Now I will admit that I am VERY happy with this purchase. I had no idea what to expect, I just joined this crafty world earlier this year and I did not look at any reviews or unboxings from previous years.
I received about 45 items in my box. I did some research (out of curiosity) on what the full retail value of my box was and it came to about $430!! WOW. Now, not everything in my box is still available today, so for some items I had to find something similar within the same brand to estimate the price, so take that with a grain of salt.
Out of those 45 items, there were only 3 or 4 that I don't see myself being able to use. I did receive some dies without their coordinating stamp sets that really are not usable without the stamps, however, the stamp sets for two of them are still available for purchase, so I am considering purchasing them just for completion sake (and because I do actually like the stamp sets haha).
First, I'll get my not so great items out of the way. Pictured below are: 1. Heidi Swapp Marquee Light Box Slides...I do not have a light box for these and I have no desire to purchase one. 2. We R Memory Keepers stamp positioning tool...now, if I didn't already have the Tim Holtz stamping tool, this would've been like finding gold. This one is virtually the same size, so no point in keeping it. 3. Art Parts large blank binder sheets...I pretty much only make cards, I don't do a whole lot of other mixed media projects, but I suppose I could make some use out of these if I tried. 4. Illustrates Faith...plastic sheet of numbers? I thought these were stickers at first. They are not. I don't know what the purpose of this thing is. The only thing I can think of is to cut the numbers out for birthday cards or something. I'll probably hold onto it for that reason.
Now for what I'm calling in my head, my "medium" items. I received 4 sheets of Kelly Purkey stickers (2 look planner related, 2 number sheets), a Carpe Diem notepad, a sheet of puffy stickers by Pebbles, 3 sheets of shape sprinkles puffy stickers by Doodlebug Design, 1 large sheet of cardstock stickers by Doodlebug Design, 2 heavyweight pink cardstock envelopes, about a dozen sheets of 6x6 paper from what looks like a nautical pad, 8 sheets from another 6x6 pad that was maybe spring or birthday themed (there's no brands or collections listed on either of these, they were bundled separately in my box), a full 6x6 paper pad by Echo Park called I'd Rather Be Crafting, a pack of pocket pages by Me and My Big Ideas, and a set of cards by Goldenrod. I feel like I could find a use for all of this stuff between card making and my bullet journal.
Next are the embellishments, inks, and "miscellaneous" items. I got 3 samples of Novus plastic cleaners, a roll of washi by Doodlebug Design, Clear Drops by Studio Katia, Lemon Dust seed beads by Studio Katia, a set of pigment powder sprays (?) by Lindy's (apparently all I have to do is mix it with hot water...this will be fun to play with haha), and a 4 ink cube set by Fit Within in navy, coral, blue, and aqua. Edit: ah shoot, not pictured: 3 pieces of felt in blue, brown, and yellow, and a free crafting inspiration magazine by Kaisercraft from September 2016 lol.
DIES...here's where a lot of the value is. On the left, I placed the dies that need coordinating stamps...I found the stamp sets for purchase for all but the santa spinner by Art Impressions (I actually found it on ebay for about $9 but I'm only counting the ones that are available on legitimate craft sites still as new products) and the SSS/W plus 9 because it was a Stamptember set. In addition to santa, I got Echo Park Wonderful Day dies, Paper Smooches Boxed Greetings dies (LOVE this stamp set even though it seems to be out of stock on most sites right now and this die set runs about $27.99!), a Thanks Giving die (don't know brand, guessing SSS), Humble and Kind dies from W plus 9/SSS Stamptember 2017 (I feel I can still use most these even without the stamps), Penny Black Gaiety flower die, Spellbinders Drip Drop die, Paper Smooches Silhouette Flowers dies, and Hero Arts frame cuts in the shape of a fancy frame, cupcake, and pennant (could not find any stamp set for this but it is very usable without one).
And last but definitely not least, STAMPS. The paper crafting heart of the crafty parcel. I received 7 stamp sets in my parcel. Incredible. First is by Penny Black called The Best, Right at Home called Bits and Pieces: Winter, Gerda Steiner Holiday Friends, Hero Arts Valentine Messages mini tub, Carta Bella Practically Perfect, Simon Says Stamp/Neat & Tangled Stamptember 2017 Hello Pumpkin, Simon Says Stamp/Heffy Doodle Stamptember 2018 More Than S'Mores, and 2 small stamps from Paper Artsy, one is a 2 pence stamp, the other says Stamp of Approval.
Oh wait I forgot one, the WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER of this purchase. I received the stamp AND die set of this year's Stamptember Lawn Fawn collaboration Nutty or Nice!!!! I did not purchase this set during Stamptember and I had been regretting it so I was THRILLED to see this in my box. Thank you Simon Says Stamp!!
PHEW. That's all folks. I will definitely continue purchasing these crafty parcels in the future if they are offered. The greatest part is a lot of this I might not have purchased on my own, so it will allow me to maybe stretch my style a bit, and I didn't own ANY of these items already. If you made it through this whole post, thank you for reading!!
