Paletteful Packs August 2017

          I think that Paletteful Packs is by far the best art supplies subscription I have come across. The supplies included are always top notch in whatever area they are currently playing. The theme for this box is The Traveling Watercolorist. 

          I'm always excited to open their boxes and this one had a lot of great supplies as usual. 

          The postcard you see in the picture is actually the information card on what is in the box. The art on the postcard is by Molly Paulick.

          Now the first think to come out of the box is the very pretty Winsor Newton Watercolor Sketchers' Pocket Box. I already own this set, infact it is the first set I ever owned and I love it to bits. I'm glad I got this second set because yeah, I'll use it!!!! I compared the colors in this set to the ones I have and since they were the same I'm going to include the swatches from the set I have. This set always comes with a small watercolor brush as shown in the picture.

**please ignore the scribbles on the side, the names are correct.

          Next up is a Windsor Newton Cotman brush which is a size 2 rigger. This kind of brush provides an extra fine point for those lines, hard to get to places and small details. 

          This item is something I am very excited about. It is a Princeton Art & Brush Co. Watercolor Brush Bucket. The bucket is collapsible and spill resistant. It has six brush pockets, three on each side, to hold your brushes up right while they dry and can hold a fair amount of water. I can't wait to use it! 

          Finally, the box contains two types of watercolor paper. The first is Strathmore Watercolor postcards and the second is Yupo Paper Pad. Strathmore I've used before but I've heard a lot of good things about Yupo and have been wanting to try it out for a while. The Yupo paper is different in that you can wipe off sections of your painting and start over on a fresh peice of paper.

All in all, I'm very excited as usual with what Paletteful Packs has included in their box for the month of August. I can't wait to play with the Yupo paper.

Art Tarte August 2017

          So...the second box from Art Tarte...I'm...again not impressed. I think that September is going to be my last box from them. So let us get into the box. The theme is obviously "Succulents". Kuwait customs has their customary look into the box...

          I don't understand why an art subscription would have a postcard and a greeting card included in the box but that is what we have in this box.

          Next comes the art supplies. First there is the Artist's Tiles, which are small mixed media papers that have a fine-tooth surface. Then there are two Ohuhu Art Markers that have a fine tip at one end and a chiselled tip on the other end in Chestnut Brown and Vermilion.  Finally, a Sakura Pigma Micron pen in black.

          There were also 2 pencils (one generic and a Tombow 8900 drawing Pencil), Prismacolor Premier pencils (4), and Prismacolor Blender.

          Finally, there were some Succulent stickers and a Mini Doodle Book which is an Art Tarte exclusive.

      Well...this is it. That is all that was in the box. I'm not even sure what to say at this point really. So I'm just going to leave it at that. 

Indigo Artbox

          This is my final Indigo Artbox. I had canceled my subscription a while back but was owed one more box. They were doing too much pastels and in the end I just got bored but lately they've been doing water colors...still not enough to make me re-instate my subscription. So let us get into the package.

          I saw this stick peaking out of the package and my heart kind of sank. I knew what it was and I hoped that it was packaged better on the other end...it wasn't.

       

          Usually there is gum to hold the bristles together as well as a plastic cover that goes over the bristles at least to keep them protected. There wasn't any here and the bristles were all over the place...still I was willing to give the brush a chance. The brush is a Mont Marte Gallery Series 12 round.

          The next thing to come out is this watercolor set. As you can see from the picture the brush that came with it was small and it moved out of its place. It's bristles were also not covered and unlike the Mont Marte I wasn't going to put it into the paints so I just chucked it out. The set is a Jackson Artist Grade Semi-Moist watercolors. It says artists but I'm not really sure...

          Like every Indigo Artbox, this package also included two prints by two different artists for inspiration, and some sketch papers and watercolor papers.

          Now I decided to do something different this time and check out the supplies right away. I always swatch out my paint supplies to see what the colors really look like and sometimes I also make color wheels. So this is what I used the water color papers they provided in this package for. My first frustration was with the paint box. There was not a diagram that told me what the name of the paints was or even what pigments were used. I had to figure it out for myself when I swatched. So the names on the swatches are my own not from the company. The paints themselves were okay...artist grade though is a stretch.

I also wanted to see how they behaved when I mix them so I made a color wheel.

The colors were good with mixing but the problem was in the brush...that brush...

          The brush regained its shape when I put it in water, but the bristles behaved like squirrel hairs in that they took whatever shape you press when you paint. This means it is easy to get it to a fine point to go into tight spaces BUT if I press too hard it gets into a weird shape which makes the brush strokes too rough. I also found it retained either too much water or if I tap it against my water cup too little water. 

Another thing that was annoying is that it kept shedding in my paints and on the page. So I'm not sure if I am going to be using this brush anytime soon. The paint set however, is a good-ish addition to my collection.

V. Paperie August 2017

          The theme of this V.Paperie box is very obviously travel and letter writing to travel worthy places. The box as usual has some cards and a writing tool then something extra. So let us get into the box...as usual the Kuwait customs like to take a peek at what is inside...

          The first item to come out of the package is a box of cards and envelopes. The box contains 8 folded cards and their matching envelopes. There are 4 designs and 2 cards of each design. Each design represents a country: France, Italy, Spain and England. 

          What do you need to send said cards? Stamps of course and the package contained unused vintage stamps ready to be used. They are enough postage to use for one standard 1 oz. First Class Letter. They are by Frankie & Claude. The package also included one Le Pen fine pen in blue ink.

          If you are anything like me then this next item is going to make your day. When I travel, the part I hate most is packing my bags. I always end up forgetting something. This notepad with its packing checklist is something I see myself using to make my life easier and not forget anything.

I really enjoyed the simplicity and the practicality of this package from V.Paperie.

Papergang Box No. 17

          This is perhaps the first time that a Papergang box left me thinking...uh? It is not that the quality of the goods was bad or even that they put in things that I wouldn't use it was just...meh. So without further ado let me get into the box.

          As usual the cover of the box is beautiful and there is the paper origami project on the back. As usual Aramex had covered it with a sticker and I can't put it together.

          So when I unwrapped the package in the middle of the box I kept thinking hmmmm...I wonder why it feels weird.

          So basically, there is one large pencil case (12.95 pounds), 1 washi tape (2.50 pounds), 1 pencil (50 pence), 1 greeting card (2.50 pounds), and one Riso printed calendar all designed by OHH DEER.

          As you can see there is nothing wrong with the items and they are all of good quality I just..I didn't like the design of the pencil case, and I felt like it and the pencil were sort of out of place with the rest of the items that all go together design wise. But that is just my opinion.

Spotlight Stationery

          I'm always excited when it is time to open one of the Spotlight Stationery boxes. I know I'm going to get some interesting stationery of good quality and some really beautiful postcards.  Another thing that I love about the Spotlight Stationery box is that the purchase price of the box includes a donation to Gloucestershire young Carers, which is a charity that provides a range of services for young carers and their families. Check them out at www.glosyoungcarers.org.uk. 

          Now let us get into the box. The theme for the box is "Space, the final frontier". I also love the tag line: "It's stationery, Jim, but not as we know it." My geeky heart was happy. The box includes all my favorite things: notebooks, pens, pencils, and washi tape.

   

          I'm going to start with the beautiful postcards. The lighthouse postcard is by Tilly Gibbs, the mommy wolf and pups is by Naomi Worrell, and the humming birds and Jokers are by Bex Challoner.

          Next up are the pretty, pretty notebooks: DarkStar Collection. They are a pack of 3 pocket notebooks, 1 with plain paper and 2 with dotted paper. They have black covers and creamy colored paper and they are made in the UK.

          I think I am in love with the Cavallini & Co. tin pencil set. The tin has 10 pencils and a pencil sharpener. The pencils are wrapped in vintage images from the Cavallini archives in the USA.

          I've heard a lot about the pen included in this box. It is a Spacetec 0 Gravity pen, and it has a pressurized ballpoint refill. This means you can write upside down, in extreme temperatures, under water, and in 0 gravity and it will always work. The shell of the pen will also accept "Parker-style" G2 refills. This is from a German company.

          Finally, the cute washi tape. It is from Rico Designs in Germany. It is Paper Poetry washi tape gold stars on a pale blue background.

As usual, I'm giving this box a full score!

Holly Journals August 2017

          So this is going to be my final Holly Journals box for a little while. I need to use up all the journals I got from them before I can go back to re-activating my subscription. The theme of the box is Day at the Beach.

   

  

          So I'm going to start with the bonus gifts in the box. The first is assorted Salt Water Taffies (as seen above), and the second is a beach bracelet.

          The box also included an embellishment pack that had paper clips and name tags, journal jewelry and a Le Pen in blue.

          Finally, we get to the real jewel of the box, which is the journal. As usual it has a beautiful cover and an assortment of pages in different textures and types. These journals can be used as diaries, or art journals. I tend to use them as art journals.