Papergang is a monthly stationery subscription box from quirky UK design team, Ohh Deer. Each month they partner with a different artist and have a theme to bring you paper goods and desk accessories.
They always have really stellar packaging designed especially by the featured artist each month. This month's artist is Maddy Gale, who combines the art of gardening with her eye for photography to bring us the rich photorealistic plant motifs that appear throughout the June box. How could a print so mysterious and moody in color be so spot-on for summer? Ah, the art of it!
Usually, the back of the box has a paper cut out craft that involves precision and folding and usually ends in me making a nuisance of the concept altogether. So I was happy to find little cardboard plant markers that include little spaces not only to ID your plants, but also to indicate how much water, what kind of sun exposure, and other notes. So clever!
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
About Papergang
The Subscription Box: Papergang
The Cost: About $14.81 USD (10.95 GBP) + shipping.
Coupons: Buy a 3-month subscription and save 50% off your first box, no code required, just link here! You can also get a free box with a 6-month subscription or 2 free boxes with a 12-month subscription!
The Products: Each month you'll receive a box full of papery goodness. The product selection will vary, however, it will include the likes of greeting cards, notebooks, desk accessories, and art prints.
Ships to: the US and Canada for $6.92 USD (£4.95), UK for $3.86 USD, Australia for $7.79 USD, and Worldwide (shipping costs vary).
Good to know: Papergang partners with Tree Aid to make sure that for every four boxes they sell, one tree gets planted in the African Drylands, which helps with vital food and income.
Papergang June 2018 Review
Papergang includes a fun little info booklet each month that matches the box and theme of the contents! Let's go through it together...
Open the booklet and you’ll find the contents of this box (Box #28). You also get a little preview into the work of Maddy Gale, this month's featured artist.
These two pages kick us off with an interview with Maddy Gale. They 'talk' about how her love of the home-grown flourished and let me just say that the seed was planted (yak yak yak) by her grandparents, who had both an epic backyard complete with peacock and a community garden allotment that was a quarter of an acre. The dream!
Here, Maddy explains a little about how she came to be a photographer. She also gives some insights into her philosophies behind gardening—how it's good for one's general well-being, the environment, and more.
Here are 2 Ohh Deer products that Maddy herself has purchased and used to plan her plant allotments, as well as 3 tips from the lady herself!
Keeping with the plant theme, Ohh Deer is putting their adorbs little smiling planters on display. You can buy one for $33.01 (£24.95) on their site!
On the back cover is an ad that might look familiar to Papergang subscribers! Find out more info about their referral program at papergang.ohhdeer.com/faq.
A4-ish Notebook - Listed Value About $5.79 USD (£4.95)
Guys, I cannot get over this pattern. It's bold, but natural colors popping against the black backdrop and swirling leaf effect make my soul feel seen. The gold foil "Notes" addition to the front is a nice touch. Commenters have mentioned having notebook fatigue from Papergang, and while I hear that—I'm definitely getting to the point that I have more notebooks than I can use—my heart still leaps when a good one appears in my box. And, Papergang's are always good.
Perhaps those of you who are tired of receiving notebooks will like that this one isn't simply lined on the inside. It features task lines and appointment slots, acting sort of as a planner. I have always saved my paper planners because they're awesome to look back on and see what I was up to and what notes I took to remember for later. You could use this one as a daily, weekly, monthly, or unspecified way of keeping track of your life, adding notes in along the way. I like its style!
A6 Notepad - Listed Value About $4.62 USD (£3.95)
List-maker here! The chances of me remembering something if I don't write it down is embarrassingly low. Even if I'm just spending the afternoon at home and want to get a few obvious things done around the house, I still write it down so I don't get so carried away with one task that I can't remember what to do next. So, yep, I'll be using this notepad!
Wooden Ruler - Listed Value About $4.09 USD (£3.50)
This ruler is kind of old school, but with an updated dark finish. Is it ridiculous to point out that it makes a really satisfying sound when you smack it against the palm of your hand? It's like an instrument, kinda! I received a ruler back in my February Papergang box and held it up to a tape measure to identify the unit of measure. I found that it wasn't any obvious measuring system and that in fact, it lined up with the dots in that month's bullet journal. This wooden ruler is similarly not inches nor centimeters, but there's no obvious coordinating stationery in this box. Either way, it's a great straight edge!
Brass Pen - Retail Value About $6.43 USD (£5.50)
This is officially the snazziest pen I own! It's nice 'n' heavy in the hand, arrived with a wax dot protecting its tip, and writes smoothly and sharply in black in.
Giftwrap - Estimated Value $2.05 (£.751)
I truly enjoy wrapping gifts in a way that's appealing to the gift receiver, and I can't wait to use this sheet of wrapping paper for one of the many upcoming birthdays in my life. It's thick, matte paper, which I already know will work blissfully between my fingers. I think I'll finish it off with a jute ribbon and stick a flower from my garden in when the time comes.
Bonus: Linen 2018 Planner
Typically, each Papergang box includes a riso printed calendar for the following month. Instead, they included a linen-bound planner to be used for the remainder of 2018! It doesn't seem to have been designed by the featured artist nor coordinate in any way other than being a color that goes nicely with some of the other offerings this month, so I'm thinking Ohh Deer must've had some leftovers that they decided to send along in the box.
Here are a few shots of what you'll find inside. It's super nice and makes for a wonderful organization tool. It seems a bit silly to start using a new planner partway through the year, but I like that they took a chance on it instead of disposing of their leftovers.
Verdict: June's Papergang box was such an original take on summertime stationery. While bright florals are always fun, dark and edgy ones are a really fun change in pace. So in love! I received a softcover notebook, a to-do notepad, a wooden ruler, a brass pen, and a sheet of gift wrap, which added up to about $22.98 USD. Add in the bonus planner and that total goes up. That's about even with the nearly $22 USD cost of the box, which includes shipping costs!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, but check this helpful ship date guide to see the order-by date to receive the next few months' boxes.
Coupon - Buy a 3-month subscription and save 50% off your first box, no code required, just link here! You can also get a free box with a 6-month subscription or 2 free boxes with a 12-month subscription!
Value Breakdown: This box cost $14.81 + $6.92 shipping, which means that each of the 6 items in the box (counting the bonus planner) has an average cost of $3.62.
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Did you like this month's Papergang theme as much as I did?
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