June 30

Papergangbox June 2021

As you have read in my last Papergang Post there were some problems recently. From what the lovely people from the helping team could tell me, OhDeer had a general delivery problem with their parcels getting to Germany, something with the carrier so they switched it. But it seems like all of my recent packages have been lost because of it: my Aprils and Mays Papergangboxes but also the artful boxes I wanted to get and review. Since I got a replacement sent for all of these, I am not as mad and just waiting patiently for them 🙂 But that’s why after the review of April’s box, you now get to see Junes 😉 Let’s take a look inside!

Photo shows the cover of the box from June 2021, it says "Papergang by Ohh Deer" in golden foil and has colorful jungle leafs and flowers in the backround.

I have to say since it’s my first time getting a Papergang box in June and I kinda heard about them doing something more pride-themed last year, I was expecting something more… pride-themed xD I would have even liked it if it would have been more subtle, maybe less rainbow more other flags, or something like that but the June 2021 box, has nothing to do with pride at all. I guess it’s not too bad, but I was a bit disappointed.
Moving on to the actual contents of the box we have an A5 Notepad with 85 sheets printed in a flowery, jungly-vibe design the whole box is themed after, 4 blank greeting cards to design yourselves that come with 4 differently printed envelopes, 3 rubber stamps with a big leaf, a bird and “happy birthday” as their motive, including a blue ink pad, 3 gel pens in the colors green, blue and pink and 4 sheets with washi stickers on them 😛

Insides of the box: 3 diffren colored pens with a jungle pattern on a transparent backround, 3 stamps with and inkpad, 4 diffrently designed envelopes(jungle theme), a sticker sheet with birds, leafs and flowers on it and a lined notepad.

I love the DIY vibes this box has since I like designing greeting cards myself 🙂 Basically, you can make a card only using the stamps, but you can also be inspired by the other artworks in this box and maybe draw some birds or special leaves yourself. I would have liked it better if they would have included a marker or something since the gel pens they did include seem like they would be better used for writing or maybe outlining. But I like that we don’t only have the stamps and stickers to use for making our own cards 😉 And I really like the already made envelopes, since envelopes are harder to draw on and individualize. I am looking forward to using them^^ I guess you could also use the notepad sheets to write a letter on to include with the card or just take notes in Home Office 😉

Orange packingpaper with a golden sticker that says "Papergang".

I would have loved to switch out the notepad with maybe some washitape to be used to customise the greetingcards even more or something similar. I guess I can’t really get over the fact that there is not a single pride item in here …So I can’t really hide my dissapointment xD But all in all it was a pretty avarage box, not much to critisie, but also not too much cool stuff to get exited about, at least in my opinion. But maybe you would have fun with it^^

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

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June 11

Papergangbox April 2021

You all might be wondering where the post for the Aprils Papergang box went or why it was missing: The reason actually was that my Papergang box for April got lost in the mail :/ But the nice people over at OhDeer helped me out and send me a replacement box which arrived today(the 02.06.2021)! So now we can take a look into what we got together 😉 Enjoy!

Cover of the box from April 2021 with the words "Papergang By OhDeer" in golden foil.

This month was a bit special since 4 different designed boxes were sent out. I got the one with the orange dots, if you want to see some of the other designs check out Papergangs Instagram Channel^^ But even though the outside of the boxes was different, the contents were the same for everyone! We got 16 letters with the 4 different designs the boxes were designed in too, 32 letter sheets in different colors a small stencil made out of metal with some geometric shapes, a 60 sheet sticky notepad(also with the 4 different designs on it), 2 transparent penicils filled with rainbow gel ink and last but not least a washi tape 🙂

Inside of the box with a notepad that says "Hello it's me", a template with diffrent geomatric shapes, diffrently designed envelopes, a chalcered wahitape, a checkered sticky notepad and some pens.

I have to say when I saw the designs of the boxes on Instagram I was not very hyped, since they looked very geometrical and I just thought April’s box will not be for me. Geometrical is not my style which is why the washi tape and the stencil impressed me the least, even though I like that the stencil is made out of metal! All the stencils I own are made out of cheap plastic, unfortunately, so I guess they have at least somewhat impressed me with that 😉 There is always a use for sticky notes, no matter the design or size, so I won’t complain about them at all xD The idea behind the rainbow ink in the gel pens is cool too since you will first write in purple, then pink, blue, green, orange, and yellow until the pen is drained. But what I would have liked better(and I have no idea if that is even possible to do with gel pens) is writing in rainbow colors the whole time. Do you know these pencils which look like a colorblind test at the tip? They change colors way quicker and back again and I love the effect that creates! And I kinda expected that when I saw this pen, but of course it works a bit differently 😛 Still, a cool idea to not only have a one colored pen^^

Photo shows only the four envelopes your are getting in the box. The one on the upper left say "oh hi" and is mostly white with some blue boxes. The one on the upper right has a white backround with big organe circles on it and the text "happy mail". On the lower left the envelop has a white backround with orange stripes from left to right and up to down, creating big white boxes, the text says "greeting." the last one has blu strips from left to right and says "hello".

I do really like the envelopes, especially the blue one which says “Oh hi”, I don’t know why it just made me smile 🙂 The only problem I have with those in the size. I already own a letter set from Papergang(from the November box 2020) so I have already used them and they are quite strange. I measured them just for you and they are 8x16cm, for comparison a normal envelope would be 12,5×23,5cm 😉
Of course, the letter sheets are a perfect match for those small-sized envelopes, so there is no problem there, but you can’t write as much, without using many sheets. Maybe that’s just a problem for people who like to write long letters like me, for others they might just be cute 😉 The letter sheets themselves fit better into this month than they would have in April since they are bright-colored in almost rainbow-like order 😛 But we only have yellow, blue, pink and orange, which still look very intense and very great. I think I never owned such colorful lettering paper and I will definitely use it soon!

This is a GIF of the letter blog, shwoing the diffrent coulors the papers come in. From last to first: yellow, blue, pink, orange.

So, all in all, I can say this box pleasantly surprised me with its colorful theme and I am glad that I have got a replacement. The may’s box also has not arrived yet, but I hope it will come soon 😉 If it’s there I’ll let you all know!

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Mystery Box, Papergang, Review | LEAVE A COMMENT
March 28

Papergangbox March 2021

So I think what I can say now most indefinitely is that the Papergamg boxes are always arriving at my doorstep right at the end of the month xD I am okay with that though and it’s at least something to plan with. But like I mentioned in the previous reviews it’s almost impossible not to get spoilered about the items inside that way. I am okay with that but maybe you are not, so keep it in mind 😉 And let’s have a look at the march’s box:

Cover of the Papergang box of March 2021 with a pink backround, multiple diffrent designs and the word "Papergang" with golden foil.

This months box was designed by Amy Hastings and I am kinda in love with it xD What you see on the outside is basically what you get on the inside too small cartooney icons designed with much love^^ This time there is so much different stuff in it too! You get a small enamel pin labeled “creative juice” which we all need from time to time, an A6 so-called “detective notebook” you can open up upwards, 2 greeting cards one happens to be a birthday one(thanks for the late birthday wishes Papergang^^), 4 sticker sheets with gold finish and a small sack functions as a pencil case with 12 colored pencils in it!

Inside of the box with two greetigcards a stickersheet, a pin that looks like a juice package, colored pencils with diffrent quote on them and a pink pouch with white flashes, and a notebook with the same design from the cover.

Remember last time, when I said how the theme in the papergangboxes seemed to get less quantity more quality and it felt like they would just put less stuff into the boxes? Well, I take it back, or at least I think I get it now, it’s not about one theme it’s about variety! And I think that’s really the perfect strategy to try to please as many customers as possible. One month there will be a simple design, very minimalistic just a bit less. And maybe next month or the month after it will be a bit more of everything again! The month is more of the ladder 😉

Photo of all of the colored pencils with all of the quotes written on them such as "Creative Juice", "Get it done" and "Be Brave".

I also love the different kinds of stationery you get, like this time for example We got a notebook again, just like in the January box, but it’s a totally different kind of notebook! We don’t get another set of normal pencils, but colored ones and so on. It’s really great for someone like me who got a big subscription, it does not get boring or repetitive easily^^
As for the practical theme in the box, what to do with the contents, I say it’s all about writing someone a letter or gifting a card 😉 You can use the sticker or colored pencils to decorate and make every card or letter special. And I might already have someone in mind, I can send the result to!

Phot of the greetingcards, the one on the left has a pink bachrpund, a drwaing of a tiger the word"Go get'em" in blue and the word "Tiger" in golden foild with a blue shadow. The card on the right has a dark blue backround, a cake with 3 candles on top, 5 start in golden foil around it, the word "Happy" obvoe the cake and "Birthday" under the cake both in golden foild with a pink shadow.

All in all this box was a pleasant surprise for me! I really like the design and the many different contents in it. I will look forward to working with them, especially the stickers, I have not used stickers in years 😛

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Mystery Box, Papergang, Review | LEAVE A COMMENT
March 3

Papergang Box February

This month’s box arrived at my door on the 26th of February, right before the month ended! For those who don’t know Papergang is a subscription service from the UK, that delivers boxes with exclusive monthly stationery to your home. It’s my second box, and I will review it for you today, enjoy 🙂

Cover of the Papergang box from february 2020 in light purple with diffrent dried plants on it.

The artist for this month was Maddy Gale, who is a gardener and photographer, which can be seen very well in this month’s theme. I really loved the colors of everything, the many different shades of purple really speak to me^^ It’s a different kind of art, seeing that almost all of the old Papergan Box have something drawn onto them, but it’s cool to see a photographer designing a box too! I look forward to what kinds of artists will be designing the next boxes, maybe some letterers or graffiti artists? So many cool possibilities, but let’s focus on this month’s box and take a look inside.

Inside of the box with a golden ruler, golden scissors, a pink amd golden pen and a lined notepad.

Having reviewed the last few boxes, I see a theme of the contents getting fewer but the quality getting higher with every box. This month’s box had a hefty metal ruler(20cm), a stainless steel scissor, and a ballpoint pen with some metal features. It also contains a big note block and the photo from the cover printed out on sustainably sourced paper. And as always a little origami sheet plus a little booklet with an interview with Maddy and instructions on how to wrap a book with the paper they provided into a beautiful gift.

I have to say this box is a little underwhelming for me and I don’t really see a coherent theme in it. Everything is beautifully colored, I love the purples mixed with the gold metal shine. But I randomly get some office supplies and nothing to do with it. The last box was all about organizing, you got a big notebook, pencils to write in, a sharpener for the pencil and some sticky notes for important information. You could use it as a package and I really appreciated that. This time I got a scissor, which is awesome in general and not what I had thought of when subscribing to the Papergang, but instead of getting wrapping paper, I would have liked maybe some stencils to cut out or an inspiring idea to use the pen with the ruler and then cut it out.

As I said in the beginning it feels like the people behind Papergang are going for quality over quantity, which is not a bad thing in general! I love the weight of the ruler and scissors are very comfortable to hold and sharp enough to cut through cardboard. The pen, which has a black ink cartridge in it, writes well too and the note block has 85 pages, with about 30 lines each, so it will get you a long way! I guess I am just still a bit spoiled from the contents in the octorbow 2020 box, which I got in my haul and maybe they are just changing the formula a bit and there is nothing wrong with that^^

Photo of the paper inside of the box, checkeres in purple and white with a golden sticker that says "Papergang".

This box was filled with many high-quality stationery items, which I will be definitely using in the future. I think I never owned scissors that cute xD The colors really appealed to me, but I felt like there was a theme missing or the one present just did not really catch me as much as the other boxes did. But that’s always the risk with mystery like subscription boxes like this, it can be a hit and miss sometimes and maybe this time it was a miss, but next time might be a hit again 😉

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Papergang, Review | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 30

Papergang Box January

For all of you who don’t know what Papergang is, it’s a monthly subscription service that ships from the UK by OhDeer. They work together with a different artist every month to create exclusive stationery items like pens, notebooks, greetings cards, and so on. Because it’s shipping from the UK and I live in Germany, with COVID-19 and the Brexit going on, the box took a while to get to me. But I don’t think it’s the company’s fault, it’s just something to keep in mind when you want to begin a subscription too, while not living in the UK yourself. The Januarys box took about a month to get to me and that’s what it looks like:

Cover of the Papergang Box from January 2021 with diffrent cutre animals such a bird, grasshopers and a cat together with some simply drawn flowers, leafes and fruits.

It was hard not to get spoilered for the contents because I follow the Papergang on Instagram and when the first boxes arrive at the customers’ houses they will most likely repost their stories. So it was not so much of a mystery box this month for me, but I will try to keep it a mystery as much as I can for February. This time they collaborated with the artist Lenja Lorkowski to make five different items: 3 pencils with quotes on them in foil paper, a golden sharpener, a block of sticky notes in the form of a sliced apple, a planner, and a print. They also include a little info sheet every time, about what’s inside and who designed it. This time on the back of the sheet there was a big picture with the illustrations used on the planner, to color in^^ Also a sheet and a QR-Code for Origami 🙂

A look at what's inside the Papergang box: an art print of a simple flower with the text "where flowers bloom, so does hope", three graphite pencils in diffrent colors, a golden sharpener, a planner with the design from the box cover and a sticky not block that looks like a sliced apple.

I was mostly looking forward to the box because of the planner, which hopefully helps me to get a bit more organized this year xD I really like how it’s designed on the inside with a for a to-do list, a timetable, notes and you even have some space for doodling 😉 The pencils feel like good quality, but also rather normal pencils which were probably put into the package so that you could start writing in your planer ASAP. I don’t really get why they would give me a pencil for that, I never write with them because they smudge so much. I would have liked some kind of pen better, but all in all, there is nothing wrong with the pencils and I appreciate the sharpener because I always lose though for some reason o_O

The inside of the planner with lines and checkmarks for a to-do list, key tasks some free lines and space for doodles.

The print was something that really divided the community, at least that’s what I gathered from the Instagram posts about it xD The problem is, that most people were expecting more stationary items in their box and can’t really use the print for anything. They would have liked a pen better or even a small notebook, something to really use not to only hang on their walls. But I also read about some people repurposing the print as some kind of big postcard, writing something on the back and gifting it to friends. I don’t really mind the print so much and really like the idea of writing something on it, but if I could choose between having another print in the next box or having more stationery in it, I would choose the stationery. But I guess that’s a personal preference, if it would have been a print with say galaxy stuff on it, I would love it and certainly hung it somewhere, which is what some people actually did with it 😉

My final verdict on my first ever Papergang box is maybe a bit compromised by me already knowing what was inside xD But aside from that fact, I really appreciate that they put everything into the box so that you could use it right away. There were pencils to write in the planner and even a sharpener for them. I really love the exclusiveness of the items, knowing that an artist sat down to create them. It’s just a different feeling compared to other mystery boxes, which use stuff everyone else could get to. I really appreciate the effort that has gone into it and even if the theme was not 100% for me, I am really looking forward to the next boxes, hoping to really get surprised by the contents this time xD

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Mystery Box, Papergang, Review | LEAVE A COMMENT