Martha Brook Blog

October 20, 2018

The Stationery Advent Calendar

Back in stock! After originally selling out in record time, we are delighted to confirm today that Martha Brook’s 24 Days Of Stationery Advent Calendar is back in stock. So, why did it sell out so quickly the first time and what’s all the fuss about?

The advent calendar has been a lengthy labour of love from the Martha Brook team, with discussions and planning for this unique product beginning 10 months ago. In February, we dreamt up the idea of creating our first stationery advent calendar. If you want to move away from the traditional chocolate advent calendars, and buy a more luxury adult one instead, there are not that many options to buy, other than the beauty advent calendars or alcohol ones, they all start to feel a bit samey don’t you think? Our mission was to create a different type of lifestyle advent calendar – one that would be the dream for all stationery lovers.

However, it was a challenge because we wanted it to be personalised and we wanted the contents to be truly brilliant. How on earth could we present 24 different stationery items of varying shapes and sizes – including a notebook – in an advent calendar?! The breakthrough came when we decided on the ‘boxes within a box’ design, with the 24 days looking like a row of colourful books on a shelf.

We then had to design and source the contents. We don’t want to give away the surprise of what is inside (although if you are desperate to know, we do list them at the very end of the product description), but all twenty-four items have been designed to fit together perfectly. As you may guess from the colour of the foil embossed boxes, there is a pink, navy and grey theme to what’s inside too, with lots of luxurious gold touches. Everything from a luxury pen to chic paperclips to a cute notepad, we’ve got your stationery essentials covered. There are even some extra items that will be useful during December when preparing gifts or thanking loved ones… you’ll have to open all 24 days to see what we mean!

This luxe advent calendar is unique as it can be personalised with the name of your choice, which is foil printed onto the gorgeous navy lid of the box and on two of the items inside. As well as looking festive and simply stunning, the advent calendar has been made with the environment in mind. There is no plastic packaging; the luxe embossed boxes are made from GF Smith card and all the other packaging is 100% recyclable and biodegradable.

Because of how long it takes to make, the advent calendar is limited edition. We had absolutely no idea whether people would love it as much as us, and had the difficult decision of how many to produce all the way back at the start of the summer. When we released it for presale on 25th September, we realised we could stop worrying when we rapidly broke our record of the most orders for a new product in the first 24 hours of its launch! There have even been several features in the press with Country and Town House magazine calling it ‘one of the chicest christmas countdowns they’ve ever seen’, which makes us so happy.

This unique advent calendar really is the perfect way to have a delightful December and a joyful January as you enjoy using all the beautiful items of stationery. So, if you are searching for that perfect gift for a loved one or simply looking to treat yourself, then join the community of stationery lovers around the world and secure your 24 Days Of Stationery Advent Calendar before they are all gone!

September 21, 2018

The Stationery Social 2018

A couple of weeks ago we were so excited to host our first ever ‘Stationery Social‘. A chance to bring our Instagram to life, giving those lucky enough to get tickets (they sold out in less than 24 hours!) a taste of all the things Martha Brook loves; creative workshops, delicious treats, cocktails, all the prettiness and, of course, our delightfully individual stationery!

Back in April we had the tough challenge of finding a venue; light, bright, modern yet filled with character, until we stumbled across a room in the perfectly named Staple Inn. A beautiful victorian building with parquet floors, high ceilings and bright white walls, plenty of natural light and a central location, it ticked all of our boxes for the perfect space.

The brief was then simple, to transform the room into a haven of pastel and paper prettiness, and we settled on a pink and rose gold theme for the styling.

We were incredibly lucky to partner with the amazing Hayford and Rhodes, one of the oldest, largest and we think most innovative florists in London, who created, undeniably, the main centrepiece of the room; an insanely beautiful floral installation. Inspired by our Instagram, the pink and peach floral arch became the perfect photo back drop (see Martha and Hermione below)… it’s been a week since the event and we all still can’t stop admiring how stunning it looks in the photos.

Elsewhere, wherever you looked, there were elements of pastel pink prettiness and the food and drink was no exception. The megababes from Canababes were kind enough to create some of their ‘event food with personality’. Not only did the sweet and savoury canopies taste amazing they also looked like mini works of art, almost too good to eat (almost!).

We also have to give a special mention to the wonderful Lavolio. Their founder Lavinia and her lovely assistant Bianca hosted another one of the most popular stations of the day, a boutique confectionary tasting table where you got to sample some of their delicious handmade sweets and chocolate, which we are huge fans of here at Martha Brook.

Of course, there also had to be lots of stationery. The event was the perfect place to two of our new ranges. Both the Whatever Collection, a set of sassy, playful personalised notebooks, and our beautiful new 2019 diaries and calendars were arranged in a pretty display for everyone to admire.

The afternoon wasn’t just about the very instagrammable decor though. In between sipping on pink Sipsmith Summer cup (or Teapigs tea), and chatting with other like-minded attendees, we also ran some taster creative workshops. Beautiful stationery and the art of hand lettering go hand in hand and the talented Edlyl Asis hosted an introduction to Modern Calligraphy, which gave participants the opportunity to learn the basics of using their nib and ink to form beautiful letterforms.

Running with the hand lettering theme there was also the opportunity to take part in a Brush Lettering workshop taught by Hannah, our Junior Designer here at Martha Brook, who always gives us envy with how easy she makes it look!

We were lucky enough to be gifted some beautiful photo backdrops by Capture by Lucy, which helped form the basis of the next workshops taught by our stylist Nancy Straughan and Martha herself. Guests were given a quick lesson on how to create a successful flatlay and then asked to style a piece from our new collection with Martha passing on some of her wisdom on how to take the best photos using your iPhone.

However, our absolute favourite part of the afternoon was the buzz in the air and that was down to the wonderful Martha Brook community. We got to chat, get creative, have some tasty food, style some stationery, take some very Instagrammable photos, but most of all we came away feeling inspired by the people we met.

Lots of people are asking with the next one will be, and we are working on it! If you are interested in coming along next time, do let us know, and if there is anything you’d like to see in the workshops next time, please do leave a comment below or on our Instagram. Finally, a huge thank you to the absolutely brilliant Tia Talula and Cristina Ilao for the beautiful photos from us all of us at Team Brook (below).

Comments Off Posted in Events | Tagged events, stationery social By Martha Brook

June 12, 2018

The Team’s Father’s Day Picks

This year’s Father’s Day range is true to Martha Brook’s mission of getting life off your screen and down on paper so you can capture and share your special memories. We have a delightful selection of unique presents for dads new and old – take a look at our Father’s Day shop here.

The theme of the collection is #mymomentswithdad and we’re encouraging you to join in and share your moments with your own dad to win £100 to spend on our site – see more here and follow along on Instagram where the Martha Broom team have been sharing all our favourite memories with our dads on our stories.

The team have also been busy picking their favourite products to give you some shopping inspiration before this weekend:

Book Of Memories For Dad – Michelle

The reason I’ve chosen this product is that I absolutely love photo-based gifts. They seem even more personal and special and I think people are more likely to display them after the event. I love that this product encourages the sharing of memories.

Build A Story Card Set – Nancy

My dad always read me bedtime stories and when he couldn’t my big brother stepped in so I had two father figures who loved reading. Bedtime story time was really important in my family which may be why I’m such an avid reader now I’m an adult. My dad used to read me all the classics, and he would become more invested in the story than I was! I know he would have loved to work together to create our own fairy-tale.

Dad Jokes’ Foiled Softback Notebook – Alex

It’s so great to keep a log of all the bad jokes that are being said every week, or maybe even more often than that. We can all add to this book as a family, plus we’ll be able to look back on how funny we are over the years!

‘The Story of Dad Messages Gift Box’ – Ziggy

I can’t wait to make one of these for my step-daughters for us to give to their dad, I think he’ll love it. These boxes are a really unique and personal present that tell special story that perfectly suits the person you’re giving it to.

Any Sport Foiled Softback Notebook – Olivia

This softback is my favourite product because I really like the fun sporty illustrations. There are so many dads that absolutely love watching or playing sports so it’s also a really relatable gift, perfect for all types of dads. Any sport can be printed so it can be perfectly personal.

Daddest Dad Mug – Edlyl

My dad collects mugs whenever we go away on holiday somewhere so this is my pick for him. This fun mug would be a present just for him to say thank you for being a great dad. I know he would absolutely love it!

First Father’s Day Book Of Memories – Chris

As a new dad myself I think this would be a fantastic gift that any new dad can keep and look back on. This gift also helps dads feel appreciated during this whirlwind of new life, as its very easy to get swept up in it all and not focus on all the new and exciting changes. Having something you can enjoy over the years is really special as it all goes by so quickly.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our picks! For more ways to capture moments with dad, visit our Father’s Day shop here.

Comments Off Posted in Gift Guides | Tagged Father's Day, Gifts, The team By Martha Brook

May 12, 2018

Wedding Launch Event

Last Friday we launched our two brand new wedding collections at the beautiful Mortimer House in London.

Just in time for the wedding season, we have created two stylish and beautiful collections that will elevate your big day. The first collection, Modern Calligraphy, is unashamedly romantic yet contemporary making it perfect for feminine brides who love simple design. The other collection, Traditional Floral, features a beautiful selection of typefaces interwoven with foliage motifs to create a sophisticated and timeless range with a nostalgic quality. To organise a special launch for these collections, we invited wedding press, bloggers and influencers along to introduce them to Martha Brook and the stunning new ranges.

Back in February we went scouting for a perfect central London venue and found it in the private members club Mortimer House in Soho. We took over the top floor, which has beautiful views across the city, as well as lots of lovely areas to style our products. The main centrepiece of the room were the two tables that we styled with eucalyptus table runners, bud vases, pastel pink and blue votives as well as a selection of our icebreaker cards and monogrammed place settings from the new ranges. We also designed a custom menu which featured a blue willow china pattern to complement the Traditional Floral wedding collection.

We styled up a beautiful shelving unit to display a selection from the collection, which we think may have been the most photographed spot in the room! The shelves featured a selection of our guest books, photo albums, softback notebooks, wedding favours and greetings cards interwoven with beautiful candles and greenery.

We also had a beautiful backdrop created using our new wedding greetings cards and envelopes, which were romantically styled using pretty envelope liners and foliage. This was the perfect spot for our guests to take photos in front of and made for a very pretty background for the whole event.

Once everyone had gathered and found their seats, thanks to our new monogram favours, it was time for us all to tuck in to a delicious brunch served up by Mortimer House. Martha said a few words about the history of Martha Brook and introduced everyone to the new collections, after which it was time for everyone to crack open the icebreakers and begin getting to know each other, and learn more about the new products, over tea and coffee.

If you would like to see more of our two new wedding collections, take a look at them here.

Thank you to all of our lovely guests that attended our wedding brunch and a massive thank you to the very talented Tia Talula for these beautiful photographs.

Comments Off Posted in Events, Latest News | Tagged events, Weddings By Martha Brook

March 8, 2018

Free Download: Girl Power Print

As it’s International Woman’s Day today we wanted to write a special blog post to celebrate just how far womankind has come since the 1800s. In 1867, The London Society for Women’s Suffrage was formed to campaign for female suffrage. Although there’s still plenty more that needs to change it’s important to remember how hard our female ancestors had to fight for our rights today.

It’s difficult to imagine a time where women had no voice, no right to vote and no right over their bodies. From the first Suffragette meeting to the Girl Power crazed 90s, women all over the world have continued to work incredibly hard to have the same opportunities and rights as men. We should all be proud to be women and continue to strive towards a better future for everyone.

Our Strong Woman collection aims to celebrate all the incredible ladies we know and love. Although stationery may seem like a small way to spread the message of female empowerment, these moments of strength and positivity all count towards championing the power of the girl. The collection makes for wonderful Mother’s Day gifts, and there’s really no better way to say thank you to your original inspiration than beautiful stationery.

We’ve also designed a special free print that you can download here to use a positive reminder: Girl Power Print. Simply download the design and print onto an A4 piece of paper or card for an easy way to keep you motivated all day. We hope you love the print and you feel inspired by the literal definition of Girl Power!

We’d love to see your photos of your print hung up in your home so make sure to tag us in your Instagram photos by using the hashtag #MarthaBrookLDN and we will share our favourites. Happy International Women’s Day!

Leave a comment Posted in Downloads | Tagged download, International Women's Day By Martha Brook

March 2, 2018

Mother’s Day Event

Our two new Mother’s Day collections help celebrate the strong women in our lives, making them the perfect gift for any empowered women you know. To help spread the word about the range, we organised a special Mother’s Day meet up with some of our favourite bloggers and influencers in one of our favourite local eateries. No197 Chiswick Fire Station is one of our favourite venues (mainly because of the gorgeous blush pink interiors!) and we welcomed our guests with coffee, breakfast nibbles and lots of lovely stationery. It was wonderful to receive feedback, especially about our strong woman collection that aims to celebrate female empowerment.

As it was a event to celebrate our new Mother’s Day range, founder Martha brought along two-month-old Hermione . As a new mum, our Mother’s Day collection this year has extra meaning for the company and Martha’s experiences have helped shape our collections. A handful of the women who attended also brought along their little ones so there was plenty of cute babies for everyone to enjoy.

As most of the bloggers we met up with run their own creative businesses, our collections really resonated with them. Just like Martha, the inspirational women who we met up with today believe that girls can do anything if they set their mind to it! As well as taking stunning photographs for their blogs and Instagram accounts these women also run their own creative businesses and support each other through offering up advice and collaborations. We all sat around chatting over a coffee and discussed how wonderful the online community can be especially when strong women come together to support each other. It was great to hear everyone’s personal experiences and we all ended up agreeing that if you work hard enough and enjoy what you do anything is possible. This sentiment is carried through throughout our new Mother’s Day ranges so we are so excited to hear what you think about our collections too.

Martha Brook has always championed women, especially those who follow their own path in life. We believe that if you want to achieve something all it takes is a little hard work and a belief in yourself, we hope that this message is clear throughout our entire stationery range. If you need a little help organising your to do list, planning your work schedule or even simply jotting down what you’re intentions are we hope that our new Mother’s Day ranges can help you achieve whatever you’re striving for.

We certainly left feeling really inspired after a morning of uplifting conversation and caffeine! If you’d like to see our new Mother’s Day collections click here. We hope you love them as much as we do. Thank you to the bloggers who made it along despite all the terrible weather we’ve been experiencing in London! We can’t wait for our next Martha Brook event, it’s going to be the most beautiful one yet.

Leave a comment Posted in Events, Latest News | Tagged events, Mother's Day By Martha Brook

February 5, 2018

Free Download: Love Tokens

Here at Martha Brook we just love Valentine’s Day! It is the perfect opportunity to celebrate your loved ones and nothing says ‘will you be my Valentine’ quite like beautiful paper products. We are known for creative personal and thoughtful gifts and this year we’re making it even easier to show your affection with these printable Love Tokens.

These tokens aren’t just for couples, they also make wonderful gifts for Galentine’s or Palentine’s Day for your bestie. Alternatively, give these little cards to anyone you want to shower with love and we’re sure their day will be made.

We’ve designed a mixture of prewritten tokens with our suggestions as well as blank tokens so you can make them totally personal. Simply print them off onto A4 sized card at home, cut them out and fill them in. The tokens look great in an envelope, but you can make them extra fancy by presenting them in a little box.

Get your free download here: Love Tokens. And if you fancy adding something to them, you can visit our Valentine’s shop here.

We hope you love using them! Let us know whether you’d like us to do more downloads in the future, and if you use them, do post a photo onto Instagram tagging us @MarthaBrookLDN or use the hashtag #MarthaBrookLDN so we can see your photos. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Leave a comment Posted in Downloads | Tagged download, love tokens, Palentine's Day, Valentine's Day By Martha Brook

January 26, 2018

New Year’s Brunch

A couple of weeks ago we held our first ever Martha Brook blogger event. Hosting a special morning with a selection of our favourite influencers has been something we’ve wanted to do for a while so it was incredibly exciting to plan a beautiful event to introduce our products to such creative and talented women.

We decided that a New Year’s brunch would be the perfect way to celebrate that exciting feeling that January brings and pretty stationery definitely goes hand in hand with New Year resolutions and plans.

We invited a small group of bloggers to join us; Emma Block, Alison from Not Another Mummy Blog, Caroline from 91 Magazine, Teri from The Lovely Drawer, Talitha from Ruby and B, Lucy from Lucy Loves Ya, Laura Melhuish– Sprague from Living my Style and Lucy from Capture by Lucy. We also had the wonderful Sophie Carefull join us to snap the event.

In typical Martha Brook style each detail was thought through and we styled one of our favourite local restaurants to create an inspiring setting. Branded pastel-coloured placemats, personalised gold place names, pretty spring flowers and candles decorated the table while the rest of the room was made extra lovely by displaying our favourite Martha Brook products.

During the brunch, we hosted a goal setting workshop to help our guests plan out their perfect 2018. An ice breaker card sat at each place setting to help everyone reflect on last year and what they learned. After sharing thoughts on why goals are so important and some useful tips, everyone set themselves goals for the year using our event worksheets thinking ahead to one month, three months, six months and a year from now. ‘Notes to myself’ notecards were then used to write down words of encouragement to read again later.

We also had our bloggers design their own personalised desk calendar. It was great to see them get excited about what colours and style to choose. A member of the production team whizzed their orders to and from the Martha Brook studio and the calendars were ready to take away by the end of the event. A perfect example of how each of our products are personalised and made to order right here in West London.

We hope you enjoyed this peek behind the scenes into our first event. We have plenty more to come as we’ve definitely caught the party bug! Big thanks to to Sophie Carefull for the photographs. Watch this space for more details on the goal setting workshop and some worksheet downloads in case you want to join in and set yourself plans for the year.

Leave a comment Posted in Events, Latest News | Tagged bloggers, events By Martha Brook

December 17, 2017

Team Christmas Gift Guide Part 2

If you’re stuck for things to buy this Christmas, we’ve come to the rescue! The lovely Martha Brook team have picked out their favourite products to make your shopping a whole lot easier. We have so much to choose from on our site so we hope that this guide will be super helpful. Part 2 includes gifts for stationery lovers, sentimental types and those hoping to shine in 2018.

Production Assistant Olivia – Any Text Hidden Photo Hardback Notebook

I chose this notebook as I love how it can be made completely bespoke to suit your personality, and you can even add a photo inside. I also really love the simple design – both the typeface and that you can add either a heart or a swirl motif to the bottom. It’s a great gift if you don’t know what to get someone!

Production Assistant Emma – Foiled Glitter Star Christmas Decoration

I love the glitter on these new decorations, it’s just so sparkly and Christmassy! These stars also foil beautifully – I would choose the copper, which looks stunning against the silver glitter. These decorations work so well in a festive display like we’ve done with our Martha Brook Christmas Tree as they catch the light and sparkle.

Production Assistant Edlyl – Sparkle and Shine Foiled Softback Notebook

I love all our new softback notebooks but this one has extra details that make it even more special. The little stars in the design add even more shine so the the notebook really brightens up your desk! My favourite is the mint green colour, but all the shades are lovely.

Head of Operations Chris AKA ‘Mr B’ – Name 2018 Desk Calendar

I love our new desk calendars, which feel such high quality. My favourite is this one, which I think has the most minimal design and the landscape style means you can capture important events and see them at a glance. For me, I’d pick it in the Slate Grey with silver foil, which is a combination not many customers go for, but I think it looks very smart.

Production Assistant Michelle – Moments With Dad Memory Box

I love our memory boxes as an extension of our Love Notes range. These boxes make unique sentimental gifts that are extra special as they can be filled with personal photos. They are without doubt my favourite product to make – I always think about how much joy they’ll spread!

Production Assistant Esther – Family Glitter Star Christmas Decoration

Like Emma, I love our new glitter decorations. I particularly love the fact that you can have something foiled onto the back, in this case the name of each family member, to make a wonderful gift idea to treasure for years to come.

Junior Designer Hannah – Make it Count 2018 Daily Diary

Our Martha Book diaries not only help you stay organised but they’re also so pretty, which is a huge bonus. New for 2018 are our daily diaries and I would choose this one in classic white with rose gold foiling – my favourite!

We hope you found Part 2 of our gift guide useful! For more Christmas gift ideas, visit our Christmas shop here.

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