As daft as it may sound, the current school year is actually drawing to an end. I know we’re not quite at half term yet, but it is only days away, and once that’s over there are only six weeks until school is out for summer. It means that the more organised parents and class reps are starting to think about gifts for teachers and it’s very much with this in mind that Liz from Hope House Press asked me to review their new personalised leather pencil case.
Now I should admit that I already am totally in love with Hope House Press and their products. Last year I was sent one of their personalised leather notebooks to use as a travel journal and I was smiling when I took it off the shelf just last week to recall some of the details of our trip to the Isle of Wight.
Regular readers, and those that follow me over on Instagram, will know that I love stationery. Pens, notepads, washi tape and everything else inbetween, feature rather highly up my list of favourite things. It will therefore come as no surprise to know that I’m someone who often carries around a pencil case with my favourite pens in. But the one I normally use is one that I was brought as a gift some years ago, and by now it is starting to look a bit bruised and battered from being in my handbag most of the time. So being asked if I wanted to review a new one was an absolute delight. Even more so because I knew that there would be no doubt at all as to who this one belongs to!
Hope House Press’ personalised leather pencil case if the perfect size for someone who has a number of favourite pens that they want to carry around with them. It’s roomy enough to easily hold everything you need, but not so big that you feel you’re lugging around loads of stuff unnecessarily. Measuring 20.5 cm long and 7 cm deep it’s small enough fit comfortably into a handbag or “man bag” too. The zip is strong and durable, and wraps around one end of the pencil case, meaning that you can open it up nice and wide to rummage around and find the pen you’re after inside.
The other beautiful thing about this pencil case, and the thing that makes it so perfect as a gift for a teacher, is the personalisation. A retro art deco style font has been used to write Mrs C on mine in vintage black ink and I absolutely love how it looks. It arrived just before I headed up to Manchester for the latest Blog On conference and whilst there I got so many comments from people who wanted to take a look at it having already seen it featured on my Instagram feed.
I also took the pencil case with me last night when I attended a school governors’ meeting. Showing it off to the teachers and teaching assistants sat around the table, they all said how gorgeous it was (male and female teachers alike) and how they would love to receive something like that at the end of term, as then everyone would know exactly who it belonged to. They all spoke about how favourite pens had gone missing at points as they’ve put it down somewhere around school and either forgotten where, or someone else had picked it up to borrow it and then not returned it.
Photo Credit: Hope House Press
So, if you’re looking for a gift for a teacher or teaching assistant for the end of the school year then this personalised leather pencil case would be absolutely perfect. But, I also think any stationery lover would love one. The leather gives it a look and feel (and smell!) that means it would work well for either gender and I can also see them being used for carrying things other than pens and pencils too. Having just gone rummaging through a little bag full of small screwdrivers part way through writing this post (kids always seem to need batteries replacing in things just as you’re in the middle of something!) I found myself thinking that it would work really well for carrying something like that too.
Disclaimer: I was sent this personalised leather pencil case by Hope House Press for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own.
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