Unboxing Papergang Box - No. 43 - September 2019 Edition - Autumn Harvest*

Although I said in a previous Papergang post that I was a bit on the fence on whether or not to continue my subscription, I just don't have to heart to cancel it - the designs really are just too cute and September's box is particularly sweet

Whilst I'm still clinging on to the idea of an Indian summer, there definitely seems to be a bit of an Autumnal feel on the air. The leaves are starting to turn, Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back, and the shops are full of pumpkins, black cats, skulls, and witches.

If Autumn is the season for you then the September Papergang box will be right up your street. The theme of Septembers box rather fittingly is 'Autumn Harvest'. The now traditional, cut out design, outer sleeve features a whimsical, nature themed harvest design featuring people, fruit, foliage and flowers, birds and toadstools.

As per usual the reverse of the sleeve features something to cut out and use, or something to make, and September's box is no different - you can cut out and make your own toadstool!

Remove the bright and cheery outer sleeve and you're greeted by the usual brown, letterbox friendly cardboard box, and inside of that is your contents all securely wrapped in a large sheet of bright green tissue paper.

The first item in the box as per usual, is a little information booklet, that lists the box content, and it includes an interview with the designer of the box and it's contents, Romanian born illustrator and artist, Oana Befort, who specialises in ornate designs depicting folk art style patterns and nature, where she talks about her work, and her inspirations.

A4 ish Notebook 

The first item in the box is a lovely notebook, which is only slightly smaller than A4 in size. It features a slightly larger version of the outer sleeve design featuring a bright but at the same time muted print, featuring fruits, nuts, flowers, people, and a giant toadstool. The word 'notes' is also embossed on the front in gold foil. The inside of the notebook features lined pages, and like so many other  Papergang / Ohh Deer products it's printed with eco friendly or vegetable based inks 

As per usual the quality is excellent, and it's a nice size. I normally use an A4 sized pad for my bog notes, and post planning, and even though this a tiny bit smaller than A4 it's perfect for note taking or even journaling. Since all of the products are exclusive to this box at the moment I can't give you a 100% accurate price comparison, but similar A4 ish pads retail at around £5.50 on Ohh Deer.

A5 Notepad

Now despite what the description in the information booklet says, this isn't strictly a notepad - Papergang seem to have a bit of a fixation with getting people organised and September's box contains another desk pad / to do list. Both May's and August's boxes both contained versions of a To Do list, so I'm really starting to wonder if this is Papergang's way of telling me to get me life together! Never mind there all quite different in design, layout and format, and this is a particularly nice one so I guess I'll let them away with it this time ;)

This may be a To Do list but it has an almost writing paper like design. It features a lovely floral design, which is picked out from the original outer sleeve design. It features the words 'To Do' in the middle, and lined paper, surrounding by a plain border, which does remind me a bit of all the writing sets that I used to hoard when I was younger.

Again the quality is superb, and whilst I'm not sure how many sheets the pad contains, it is quite thick so it should last a long while. I have a lot of things like this to try and help me get organised I just need to start using them, and sticking to them. Similar pads retail at around £5.95 on Ohh Deer.

Greetings Card

Do you know something? I think I've said this before but I really don't think that we say thank you enough. If you think about it there is probably someone in your life that you need to say thank you to right now. It's lovely to say it in person but sometimes a text, or a message can be just a touch impersonal. Putting something in writing makes just a simple thank you just that little bit more special and meaningful. 

This is a lovely card which picks out just one of the floral illustrations from the 'Autumn Harvest' print, I'm not great on flowers but I think it's a chrysanthemum. The card features a pink and green flower, on a cream background and the words 'THANK YOU' again embossed in a gold foil. The card is blank inside and it includes a brown envelope.

This card came with no outer packaging bar a small sticker to keep the card and envelope together, so there is no plastic waste, and the card is also produced using environmentally conscious materials and working practises. 

Full priced greetings cards on Ohh Deer, retail at various price points between £2.75 and £2.95.

Scissors

Next probably the stand out item of the box, a nice pair of metal scissors. These are nice sturdy scissors, with unusually shaped handles and short, very sharp blades. They are easy enough to hold but they are a little bit awkward to manoeuvre so they probably aren't the best scissors for small, detailed work, but for general cutting, and paper crafting, they are a pretty decent pair of snips. I can't find anything similar on Ohh Deer so I can't make a price comparison.

Universal Calendar Card

The final item in the official box, is the customary universal calendar card. Normally the cards share the same design as the outer sleeve, only slightly blurry and in slightly more muted tones, but September's box, whilst sticking to the floral and garden theme, features a completely different design. The design of the calendar card features a super cute snail, and daisy (or is it a sunflower?) illustration in slightly blurred yellow and orangey red tones.

Free Gifts

Now the eagle eyed readers amongst you may have noticed a little red parcel in my box - well a month or so ago Papergang sent out an email to subscribers to get them to sign up to the Ohh Deer newsletter, and as a thank you for signing up, they promised to include a free gift in Septembers box.

The little red parcel was my free gift, and it contained 6 greeting cards. All of the cards are blank inside, and whilst I did receive one obvious thank you card, the rest of them could be used for a variety of different occasions, or even just to say hello. All of the cards came with brown envelopes bar my favourite card, a child like interpretation of Mr. Tickle, which came with a yellow envelope.

I've had a little look on the Ohh Deer website and all of these cards bar the 'Into The Wild' are available and are currently on sale for 50p a card. Even at the sale price the cards are still a decent free gift, they're environmentally conscious, good quality, and above all else they're useful.

Even taking out the free gift, this is still another decent box from Papergang, and I'll definitely find a use for everything in it. I love the illustrations and the design of the notebooks but the obvious stand out are the scissors. A decent pair of scissors could easily cost the whole price of the box on their own, so this box in my opinion represents pretty decent value for money. Let me know your thoughts and comments, and don't forget to check out the Papergang website to find out more and of course to subscribe x 

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