Archive for July, 2009
BLANK PAD, OUR WEEKLY FORUM POST
Welcome to Blank Pad, a forum to discuss topics about our latest products, your comments and themes related to our obsessions – pen, paper and such. Today, we’d like to know:
What is your favorite writing instrument? Pencil, fountain pen, mechanical pencil, sharpie, Pilot G2…?
Do you carry it around with you or leave it at home?
Found: Canoe
Here’s a recent web find. Note the familiar orange pads under the table.
From their “About” page:
CANOE was established in 2005. Drawing on our 20 years of experience in the retail industry and our passion for design, the CANOE concept is to offer simple, beautiful, and functional objects that can be used and enjoyed everyday. To us, modern is an approach, not a style. We seek out products with a lasting aesthetic that transcends short-lived trends.
Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper
Notebook Stories is organizing an online event that should get every paper geek’s heart a-flutter. Here’s the official announcement.
It’s time for something new! Introducing the Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper, which will kick off here at Notebook Stories on Tuesday, August 4th. Future editions will be hosted by The Pen Addict on September 8th , Office Supply Geek on October 6th, and other blogs yet to be determined.
If you are a blogger and want to submit a post for the inaugural edition, the deadline is Sunday, August 2nd at 5pm Eastern time. Read below for all the details.
What is the Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper? Will there be cotton candy and rides?
The Carnival is a monthly collection of the best blog posts about notebooks, journals, pens, pencils, paper products and other related topics, appearing at a different blog the first Tuesday of every month. Any unhealthy foods and unnatural G-force levels will be purely virtual.
How can I get one of my posts into the Carnival? How are the posts selected?
Any blogger can submit a post by filling out a simple form at this link. The carnival host will then be responsible for selecting submissions to be included at his or her discretion. One post per submitting blog per carnival. Spam, off-topic posts and inappropriate material will be rejected.
What is the best kind of post to submit?
Please submit a recent post (within the past week or two). Posts should be your own original content. The most interesting posts reflect the point of view of the writer, such as a review of a pen, or an explanation of your paper-based organization system, or examples of artwork from your sketchbook with some commentary. Photos of gorgeous notebooks and pens are always a big plus!
Are there any other requirements for bloggers submitting posts?
Bloggers whose posts are selected should write a post linking back to that edition of the carnival after it is published, as well as the carnival home page. Tweets and Facebook updates are also appreciated. Toot your own horn a bit!
How can I host a future edition of the carnival?
Contact the organizer to apply. Hosts are expected to weed out spam and post the carnival by 9am the first Tuesday of the month in order to ensure maximum exposure for all participants. It’s also preferred that the host select a few “editor’s choice” posts to highlight. The host should help publicize the carnival by posting, tweeting, etc. The organizer reserves the right to limit hosting to established, active, on-topic blogs.
What is the point of all this? Why should I want to participate?
If you like reading about notebooks, pens, etc., the carnival is a great way to discover new bloggers and make sure you haven’t missed some of the best recent posts from blogs you may already know.
If you are a blogger who writes about notebooks and pens, either as a main topic or just occasionally in relation to other topics such as writing, organization, art, creativity, etc, then the carnival is a chance to showcase your work, find new readers, and gain more incoming links to your blog.
We hope all notebook, pen and pencil fans will find this a fun way to learn more about and interact with a large and growing community of like-minded souls! Please pass the word!
Found: Repurposed books
OffBeat Earth has a recent post on alternative uses for all those books. Among them, this sculptures/installations by Tom Bendtsen. The examples are mind-boggling. Most have links to even more paperback (and hard cover!) goodness.
[Thanks Max]
Tidbits from Ghost World
Yes, we found the blog name intriguing, too. But we found out something even more interesting…the writer is a paper nerd as well.
“a highlight of each fall for me is picking out my planner for the next year (YES, I AM A NERD). because there is no longer any real reason to spend buckets on school supplies (unless one counts orla kiely paper products), this pretty much has to suffice to quench my paper craving. i think i am going to go with the same one i am using now, the exacompta space 17. it has a whole page on the right for each week where i can put runs for the week, cooking plans, and other things to do. i don’t need much space for each day, because what am i going to put on there — “go to work”?…”
Go Sarah!
BLANK PAD, OUR WEEKLY FORUM POST
Welcome to Blank Pad, a forum to discuss topics about our latest products, your comments and themes related to our obsessions – pen, paper and such. This Friday, we’d like to know:
Which pads do you prefer – plain or grid? Some like the freedom of plain paper, others prefer the structure and guidance of grids. Which one are you?
Brave New Voices : Where does the future of poetry lie?
By Janina Rusiecki
It lies in the hands of the teens that participated in the 12 annual Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam. The festival showcased teen poets ages thirteen to nineteen. They slammed against each other in front of a packed audience at the Chicago Theater on Saturday, July 18, 2009.
Kevin Koval, fellow Chicago poet was the cheeky host for the night. He began by announcing the rules. There would be four teams in the finals and they would include Leeds, England, Honolulu, Hawaii, Jacksonville, Florida and a team from the Bay Area. They were to go against each other in four bouts and they would receive scores from the judges. The lowest score was thrown out. Whichever team received the most points by the end of the night would win. The prize? Nothing. Well, maybe not nothing. The title of slam champion, exposure, and the envy of your fellow peers isn’t exactly what I’d call nothing.
The poems centered on various issues including genocide, racism, war, and oppression, but others were much more introspective focusing on the ideas of loneliness, self-loathing, and anger.
During the show several other teams had the opportunity to perform one of their pieces. These poems were incredibly powerful and I couldn’t believe these teams weren’t in the finals. Wendy Aceves, a member of the audience said, “I liked the poems by the teams that weren’t competing in the finals.” In the end the team from Honolulu, Hawaii won for the second year in a row, so congratulations goes out to them.
I learned that teens poets are not only thinkers, but they are incredibly courageous as they put their personal thoughts on the stage for the whole world to see. They are very much like every other teen I’ve ever met and even reminded me of my younger self. So many of the things they said resonated with me in a way I had long forgotten about until the night of the slam.
I found these teen poets were very idealistic. They truly believe that they can change the world. And they still have no idea how much work that will take, but they aren’t letting that get in their way – at least for now. And I love that. It’s refreshing.
Link: Brave New Voices, Official Site
Rhodia is proud to have been a part of this year’s event.
Exaclair and Quo Vadis on Twitter
If you’re on Twitter, you may now get up to the minute news on all Exaclair’s brands! Contests, fan reaction, trend-spotting for notebooks, stationery products and art supplies.
Follow us : http://twitter.com/exaclair
For everything Quo Vadis – paper, pens, people, planning – what’s getting noticed and talked about on the web.
We’re on Twitter, here: http://twitter.com/quovadisblog
Largest/Smallest Rhodia pads
Granny Kass recently got hold of samples from us and wrote the first of a series of reviews, this one to introduce the largest and tiniest among the bunch.
The large pad is No 38 at 42,0 X 31,8 cm or 16.5 x 12.5 in. It comes in the standard 5 X 5 grid format. The same great paper as other Rhodia notepads. I have been using the pad for brain storming and mind mapping projects. The pad gives me a lot of space to formulate my plans. I have also used it for sketching and drawing. I have found only one short coming in this product. For the size of this pad the standard board backing needs to be thicker in order to use it away from a table or desk which makes it a little difficult to be portable.
Julie & Julia
Clairefontaine notebooks makes a cameo appearance in a movie about Julia Child called “Julie and Julia”. The film is directed by Nora Ephron and stars Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Amy Adams and Chris Messina.
The film depict events in the life of famed chef Julia Child. Ephron’s screenplay is adapted from two books: My Life in France, Child’s autobiography, written with Alex Prud’homme, and a memoir by Julie Powell. In August 2002, Powell started documenting online her daily experiences cooking each of the 524 recipes in Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and she later began reworking that blog.
Julia Child used Clairefontaine notebooks for her receipes and notes. At the request of the film’s prop master, the archivist at Clairefontaine
provided notebooks with the notebook covers of the period for Meryl Streep
to use.
BLANK PAD, OUR WEEKLY FORUM POST
Welcome to Blank Pad, a forum to discuss topics about our latest products, your comments and themes related to our obsessions – pen, paper and such. This Friday, we would like to discuss a possible project with you.
Exaclair is currently working with Wet Paint Art to to have different artists draw, paint, watercolor, etc. anything they want in one Clairefontaine sketchbook. We are very excited to see the variety of art and the variation in the ways the different artists approach the idea. We would love to share these images (with information on the artists) with you, but need to know through what medium you would like to follow this project. Would you rather view the art through FLICKR or through an entirely new blog dedicated to the project? Or, do you have another idea on how we can share this with you? Finally, if we were to pass around another art book, would any of you like to participate in it?
Link: Wet Paint Art
Brave New Voices Festival Schedule
Brave New Voices, Chicago 2009
All over the United States, a new generation of poets is emerging. This new HBO series captures teenagers picking up the pen and taking hold of the microphone with passion, intelligence, creativity, honesty and power. These voices of 21st Century America transcend race, class, gender, orientation, and red state/blue state politics as they show us all what the next generation of leaders looks and sounds like.
Rhodia is proud to be a part of it.
Brave New Voices, official site
As seen in Container Store
We’re excited to learn that The Container Store has 2 small orange Rhodia pads, and what appears to be a QV agenda (with wrap- around elastic closure!) prominently placed in one of their still life catalog shots, showcasing clear stacking bins (“happy organized home sale” catalog- p25).
Yes, “The Orange One” is showing up in a lot of places.
THE FINAL WINNER FOR THE SUMMER RAFFLES IS…
Michael Ramm of Northport, Alabama. Congratulations!
Thanks to everyone for joining our summer giveaways. There are more contests coming and freebies to be won so visit often.
Related: THE CONTEST POST
