Archive for Give us Your Feedback
Rhodia WebPlanners – Academic Year
Based on the amount of feedback and emails we have received, we are reintroducing Rhodia WebPlanners for the 2012-2013 academic year. 
Any last-bits of advice on changes, enhancements, etc.?
Cover Decorations
Jon Gaffney recently sent us this picture of his Kaweco fountain pen for our Favorite Pen photo pages and the cool stickers made me want to ask if you are also decorating your Webbie covers or leaving them plain. I know we have people doodling on the Bloc Rhodia pads, but if you show me some interesting cover decorations, (send to stephanie@rhodiadrive.com) I might just have to start up a new photo page. (I actually added a bit of paint to my last Webbie but keep forgetting to take a picture of it……)
Fan suggestion: Rhodia Postcards and Notecards?
I received a recent question from Rusty asking whether Rhodia had ever considered making fountain-pen-friendly postcards or notecards. He thinks they would be a big hit with our fans especially if available in both black and orange versions with a dotted back side.
What do you think? Would you buy Rhodia postcards? Are you finding typical post cards bleed or feather with fountain pen inks?
Question of the Day: Allocating Space
Question from Bruce: “I find myself with a great deal of minutia that I’d like to track or remember. Quotes. Ideas. Thoughts. Details that don’t lend themselves to a folder in the filing cabinet. I haven’t put them in a notebook because I haven’t figured out how many pages to allot to Quotes vs. Things I’d like to do vs. Remembering something. How do other people handle this? Just start on page one and forget about organization? Two notebooks? One for quotes and future dreams and a different notebook for mundane day to day stuff?” Continue Readering »
Rainbow Rhodia – Your Thoughts?
Is this a product that might interest you?
This Rhodia Rainbow notepad contains 80 sheets of Rhodia 5×5 grid paper in four different colors: blue, yellow, pink and green. This high grade vellum paper is 80g, acid free and is microperforated on top for easy and clean removal. Continue Readering »
Blogroll Housekeeping: Your Input?
A short while back, I asked our readers for suggestions for relevant links to add to our blogroll. Before adding the new, I performed a bit of housekeeping on the blogroll because it is important to us that you are provided with quality content. A few links needed to be updated, and some removed as they had become non-existent or no longer publishing new content. I then reviewed each of your submissions and added a number of your suggestions and also two or three that I thought you might find interesting. (Such as: “The Well Appointed Desk.”) Continue Readering »
Rhodia at Work: The Meeting Book
The Rhodia Meeting Book (Recent product of the month at Bureau Direct) is one of our best sellers and one of my own personal favorites. It’s what I use to keep my Rhodia Drive notes organized. (Ideas for blog posts, contest ideas…) Continue Readering »
Flattery?
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery… Your thoughts?
Sharpening a pencil
I know there are some of you out there cherishing every bit of wood by sharpening your pencil point on a piece of sandpaper before ever thinking of putting it against a blade. Then there’s me. I tend to be fairly relentless with a pencil sharpener even though I know I’m just hacking pointlessly away at a perfectly good chunk of pencil.
Do you do whatever it takes to hang onto a single pencil? Or do you grind them to smithereens like me? Do you have a favorite sharpener that eats less pencil than mine seem to? Please share!
Your Giveaway
What if we hosted a giveaway where you, (our fans) were able to select the items to be given away? What if you could win anything Rhodia: a Meeting Book, dotWebbie, leather pencil case… or maybe a big bottle of J. Herbin Perle Noire ink. If you could pick just 1 item, what would you want to win the most? If there is a decent demand for similar items, I’ll see what I can do to create a giveaway for it.
One thing… it’s got to be from the current Exaclair catalog. We are not able to order items from the French Clairefontaine catalog. Please note your preferred item in the comment box below.
Looking for 8.5 x 11″ Rhodia products?
Are you looking for Rhodia products in the standard American 8.5 x 11″ letter format? In this size pad, Rhodia utilizes the international A4 sizing which is slightly different in both length and width. Is the A4 sizing suitable for your needs? Why does one work better than the other for you? Would you prefer the North American sizing if available?
The one product you are longing to try?
There are a lot of great products in the Rhodia line and within all of the Exaclair brands as well: Clairefontaine, Exacompta, Quo Vadis, J. Herbin…. What’s the one product you’ve been wanting to try, and what are you waiting for? Peruse the entire Exaclair catalog here.
Waiting to try a dotWebbie? Keep an eye on the blog this week when we will be giving away 20 of them!
Fountain Pen Users: Piston, Converter, Cartridge or Other?
I have been a fountain pen user for several years and own a few different kinds. In a pen like my Sailor 1911 shown above, you can either use a *disposible ink cartridge or an ink converter which will allow you to use a bottled ink of your choice. (Such as J. Herbin inks.) Some pens like my Pelikan M200 use a piston to draw ink into the pen.
If you use a fountain pen, which of these filling mechanisms do you prefer? Lately I’ve been drawn to the pistons because they hold a ton of ink. I also like my vintage Parker Vacumatic which utilizes a diaphragm and a plunger to create a vacuum to draw ink into the pen. These also hold a good amount of ink before needing a refill.
Learn more abut fountain pens on Wikipedia, and be sure to check out the forums on The Fountain Pen Network.
*Disposable ink cartridges can be refilled by using a syringe type tool.
Image above All Rights Reserved © Stephanie Smith
Writing In Hand
I just finished writing a mega review of the new Unlimited book on my personal blog and one thing I brought up was the ability for a book to be used “In Hand.” As in the ability to write with the book in one hand, pen in the other with no sturdy surface to rest on. When I last worked a desk job and was still a smoker, we were banished to a single corner of the parking lot with nowhere to sit. I’d often stand out there journal in hand, writing or doodling mandalas – so the ability to use a particular book “In Hand” was always somewhat important to me. Same as a book’s ability to open flat. I like to sit in a chair out on my porch and write on my knee. Books that don’t open flat are not of much use in this situation because you end up fighting the book to stay open.
In the way you use your notebooks, do you feel the ability to use the book one handed is important? How about its ability to open flat?
Hard Cover Rhodia
Every now and then, someone writes to us asking if there are any “true” hard cover Rhodia products available. The answer is yes, but Continue Readering »
