Blick in Allentown, PA will have a special mandala art demonstration by yours truly from 1-5PM. Stop by, say hi, win to win some free stuff and be sure to grab some Rhodia products while you are here!

From the Blick events page:

Thursday, February 9, 2012 is Blick Madness!  Join us at any one of our 36 store locations to play our Instant Win Game (while supplies last)!  Each piece is a guaranteed winner.  You could win discounts up to 50% off of your entire purchase or a $100 Blick gift card!  Don’t miss the opportunity to win big!

We’ll also be hosting a Valentine Card Making demo and a Screen Printing demo at each store location.  Take home your own card creation and screen printed tote for free (while supplies last)!

Enter to win a copy of Adventures in Mixed Media provided by Random House.  We’ll be raffling one off at each store!  Thursday, February 9^th, is also the last day to enter our $5,000 Dream Studio Sweepstakes and the art student exclusive sweepstakes for a $200 Dream Project!

It’s Madness!  Don’t miss this exciting, one day event full of fun, demos, discounts, refreshments, and more!  To find a store near you, please visit our Store Directory.

Many towns have some kind of First Friday events. In Bethlehem, we have a celebration of SouthSide businesses with music, food and wine tastings scattered throughout the shopping district.

Tonight at the Banana Factory where I am a current artist in residence, there will be 4 exhibit openings, including the resident artist “White Works” show. There will be live music, glass blowing, ceramic, and jewelry making demonstrations and much more! It all happens from 6-9pm – so if you can, be sure to stop by my studio #249 to say hello!

My 10×10″ acrylic painting on canvas above, “Hayden’s Adventure” was inspired by my friend’s young son and is also the piece I submitted into the White Works exhibit .

© Stephanie Smith All Rights Reserved.

While I’m still fiddling a bit with the theme and layout of the new Rhodia Journal Swap Tumblr blog – I’d like to introduce you to the 12 participants from out 1st ever Rhodia Journal Swap. (Click their links to visit their blogs/websites.) If you signed up but weren’t selected – hang tight! We are considering the addition of a second swap 6 months or so into the 1st swap.

Okay yes. I’ll admit it. I am slightly addicted to Pinterest. What is Pinterest? It’s a virtual pinboard that allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things we find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

I love browsing to find new ideas for patterns color combinations to use in my art. I find so much inspiration there…

Are you using Pinterest? How do you like it? Pin any Rhodia lately?

National Handwriting Day was established by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association  in 1977 to promote the consumption of pens, pencils, and writing paper. January 23rd was chosen because it is the birthday of John Hancock- the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence.

In this modern age of computers, I love how so many people continue to joyously express themselves through paper and their choice of a manual writing device. Oh happy day to paper & pens & pencils!

I’ve always been more of a fan of writing on off-white paper than white. I think the off-white is easier on the eyes for long writing sessions, but I do like the intensity of  a white page for brainstorming, mind-maps, and event planning. Fans of fountain pens love to use the plethora of available ink colors and while I know that white paper will really show them in their glory, I don’t mind the nice warm hue that the off-white paper adds to my favorite ink colors.

Which color paper do you prefer and why?

Last call! Interested in participating? Read on, then fill out the form below by tomorrow Jan 18th. We’d love if you would share this opportunity with your friends! Questions? Please submit via comments.

• 12 people will be chosen to participate and will each receive a large orange dotWebbie in which to create. You do not have to be an artist/writer to participate. This 1st swap will be open to US residents only. (Future swaps may be expanded outside the US)

• Each participant will create on a specified amount of pages within the book and then is responsible to package and mail each book to the next person on the list at monthly intervals. (USPS 1st class mail or Priority shipping is recommended at a cost of roughly $5-7 per book) The participant address list will be structured in a way that should allow the shortest shipping time (and cost) between each person. In the end, you will get back the book you started which will be packed with interesting things…
  

• The theme of the swap is “Favorite Things” and can be widely open to interpretation via: thoughts, ramblings, short stories, poems, lists, art, doodles, clippings, printed photos. We ask that content be safe for public consumption.

• There are 96 sheets (192 pages) in a large Webbie. Your minimum contribution in each book will be as follows: Fill 6 pages on one side. (Leaving the other side blank) Start something on 1 page to be completed by the next person, finish something on 1 page that the previous person started = 8 pages per person (6+1+1) x 12 = 96. You MAY fill 12 sheets (6 pages both sides) if you desire.

• Participants agree to scan/snap/snag/upload/tag images to a group Tumblr blog documenting their process which could include: content, you & your Rhodia, your creative process.

• You own all the rights to your original content in the books and on the web. By submitting images to the group blog, you grant us permission to share them (with attribution) to the Rhodia Drive Blog and also our Facebook page. We encourage you to share your content via your own blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, etc.

If you are reading this via e-mail or in certain feed readers, you may need to visit http://rhodiadrive.com/ to see the form.

We recently received this request from a fan and are wondering what you think – would you have a use for a Webbie Lite?

“I love my dot Webbie and would love it even more if a slightly different version were available. I am thinking about one with a thinner cover (like the premium pads) and slightly fewer pages (~72 vs. the current 96) but still with the elastic closure and expandable pocket and still with the gorgeous ivory 90g paper.”

From Mike in AZ

Can’t remember your dreams? I’ve often heard that the best way to remember them is to write down anything you can remember immediately upon waking. Much insight and inspiration can come from examining our subconscious.

To learn more about keeping a dream journal:

Remembering Dreams

How to Keep a Dream Journal

Benefits of Keeping a Dream Journal

Dream Journals: Dream Telling

Keep a Dream Journal – Why Bother?

Dream Journaling 101: How to Keep a Dream Journal

It’s here! Time to roll our our first ever Rhodia Journal Swap: “Favorite Things.” Interested in participating? Read on, then please fill out the form below by Jan 18th. We’d love if you would share this opportunity with your friends! Questions? Please submit via comments. 

• 12 people will be chosen to participate and will each receive a large orange dotWebbie in which to create. You do not have to be an artist/writer to participate. This 1st swap will be open to US residents only. (Future swaps may be expanded outside the US)

• Each participant will create on a specified amount of pages within the book and then is responsible to package and mail each book to the next person on the list at monthly intervals. (USPS 1st class mail or Priority shipping is recommended at a cost of roughly $5-7 per book) The participant address list will be structured in a way that should allow the shortest shipping time (and cost) between each person. In the end, you will get back the book you started which will be packed with interesting things…
  

• The theme of the swap is “Favorite Things” and can be widely open to interpretation via: thoughts, ramblings, short stories, poems, lists, art, doodles, clippings, printed photos. We ask that content be safe for public consumption.

• There are 96 sheets (192 pages) in a large Webbie. Your minimum contribution in each book will be as follows: Fill 6 pages on one side. (Leaving the other side blank) Start something on 1 page to be completed by the next person, finish something on 1 page that the previous person started = 8 pages per person (6+1+1) x 12 = 96. You MAY fill 12 sheets (6 pages both sides) if you desire.

• Participants agree to scan/snap/snag/upload/tag images to a group Tumblr blog documenting their process which could include: content, you & your Rhodia, your creative process.

• You own all the rights to your original content in the books and on the web. By submitting images to the group blog, you grant us permission to share them (with attribution) to the Rhodia Drive Blog and also our Facebook page. We encourage you to share your content via your own blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, etc.

If you are reading this via e-mail or in certain feed readers, you may need to visit http://rhodiadrive.com/ to see the form.

It’s happening!!!

I am putting together the final details surrounding the 2012 Rhodia Journal Swap and expect to start searching for our 12 participants sometime next week. If you haven’t heard about the swap, we are going to be providing 12 large dotWebbie journals to a dozen creative people to utilize for a few weeks at a time, who will then mail the book on to the next person, and so on, until it reaches the last person who in turn, mails it back to the person who started that book.

The dozen participants will be sharing their creativity via a group Tumblr Blog for us all to see.

You do not have to be an “artist” or a “writer” to participate, You should however, be creative and willing to share. This swap will be open to US residents age 18 or older. An international swap may happen at a later date.

More details, including the *Theme* of the swap, to be announced soon!

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!

After making the decision to leave my “day job” 3 years ago to lead a creative life, I worked at home amongst many distractions. My snoring husband, hollering bird, the lady across the street that (screams) sings Donna Summer’s greatest hits over & over…

I helped to write a book sitting at a computer in my kitchen (we eat in the living room) and then later graduated to working in the bird’s (tiny) room on a desk that belonged to my husband when he was in grade school. Many of the thousands of mandala doodles that I would make were created with a sketchbook “in hand” as there wasn’t really any table space for me to work on. When I started painting I’d spread a drop cloth over a 5×5″ space and sit on the kitchen floor and paint. I created my mandala workshop sitting on my bed, back against the headboard and books spread all around me. Working on my blogs became easier with a laptop, though there still isn’t a comfortable surface at a comfortable height.

No more.

As of Black Friday, I obtained 236 square ft. of work space all to myself when I was chosen to become a resident artist at a visual arts and education center called The Banana Factory in Bethlehem PA. Located in an old re-purposed warehouse and a stone’s throw from the old iconic Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces, The Banana Factory is a non-profit organization benefiting local youth and which houses 2 art galleries, a hot glass studio, mosaic studio, photo editing studio and is also home to 28 artists in residence – some quite well known such as Doug Wiltraut, (watercolor) Olaf Starorypinski, (photography) Rigo Peralta (surrealist painter) and Virginia Abbott (sculptor.)

*Some of the artists work on their sites may not be safe for work.

I’ve got 24/7 access to my studio but will likely work during the day with my door open to visitors. I still can’t get over how much stuff I moved out of this little house and into that studio. It might appear to some that I had been hoarding art supplies. :o)

Now that the house isn’t filled with stacks of sketchbooks and notebooks and stuff everywhere, all that’s left is for me to make the decision whether or not to use the studio to write as well. Part of me likes not having a computer there, but I know that I’m not art creative all the time – I go in spurts and when I’m not making art, I’m writing blog posts, adding art to my Etsy shop, researching new material for my workshops and planning new ones. I’ll figure it out.

I’m just so freaking happy!

This is a short video from my move-in day.

You can see lots of pictures of my studio & of my friends at the Banana Factory here.

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada (Columbus Day in the US) and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States.

The event that Americans commonly call the “First Thanksgiving” was celebrated to give thanks to God for guiding them safely to the New World. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 13 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans. The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash. The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating “thanksgivings”—days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought.

Thanksgiving in North America had originated from a mix of European and Native traditions. Typically in Europe, festivals were held before and after the harvest cycles to give thanks for a good harvest, and to rejoice together after much hard work with the rest of the community. At the time, Native Americans had also celebrated the end of a harvest season. When Europeans first arrived to the Americas, they brought with them their own harvest festival traditions from Europe, celebrating their safe voyage, peace and good harvest.Though the origins of the holiday in both Canada and the United States are similar, Americans do not typically celebrate the contributions made in Newfoundland, while Canadians do not celebrate the contributions made in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

- From Wikipedia

Via Craigslist
Lost: Orange Rhodia Notebook (Yellow Line)

Date: 2011-11-14, 12:55PM EST
Reply to: comm-esxde-2701894025@craigslist.org

“On Saturday, November 12, late morning, I lost an orange Rhodia notebook somewhere between the Shaw-Howard University stop and the King St Station stop in Alexandria. This was about the 3-by-5 size, filled with graph paper, about three-fourths of which was written on. The writing was fictional narrative in the first person. If you found this notebook, please contact me. Thanks.”

If you are familiar with this area, perhaps you can re-post and/or share this?

We really appreciate seeing your Rhodia pics and you can share them in several ways:

Add them to our Flickr Photo Group
Upload them to our Rhodia Drive Facebook Page
Submit them to be used on our Rhodia Drive Photo Pages.

I especially love seeing people take them on the road. Who has a picture of Rhodia at the Grand Canyon?

Last month at the NAMTA show I had the opportunity to meet Don Colley, an artist who hails out of Chicago. Don was over at the Faber Castell booth, and came by the Exaclair booth to ask me a question about our paper sizing (which I didn’t know.)

During his visit, Don showed some some of his sketches on an vintage ledger, a Quo Vadis Note 27, and mentioned he had sketched in Rhodia, too.  He draws on all different types of paper, journals and notebooks with pencil, color pencils and inks. 

Don pointed out to me how flat the accounting ledger lay–almost perfectly flat–making it a great surface to work.  Other than our very large planners which come close, I don’t think any of our books with sewn binding lays as flat as that ledger.  I made a mental note to mention this to our product developers in France.

I thought Don’s sketches were better than any photograph–and told him so.  He is one of the most talented portraitists I have ever seen.

You can see more of Don’s work on his website, on this Faber Castell video, and on our Rhodia Drive Facebook page.

It was in Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia and coldest city on earth, that the first Rhodia Fashion Show took place last December 15, 2010…

Inspired by the 75th Anniversary of Rhodia and the famous communication campaign of 12 glamorous fashion photographs and combined with a free interpretation of the iconic brand of two fir tree, a fashion show was born.  With a team of 8 designers from the Fashion Design Institute of Ulan Bator, their talent, originality and creativity were unleashed and led to a fabulous and extraordinary event. A brilliant show where futuristic looks met traditional costumes, a tribute to Rhodia, a chic and minimalist brand, and to the people of Mongolia.

An historic and colorful event for the brand- with 81 models on the runway, a mesmerized jury, and a Black & Orange cocktail party! Beyond the internet buzz, the fashion show took over the world of media, from magazines to national TV coverage, a testimony of the “Rhodia mania” with Black & Orange stormed Mongolia…

Rhodia Fashion Show in figures:

• 81 models
• 12 makeup artists
• 12 hairdressers
• 12 stylists
• 25 technical and marketing staff

President : J.P. Dumont – French Ambassador in Mongolia
Judge : Tsegui – Louis Vuitton General Manager in Mongolia

More and more people write to Exaclair asking where they can get a custom leather cover for their journal or notebook. Our diaries and sketchbooks are precious possessions, and nothing lends a sense of ruggedness and individuality more than a leather cover. After all, it was made especially for you.

Gfeller Casemakers makes covers for Moleskines, and recently they started to make them for both large and pocket Rhodia Webbies. They also offer their Idaho Professional Field Folio specifically sized for the A4 top stapled pad.  All their products can be seen here.

It is important to me to know the history of a company or product I plan to make my own.  It will tell me about their values and character, and by extension, what’s important to other people who own and use the products.  It’s that perceived kinship–past and present–that helps me to decide whether or not I want to belong to that group.

At my request, Steve Derricott, president and co-owner of Gfeller Casemakers, wrote this history of the company.  I am delighted and honored to share it with you on Rhodia Drive:

Roy Gfeller and his wife Mertie lived near Aurora, Colorado in 1946. Roy was scraping by on a small acreage raising a few cows and doing part time saddle building and repair. He was an outgoing individual and made friends easily.  Little is known about the ranching operation other than his desire to one day have his own place and raise purebred Short Horn Herford beef cattle.  Much more information is available concerning his leather work.  His journal contains details of saddle construction and most importantly shows an early disposition for purchasing only the best materials.  High quality materials and attention to detail are to be vitally important in developing his future business as a Casemaker and his reputation for using only the best parts of the hide in his products will help to spread his work to every corner of the globe.

A geology professor nearby became acquainted with Gfeller and upon learning of his leather working ability had a special request.  With a rough sketch in hand, he presented an idea for a belt pouch to be used by his geology students.  This pouch would be large enough to carry a standard field book (approx 4 1/2″ x 7 5/8″), have pencil loops and scale pockets on the front panel and a flap long enough to protect contents on the inside and front pocket.  This prototype would evolve into the still produced FCX field case and became a near instant success.  A wide variety of high quality Geoscience related tool carriers and protectors would soon follow.  A ready market was found in nearby Golden at the Colorado School of Mines.

The US Geological Survey with headquarters in Denver was charged with inventory and development of uranium and other strategic minerals deposits a rapidly growing force of geologists and field scientists required equipment for studies. Roy aided by his wife and partner Mertie were suddenly swamped with orders for leather goods. Quality trumped quantity at every turn and established Roy Gfeller Casemakers as the source of equipment that could be trusted to provide long service in rugged use. Hammer Carriers, Field Belts, Compass and Field Cases with the Gfeller cartouche would be recognized at mines and exploration projects worldwide in a few years time.  Gfeller produced specifications for field equipment would be adopted by the USGS for all leather items stocked in supply depot.  Astronauts in training for the Apollo missions to the moon would train for that longest distance exploration and rock sampling project with Gfeller gear.

From that chance encounter in Aurora a thriving small business grew. With little outside assistance Roy and Mertie hand build leather goods for a quickly growing Geoscience profession. Roy maintained the ranching dream for several years through moves to Franktown, Colorado and Big Timber, Arlee and Polson, Montana. Finally settling in the Spokane, Washington suburb of Trentwood in the mid 1970s, he would focus on the Casemakers business from then on. Though his health declined in later years Roy Gfeller was at his bench building field equipment in the tradition of the western saddler until his passing in 1983.

The mid 1980s brought a special challenge to Gfeller Casemakers. Though continuing to operate with past employees the demand for field equipment had taken a nose dive. Reduced demand was due primarily to the sudden exit of major oil producing companies in the US and aboard from mineral exploration. The attraction of profit potential  had drawn big-oil into mineral exploration and added hundreds of geologists to field projects.  This exit spawned an unprecedented downward spiral in geo-employment and the need for Geoscience field equipment.

Steve Derricott had experienced success as an exploration geologist and was looking for a career change in 1985. He felt there was potential in the Gfeller Casemakers business that had not been developed. His idea was simple and he had the history of cyclic metal prices and exploration demand on his side.  He knew the reason for hard times at Gfeller Casemakers was due to a down cycle and that historically a following upswing was predicted.  If he could acquire the business and learn the operations so that demand could be met when the next upswing occured the business would grow again. The key to long life in the company was to diversify before the sure to follow down swing arrived.  With help and constant support from his wife, Lori, the Derricott team rebuilt Gfeller Casemakers. They were fortunate to attract custom manufacturing work that solidified the business and spread the demand away from seasonal Geoscience to year-round contracts. Customers as diverse as electronics and custom knife makers to the Military Academy at West Point, New York helped to grow a diversified Gfeller Casemakers.  Changing markets have challenged the company and new products have been added to the lineup.

A custom order request for a calfskin notebook cover would prove very fortuitous. Not unlike the request to build a student geologist’s field pouch, over sixty years earlier, this notebook cover and its acclaim on the internet launched a demand for new items to new customers.  Suddenly Gfeller Casemakers is the focus of blogs and tweets by customers that had recently discovered the profoundly functional notebook covers and personal leather products.

We are a stronger organization today because we have never departed from Roy’s insistence on premium raw materials, no nonsense designs and most importantly we enjoy our work.

I have been blessed with good friends, devoted family and a profession that sustains and fulfills me.  I hope to keep it for a long time to come.”

- Steve Derricott  3/18/2011

The blog, The Gadgeteer, has a good review of a Gfeller notebook cover.  Read it here.

Gfeller Casemakers previously appeared on Rhodia Drive here.

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?