Cloth & Paper Co. is an online boutique of chic and innovative stationery, planner accessories, pens, pencils, office supplies and lifestyle goods. There are two types of monthly subscription boxes available:  The Standard Box, which is filled with 7-10 planner/stationery items and lifestyle goods for $39.99 monthly and the Penspiration Box, which contains 4-6 high quality and limited edition pens for $18 monthly.

The Homespun Chics paid for this subscription. All opinions are 100% our own.

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February 2016 Penspiration Box

Pen addicts rejoice! The Penspiration Box was created just for you. Each month Cloth & Paper Co. delivers 4-6 AMAZING, ultra luxe, hard-to-find pens right to your door. I could not resist the temptation and instantly signed up for this subscription in time to receive the February 2016 Penspiration box! Jonathan thinks I’m nuts for getting so excited about pens, but he just doesn’t get it. My love of office supplies runs deep.

The Cost:  $18.00 monthly (US) -or- $27.00 monthly (International)

You can expect to see brands like:  Specially Designed Cloth & Paper pens, Caran D’Ache, Pilot, Schneider, Pentel, Limited Edition Releases, and many, many more!

10% OFF THE SHOP COUPON:  THS10 

Save 10% in the Cloth & Paper Co. shop today! Subscriptions are excluded due to the shop setup, but there are some DIVINE paper goods, writing utensils, and gifts that you should check out! Be sure to take full advantage of this coupon right MEOW! Expires 03/31/16.

Right off the bat, I knew Cloth & Paper Co. takes their pens very seriously. My February 2016 Penspiration package contained a beautiful matte black gift box that is embossed in gold with the company name! Yowza! Upon opening you will find a classic black velour pouch containing your new inky treasures.

The information sheet describes the items in the February 2016 Penspiration box, but does not list the brand names or pricing. At first I was bummed but after testing them out I realized there is great beauty in allowing the pens to speak for themselves. Great pens seldom need a title to get noticed.

Cloth & Paper Co. – Strut Sticky Notes (artwork by Yevhen Verlen)

Trying not to sound too nerdy here but these are the coolest sticky notes I’ve ever owned! Look at that chic woman splattered in ink! I have a hard time using notepads like this because I don’t want to ruin the artwork with my handwriting!

Worth Mentioning:  These sticky notes are BIC-brand so I know they’re great quality! Coming from an office supply junkie, I have used thousands of sticky notes in my professional life and can think of two brands that never let me down… and one of them is definitely BIC.  🙂

Baoke – Diamond Fleck Pen

I have been writing with 0.5mm black gel pens since college and have developed a sense of pride with the pens I have chosen for my go-to’s. It seems ironic that I would purchase a subscription box filled with surprise pens, knowing just how particular I am to my writing utensils. The Diamond Fleck pen is the first pen I picked up and instantly fell in LOVE. The pen writes remarkably well with consistent ink flow, bold (yet thin) lines and no bleed! I really like that the grip is slightly smaller than the barrel, which makes this pen easy to hold and control.

??? – Mixed Metals Pen

This pen tells me I am worth every penny I am paid and that I’m pretty and smart and totally capable. I love the sleek design and the weight on this mixed metals pen. I was hoping for a writing experience similar to the diamond fleck pen but was slightly let down. I chose to test all of the pens on a more porous paper so I could check the bleed. The ink did bleed outward slightly, which does not work for part of my job duties involving filling out ridiculous forms with teeny tiny blank spaces to write the information. I want to be classy so badly, but I am giving this to Jonathan to use at work… with the only condition being that he cannot lose or give this pen away, under penalty of death.

Touch Me – Frosted Glass Pen

This is another 0.5mm gel pen that looks like a retractable ball point, right?? I’m going to be honest and say that I was super duper judging this pen before I tried it. It is really lightweight, unassuming, and sort of looks like the dispensable pens I purchase by the case at work… And then I tested it out and realized it’s a gel pen, writes remarkably smoothly, and has the BEST tactile button known to man. I need to be extremely careful not to leave it on my desk at work so it won’t disappear! I’m going to covet this little diamond in the rough.

You Pin – Transparent Needle Pen

Yes! I love needle pens! They write so daintily and work absolutely perfectly for those forms I was talking about earlier. This one has a thin barrel, similar to a standard BIC pen and writes very well. No bleed, great ink flow, and writes as soon as I pick it up. I love it.

Baoke – Needle Gel Pen

This is the second needle pen in my box! I like the rubber grip and the thicker barrel, however I had an issue with inconsistent ink flow. Needle pens can be finicky and tend to “gunk” up sometimes and may even stop working completely due to the tip being so fine. 0.38mm makes a wonderfully thin line, which is perfect for my accounting work, however I need my pens to write all the time, every time. Unfortunately I must say goodbye to this pen. On the positive side, I have a coworker that also has a strange love for pens and isn’t as picky as I am! I get to be a hero tomorrow. 🙂

My Thoughts

FYI – I did not assign monetary values because 1) it would be really hard to hunt them down and 2) I gauge pens on a different level than most things. I can say, however, that if I needed to buy my standard black pens at work right now, they would cost me $11.00 for FOUR.  I paid $18 for this amazing box of hard-to-find, high-quality pens that I can obsess over to my heart’s content. 🙂

The February 2016 Penspiration box worked for me. I love the sticky notes and have carried them in my briefcase ever since I got my package, waiting for the right reason to use one! Three out of the five pens have officially gone into my daily rotation at work. My boss thinks I’m insane and actually asked me why I am writing with a different pen every hour of the day. My answer? “Because I like pens.”

‘Nuff said.

And yes, I will continue to subscribe to Cloth & Paper Co.’s Penspiration box until Jonathan says I need to stop. I’m hoping I can distract him enough to get at least a few more months in!

“Look, honey! I brought home a new kitten!”

xo
Sarah

What do you think of the Cloth & Paper Co. February 2016 Penspiration box?