Mail Call Monday - Surprise Art Supplies

Welcome to another edition of Mail Call Monday!!  I've been remiss in posting articles for this series lately and now I've posted two in a row.  The box on our porch one afternoon last week reminded me that I need to catch you up on the influx of items arriving.  It was a surprise from Quilt Diva Julie.  

If you think Julie sent me a box of fabric...

You would be WRONG!!!  Today's story is about the contents of this box:

I opened the outer flaps to find this note...

And further inspection found that Julie had sent a HUGE destash of art suppies:

All will be revealed layer by layer...

Here's the top layer with three beautifully decorated composition-style notebooks:

The next layer held the entire contents of a stamp journal which included stitched line stamps, Seth Apter designs, alpha/numeric stamps, as well as botanicals and more:

The following layer featured stencils, Rainbow Sparkle gel sticks, and Derwent watercolour pencils.  It also included a brand new brayer along with a set of Mini Shaped Gel Plates that I have been on my Arty Wish List since they were first released and I absolutely cannot WAIT to try them out:

The bottom of the box held the "heavy stuff".  There was a variety of fancy papers (the most photogenic shown below) which were accompanied by a lovely book titled Creative Watercolor & Mixed Media which looks to be very informative:

The following is an excerpt of the email I sent upon receipt of this fabulous gift...

... I've already added nearly ALL of the stencils into my "Pink" journal. (One word from each of that type and one repeat from any with multiple designs.) It took two art sessions to get all of them in and I enjoyed every minute of it. I also created another entry in my Happy Mail journal and swatched supplies there.

... Thank you, Julie! Opening that box and exploring its contents yesterday was the highlight of my week. It felt like an early Christmas! ...You should have seen me jumping up and down when I came across those mini shaped gel plate. They've been on my MUST HAVE list since they were released.

Sending quilty hugs of gratitude! 

Joy

Her replay...

Oh, Joy - what a marvelous thank you!  

I’m delighted that so many of the items were immediately taken in and loved.  And yes, I had hoped it would feel like an early Christmas!

(The secret portion in this section of Julie's email has been left out - Joy)

And I’m thrilled you had been wanting the mini shaped gel plates — I really thought I might use those sizes, but I didn’t.  MUCH better that they will be loved in your studio.

Have fun playing,

Julie

In closing...

As indicated, Julie no longer wished to experiment and play with these supplies any longer.  Thank you for thinking of me, Julie!  I was thrilled to sort through this box of goodies.  As with the previous box she sent, I will keep what I can use and pass along the rest to local artists who are always happy to receive new or used art supplies.

Until next time...

I'll be busy in my art journals!!