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The Stationery Social 2019

Published 5 years ago. Estimated reading time: 6 minutes.

Sep 29

Earlier this month we held the 2019 Stationery Social. More than 80 stationery fans came from all over the UK to join us in East London for a beautiful, fun and uplifting day out filled with creative workshops, gorgeous things to photograph and experience, food and drink, inspirational speakers, networking and more.

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Back in the spring we set ourselves the ambition to host twice as many attendees as last year, and so had the challenge of finding a venue big enough to fit us all in! It also had to be fairly central, and importantly, a blank canvas to fill with all the paper prettiness. When we stumbled across The Gallery at Beach Blanket Babylon in the heart of Shoreditch we knew it was perfect – a unique space with buckets of natural daylight, high ceilings, festoon lighting and even our own bar.

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We were so lucky to find some incredible small businesses to work with to help us transform the space, so we kept the theme this year pretty simple – a hit of pastel – to give them the creative freedom to design whatever they wanted for the day.
Arriving at the event, the guests walked through a ‘flower meadow’, which was the incredible brainchild of the lovely duo Jane & Flo (Dove & Myrtle and Hibbert and Hagström). They share a love for nature and wilder aspects of their surroundings, which shines through their floral style. We couldn’t have asked for a better welcome – isn’t is stunning?

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Our brief to Maria from Mimi and Lu was to create a backdrop that is uniquely us and that our guest would also be excited by, and wow did she deliver! Maria designed and constructed an epic 9 foot tall Martha Brook balloon wall, which not only wowed everyone as they arrived, but was the perfect spot for our guests to have their photo taken!

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Our second backdrop was created by Cathy from The Origami Boutique, who did an amazing job transforming a blank wall using only paper. She developed the geometric and floral origami designs just for the event, so it was truly unique, and incredibly eye-catching, the pastel and pink colours popping from wherever you were in the room. In front of her wall, was a showcase of our newest stationery – our Mindful Journal Collection and hot off the press 2020 Diaries.

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One of our main aims of the Social Stationary is for our guests to leaving feeling inspired, and so mid way through the afternoon we held a panel discussion with a group of amazing and inspirational women, hosted by our founder Martha. They chatted about ‘living a life doing something you love’, whether that’s full time or as a side hustle. Everything from how to find your niche, to how to stand out and build a brand, to how to balance it all.

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Joining Martha were four women well known for doing their own thing; Steph Douglas, mum of three and founder of Don’t Buy Her Flowers, Kay Suppamas, founder of We Are LeafageGeraldine Tan who balances her award winning Instagram and blog littleBigBell alongside working as a consultant in A&E, and Ellie Kime, wearer of many hats including her business The Enthusiast.

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The talk was definitely one of the highlights of the day. It was brilliant to hear real-life stories and very different tips on how to live a creative life and the attendees were all buzzing afterwards.

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Throughout the afternoon we ran four creative taster-workshops. The brilliant Rebecca from Betty Etiquette hosted the Lettering For Journals workshop:

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Rebecca guided the attendees through basic techniques on brush lettering using Tom Bow pens and showed them how to create gorgeous letterforms, colour blending and floral motifs. We also popped a Martha Brook hardback notebook in the goody bags for everyone to go away and experiment in!

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The second Envelope Addressing workshop was ran by our lovely in-house designer Hannah who shared her tips on letterings and creative layouts, taking snail mail to the next level.

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Pam from our production team ran the Imaginative Gift Wrapping Workshop, demonstrating various different ways on how to transform your presents.

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Lastly our local friends teapigs joined us for a tea tasting workshop, which included the fascinating history and facts about different tea blends.- our favourite drink at Martha Brook HQ!

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Of course, the day wouldn’t be complete without sweet treats. Richmond Cake School made a stunning rose and pistachio cake adorned with edible flowers:

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And the now infamous Pam from our team made 60 stationery vanilla cupcakes – adorned with envelopes and Martha Brook seals. We couldn’t love them more!

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Throughout the day, the talented Megan from The House of Love Illustration was roaming around, quietly capturing special moments – from the guests enjoyment themselves – to drawing small details of the event. Anyone who managed to get their hands on one of her live illustrations was very lucky!

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The final treat for our guests was goody bag each filled a range of surprises. In addition to the exclusive ‘stationery lovers club’ notebook, we included a Biscuiteers biscuit, a pack of Sass & Belle Girl Power pencils, some teapigs tea, some postcards and a foiled star keepsake.

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Finally, we would like to say a massive thank you to the incredible Cristina Ilao who spent the whole afternoon taking all these beautiful photos.

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After months planning, it was a joy to see it all come together. Our favourite part was meeting all the lovely people that came along. Spending an afternoon chatting and getting creative left us feeling so uplifted and inspired. Thank you if that was you – it was an absolute pleasure to meet you.

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We can’t wait for next year’s Stationery Social. It seems to have become an annual thing, and that is good with us! We just need to work out how to top this! Thank you again to everyone that came and to all the small businesses mentioned here from all of us at Martha Brook.

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