Archive for June, 2010
Yellow Pads
Rhodia makes one pad with yellow paper. It is 8 1/4 x 12 1/2″, ruled with margin. It is not the most popular pad we make, but the sales are consistently high enough to keep it in the mix. 
Since I write with fountain pens, white paper enhances the color of inks (Diamine, Sailor, Herbin) I use and makes the experience of writing more vibrant. But for some interior reason, when I need to take “serious notes” I prefer a yellow pad. I have thought about why this might be and have concluded I associate white more with creativity; and yellow with memory.
Which color pad do you like to use?
User Review: Alberto Lung reviews the new dotPad
Alberto Lung reviews lots & lots of art supplies… which is why I love his blog – Lung Sketching Scrolls.
He recently reviewed the new Rhodia dotPad and had this to say: “The pale violet dots with 5 mm interval provide pretty effective guidelines Continue Readering »
Rhodia Welcomes Franklin Covey to the Family!
We would like to take a moment to welcome a new retailer into the Rhodia family – Franklin Covey! They are currently carrying a selection of Rhodia products on their website – click to visit!
Franklin Covey is for people just like you who want to get more organized. They are constantly producing and gathering the best products available for juggling busy schedules and turning chaos into order so you’ll always have one source for all things organizing. Whatever you’re looking for to organize your day, your space or your life, they’ve got you covered.
Confessions of a Pen Addict
If you have a particular appreciation for pens, you probably should be reading my friend Brad Dowdy’s blog, The Pen Addict. As I see him day after day reviewing pen after pen, I decided to see if he would be willing to share his story of how his fondness for the inky instruments began. Continue Readering »
Guest Post: Italian Miniature Glass Dip Pen and Inkwell
I recently received an e-mail from a woman named Millie- a regular reader of both Rhodia Drive and my personal blog, Spiritual Evolution of the Bean. She was eager to show and tell the story of this absolutely *Adorable* miniature dip pen and inkwell. Continue Readering »
Rhodia in Paris
Writer and Rhodia fan, Margaret Mendel, recently visited Paris and chronicled her visit in her blog. Her entry “Rhodia, Paris and Me” appeared on June 11 and can be read in its entirety here.
Margaret originally hoped to see the place where Rhodia is made but that was not possible to arrange. However, as a consolation prize, I sent her a Rhodia pad for her trip, and asked if she could please take a photo of it at some point in her trip.
She did! And her photos of Paris, people and environs are exceptional. Her photo-journal captured the city the way Marcel Proust captured a madeleine.
“Even though the trip to Paris is over, the enjoyment is not finished yet, as I untangle my photographs and the notes that I have made in my Rhodia. There are no chocolate or coffee stains on the cover of this notebook, nor is there an greasy smears of the delicious French butter, there are, never the less, tons of memories jotted down on those Rhodia notebook pages.”
Margaret’s photos can be seen in her flickr album here; and read the story of her trip here.
Choose your Quo Vadis Academic Year Planner
Did you know that Quo Vadis invented the concept of Weekly Time Management in 1954? The founder of the company, a French doctor named F.G. Beltrami, sketched a grid on a notebook, and created the Agenda Planning Diary®, a week-on-two-pages planner. This invention revolutionized the use of the paper diary and helped millions of people throughout the world to organize their lives.
Quo Vadis agendas are made with Clairefontaine paper — the best paper in the world for writing. Extra white and super smooth, it’s easy to write… A sister company to Rhodia, Quo Vadis planners have a multitude of design options available. Find your perfect Academic year planner here!
Fancy a Flannel Pen Wrap?
Photo © 2010 Richard F. Binder
I keep contemplating an alternative storage device for my fountain pens as my leather case (which holds 20 pens) will not zip closed due to my 6 Lamy Safari’s and 1 Lamy AL-Star. The caps on these pens are rather wide in diameter and so when I saw this hand-made pen wrap on Richard Binder’s website, it made me wonder whether or not it would allow me to roll up my bigger pens without having them clank together. Continue Readering »
Product Spotlight: New Blank Habana Journals from Quo Vadis
Image courtesy of Biffybeans © All Rights Reserved
New developments on the Habana front! The small 4×6 3/8″ Habana (which I’ve always referred to as the “Baby” Habana) is new & improved. There is now a blank version available with the 90g Clairefontaine paper – the same paper found in the large version. For the doodlers among us, Wheeee! Continue Readering »
In search of the perfect highlighting instrument
Image courtesy of Biffybeans © All rights Reserved.
“And here we are in the murky depths of the office supply store, in search of the elusive dry highlighting pencil… its fluorescent colors are magnificent, yet so difficult to capture…..” Continue Readering »
Burn this journal!
While I never have, I’ll admit I have given it some thought. Someone I know has a yearly bonfire and I’ve considered purging years worth of writing by ceremoniously tossing them on the pile- yet I don’t.
I write for many reasons, but mostly because it’s super cheap therapy. It’s a place where you can fully express yourself in a completely unedited way. You write for you and only you… or do you? Some people write memoirs in hopes that some day they will be published, and while I suppose that idea might be nice, in my mind, I’d rather just leave something behind that can maybe inspire someone to move past a difficult time in their life.
What would you think about burning a blank journal to symbolically represent letting go? Maybe make a few notes inside of specific instances that were particularly difficult to write about?
Numbered Pages?
If you’ve ever visited my other blog, you’ll know that I’ve reviewed a lot of different brands and styles of journals.
While the Webbie meets about 95% of my preferred features, to make it 100% perfect I’d love to see numbered pages. (What??? Numbered pages? Seriously? Yes… ) I just reviewed a competitor’s product and the one thing I liked about it was their combination feature of numbered pages with a blank index at the front of the book. As I tend to do a great deal of stream of consciousness writing, I loved the fact that I could simply note the page numbers at the front of the book should there be a particular section I’d want to refer back to. It sure beats all those little sticky page flags whose purpose I always end up forgetting- much like a string tied around a finger… I liked this feature so much, I recently hand numbered all of the pages in my new (3.0) blank Webbie.
Have you ever used a journal with numbered pages, or numbered your own? Of all of the journals I’ve ever tested, the one mentioned above was only brand I’ve ever seen with them. I’m wondering if it just isn’t a feature that people are interested in, that it is too costly to produce, or if it’s one that other companies are simply missing out on.
(PS – my full list of preferred journal features include: roughly 6×8 in size, hardbound, rounded corners on both paper & cover, blank off-white fountain pen friendly paper, 70g-ish paper weight, numbered pages, and a cover in black, red, or purple.)
A not so much love affair with pencils
Image by Biffybeans © All Rights Reserved.
I really, really, would like to love using a pencil. I have several different kinds- some for writing, some for drawing. Some wooden and at least a few mechanical. I have thick graphite sticks for sketching and colored pencils made by 4 different companies.
And yet I struggle with them all…. Continue Readering »
Rhodia makes its independent short film debut in Anne Marie Boidock’s Linus Lovely
At its simplest level, Linus Lovely is a short film about a sincere and intimate friendship. It focuses on one evening in the life of 24 year-old roommates, Dylan Fairchild and Stella Tessier, who have been close friends since their first year of college six years earlier.
All of the action transpires on New Year’s Eve, beginning with Dylan alone in the apartment preparing for Stella’s return. They are very set in their traditions, which include years of carrying pocket-sized Rhodia journals with them everywhere in order to keep a record of their friendship with the hope of one day writing a novel together with the material collected. Continue Readering »
Rhodia & Cheese
Since I love cheese, this delightful email caught my eye…..
“There once was a family obsessed with cheese, when offered fromage they always said please! Their quest for cheese took them quite far, discovering how passionate they truly are! So they plotted and planned to bring it all home, NO longer for cheese will you have to roam! We have cases to fill and floors to mop…bringing the village a little cheese shop!” 
“My sister and I are opening a cheese shop in our home town! Alongside cheese, we want to showcase all of the products we’ve grown to love/need!”
“I love my Rhodia notebooks. From symposium notes + travel journals (aka universal pictionary) to new purveyors + tasting details for our shop, I can’t imagine jotting them in anything but my trusty orange Rhodia!”
Thank you, Lydia! Rhodia + cheese fans, Claremont, California has a place just for you! Please visit Claremont Cheese when their site is launched – claremontcheese.com – and in the meantime follow them on twitter – http://twitter.com/cheesecave.
