Anyone who knows me will not be at all surprised to learn that I have an entire
Pinterest board devoted to book and library themed clothing and accessories. From time to time when I purchase a literary themed item, I may post a review of it here for anyone else also interested in literary looks and lifestyle items. My first review is for the custom phone case I ordered from
Chick-Lit Designs on Etsy.
Review
I resisted getting a smartphone for the longest time, but eventually caved. When I finally got one, I knew I wanted a case for it that looked like a book, particularly a copy of
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Chick-Lit Designs kept coming up as I was searching, but the
Alice case she had at the time wasn't quite what I wanted, though it was still very cute. I found that I kept going back to her
Grimm's Fairytale case. I loved the design elements it had: the red color, the gold design around the edges, the central frames with an image on the front and a quote one the back. Fortunately for me, Chick-Lit offers custom designs. At nearly $50, the custom case was more than I had really wanted to spend on a phone case, but I knew I could also get exactly what I wanted that way so I decided to go for it.
I was not disappointed! Chick-Lit Designs was very easy to work with. She started working on a design based on my requests right away and communicated well about the small tweaks I wanted during the process. The process did not take long and I had my new case within a couple of weeks, which seemed quite quick for a custom request.
I've been using the case for over six months now and it has held up very well. There is some minor wear around the edges, which I would expect from regular use. Other than that, the case is in great shape and hardly looks different than when I first took it out of the box over half a year ago. The box it came in was adorable too. Chick-Lit has an eye for nice packaging too!
The case has three slots for cards and a small pocket for money, but it will not replace a wallet if you carry a lot of things. If you put more than around four cards in it, the magnetic clasp has difficulty staying closed. This is a very minor thing, but definitely something to consider if you are hoping to find a phone case that will also work as a wallet.
I've just noticed that Chick-Lit has a new
Alice design in her shop now. If that one had been available when I was searching, I probably would not have gone for the custom design. I would love to have the new design too, but I probably don't need a second phone case and I don't think my current one will be wearing out anytime soon. If I do need a new case for whatever reason in the future though, I will not hesitate to purchase from Chick-Lit again.
Summary
If you want a cute bookish phone case and don't need it to be a replacement for a wallet, Chick-Lit gets a thumbs up from me.
Not all felt is created equal. I do sometimes use the felt that comes in rectangles at Michael's or JoAnn. If I need a color and need it right away, there aren't many other options. However, the quality of felt from most craft stores leaves a lot to be desired. It's pretty stiff and scratchy. Stiffness, I'll admit, can be a benefit when trying to cut out complex shapes, but it does make the pieces much less nice to handle. I am on the lookout for somewhere where I can buy individual sheets that are nice and soft, but if you are in the market for a variety pack, Amazon has got you covered with a pack of 40 different colors by a company called LifeGlow.
