I’ve been trying out a few stationery subscription services; treating myself with some of my earnings, whilst indulging my stationery addiction. There is nothing quite as satisfying as writing in a pretty new notebook with a gorgeous pen, or marking a page with a ridiculously pretty paperclip.
The two boxes I’ve been trialling are the Kawaii Box and the Brimbles Box. I’ve had both services set up as a monthly subscription with payment via PayPal.
Kawaii Boxes are sent from Hong Kong via SingaporePost, from Blippo Kawaii shop. You do get a tracking number, and there is no additional cost for shipping – but it takes a couple of weeks to arrive. They cost $18.90 (my last one worked out as £13.12) each, so they aren’t too pricey.
My latest Kawaii Box had a rather weird & wonderful mixture of items inside; a metal bow hair slide, a badge, orange candy, a small soft toy apple, a card case, some shaped sticky notes, a roll of tape with “freedom” printed in faux-cross-stitch, some pretty envelopes, a pen, two sets of stickers, and a nail clipper.
Although I liked most of the items in the box, some of them weren’t to my taste at all, so they probably won’t get used. It feels a bit of a waste of money when this is the case with each box, as it has been since I started the subscription. I do like the little lamb notes, and the envelopes will be great for sending pretty snail mail to friends – something I want to try to do more of!
I’ve been getting Kawaii Boxes for a few months now (this is my third or fourth box), but this is my final box, as I don’t think enough of the box suits me, and my stationery usage.
Brimbles Boxes are the offering from Mrs Brimbles, who is a lovely stationery blogger based in the UK. She also has a fab etsy shop which is worth checking out. Her boxes come in three formats; a bog standard stationery box, and then boxes aimed for personal planner owners, or A5 planner owners. Postage seems quick, and each box costs £15, and postage within the UK is £3.50 – so the total I pay per box is £18.50.
This month’s Brimbles Box is lovely, with a springtime weather theme. Nice weather for ducks! My “personal planner” box contained a duck dashboard, fuzzy weather stickers, a pocket notebook, a “Things to do…” notepad, a small squeaky duck, a duck pen, a little pack of Thank You notecards, a page marker, a duck paperclip, a set of colourful mini rolls of washi tapes, a cloud planner charm, and a set of weather themed schedule stamps. Whew!
I loved this box. The dashboard, which is one of Anna’s own designs, went straight into my filofax – along with the planner charm, and the duck paperclip. There isn’t a single thing in the box that I won’t use – it’s all super cute and almost everything is useful as well as decorative.
I really like the postcard messages that Anna includes, too – she puts a lovely message on one side, and the cards themselves are prints of one of her beautiful paintings, that fits in with the box theme. The boxes are packed really nicely, with tissue paper and little extra bits of decoration – in this case, a duck sticker and duck confetti!
At £18.50 including postage the Brimbles Box is more expensive than the Kawaii Box, but I definitely think that it is worth it! I have really enjoyed both of the boxes that I’ve received, and I don’t think I have had anything in the boxes so far that I wouldn’t use – you can see what I got in my March box in this video. I like the way that Anna offers boxes for planner addicts as well as standard stationery ones too.
I will definitely be continuing with my Brimbles Box subscription as long as we can – it is my monthly treat, and a lovely reward for all my late nights staying up working!
