April 28

Mystery Box – Dark Academia

Hello and welcome back to another Mystery Box review! Today I want to show you another Box made by the same people who did the Blinddate with a Book Box I reviewed about a year ago. It’s very similar in the way that’s it included a mystery book again, but it has some very different extras which is why I wanted to show it to you^^

Pictures from the Esty Shop Coffeeacademia, advertising the box

The Box is themed after Dark Academia, which was something I have heard about before, but could not really tell what it was about actually xD So I did a little research and it turns out, it’s actually similar to something I do know which is Cottage Core. Liking Cottage core basically means adoring a kind of lifestyle where you would live out in nature in a cottage far away from modern cities. It’s about the idea, the aesthetics and the items connected to it. People buy certain clothes, decorative items and even books, to match this idea.
Dark Academia seems to be the same thing, but of course with a different image in mind. It’s about people wearing student clothes inspired by universities like Oxford in 1930, reading high literature books and watching artistic films. The “dark” part of the aesthetic comes from the gothic building style most older universities have. So instead of wanting to live in a cottage people like the idea of studying in dark corners with candlelight, reading books that make them think about life or books which take place in an academic scenario too. So with all of that in mind, I am actually pretty curious about what I will be getting in this new Mystery Box 😉

Firstly I sadly have to say that my original box got lost in the mail :/ I would normally not have mentioned it, since it got replaced as soon as the Shop got wind of it being missing and I even got some extra gifts because of it, but it did have slightly different contents, which I will be talking about in more detail later in the review. But for now, let’s get back to the opening of the package! As we know it from the Etsy Shop Coffeeacademia everything was packaged nicely, which makes opening this box not only about the items you get but an experience all in itself. What I really love about boxes from them in particular, it makes them stand out from other Mystery boxes I have opened. Most things were wrapped in this vintage-looking brown paper, one of them even had some scrapbooking on the top, which I think looks beautiful and I even tried to save it somehow, even though I don’t know what to do with it later. But it seemed too precious to be just thrown away after getting to what was inside! And there were a lot of things 😉

Let’s start with the extras before we get to the main attraction of the box. One of the first things we get is a metal candle holder which has a little handle on one side and really reminds me of the old times when people needed to carry a candle around at night if they wanted to see. With the theme of dark academia, I could imagine a scene where scholars would be studying books until late in the evening or even the night and at some point, when they want to get another book, they have to carry their candle to the bookshelf, to be able to read the names written on the back of the books sitting there. Still, it somewhat bugs me that originally I thought I was getting a wooden candleholder without a handle, to only be used on the desk. Because even though I just described a possible scene, when I look at this kind of candle holder, for some reason my mind goes to a different kind of aesthetic. Still, I like the candle holder very much, it’s just not as fitting for me.

Next up is the little bust which of course is to decorate your surroundings to feel more in a room that could technically be at an old university. Where they have busts and statues standing around, for people to look at, take in and get inspired by. I can see how it would help get into the right mood for studying, but when I say this bust is little, I mean very little, maybe 3-5cm depending on how you measure it. I can’t say for sure, but I feel like on the picture they made to represent their box on Etsy they tried to make it look bigger. And for me personally, I think it would have needed to be at least a little bit bigger, maybe 10cm to actually have the effect I just talked about. With a statue smaller than my little finger, I can’t really try to imagine myself sitting at an old prestige university…

Last but not least we got a feather quill pen in a beautiful turquoise colour with a leaf, that vaguely reminds me of lord of the rings. It does look cool and all, but I have to say it might be almost the item that got me disappointed the most, mainly because I do already own this kind of quill pen. One thing to mention is that the box I did buy(or better got gifted) was a limited edition box, but almost right after the last box was sent away, the shop seemed to have made it a regular thing, maybe because it was received so well by their customers. In this new dark academia themed box, they did use different pictures even though most items were the same. Now that’s exactly where my problem comes in because I do think for the new box they got different materials and on the pictures, they do advertise a different kind of quill pen, the one I got obviously. But the quill they did advertise before was a little different. It had a long golden shaft with some marking on the top and the bottom and it looked really special to me, since as some of you know I do use different kinds of quills for writing letters or greeting cards for special occasions, so I do already own some but not this particular one. And I was really looking forward to getting a model like that, it might have even been the reason why I decided to get the box in the first place. So not getting it eventually makes me a bit sad. But I don’t really know if it would be fair to really include that in the verdict at the end since the shop obviously could not really do something about it, they did not lose the box and they did not have any spare models of this quill or at least that’s what I assume since they did not really tell me. Which I do think, they could have.

As a little extra for the box getting lost I guess, next to the candle holder coming with two instead of one candle(one green, one white candle) I got a cute little pin. It’s shaped like a blue heart with golden embellishments and it says “courage, dear hearts”. I don’t really get the connection to the theme of the box, but I do like the pin as a little compensation. I also got two little things, which I think can be used as bookmarks but are not the typical bookmark 😉 One is a very thing metal feather painted in gold and the other is a little sword, not sure what it’s made of, but it’s painted in silver. Only the feather was mentioned on Etsy, so I assume again the sword might be a little extra, which I am very happy about. Looks cool in a book, I am just a little scared that it maybe get lost easily, but we will see about that 😛
I also got an already sharped pencil, a very small post-it block and some page markers in different colours. I don’t really know where to include them since they were not advertised on Etsy and also don’t really seem to fit the aesthetic… The pencil is very typical, just a solid orange-like colour with no writings on it and a red eraser on the end. The post it’s and the markers look like very normal(and kinda cheap) office materials. I guess it can be used for studying, but not in an aesthetically pleasing way and I thought that was what this whole box was about, so I am a bit confused.

In almost every box the shop sells they do also put a cup because drinking a hot beverage might it be tea or hot chocolate, or a coffee maybe while reading a book, is most people’s definition of a great book date. They also always include one of the aforementioned beverages in this case they send me two small bags of tea, which I do appreciate(even though I liked the option from the last books I got from the shop, being able to actually choose because I would have chosen hot cocoa). But the cup itself is always kinda underwhelming… With the packaging, the scrapbooking and the vintage feel of everything, when it comes to the cups I would have expected to see something more special. In this case, maybe a cup which is made to look like it’s a cup from one of those famous universities, or a cup which has a reading quote on it for example. I just feel like it’s a wasted opportunity and I also don’t really need a boring cup with every box, because they have no advantage over the cups I do already own.

Now to get to the heart of the box, let me show you the books that I have got! The smaller one is a penguin book with short tales or maybe even fables in them, which I feel like do fit the idea of dark academia very well. Because when I think of this topic, heavy literature comes to my mind ASAP. For some reason mostly stuff that I know if I would read it, I might not be able to understand it on the first go xD And these fables are exactly that, but in a more user-friendly kind of way, since rereading such a one-page fable is easier than rereading big chapters in an old book. So I feel like this one really hit the nail on its head for this box. The other one not so much…
The second book I’ve got is a spy/assassin story from what I understand. It’s not exactly “wrong” since when it came to choosing which kind of book I wanted, I choose the option “Suprise me with an English book” but I also wrote to the shop and asked for a vampire book(if they would have any). They actually never answered me and I can’t say for sure, that the book which got lost with the other package might not have been a vampire book, but I still was kinda disappointed with this one. Not only did it not consider my wish for the genre, it also does not seem to have anything to do with the theme of dark academia at all.

Final Verdict
Coming up with a verdict on this box is very hard for me. First, there is the problem with the original box getting lost and the question of: Is it fair to view this box with the expectations I had for the other one? On the other hand, I feel like the shop could have at least asked if it would have been okay to send a replacement package and what to include. We can’t say something about the other box, but my vampire request did not seem to have been considered at all in this one or at least I have no indication of they may be trying. No note which says “Sorry we did not have any vampire books at hand, but hopefully this story will be to your liking too!”. The customer experience really was not the best one this time :/ I am sadder about the items I did not get or getting them in a different version than I can really be happy about the items I did get. I do like the idea of a themed box like this one and I would love to try another theme done by the shop one day maybe. I also think that fans of the dark academia aesthetic will like this box, if they don’t expect to get certain items, but rather just wish to get a fitting selection. So I guess I would say I am not the biggest fan of this box in particular but if you are interested in it, there is no reason not to buy it 😉

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Mystery Box, Mystery Box, Review | LEAVE A COMMENT
April 6

Witches Box – Ancient Egypt

On my blog, I like to share things with you, that I enjoyed very much or feel the need to recommend to you. Sometimes I also like to try out stuff, to find out if it’s actually worth buying or not, so you don’t have to 😉 The Box I want to present to you today is one of these things, which almost sounds too good to be true and is also quite expensive compared to other mystery-like boxes that I have reviewed here. It’s called Witches Box 3 and is part of a seasonal mystery Box series by the Etsy Shop Zwinkerglanz, which next to doing boxes as this one specialises in self-made jewellery and witchy decoration and the box cost 79€. In the end, I actually paid 20€ more, but it was only for one item especially made for me and I will let you know what it was, so you know what exactly was part of the box before. Let’s take a look at it together!

Before I tell you about the items, let me tell you a bit more about the idea behind this box. It does cater to people who actually are part of the witch culture, but also to people who just love the witchy atheistic and I would say personally I am somewhat in between those two, so it was kinda perfect for me 😉 You actually don’t get to see which items are in the box before they arrive, because the owner of the Shop has to prepare those items right before shipping. But if you do want to know what things are inside you get a beautifully made listing, it’s actually quite the long list which includes 11 items in total. Amongst them are different kinds of jewellery like a chocker and wristbands, decoration like an agate disc, an alter display and a flower-themed fabric fan, but also ritual based things like a small jar of incense, a set of tin jugs and more and more. Just looking at the number of items it quickly becomes obvious where the pricing is coming from. Since there are so many, I tried to sort them into 3 categories.

Jewellery

The mystery Ankh box…
One of the first things I got in the box was a smaller wooden box handpainted in gold with a black ankh in the middle. Technically that would be an item in and of itself, but it also contained two long bands made out of pearls, which can be worn both as necklaces or wristbands. The pearls are made out of a material that is not something I like to wear, my long hair gets caught up in it quick, but maybe I can still use it as decoration 🙂

A chocker with the eye of Horus…
The chocker is made out of a black velvet-like band with a charm that looks like the eye of Horus symbol from the ancient Egyptian culture or better Egyptian mythology. It’s also known as the Udjat eye, which supposedly was helping the god Horus win a fight against one of the evil powers from ancient stories the god Set and thus is often connected to properties such as luck, protection and healing. So it’s a great choice for something to wear I think and it does also look very cool. My only problem is a very individual one, which I should have considered earlier, so it’s totally my fault not the fault of the shop owner! For me personally, the black band is just too short to actually wear the chocker in a comfortable way around my neck. So I might end up just hanging it somewhere as decoration^^


A wristband with a scarab…
The scarab is a symbol of rebirth, which is also very nicely explained in one of the sheets of this box. It’s connected to real dung beetles(aka scarabs) who roll a ball of dung containing their eggs around to protect them. And when the eggs are old enough, newborn dung beetles will emerge, for the people in ancient Egypt that was a sign of rebirth. But it’s also connected to an Egyptian myth about the god Chepri rolling the sun around the horizon to make it rise up again every morning. Because the sun was and is so important to life and development on earth, the scarab is often used as a lucky charm and this is a great companion to the Udjat eye choker 😉

A handmade upper arm bracelet made to look like a snake…
As you can see in this picture it’s made out of a thicker wire to wrap around your arm, which ends in either one long or two short snakes depending on how you look at it. Again it’s something that does not really suit me, at least in the size which it is in if you don’t start bending the material, which I have not yet tried out. I can wear it on my forearm, but because it’s almost black it kinda vanished in between my black tattoos, so for now my husband is wearing it 😉 It does look quite cool, and I don’t know about material costs and everything, but I think it might have even looked a bit cooler, more special and more “Egyptian” to me if it would have been made to look golden. But that’s just a personal view of mine^^

Decoration

One big agate disc…
The agate disc is really fitting to the Egyptian theme, because of the colour scheme, it reminds me and also the shop owner herself(as stated on another explanation sheet) of the desert sand and general geography of the home of the pyramids 😉 She also stated that the stone is as natural as possible, only cut up and polished with oil, which I do find quite interesting. Since to be honest, I mostly thought you need to use some kind of chemical to make stones shine like that, but I am positively surprised! Agate stones are said to boost self-confidence, sharpen communication skills and support health and good dreams 🙂 So I will definitely try and put the disc up in my bedroom! Especially when the sun is shining through it looks mesmerizing.


A handmade bookmark with cartouche pearls…
There has been a lot of thought gone into designing this special bookmark and I really want to share that with you. At first, it’s made to look golden, because as I mentioned before golden is something often associated with Egypt even though same as today, not everybody was able to afford it. The so-called Cartouches were used to put the name of pharaohs onto graves, paintings and visual stories in general, the names on the two which are part of the bookmark are made up though 😉 Connecting the two is an infinity symbol because infinity was very important to the idea the people had back then about life, death and everything in between. Unlike in Buddism where rebirth is a big part of their religion, back in the day, the Egyptian people thought that there was a life after death for which they had to prepare in many different ways, so this symbol is referring to that. Last but not least the flower is the lotus blossom which seemingly was the crest flower of the northern part of Egypt. I really love how everything looks together and I am looking forward to seeing it hang from my books 😉

A flowerthemed farbic fan…
The biggest connection to Egypt with this item is probably the heat. And with German summers getting hotter and hotter every year, this seems to be a good accessory to have in my bag! I do love the design, but I don’t know how durable the thin wooden plates are. Guess I will find out within the next few months 😉

A bag with an Egypt design…
This item does look a bit like something you would have gotten as a souvenir from Egypt, but I don’t think that has to be a bad thing! I actually like the very typical design depicting two gods and it has the perfect size to either keep some healing crystals with you or maybe put your money away in a stylish way^^ It must be one of the Items I was looking forward to the most and I am pleasantly surprised to hold it in my hands. It’s bigger than I thought and I really appreciate getting some healing crystals with it(which would not have been included normally, but the owner knew that I wanted to use the bag to carry some^^)! The design is sewn into both the back and the front and on the zipper, there is a little protection against the evil eye, which I do find very fitting to the theme overall 🙂

Rituals Items

A set of tin jugs…
As the owner explains yet again, water was always very important in a dry country such as Egypt so it became almost holy in a way. This is why jugs full of water were something very promising and also the reason why the owner might have included those. They can be used for rituals where pouring water is involved but of course, they can also just be some nice decoration for around the house 😉

A jar filled with silver incense and one with gold tinsel(flakes)…
These ritual based items connect many things from ancient Egypt with another: Incense which was seen as the fragrance of the gods, Silver as a very rare but sought after material and gold as the sign of infinity and the divine since it never loses its shine. Even though it’s not real gold, it does like pretty similar 😉 In the explanations sheets, the owner gives some ideas of which rituals or for which spells those items can be used. Nothing which I personally am confident with right now, but maybe I can use it someday in the future^^

A self-cast altar display with ankh…
The display is made out of plaster and it’s supposed to be painted, which I did kinda expect after browsing through the Etsy store before buying the box. If I would not have thought, I think I might have expected something different, something more “finished”. I just feel like the ankh symbol does not really come through with all the other great details when it’s all this chalk white. Sadly colouring in things is really not my speciality I just don’t have enough patience for that xD I know that if you would buy a plaster cast like that in her shop, it would come with the possibility of the owner painting it for me, which I would have liked to have here too honestly. I am a bit sad that it was not stated as an option in the description of the box. But the cast itself is very detailed and beautiful, just not an activity for me personally.

Explanation Sheet and Story…
I tried to include some of the many times when the owner used the sheets to explain why she included an item or its connection to ancient Egypt itself. She also included some fun facts and interesting knowledge, some of which were even a bit unknown to me and I was fascinated with ancient Egypt even before receiving this box! The story she included actually revolved less around magic and more around love, which did throw me off a bit because I was expecting something different, but it was still a pleasant read and we also get some other nice reading recommendations which I will definitely take a look into in the future! All of the sheets also have been designed in a beautiful way, with a frame and different illustrations.

Personalised agate Cartouche necklace…
Last but not least, let me tell you why I actually paid more for the box than originally intended. The box is basically a kind of recommendation of items you might like following a specific theme, but if there is something you don’t want to get because you already own it or it does not interest you as much, you can get it exchanged for something else. I asked for two long Candles to be removed since long-term I can’t really use candles for much, since I am not allowed to lite them in my apartment in Hamburg. We thought about what I wanted to exchange it for and in the end, there were two items that REALLY interested me from her shop. One was a small bag with an intricate design and the other one was a necklace made out of crystals in a way that I had never seen before. Long story short: I got both and needed to pay extra for the necklace 😛 But it was worth it! The necklace was even designed specifically after my idea to make it look like a Cartouche from ancient Egypt, which I absolutely love <3 So technically it could have been part of the box and it would have even fit the theme, but it’s not in there normally. Whereas the small bag was actually a surprise extra for the first people who got the box and I managed to get the last one. If you would get the OG Box, instead of both of these items you would get two long red and gold candles with a sun and a moon on them.

Final Verdict

Actually, I got my mind blown by this box, because it can barely be compared to anything which I have ever gotten for myself. Of course, the mystery element feels familiar, but the sheer amount of stuff, the love and care that went not only into making but also packaging the items and the very nice chats I had with the Etsy owner, made this into a very special experience for me. The Jewelry she made feels special, some items seem really unique to me and the explanations, further instructions and extra knowledge that she provided makes getting this box a vital recommendation for me if you are interested in learning something about a new topic(ancient Egypt in this case) and getting a variety of things connected to it.

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Crystals, Mystery Box, Witchy Things | LEAVE A COMMENT
March 16

Papergang – One Year Later

You might all be familiar at this point with my monthly reviews of Papergang Mystery boxes, now it has already been one year of me subscribing to them and I think that’s worth a special review 😉 I actually already did a half years box and my verdict after half a year was actually that if those last boxes don’t manage to sweep me off my feet, I might have to cancel my subscription. Let’s see if they have managed to do that in the end or not!

This is NOT an official design by OhDeer or Papergang, but an interpretation of their old designs to fit the theme of this post created by myself 🙂

One topic I get can out of the way already is the Brexit. It cost me a lot of nerves in the second half of 2021, because at first many of my boxes got lost or shipped back to the UK and when they were delivered in the end, I had to pay extra, A LOT. If you want to know more about why that was, you can read about it in my other post *here*. But gladly the team behind the Papergang subscription found a way to solve the problem, which they had not even caused in the first place. This is why I don’t want to consider it in my review at all. It happened this one time and it got fixed, it could have been communicated better with the customers, but all in all, they did their best 🙂

What I will be focusing on in this review are mostly the points I already criticized in my half-year review and if they did improve upon them or not. Let’s begin with my fixation on the boxes having or not having a theme to them 😛 When reviewing the Papergang next to the scrawler box from October 2021, I have to say that the Scrawler Box did fit my wishes way better because they had a clear goal in mind: Providing you with the utensils you need to do a certain project. And I loved that, they even had the artist from that box make a drawing with those exact things.
But with Papergang it’s not so easy, since it’s not really connected to art. But still, I feel like there could have been more of a theme in many boxes. Like for example focussing on a set to write letters to friends and trying to pick utensils that would help with that particular idea. Or focussing on notetaking and notetaking alone. What I observed after a year of Papergang is that they treat it more like a refill box for stationery you are going to use up over time anyways. In almost every box you will get a graphite pencil and sticky notes, but only one time you get one pencil case in 12 boxes, because that’s not something that gets used up. I would have loved for the things that I get in the boxes to feel less random.

Art is a big debate when it comes to Papergang in general. By working together with an artist for every new box and really only including exclusive items inspired by their designs, Papergang is standing out and I think it’s a brilliant idea. But it could be improved immensely when they would actually include their art. I know they don’t like to put artworks in because people will complain about it not being stationary and not having practical use. But I feel like trying to get the design from an artist on a pen, often does not work out which is why sometimes, I don’t think like the cooperation is really worth much. Not because the artists are not good, but because we don’t even really get anything from them. Most pencils are only in a colour matching the artwork on the front of the box, planners are often printed with their designs, but most other things are not. I just feel like that’s a bit of a waste and it could be such a cooler experience if we would actually get some art to keep or try to incorporate their designs better into the refills we get.

Customer Service was a negative point in my half years review. I admit that was mostly due to me being a bit annoyed at awaiting a cool compensation and only getting some random cards and randomness as you know, it’s not something I am fond of xD But all in all, I have to say the customer service is great, you get an answer pretty quickly and they try to help you solve your problem ASAP. I even got about half of the extra costs for the Brexit problem repaid and not with a coupon or a free box, but with the money no questions asked. If I should name one things that I loved the most about Papergang I would say it’s their customer service, even though I would have liked it even more to not rely on them so much aka not having had so much trouble with the boxes last year xD

This is NOT an official design by OhDeer or Papergang, but an interpretation of their old designs to fit the theme of this post created by myself 🙂

Final Verdict
I have to say sadly there was not one box anymore which impressed me as much as the box from 2020 which I had bought previously to my subscription. I kinda took this one as a stand-in for the whole year of Papergangboxes in 2020 and I later even got some more from that particular year. Maybe this year the topics had just not been my personal favourite or the artist they choose to work with did not cater to my style. Sadly with most of the boxes from 2021 I was just bored which let me cancel my subscription or better not renew it for 2022. Though I will miss having to open and talk about a box each month, I am not quite sure yet if I will get a replacement or not. I would not say I will never again buy a Papergang box, since I have still hope they can improve and maybe, just maybe I will even have a year-long subscription again in the future. But for that to happen, they would have to wow me and we will have to see about that.

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

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

Papergang January 2022

Remember me talking about a goodbye in the review of my last Papergang box? Well, I might have been a bit dramatic when I wrote that down. When I am writing this post, I am not sure if my One year review of Papergang has already been uploaded or not, but just to be clear I did in fact cancel my subscription at Papergang. But that does not mean that I can’t get boxes anymore 😉 Basically, my plan was to not pay for a full year of boxes from which 60% or more might bore me but keep an eye on what boxes are to come and only buy the ones I am really interested in. That’s exactly what I did with this one, so let’s take a look at it together 🙂

This month’s box seems to have been inspired by calligraphy much, which is actually why it caught my eye. Calligraphy is something I do enjoy in my free time and what I saw in the pictures on their website, looked like something good. This box contains one debossed Daily Planner(dotted), some ombre sticky notes, a 6-sided ruler with measurements and markings designed for lettering, a refillable fountain pen(which comes already filled) and an Art print.

My camera picked up the colors here in a very strange way but I sadly only realized later :/ That’s why the next picture will look different, just so you know 😛

I mostly wanted to get this box because of the fountain pen, on the pictures, it looked like a high-quality pen which I thought might be specially made for using it for calligraphy. But when I open the box and took a good look at the fountain pen, I was really disappointed. Not only does it feel and look like very cheap quality, the nib is also no different from the fountain pen nibs you can buy at every store for school. What I was expecting was a fountain pen with a wide nib for example, or a nib that widens when you press it down or even multiple nibs you could interchange. But what we got, was less impressive than any normal fountain pen you can buy for cheap. The only thing I liked, was that there is a small hole right under the screwline that lets you check on how much ink is still left in the cartridge.

The next thing that I was kinda surprised about was the fact that they put an art print in here. I remember that actually, last year’s January box had an art print too, of two flowers. I also remember it has not been received very well since art technically is not stationary the people subscribing could use it practically. This print is no different other than it having a holographic foil finish on the letters. I also feel like with lettering and calligraphy as a topic, for an art print there would have been more possibilities. Of course, that’s a personal opinion of mine, but I feel like to introduce someone to lettering, you could have used different fonts in different sizes. Even with only two words, you could have had some decorations, different colours and so on. The text on the paper even feels a bit small, as if something would be missing.

The rest of the box is mostly okay, nothing that I could talk about for long. The planner is a great addition to the first box of the year since people can start using it for important dates right away and sticky notes are also always relevant. I am not a huge fan of the designs, since you can barely see or feel the debossing on the notebook and the dotted design on the sticky notes, feels like a wasted opportunity to incorporate some guidelines for people who are actually somehow inspired to do lettering or any other form of calligraphy after receiving this box.

The only thing in here, that I personally feel like actually using is the interesting metal ruler. It has the quality that I was expecting all of the items had, it feels sturdy, the measurements can be read very clearly and with its six different sides, it can be used for many different things. Like making your own guidelines on paper, measuring the size of different letters and so on. And it’s also the only item that to me feels like it is really connected to calligraphy.

My final verdict on this box is, that sadly Papergang can still disappoint me in different ways. This time it was not only kinda boring, like most of the boxes from 2021(which is why I cancelled my subscription) no it did feel almost deceiving. Because I don’t feel like I was the only one with expectations for a box designed like this. I feel like more items that are actually connected to calligraphy should have been included in here. And the ones which are, should have been better quality. All in all I feel like they could have done so much better with only some small changes.

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Mystery Box, Papergang, Review, Subscription Box | LEAVE A COMMENT
March 1

Papergang December 2021

Things were a bit rough at the end of the last year and also the beginning of 2022, which is why I only returned back home in February, where one Papergang box still waited for me to open and review it 😉 So let’s do it together!

The December paper gang box has a jungle-like theme again very similar to another box from 2021, but its contents are very different. This box really feels like one preparing us for the new year because amongst them is a fully customisable Wall Calendar, 2 pairs of 2 different sticker sheets, three dual-ended highlighters, an HB pencil with gold foiling and an A5 Deskpad.

The last paper gang box of the year actually really surprised me since at this point I had already decided not to renew my subscription for 2022 (more on that in a later post) and basically was waiting for it to end xD This might sound a bit tough, but almost all of the last boxes have kinda disappointed me so I really did not expect to love most stuff in the last box that I would get for 2021!


I loved the calendar for its design, every page has a calendar sheet on one side and a beautiful drawing on the other. My birth month march has an owl which I appreciate very much! The calendar sheet is so customisable that you could even use it for another year than 2022 if you might already have a calendar for the upcoming year at home. That’s because only the numbers are printed on the paper, but they are not connected to any days in the year, those are delivered with the stickers or you can just write them in by hand.

The stickers can basically be used to mark every important event in the year: you get some balloons for birthdays, aeroplanes for upcoming travels, a beer and a wine glass for a party maybe? There are also some less obvious ones like question and exclamation marks, some smilies and just coloured dots. Next to the day stickers you also get some that say “Important”, “Holiday” and “Day Off”, all in matching colours to the beautiful calendar.

Last but not least let’s talk about the pens. The highlighters come in a very pastel yellow, blue and red. I actually just found out that they are dual-sided because I made the review and it’s in the explanation sheet, but visually it’s not very obvious xD Visually with the also very pastel coloured paper of the calendar, I feel like they might be a bit too pale to really show. But on the other hand, using brightly coloured highlights might have not looked good either. So I guess it comes down to personal preference.
As with the graphite pencil… I said again and again that I don’t think graphite pencils are a good tool to write something down for the long term. On a small post-its it might be no problem since that’s not used for long but in a notebook or a calendar like this, a smudging pen is not what I would want to use. A fineliner or a ballpoint pen would be the better choice in my opinion. But considering the rest of the box was so great, I think it’s a forgettable detail.


All in all, I would say I am pretty happy to have gotten this box as my last one out of the big subscription, it sadly could not make the disappointment of the other ones go away, but it was a nice goodbye. The calendar is really nice and can be used multiple times, depending on how you decorate it. I only wrote the birthdays in mine, so I can appreciate the beauty of the calendar for many years 😉

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Mystery Box, Papergang, Review | LEAVE A COMMENT
December 15

Papergang VS Scrawler Box October 2021

Before I was financially reminded of Brexit and the problems that come with it, I wanted to venture out and find some new subscription boxes to try out! The Scrawler Box was something that meet all of my criteria: its a monthly subscription that perfectly fit into my mailbox and delivers me some things I am passionate about. It can’t be compared 100% to the Papergang Box because it has a different theme, where the Papergang surprises me with unique stationery every month this box is all about art supplies. Still, the size and the number of things inside were close enough that I wanted to review these two boxes side by side. Quick Disclaimer, because of some personal issues I am actually a bit behind on reviewing them, so the two boxes you will read about here are both from the month of October 🙂

Right from the start, we can see the biggest difference between the two boxes which is appearance. Where the people behind Papergang try to come up with a different design for every box, the scrawler box has the same, kinda dull design on the outside since it launched. But it’s not all about what is on the outside, but also what is on the inside, right?

Let’s start with the new box, like the Papergang box it comes with an instructional menu telling us about the content of the box. But instead of doing it like a folded brochure the scrawler box actually comes with a little booklet, which does not only show us the contents but gives us an interview with the artist featured, tips and tricks on how to use the materials, an art gallery showing what fans created with the previous boxes and something called “scrawler extra” which in this case is an article about Movie Magic 🙂
Hidden under some paper are the highly anticipated art supplies, in October we’ve got three differently coloured Copic markers together with special marker paper, one fineliner, one graphite pencil and a kneadable eraser from Farber Castel. Ontop of that we get a unique sticker designed to look like the boxes logo, such as an exclusive artwork and some British candy.

The Papergang Box contains an A5 Notebook with a “Midnight Garden” pattern which can also be seen on the box cover, one birthday greeting card with a gold foil finish, a foldable pen pot with a pink chevron design, three pencils with gold stamped quotes and gold-dipped ends, five A6 sticker sheet and two stainless steel gold coloured metal straws in a pink cotton pouch. Since I want to keep it fair and some of you might not know the folded brochure which acts as a menu guide here also has an interview with the artist they feature in this box such as a colouring sheet fitting with the overall pattern.

As I have just mentioned both boxes are working with a different artist every month, for the Octobers Scrawler box the artist is called Alexandra Olivia and for that month’s Papergang collaborated with Olivia Burton. I have to say, since I am such a Halloween enthusiast I had actually somewhat hoped for a Halloween theme for both boxes, both have kinda disappointed me. But I have to say the Papergangs collaboration and Burton’s design seem a bit more fitting than the brightly coloured markers and art from the scrawler box. But I guess that’s more personal preference than actual minus points 😉

Unlike with the Papergang subscription which I have been reviewing for the whole of 2021, I only have one scrawler box to go off, so I try not to judge the whole subscription too much based on it since maybe other months boxes have done it better. With that that in mind, what disappointed me was the few contents of the box. I remember seeing more in the boxes I saw online. Though I have to say that most of the things came from name brands, which can be quite expensive, so that might explain why there are only three markers. And they are more of less primary colours in a bit more pastel versions, which means you can combine them to get a bigger range of colours in the end.

I did like the artwork that comes with it, which is something that I actually would love to see in the Papergang boxes too. They are working together with artists, after all, I would be happy to have something from them to hang up on my wall. But I know some other people only want stationary and are annoyed by too much art content, so maybe something like the Scrawlerbox really is the better subscription to include something like this.

The people who follow me for a while now know that I love to look for a kind of theme or activity to do with the contents of the box and with Papergang I often fail at this quest. But Scrawler Box seems to really be focused on this kind of experience, which is why you get a small amount of the right paper to use with the supplies to start ASAP with whatever inspiration the box might give you. You have everything you need: A graphite pencil and eraser to make a sketch, a fine liner for the lineart and the markers to colour everything in. You even get a small snack to boost up the creative process, which I really love! And as a person living in Germany, when do I get the chance to try British candy otherwise? 😉

Seeing the outside of the Papergangs October box really got me excited, because that’s the kind of aesthetic that I like, even though it had nothing to do with Halloween whatsoever. I loved being able to keep a part of it in form of the stickers and birthday cards. Of course, there is the notebook too, but it’s mostly white for the writing of course and the cool design rests on the edges of the paper. Here it would be the perfect opportunity again to include an artwork piece, but as I just said, I know some people get upset, so it’s not something I want to judge, but something I wanted to mention and maybe wish for 😛

The pencils are the signature of OhDeer, the company behind the Papergang, but I never really liked them much. The whole point of a graphite pencil is to sharpen it until it’s eventually gone. Meaning that at some point the quote will begin to vanish too, leaving some words without context reflecting the light of their pretty gold foil in the end. Also, I feel like graphite pencils might not be the best utensil to take notes with since it smudges on the paper and does not feel as smooth as a ballpoint pen. But that might also be a personal opinion.

What really got me thinking were the metal straws… It’s not that I don’t need them or do not get the idea behind them, saving the environment and so on, but with the debate about the artworks in mind, these are not stationery items. Yes, I could make myself a hot beverage to accompany myself while writing with the supplies, but with that explanation, I could also use a cool piece of artwork by the featured artist to hang up above my desk to get into the right mood. The straws also have some ridges on the top to mimic the part where you were able to actually bend a plastic straw, which is also a design choice that I can’t really get behind.

It’s hard to say if I can determine a real winner in this review competition since both have their advantages and disadvantages. The scrawler box really seems a bit less nice and luxurious with its brown carton on the inside and on the outside, so the nicely designed Papergang box definitely gets the point there.
But judging on the inside of both boxes, I feel more drawn to the Scrawlerbox having a clear theme and activity to do after the initial opening. With the Papergang boxes, I sometimes catch myself just putting the pencils inside my pencil case without trying them out further.
These October boxes in particular both kinda disappointed me more than they surprised me. I was expecting something Halloween-ish but got nothing. Instead, I got some markers ins colours I don’t like and metals straws that I can’t bend. But that’s more a me-problem 😉


All in all, I would say both boxes have their respective rights to be in the categories they are in. People who want to have more of an activity to do should get the Scrawlerbox to create something right after you have unboxed it. If you are more into collecting unique pencils, note blocks, paper and other stationery you will be happier with the Papergang subscription. That way everyone will get what they are looking for and in my case, I guess I should consider getting them both in 2022, to get all of my needs satisfied!

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Mystery Box, Papergang, Review, Scrawler Box, Subscription Box | LEAVE A COMMENT
October 8

Papergang Box September 2021

The September box actually arrived almost immediately after the August box came in the mail, meaning I had to pay the before mentioned taxes again -.-” If you want to know more about the situation take a look *here*. But hopefully, this will be the last box with those extra costs and I try not to let it ruin the opening of the box for me 😉 Let’s take a look inside together!

In the box, we get an A6 daily planner with a beautiful yet simple mountain-type design, similar to the front of the box. We also get 3 birthday greeting cards with fittingly designed envelopes, an A5 art print which I like the most out of all we have gotten from Papergang this year! Last but not least we got some sticker markers with different designs and 6 differently colored felt tip markers.

I am very happy with this box, everything can be used together and I like the designs and earth colors they used very much 🙂 Like I said the print is my favorite up till now and the sun going up and down in the sticker marks is pretty cute 😛 What is a bit disappointing are the felt tip markers, they are very reminiscent of the german Stabilo markers, but they feel a bit cheap compared to those. Having “Papergang” written on them has a nice touch, but not if it’s in exchange for quality, you know? Aside from that, there is nothing to complain about 🙂

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Mystery Box, Papergang, Review, Subscription Box | LEAVE A COMMENT
October 6

No subscription boxes anymore…

… at least not the ones you are used to by now :/ Today I want to write about something that I find very sad, but which also made me very angry last week. I actually received multiple packages for which I had to pay the post-delivery service for custom taxes I did not know about. As a student, I don’t have that much money and since I had bought many packages recently, I had to pay almost 100euros just for taxes. You can imagine that if I would have known about it, I would not have bought so much in the first place. Let me tell you what exactly the problem is and why it looks like I won’t be able to get any more of my beloved subscription boxes in the future…

Since I know that my readers are scattered all over the world, I know that tax problems are not the same for everyone. But I am sure you all have heard about the Brexit situation that was going on for the last 3 years or so. Basically, some politicians in the UK joked about making a public vote about if the UK should stay part of the EU or not. After that joke, they could not take it back anymore and the public vote actually forced them to exit the European Union. You might think it’s not a big deal if they are part of it or not, but it actually is because countries within the EU have special rules applied to them, benefits so to say which do not get granted to other countries. For example, as a person living in any EU country, you can travel and even move in between other EU countries without having to apply for a visa ever.

Another benefit is that you don’t have to pay certain taxes, mainly at the different countries customs, making trading in between countries just easier for everyone. And when the UK had forced itself to make the decision to leave the EU, they tried to still keep some of the benefits and they tried to assure everyone inside and outside of the country that they would not have to face many problems because of it. They would try to make trading treaties and such with the country leaders and the private person who wants to buy something, will not feel a difference. Well, I felt it and it’s a big one.

Basically because of all of these promises they made and treaties they wanted to get, the whole process of the UK leaving the EU took much longer than expected and for the normal person, it got really hard to tell what was decided on and when it will be an official law. The media did not even report on the Brexit news anymore, because people were tired of hearing it, and also nothing seemed to change for some reason. But in July this year, something seemingly did change and I did not know about it. Basically, it seems as if the treaty for trading and not paying customs, which they had talked about would to be a problem, did not get to be made, meaning that you now have to pay the normal taxes for any package from the UK which you have to pay for a package from any other country.

My biggest problem actually is, that no one informed me about that. I have a year-long subscription to the paper gang stationary box and neither in my emails nor on their website have they ever informed any of their EU members about the change. Which I find very unfair because I would basically have to pay 10-20euros more for it now, per month. And it’s not the only subscription I have! Being so positively surprised about the Artfulboxes I also made a year-long subscription to them JUST RECENTLY. If I had known about it earlier I would have not done it and I feel scammed in a way.

You might think, July is over 2 months past, why did you just learn about it? Well if you follow my paper gang reviews you know that even before July there were some problems with the delivery of the boxes. It always seemed to have been a different problem, but it often lead to my boxes either arriving later or not arriving at all(being replaced). So I actually have not gotten any boxes for the last 2 months because of what I thought was a similar problem again. I also was not worried about it, because I thought it would be able to be solved like the other delivery problems were. And again, nobody told me about what was wrong, so there were no steps for me to take.

Sadly all of the boxes I have received up to now and a new box I will be receiving soon(but had to cancel for the future already) are shipped from the UK. Meaning that if the companies themselves won’t find a solution, I can’t afford to get them anymore. While writing this post, I am about to ask the Company OhDeer about why everything happened the way it happened and if they plan on taking any further actions or not. Depending on when they answer, I will update this post. Wish me luck I guess, but sadly I am not hopeful 🙁

UPDATE: Actually the customer service at OhDeer never seems to disappoint! They have gotten back to me very quickly, apologizing for the chaos and trying to explain to me that they might have actually found a solution to the tax problems! I assume they either did not tell their customers about it because they wanted to solve the problem ASAP, hopefully without anyone noticing, or because they would actually not have known how much everyone has to pay because it seems to be different in every EU country. Either way, I think they should have told people about it, just to prepare for chaos like the one we are in now. But I guess everyone makes mistakes and since they are trying everything to make it up to us customers again, I think we can forgive them 🙂

As I have just mentioned they seemed to have found a solution to the tax problem by finding a delivery service which lets them take care of any extra costs instead of us the customers. In my case, that would mean that since there are no custom taxes to pay, the mailperson won’t have to get it from the custom center so technically I should be charged nothing in the end, which is what I had paid for in the beginning, right? So I am pretty happy IF everything works out the way they explained it to me. I will definitely keep you updated, reaaaaally looking forward to the October box now. Hopefully, I will be able to keep my subscriptions, at the least the ones at OhDeer. But if anything changes, I’ll let you know!

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

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

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