Archive for Editorial
Happy Holidays to You!
Wishing you and yours a festive Holiday Season!
Original art © by Stephanie Smith
Something to Write Home About
I saw this article the other day about a 76 year old woman who just had removed from her intestines a pen that she had swallowed TWENTY FIVE years ago. Once removed, it still worked! Continue Readering »
Exaclair’s Top 10 Bestselling Products of 2011
Exaclair’s Top Ten Bestsellers of 2011! I have to admit that I am slightly disappointed that Rhodia only managed 9 out of 10 spots. :o) Next year we will have to get the dotWebbie onto that list!
So which of these are your favorites?
#1 Rhodia Pencils
#2 Rhodia Pad N.11 3″ x 4″
#3 Rhodia Pad N.16 6″ x 8 1/4″
#4 Rhodia Pad N.12 3 3/8″ x 4 3/4″
#5 Rhodia Staplebound Pocket Notebook
#6 Rhodia Mousepad
#7 Rhodia Large Meeting Book
#8 Rhodia Pad N.18
#9 Clairefontaine Classic Staplebound Notebook
#10 Rhodia Pad N.14 4 3/8″ x 6 3/8″
Rise of the Fountain Pens?
In the last however many years that I have been using fountain pens, I have yet to have a personal encounter with another FP user. I’ve spoken to thousands of them on the Fountain Pen Network just never anyone in person, until this month when I met 2! One is a photographer sharing studio space – Olaf gifted me with a bottle of Yama Budo as a studio warming present and has been seeing using a sweet Pilot pen with a cursive italic nib. The other was a man who visited my studio yesterday, he pulled out a TWSBI demonstrator which he said was a copy of a Pelikan M800.
Do you think this is simple coincidence? Or do you think fountain pen use is on the rise? The man with the TWSBI had come to see my mandalas with his teenage son who also liked to draw them. I asked his son if he also used a fountain pen to which his dad laughed and said that he wasn’t interested. I then explained to his son how I first started using them because of their effortless flow (my hands had been known to cramp after long writing sessions) and how many of my early mandalas had been drawn using a fountain pen.
I bet he gives it a shot…
I bet you’ll want one…
Perhaps you remember my friend Alex. He’s the one that’s been stashing Rhodia in various geocaches around central Pennsylvania. Same Alex whose cajon I painted. He’s been making and selling a ton of these paracord bracelets and when I saw him start to add these various colored “ribbons” in the center, I asked if he could make an orange with two black ones which would make it look like the Rhodia logo. Viola!
Interested? He’s charging $8 + shipping. Message me at stephanie@rhodiadrive.com with “Paracord Bracelet” in the subject line and I will forward to Alex.
Favorite Holiday Movie Moments
Was it the squirrel scene in Christmas Vacation?
The leg lamp in a Christmas Story?
Some people enjoy the 1947 version of Miracle on 34th Street.
Or maybe the end of It’s a Wonderful Life…
Or maybe you’d prefer a television moment – this was always one of my favorites:
As an adult that no longer observes any specific traditions, I can’t help remembering the way I felt about the holidays as a child – especially when I come across any of these movies.
Disco Fountain Pen!
I found this sign at a local antique co-op and couldn’t stop giggling because what on EARTH does disco dancing have to do with fountain pens? What an interesting marketing idea! I would love to know how many people sent away for this book and whether or not the book helped them to improve their dance moves. (Or writing ability!)
After a little digging, it appears as though the book dates from 1965 and includes dances such as “The Watusi” and “The Hitch-Hiker.” What, no “Hustle?” Additional images of the pen packaging can be found here.
Interested in a 2012 Rhodia Journal Swap?
I am currently participating in two different sketchbook exchange projects and it got me to thinking about starting a similar “journal swap” project. 12 people, each provided a large dotWebbie, would fill a specified amount of pages in the journal then mail it to the next person on the list. A theme would be chosen for the project and the participants could fill their pages however they choose – random thoughts, poems, art, collage… Along the way, the participants will scan/snap/upload project photos to a group Tumblr blog for all to see. After each book has cycled through the hands of all the participants, the book you started is returned to you – now filled with all kind of interesting stuff!
Is this something you might be interested in participating in?
I will post the specifics for participation after the new year.
Road Art
I met artist Don Colley at NAMTA’s 2011 Art Materials World conference and trade show. He was demoing at the Faber-Castell booth and happened to walk by ours during a break. His work with colored pencils was so life-like it could practically walk off the page. 
Don had used some of our larger datebooks for sketches because they lay flat. I promised to send him a Webnotebook to sample, and asked him to let me know if he liked it.
I got this email from Don the other day: “Hi Karen, I recently finished drawing in the sweet little orange leatherette covered Rhodia web notebook you sent me. I took it on tour with me this Fall and got some fun pages. Thanks again for the little book, it was well suited to cross country travel in planes and on buses. Happy Holidays.”
Please visit Don’s website – Buttnekkiddoodles-Drawing from Life in Chicago and Beyond.
Thanks, Don! Hope to see you at NAMTA 2012 in Orlando! 
Moving from one to the next
“When I put stuff in my bag earlier in the day I was thinking oh…sad but true, it is time to retire this LeCarre and start a new one…just when it was getting good and broken in and filled with everything from my time in Mexico this summer to the beginning of a new school year and all the meetings in between.”
Kim from the blog Consider the Lilies sent me this and it got me to thinking about my own transitions from one notebook or journal to the next. When I start to get close to the end of a book, I start to get anxious – I want to finish it and move into the next one which will most certainly contain experiences even more interesting that the one I am currently working on – though this one included Hurricane Irene, the East Coast Earthquake, camping through a thunder & lightning storm, my return to the Rhythm Revival, applying (and receiving!) a local artist residency… with all of these things happening in the latter part of this year, I can’t imagine what I will experience next!
How do you feel about transitioning from one book to the next? Is there anything special that you do to “out with the old and in with the new?”
Etsy Find: Gecko Cover for Rhodia #12
From Anne’s Etsy listing: “A bright green gecko slithers down this great little notepad cover. It’s designed to fit a Bloc Rhodia Pad No. 12 and also has a pocket in the back for loose little papers. When the notepad included is full (or empty, depending on how you use it), simply slip it out and replace it with a new one — the durable cover will keep on going!”
Anne B. designs and makes pocket protectors, book covers, wallets, trays, and more using vinyl fabrics, especially oilcloth and sparkle vinyl. Sturdy construction, meticulously stitched appliques, and awesome extra details make her stuff unique, durable, and very vinylicious.
The Rhodia No. 12 is a long-standing favorite of Anne’s. She’s been toting one around for over four years now, but only recently thought about making a swanky cover for it. While she totally digs the look of the classic naked orange Rhodia Pad, she thinks having a unique reusable cover is even more fun.
Check out all of Anne’s cool vinyl products in her Etsy Shop: annebvinyl
Have you seen: Clairefontaine’s Medium Sized Multiple Subject Notebook?
This wirebound Multiple Subject book by Clairefontaine features 60 sheets in pale pastel colors: blue, pink, green & yellow. It is graph ruled and includes 12 tabbed sections- this medium size is 6 3/4″ x 8 5/8.” Small (8 tabs) and large (4 tabs) versions are also available.
With 12 tabs, my first instinct would be to use this book in a yearly fashion; one month per tab – but how could we use this book? I’d love to hear your most ingenious ideas.
Exaclair’s December Sale
Every year at Exaclair we have a sale of of all kinds of stationery products in the office: samples from France we decided not to carry; discontinued products; and some current products that are a little banged up and cannot be sold. There is something for everyone–stationery, cards & envelopes, notebooks, organizational products, calligraphy items and fountain pen inks. 
The sale will be held on December 6th & 7th from 10 AM to 4 PM. We are located at 143 West 29th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10001. We’re not far from Penn Station, on 29th Street between Avenue of the Americas and 7th Avenue.
I will look forward to chatting with you if you are able to stop by!
Clem’s Birthday Cupcakes
Will you just look at this? A tiny J. Herbin ink bottle! (Rouge Caroubier?) Seems like one of Clem’s friends – wait, do you know Clem? She writes the Rants of the Archer blog and is a huge fan of pens, inks & paper – just like me! One of Clem’s friends baked her a series of cupcakes based on her various hobbies. You can see them all here on the Cupcake Factory blog – though I have to admit, as I looked at each yummy picture, I was hoping to see an orange Rhodia cupcake!
Art Journaling on Tumblr
One of my favorite blogs is Art Journaling – a photo blog on Tumblr. I can scroll through the images forever & ever… so much inspiration, so much feeling of connectedness through all the different peoples art expressions. When I started to journal, I’d occasionally draw in my books but now I do it a lot more- to the point of dedicating whole journals to the cause. I especially have fun painting and coloring the backgrounds in which to return at a later date when the creative bug bites.
Have you ever tried art journaling? If no, take a look at some of the images on this site and let me know if they leave you feeling inspired….
Want to learn more about art journaling? Check out these sites:
Art Journaling as a Creative Process
