Ink Contest Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of August Herbin ink giveaway! The following 10 people will receive 1 full bottle each of  Eclat de Saphir – a sapphire blue, Orange Indien – a rusty orange, and Poussiere de Lune – a dark grayish purple.

And the winners are……..  (drumroll please…) Continue reading »

Origin of the Webbie

Earlier this year we were approached by TED to donate Rhodia notebooks for their famous gift bag. At our request, Clairefontaine Rhodia, our parent company in France, arranged for 800 Webbies to be shipped to TEDGlobal 2010 at Oxford University.  Since then, we’ve heard from a number of participants on how much they enjoy using their Webbie.

TED began in 1984 as a gathering place for innovators and leaders in the fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design. TED encompasses a global community of individuals who believe in the “power of Ideas Worth Spreading.” Webnotebooks are certainly a good repository for bright ideas from creative minds.

With each Webbie was a note from Mr. Guillaume Nusse, president of Clairefontaine Rhodia.  It read: “I hope you will enjoy using your Rhodia Webbie (Webnotebook). You might wonder where we came up with the Webnotebook name? My son was bugging me for a computer ‘notebook’ and so I told him: You want a notebook! I’ll give you a webnotebook! I put our best Clairefontaine paper, a 90g smooth ivory, inside the famous Rhodia covers. And the rest is history.”

Add to that the two other snippets behind the name we’re aware of:  the “Web” in “Webnotebook” means the interconnectedness of ideas that can be found from surfing the Web, as well as infinity of those connections.

The name “Webbie” originated from Stephanie,  who manages Rhodia Drive and its Facebook page.  We were pleased to see France is now following her example and calling them, “Webbies,” too.

Thanks to ConferenceBasics.com for the photo.

Can you go home again?

The other day, I took a walk through my old neighborhood. I grew up living in a small apartment with my parents and haven’t visited the house in probably over a decade. Both parents are remarried and live elsewhere, so I no longer have any current connections to who might be living in that space. I looked long and hard at it from every available angle. Looking at the things that were different as well as those that had stayed the same. I was flooded with emotions and did a fair amount of journal spilling when I got home again. Continue reading »

Write a letter?

When the last time you sent someone a handwritten letter?

I’m embarrassed to say that I can’t remember the last time I’ve written one- and I’ve got gorgeous pens, wonderful color inks and fancy writing papers from G Lalo and Clairefontaine.  Why don’t I do it? crazy as it sounds, (and as much as I enjoy receiving mail) I think things are so much easier via e-mail (though much less personal) because you can see the entire conversation. (If you don’t delete it) I remember receiving letters and having no clue what the person was referring to that I supposedly said in a previous letter….  So I guess I’m a little afraid of feeling foolish when I can’t remember something. Maybe if I write a letter I could scan it first, or does that sound silly?

Can you maybe offer me some tips to help me because I think I really would enjoy writing some letters and receiving some personal correspondence in my mailbox.

Artists- ever try Clairefontaine Fine Art Papers?

If you are following this blog, chances are that you are aware of how glorious Clairefontaine/Rhodia paper is for writing. But were you aware that Clairefontaine also makes many different simply AMAZING art papers as well? Watercolor papers, sketch pads, pastel papers, paper for use with acrylic paint – all made by Clairefontaine. Check out pages 47-48 of the online catalog then check here for links to retailers who carry these fine art products.

Be artfully amazing!