Archive for October, 2010
Interesting and Inspiring
Sharing some Friday blog love…..
Defining Me: Art is Subjective
Plannerisms: Me and my Trinote
Drawings with a Squirrel: Slow Progress
Pencil Talk: The Joy of using a large piece of paper
A Brush with Color: Mark Twain’s Nook Farm Home
Inkophile: So What’s the Deal with Iron Gall Ink?
A Penchant for Paper: Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens
Pocket Blonde: TWSBI Fine Point Fountain Pen
Quo Vadis Blog: Note Inserts! (And Giveaway)
The Art of Manliness: The Pocket Notebooks of 20 Famous Men
Spiritual Evolution of the Bean: Colleen Double Ended Colored Pencils
What’s in your #dailyarsenal?
Rhodia pads
Pilot VP + Pilot Blue
Sheaffer SNork + R&K Scabiosa
Lamy Vista + Diamine Sunshine yellow
Rotring Art Pen 2.7 mm + Iroshizuku Fuyu-Gaki
Notes notes notes
Netbook
Patience Continue Readering »
If not Blank, Dot, Graph or Lined, What would you like to see?
Doodling as much as I write, I am a big fan of the blank page. I find that lined has it’s place with me as well- using it for making lists, staying organized, and brainstorming. Big graph pads are fun for mind-maps and the dot pads fun for practicing calligraphy. For fans of the Cornell note taking system, Levenger is now exclusively offering Rhodia paper for their Circa notebooks that is annotation ruled.
I know that during my travels that I’ve seen a few other kinds of page rulings- are there any that you have seen that you’d like to see Rhodia produce?
How did you come to find Rhodia?
Did you see them in a store? Receive them as a gift? Go searching for them because your favorite Uncle Charlie loved to use them? I started using them about 5 years ago when I learned that one of my favorite jewelry designers always kept one in his pocket. I happened upon them in a Blick Art Supply store and I’ve been attached ever since, even more so since I began writing with a fountain pen. Rhodia paper is well known for working very well with water based fountain pen inks.
Will you share with us how you came to bring Rhodia into your life?
Gfeller custom leather cases for the Rhodia Webbie
Gfeller Casemakers in Meridian, Idaho has been known since 1946 for their manufacture of leather goods for the purpose of field study. I recently spoke to Steve Derricott President & Co-Owner of Gfeller Casemakers, Inc. when he told me,
“If you have an opportunity to check out our notebook covers, we are adding an item for the increasing popular Webnotebook. A number of requests for custom leather covers for the volume have prompted us to add this as a regular item, just as soon as we receive the tooling to speed up production.” Continue Readering »
Got Questions for Me? Tune in to Ink Nouveau’s Write Time at 9 on Oct 26th
Brian Goulet of InkNouveau.com blog and GouletPens.com does a live weekly show at 9pm EST on Tuesdays to talk about goings-on with fountain pens, paper, ink, and whatever else inspires him. I will be Brian’s special guest next Tuesday and if you have any questions for me about pens, paper, art supplies or how to play the shekere, (LOL!) feel free to leave them in the comment section below and we will do our best to address them during the live show. Brian typically uploads the hour long video so it can be viewed by people who wish to view it later.
This is the link to tune in next Tuesday, hope you will join us!
Who are you?
I am a writer, an artist, I teach personal growth workshops, and I play percussion. I use Webbies to reflect on life, Rhodia Meeting books to plan blog posts, and #8 Bloc Rhodia pads to write out my shopping lists. I am also quite fond of the various Clairefontaine fine arts papers.
Who are you, and how do you use your Rhodia?
Mandala art by Biffybeans. © All Rights Reserved
Favorite place to write?
I have a very small house with no real desk space and my favorite writing space is where ever I find a comfy chair. I just prop the book open on my knee and I’m fine. (Which why I prefer journals with rigid covers.) I have been writing this way for so long, (5 years) that I probably would feel uncomfortable if I had a big wooden desk to spread out on.
Do you have a favorite place to write? To plan out your day, make to-do lists, etc.?
Image courtesy of Colin Harris, Digitalnative on Flickr.
Guess what? Levenger Circa + Rhodia= Yaay!
Do you own a Levenger Circa Notebook or always wanted one? Circa Notebooks allow you to quickly and easily rearrange pages by way of a disc binding system.
The big news is that for the first time ever, as of October 22nd, you will be able to order Rhodia paper for your Circa.
I do not have all of the details as of yet, but I do know that this will be an exclusive Levenger product, consisting of Rhodia white 90g paper. Are you excited?
Calling all Bloggers – Interested in reviewing some Exaclair products?
Many of you already know how generous my boss Karen Doherty is with sending out samples for review. If you don’t then I will tell you. We love when bloggers review our products – good, bad or indifferent. The comments that you provide help us to know what you want, and if any improvements are needed. (Such as creating a blank Webbie.) Continue Readering »
Sermons
Back in July we were contacted by Wilson Hines, a divinity student, with some suggestions on how the Rhodia Weekly Notebook-Academic year could be improved. He suggested that we have a two-page spread for the fall, spring and summer semester schedules. He also pointed out–quite correctly–that our current August-July year does not exactly match university sessions. We explained we have arranged it as we do to basically cover the school year and keep the cost down; more pages = more expense. However, we will bring up the changes Wilson suggested at our next product development meeting. Wilson’s comments on the Weekly Planner can be found on his blog, A Journey thru Academia. 
Wilson and I got to meet at the DC pen show a month later, and it was great to be able to talk to him in person. I asked him where he first heard of Rhodia and he said he discovered it on J. Mark Bertrand’s blog, Bible Design Blog. Mark Bertrand uses Rhodia pads to prepare his sermons. You can read about it here.
Bible Design Blog is a site devoted to innovative design and quality Bible binding. Mark Bertrand is also a mystery author. His latest book, Back on Murder, is the first in a series about Houston homicide detective Roland March.
Stephanie reminded me that Father Matthew Thurman, a frequent contributor to Rhodia Drive, uses a Webbie to write his sermons.
Earlier this spring, Fr. Thurman commented on using Rhodia in his work and ministry: “…as a pastor, I do a lot of preaching/teaching that involves putting together ideas from several different things I read. I’ve started using side-stapled Rhodia notebooks as “project books” for making notes and composing teaching outlines–i.e., a Bible study notebook, a sermon notebook, an adult class notebook, etc.”
Fr. Thurman’s blog is 30 Days.
Do you use or know of others who use Rhodia notebooks for sermons, inner reflection, as a retreat diary, or other spiritual work?
User Review: Gentian and a bottle of Herbin’s 1670 ink
Karen sent our friend Gentian Osman a bottle of the J. Herbin 1670 Anniversary ink to play with & review on her blog, Drawing with a Squirrel. Please take a few moments to admire the beauty that she creates with pen and ink. Her full review is on her blog- which is filled with amazing art and additional art supply reviews. I am particularly partial to her watercolor swatches. Continue Readering »
Favorite Authors?
I recently wrote a blog post on how I finally broke down and bought a Kindle. I had been against the idea of an e-reader for the longest time but now that I have one, I am reading so much more than I have in at least a dozen years. Right now, I’m re-reading one of my favorite old Stephen King books, The Talisman.
I’ve been downloading many of the free books available for the Kindle and for the 1st time ever recently read Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book and The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. (Yes, I cried) I feel like a kid again exploring the world through books. While I love the feel and smell of paper, I’d rather be reading e-ink than not reading at all.
Since I’ve been out of the realm of fiction for a very long time, I’m wondering if you would share a few of your favorite authors/books with me. Old or now, doesn’t matter. Since I can download samples for free with my Kindle, I’m eager to see what I’ve been missing.
Your Feedback: Write a Letter?
In response to our recent post, “Write a Letter?” we received a message from a man named Frank that said:
“I agree that written letters seem more personal and convey a different feeling than email. I write letters when I want my reader to “hold something in his/her hands,” thereby getting a tactile sense as well as a visual sense from the writing. Seeing the loops and curls draws the reader into the letter, requires a different involvement, and creates a different investment in connection than email. Email is plain vanilla and quick. To some, writing a letter means, “I’m willing to invest the time to write this, and ask that you invest time to read what I’ve written.” And it can say that I care enough about you and the subject to personalize it.”
You know, as silly as it might sound, I never really thought about how much joy the physical letter could bring to the recipient.
I think it’s time to start writing a few letters…. How about you?
How much space do you need?
If you use a lined journal, how important is the width of the line spacing to you? Do you prefer it to be a certain size? Before I gave up lines for the blank page, I wanted my lines to be about 5mm apart. Less than that and I’d write big anyway, obscuring the lines & making a mess of things. Larger than 5mm and I felt lost and like I was wasting paper.
