Wow, I've already got my package from Ralph in Australia! Only two weeks! And what a package of Steampunky fabulousness it is!
First of all, it all came wrapped in this souvenir Steam Circus carrying bag. (Different design on each side!) A hint of things to come...
And inside, all this!
The book about Professor Storm's Steam Circus and a sample of the inside pages. It starts out great and just gets better as you read through.
The little notebook turns out to be a hand-bound watercolour sketch book. Ralph started it out for me with this great drawing on the flyleaf.
The larger book is a stationery portfolio
. The notepaper sheets are all different and there are several different envelope and bookplate designs (four? five?). The six notecards are quite elaborate, with book pages and different clockwork silhouettes, and the envelopes are also stamped with silhouettes. (
Oh, I've just taken them out to count and uncovered the
fantastic paper the portfolio is lined with. I'll have to post a photo of that -- it's just too great not to share!) And there's even a lovely Victorian fountain pen that is actually a very practical ballpoint.
But what's in the two separately-wrapped packages?
It's a marvelously complicated watch chain and key fob!! Okay, now I
definitely need a suitably wild waistcoat to wear this on!
And there's even a beautiful card, in which Ralph actually wonders if I'll like it and says "a couple of items that look simple actually consumed a large amount of my time and sanity." Simple? Does
anything here look simple?
Do I like it? Are you kidding? It's beyond fantastic. Now I know what "spoiled" means!
There is nothing here I won't use with minute-by-minute pleasure, and the Professor Storm book will be a treasured possession to be taken out and shared only with the most
deserving people.
Thanks, Ralph, you've made my first swap utterly memorable, and I hope we can partner again so I can return the spoilage.
Wulf
