Busy Bee Stationery is a monthly subscription box that offers stationery items that are normally themed.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.
About Busy Bee Stationery
The Subscription Box: Busy Bee Stationery
The Cost: $39.90 a month + free US shipping. Save with 3 or 6-month subscriptions!
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 20% off your first box!
CODE: MSA20
The Products:The contents of the box will vary month-to month but always include 5-10 items that help with journaling, letter writing and planning.
Ships to: US for free, Canada for $7.50 and Worldwide for $12.50
Good to Know: There is no style profile, all boxes are the same and tie into each the month’s unique theme.
Busy Bee Stationery April 2019 Review
Each month we are presented with a card that introduces the months theme. April’s Busy Bee theme is Explore!
Heidi Swapp Stickers – Retail Value $6.74
I LOVE these stickers and everything about them! I especially love the font that the words are in; it is big with tons of loops, different shapes and really great colors. Absolutely perfect for scrapbooking about a vacation. These are so me and a style that I love.
Shimelle Stickers and Folder Set
What a great set! It includes 8 different sheets of letters and numbers. It is super neat and I love every single sheet and how they are all different, especially the rainbow and silver holograph one.
It also comes with this folder which holds the sheets perfectly! Of course, I am displaying the best two. Like our previous item, these are great for scrapbooking or even letter writing. My son has the infamous STAAR test coming up and we are composing surprise letters of inspiration for his testing days. I will be incorporating these onto his envelope for his name and using them for supportive words I want to stand out for him: amazing, smart, take your time, things like that. They are due in just a couple of days, so I better get to creating!
American Crafts Notepads and Pencils – Retail Value $9.99
Oh, these are lovely! As soon as I opened them up, I was immediately impressed and just adored them.
They are a great size, each one 3 ½ inches wide by 5 ½ inches long, and the bottom closes up and stays shut with a magnet. They are adorable, on the small size which makes them convenient.
I also love how each pad has different paper. The stargaze one was lined, the floral was just a plain page, and the plaid had grid paper, so they each work for different purposes. Each pad has 75 pages.
Shimelle Rub on Pens – Retail Value $10.00 (found on sale here for $5.59)
I have seen my fair share of white-out roller pens working in an office environment but I have never seen one with patterns, and let me tell you, I was so amazed! These are so nifty and cool! The top of the tool has a retractable button that I push to bring the actual tool part out and I roll it on paper as desired. I received two designs – floral and stars! Another cool thing to help with my inspirational letter to Jayden for his STAAR test. I will probably look for more like these since they are so neat.
Heidi Swapp Rub-On Foil Set – Retail Value $7.15
When I initially saw this, I loved it! It has some great designs that are just up my alley and I am loving the gold foil!
The back of the package had seemingly easy instructions, so I began to see if I could create something shiny and beautiful! I started out with the first decal that said “Best Ever” in a circle and was totally unsuccessful. I cut it out and put it on a piece of paper in one of the notepads I received. I rubbed it on really good (or so I thought) and kept trying to lift the plastic cover but the decal never transferred to the paper. So I rubbed some more and it just wasn’t working! I figured maybe its messed up and tried another decal, the heart. I rubbed really hard for a long time and a piece finally transferred to the paper. When I attempted to put the gold foil, it stuck to the foil and came off of the paper; it was just a disaster. I am positive they are all this way and am just disappointed, and at this point, agitated that the whole thing was a flop.
Foil rub on transfer FAIL.
Multi-Color Pencil – Unknown Retail Value
After the annoying rub on foil fail, I was looking forward to some redemption and was ready to try this thing out. It looks so cool! It is a pencil that has 8 different colors. EIGHT! In ONE pencil! How neat! I was super excited to try this….and was immediately annoyed. Again….sigh.
First of all, it comes with like zero directions and is all learn as you go. This little piece is turn-able and kind of works as an arrow to indicate what color lead you want and the black piece is what you click to bring the lead down. But these pieces do not work well together. When I pressed the top to bring a color down the whole lead would slip out! If I pushed it back it went all the way up. I tried it multiple times, on each color, and was never able to get a good transition between lead colors. At one point, I couldn’t even get the lead to come down at all. At another point, I could not get the lead to go back up so I can change the color. It was a frustrating pencil, to say the least, but it was still a cool concept once I got it at a good point with the color I wanted.
This pencil held yellow, red, purple, orange, brown, blue, light blue and green colors! Disclosure – I know the difference between blue and purple (ha!). The lead looked blue coming down and just wrote purple. I went with my mistake and fixed it 😊 I like the pencil, I think it is so neat, its just one that requires lots of patience. I was unable to find this exact pen online but did discover the Pentel pen it seems to be designed after and was even a little convinced it was Pentel (which is sold for $18.90-$24.99) until I compared the twist part that controls the color lead. I cannot help but wonder if I had so many issues with it because it was a different brand and am REALLY considering ordering the Pentel one just to compare.
Erasable Blue Pen – Buy a pack of 12 for $8.99
The last item in April’s Busy Bee box was this pen. It is a skinny pen but is .5mm. The barrel is soft and has such a pretty design: it looks like cherry blossoms and a cute rabbit in a dress and the point of the pen has a really nice peachy pink color. When I wrote with it, I was instantly happy. It is a nice blue and wrote so smoothly, like a gel ink, but it just glided on my paper.
I did not realize that this was an erasable pen until I started writing the review! When I found the pen and read the description on Amazon, I was immediately curious. The top of the pen, which doesn’t look like an eraser at all, erased the ink effortlessly. The imprint of the “A” was still there, I guess I pushed it kind of hard, but other than that, there’s no sign that anything was written there. So cool!
I was using the notepad for the duration of this review to test everything out. I would close the pad between items and when I went to close it after testing out the new pen, it wouldn’t stay shut! Upon closer review, the magnet came unglued. I can't help but feel disappointed, especially after the rub on foil fail and the difficult colored pencil.
Verdict: When I first opened this month’s box I was pretty excited – all of the items looked wonderful and just really neat! But the foil rub was so annoying and frustrating, the colored pencil was neat and a little frustrating and I hated that the notepad magnet unstuck. I am a crafter and have a few hot glue guns, but I don’t want to put together something I just received because it broke. I did really love the alphabet sticker letters I received, the design tape, the blue pen and once I learn how to transition the multi-colored pencil, I am sure I will love it too, so this box wasn’t a complete flop. When I totaled up all the items I could find (6 out of 7), I got $37.28. I am sure the multi-colored pen is at least a couple of dollars, so right at box value if you don’t consider the items on sale.
The Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you will get the May box.
Value Breakdown: This month I received 7 items. This box costs $39.99 with free shipping which means each item cost approximately $5.71.
Check out all of our Busy Bee Stationery reviews and more of our favorite Arts & Craft subscription boxes!
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