May 2015 {Quirky Happy Birthday} "I Love You" Box

On the 30th of April it was our Elephantshoe blogs official 5 year Birthday. Wow, I started writing here on our the Ellieshoe blog all the way back in 2010, it was a leap of faith and a chance for me to do what was in my heart, to put action to my thoughts and dreams. {If you'd like you can read my very first and short post here under LIVE WHAT YOU LOVE .} My my what a wonderful journey it has been, it wouldn't have been as wonderful or possible without all the lovely & amazing people that follow our posts, download our free printables and order our Elephantshoe goods from our online shoppe. THANK YOU so much!!

To celebrate our Birthday we themed our May "I Love You" box as our Quirky Happy Birthday Box. There were some pretty awesome goods inside to help all of our May subscribers make their own cards, tags and paper bags & to encourage them to get creative and wrap up the Birthday gifts they give in lovely Elephantshoe inspired parcels.

Let's see all the Birthday wrapping goodies that went inside each Love Box.

• 1 x Maple Wooden 'Happy Birthday to You' Stamp in a Kraft Square Box
• 5 x Variety Large Flag Tags with Bakers Twine
• 5 x Variety Bakerstwine and Hemp Cord Card Set in Dusty Pink, Purple & Natural Colours
• 1 x Lavender C6 Envelope with Black Confetti Liner & 'Happy Birthday' Card
• 1 x "Ice Lolly & Cupcake" printed C6 Envelope with 'Make a Wish' Card
• 1 x Kraft C6 Spiral Printed Envelope with a 'Lets Party Mkay' Card
• 1 x Blush Pink C6 Envelope with Spotted Liner with a 'Happy Birthday Balloon' Card
• 5 x Round Stickers with Cupcake, Ice Lolly & Lets Party Mkay Designs
• 9 x Paper Bitty Bags (Large Kraft, Small Kraft, White, Purple Chevron, Small Kraft with Stripes)

A Birthday Box surprise for a one of our subscribers celebrating her Birthday. We love creating custom tags with special messages from our online shoppers.

Our favourite and most versatile product in this months box was our "Happy Birthday to you" maple wooden stamp. This little winner can be used to stamp tags, cards, envelopes, stickers and wrapping paper to get your HAPPY message across. Presented in a small kraft box that our subscribers could use to package up a small gift for a friend, family member or colleague.

A handy set of 5 quirky 'ice lolly, cupcake, yay, and make a wish' flag tags were included in each box. These came with twine attached so that they can quickly be attached to a gift be it a wrapped pressie, bottle of wine or bunch of pretty flowers.

Choose a simple wrapping paper (i'm sure you've noticed that we have a love for brown kraft), stamp with your new maple wooden stamp and tie with one of the twine colours included on our Elephantshoe sorbet twine card set. Ta-da and you are sorted with your gift wrapping. A cute solution for presenting your Birthday gifts in a cheerful way.

What's a Birthday box without a fun selection of Birthday cards and lined envelopes? Mix and match your cards with your envelopes and of course most importantly send a special message with your Birthday pressie.

Our Elephantshoe Birthday stickers are perfect to close the back of your envelopes, a bitty bag or to simply place on the top of your gift wrap. Something small that can customise your gifting and add some extra happiness.

And there it is our May "I Love You" box ready to rumble and spread a little jolly around over special Birthday times.

Our "I Love You" Boxes are not available to purchase currently as we make a few changes here at Elephantshoe (all to be revealed soon). We do however have our "The Serious Deal Box of Love" for sale. Visit our online shoppe to find out a little more.

July 2014 [Pen to Paper] “I Love You” Box

We have had so many of our lovely subscribers messaging us to rave about our July “I Love You” box and I can’t wait for you all to see the paperie goodness and love that went into each and every Elephantshoe box.

Just before our lovely intern Kathleen left for her new exciting travels she wrote our latest review. Take a look below. . .

Hi there, Kat here. I have to let you all in on a secret. Some might not believe me but I’m telling you, it's really true. Are you ready to hear this big secret? Alright? The thing is… The Elephantshoe Stationery Studio is a time machine!

It feels like it was just yesterday (*read* the month of June) that I stepped back into the warm and welcoming Elephantshoe Stationery Studio, and it’s just been go go go since then. I’ve worked on some wonderful projects with the team here and it’s been a lovely, creative and sometimes crazy adventure! Now, as I sit here preparing to write my last "I Love You" box post (I shouldn’t say “last” but it will be for a while), I’ve realized it’s July! As the icy winter days keep coming and my days here at Elephantshoe draw to a close, I bring to you the July [Pen to Paper] I Love You Box review.

We went old school this month and celebrated paper and the good old pen. Here’s what we included in the July box:

• 1 x custom 30 page A5 writing notepad
• 8 x custom C6 kraft envelopes
• 1 x custom paper plane wax sealing tool
• 2 x white wax sticks
• 4 x custom postcards
• 4 x custom kraft tags with airmail bakers twine
• 5 x custom “You’ve Got Mail” adhesive glossy stickers
• 1 x eco-friendly “hello” stamped pen
• 1 x personalised handwritten letter

This month, and every month, we should go out of our way to ditch the emails and text messages every once in a while and take pen to paper. In other words, what we’re trying to say is, sloooooow down. We’re all living in our fast-paced, on-the-go bubbles – always rushing somewhere, but that’s life, and we all get a bit caught-up in it sometimes. But enough rambling – this is what we want to encourage you to do: write a little letter. Write it for a close friend, a caring mother, a great colleague, a special husband/wife or even a cousin who lives across the globe. The best part is it can be a quick and meaningful “I Love You” stuck to your significant other’s desk or a little update to a friend you want to reconnect with. To get you started, we’ve supplied our subscribers with a quirky little writing notepad and quirky “HELLO” eco-friendly pen. It all starts with a little “HELLO”… the rest is up to you.

Finished writing your little letter? Fold it in half, now pop it into your choice of our stylish kraft envelopes – scrambled letters or paper airplanes – and seal it with a nifty wax seal. Pop a postage stamp on from your nearest post office and your letter is ready to travel the world… or perhaps just down the road!

I can’t remember the last time I received a postcard from someone, but I can remember how happy I felt when I received a special message from a friend in the post. Make someone happy and send them a postcard. This month our subscribers received 4 custom, and totally awesome postcards – ready to make someone smile. The best part about them? They serve equally as some trendy/cool wall art for your home office. Pop it in a frame or stick it your wall and you’ll have a little reminder of that special friend/loved one.

There’s nothing quite like opening a wax-sealed envelope. The instant feeling of importance and elegance that surrounds it makes opening one of them just that extra special. But when you want to opt for something a little more casual – pop a cute sticker on. Or use one the stickers to hold your handwritten note to your friend’s desk.

Traveling somewhere soon or have a friend that’s about jet set off on an adventure? Why not attach one of our printed kraft tags to a special going-away gift or better yet – use them as trendy luggage tags!

Lastly, each subscriber received a handwritten letter to fill them in on the thought-process behind the July box. The letter was written with the sole purpose to explain, inspire and mostly just because we love you.

The letter went a little like this

Dear…

Thank you for subscribing to this month’s Elephantshoe box of love.

We thought we’d mix it up a bit this month and leave the typed messages behind. We’ve been thinking a lot about what makes life special and lovely. Think of blue skies in summer, your first sip of tea, forehead kisses, tight hugs, brown paper packages tied up with string and handwritten letters.

This month we would like to encourage you to go old school and take pen to paper, dig up your favourite milky pens from school and write a little letter. There’s something really special and novel about receiving a handwritten note in the age of emails and text messages. It doesn’t need to be a long letter/an essay – just a simple “you looked great today” or “I love you” is perfect. It’s the thoughtful notes that go the furthest and mean the most.

So here you have your very own supplies to get you going. Fix yourself a hot drink, grab a blanket and let the words flow.

Happy writing!

Love Elephantshoe ♥

It’s been an absolute pleasure to be involved in the conceptualisation and production of the Elephantshoe “I Love You” boxes over the last couple of months. If you’re a subscriber or just a Ellieshoe follower – I hope you’ve enjoyed the contents and effort that’s gone into making them extra special for you.

Stay tuned for the August box of awesomeness that I’m pretty sure will blow your warm fuzzy socks right off!

Bye-bye for now,

Kat

May 2014 {With Love & Thanks} “I Love You” Box

In the beautiful month of May we celebrated Mothers Day. The 11th was a special time to honour, thank and cherish our moms and the motherly figures in our lives. How wonderful!

At Ellieshoe we decided to design and create our May “I Love You” box centred around the theme {with love and thanks} to celebrate everything Mom’s do for us. All of the lovely contents could also be used to spoil others that are dearest to you too, not just your mum. Let’s take a peek . . .

The May box of goodness included:

• 5 x custom button magnets
• 1 x custom hand-illustrated “Thank You” card with a pink floral C6 envelope
• 1 x custom hand-illustrated “Thank You” card with a blush C6 envelope with stripe liner
• 1 x twine paddle with 5m x natural&silver twine and 5m x grey&white bakers twine
• 1 x custom hand-illustrated A5 wall art print with a kraft “To… From” gift tag
• 1 x custom letterpressed “Love” card with a light kraft grey heart-lined C6 envelope
• 1 x custom hand-illustrated quote card with a grey c6 envelope with stripe liner
• 1 x custom hand-illustrated quote card with a grey floral c6 envelope

5 custom-designed button fridge magnets, use them yourself or they are also a cute idea for a small gift. Package up one or two, or even all of them (if you’re feeling generous!) and attach a photo or note and send it off to that someone special’s fridge. These awesome fridge magnets don’t only spruce up your fridge but also acts as a charming reminder that “everything is going to be okay” and to “do all things with love”.

To keep the love flowing each subscriber received 4 custom hand-illustrated printed gift cards with matching V-flap envelopes all carrying the theme of love and thanks. Gift cards are a great addition to any gift. In fact, a card on its own with a simple message can go a long way.

All it takes sometimes is a humble “thank you” or a meaningful “I love you”. But when words fail you, little gifts from Elephantshoe come to the rescue. To make any parcel just look that extra special, tie around some twine from the twine paddle from your box. Twine is great for adding some magic to a parcel and attaching to a little gift tag.

Audrey Hepburn couldn’t have said it any better: “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other”. Our A5 wall art print acts as the perfect “thanks for being there” gift. Whether you give it to your mother, a dear friend or even keep it for yourself (don’t worry, that’s okay too!). Hang it in your home office or even in a little corner in your bedroom as a lovely little reminder to share the love.

One letterpressed "LOVE" card and custom heart printed liner was also included in each box.

We hope you’re enjoying these these icey days in June and getting ready for July as the days get colder and shorter. Our June “I Love You” boxes have already been shipped and I must say [SPOILER ALERT] they are going to make your hearts happy happy happy and make you feel all warm inside.

*Orders for our June “I Love You” box have closed, order before June 22nd to receive our July box in the first week of July.

Pop on over to our website to order your July “I Love You” box . Whether you give it to a very special friend, sister, work colleague or even keep it for yourself – it’s bound to be fantastic!