01: VIXX

          In a previous post, Large Kpop/drama Project: Introduction, I tased about how I wanted to put together information packets for the Kpop groups that I Stan, so with out further ado here is my first attempt. I decided to start out with VIXX.

1. Cover pages and some information on the group as a whole.

2. The group and subunit albums and the songs included in them.

3. Individual member pages and their solo works.

4. Translations of my favorite songs in each album along with some posters related to them.

Things I figured out while doing this project:

          While doing this project I figured out that though getting stickers for the cover it was best to look for pictures on the internet and add them to the pages as I was writing using my Word or Pages programs because my handwriting wasn't always that great and I can't leave space on the typed pages for the stickers that I had. So some of my pages look a bit awkward. 

          Don't just sit down and research and write at the same time, do the research and plan out exactly what you want to have on your pages before you actually sit down to do that. You'll waste less papers this way and you will like what you have as a final project better.

Spotlight Stationery -June 2018

The theme for this box is “All That Glitters” and the box insides looked all goldy...

I’m going to start with the personalized envelope and the pretty postcards inside. I’m loving the simple yet beautiful art on these postcards.

         
This box has two beautiful notebooks, the first is by Spotlight Stationery and is a pocket notebook.

       
 The second notebook is a Ventaglio Rosso “Flexis”. 

       
I love me some washi tape and this one is really cute.

       
Finally a batch of pens, a pencil, and some cute paper clips.



As usual, the price of this box includes a donation to From Me To You , a charity which encourages people to write letters to cancer patients. I'm loving the feel of the notebooks and using the pens well.

Large Kpop/drama Project: Introduction

          For a while now I've been thinking about starting a Kpop/drama project. I've been a fan of both since the late 1990s. After thinking about it for a while I decided to start with my favorite Kpop groups and move on to dramas after I finish with those. The next thing I thought about was the logistics.  I wanted a system where I can move pages around and add to them as the group has new activities. Finally, I settled on the disc bound system of journaling using the William Hannah products, papers and the archival system. All that was left was to think about what I wanted to include in the journals, and this is what I settled on:

• Cover page
• History of the group
• current and previous members
• debute date and background story
• activities
• Albums
• songs
• date of release
• pictures of covers
• Member fact sheets
• personal information
• position in group
• solo albums
• original sound tracks
• TV appearances
• List of favorite songs from each album
• translations of songs

          The information will come from their websites, and youtube videos made about them, and I'll be getting some stickers from sites like eBay, Etsy, and Redbubble, as well as making my own using my trusty Xyron Create A Sticker machine, my selphyie canon printer, and my mini bluetooth printer which prints black and white stickers. Here are some examples of stickers I already bought...

My first project will be the Kpop group VIXX. I’m almost done with the pages and it has been a great way to learn what works and what doesn’t.

OwlCrate - June 2018

          The moment I opened this box I felt refreshed like I’d been to the beach. The cheat sheet on the top was really beautiful. 

          At first glance, even before looking at the cheat sheet for information, I knew this box contained a mug and a towel. However, the first thing I pulled out of the box was the microfiber towel. It was designed by Stella Bookish Art. I love towels of any size and this one is a good sized one.

          The mason jar mug came out next. It was designed by Michelle Gray and Team OwlCrate. I love the color of the mug and the slogan on it.

          I’m not a tea drinker, but if it is a different kind of taste I will try it. Riddle’s Tea Shoppe gave us Apple Picking At Night. 

          I love bookmarks and I love wood so this wooden bookmark from Ink and Wonder Designs is my favorite thing right now.

          Cactus pen from BC Mini, it writes in black and is very smoothe. 👍

          And finally, the book. It is From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon and comes with a letter and an exclusive keychain. From the cheat sheet: “Twinkle Mehra is an aspiring filmmaker who dreams of breaking new ground in the Industry. When fellow film geek Sahil offers Twinkle the chance to direct a short film for the upcoming summer film festival, she jumps at the opportunity. And who knows? Maybe getting to know Sahil will help Twinkle with another goal - getting closer to Sahil’s twin brother, Neil. What could possibly go wrong?”