Notepads & Paper – Page 17 – Writer's Bloc Blog

February 3, 2009

Rhodia Treasure Box Giveaway!

******CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED******

Rhodia’s original notepad design dates all the way back to the 1930’s and it hasn’t changed since! These lovable orange notepads have a scored folding front cover that folds neatly behind the pad and they contain environmentally friendly Clairefontaine paper. The 80g paper is super-smooth, acid-free and fountain pen friendly. Although Rhodia paper is available as graph, blank and ruled, the graph paper remains the favorite of creative people who sketch, do hand drafting and take notes.

The Rhodia Treasure Box cleverly looks just like a large Rhodia notepad. Open the cover to find 4 Rhodia graph paper notepads of various sizes and 2 triangular shaped Rhodia pencils. These make great gifts!

HOW TO ENTER:

We want to hear from you! Leave a comment on our blog telling us (1) what Rhodia product is your personal favorite and (2) why you like it. If you’ve never used Rhodia, then we would appreciate knowing which Rhodia product you’d like to try first! One of you Commenters will be chosen to receive a Rhodia Treasure Box.

Comments must be received by February 28, 2009. Giveaway open to residents of the USA only. Winner will be chosen by March 7, 2009 and will be contacted by email. Giveaway is not open to employees of Writer’s Bloc.

******CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED******

July 8, 2008October 21, 2013

Staedtler Aquarell Pencils & Clairefontaine Sketch Pad

Ever since I heard about Staedtler’s Ergosoft Aquarell Coloured Pencils I have been wanting to give them a try. These pencils have watercolor lead for dry and wet blending, providing a wide range of creative possibilities when coloring, drawing or watercoloring with water and brush. I’m not an artist, but this sounded like fun! Even though Clairefontaine makes watercolor pads, I decided to pair the pencils up with a Clairefontaine Sketch Pad because the paper has a smoother finish. For my first experiment I doodled a picture of my cat, Mulder. Here is what the picture looked like before using a wet paintbrush:

Here is what the picture looked like after using a wet paintbrush:

This was created simply by making a pencil sketch first, and then applying a small wet paintbrush. As soon as the colors got wet they seemed to "melt" and became brighter and more intense. Different color shades could easily be blended. The paper did wrinkle a bit, so the heavier weight watercolor paper might have been better, but I felt the smoother sketch pad paper might be easier for making fine pencil lines. This was a fun project and I’m looking forward to trying some different techniques. Which picture looks better? I’ll let you decide….

If any of you have artwork created by Staedtler Aquarell pencils you would like to share, please email it to us at info@shopwritersbloc.com. We’ll share our favorites in a future blog post!

May 13, 2008June 26, 2013

Clairefontaine’s Earth Friendly Paper

Before I started working at Writer’s Bloc I felt that all paper had pretty much the same impact on the environment and that the only thing we could contribute was to recycle as much as possible. Now I realize we can also make the choice to buy paper that is manufactured in ways that keep the environment in mind.

The Exaclair website mentions this about the mill where Clairefontaine paper is made: “The water is so clean when it leaves the facility local people can fish, swim and boat downstream within sight of the mill.” Wow! I was impressed.

It further states: “Made only with pulp from sustainable forests, Clairefontaine paper has been certified according to recognized international standards and independent third parties such as the PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and others. These certifications as ensure the protection of endangered wildlife habitats.”

I also learned that Clairefontaine supplies 80% of its own energy and has won environmental awards for its clean paper making technology. All of this combined with the fact that this paper has a blissfully smooth satin finish means that I will be a Clairefontaine customer from now on!

Other websites that mention Clairefontaine: Dolce Bellezza, Absolute Write.

April 25, 2008

Le Petit Prince

Le Petit Prince, or as most of you might know it, The Little Prince, is a novella published in 1943 by French aviator Antoine de Saint Exupery. The Little Prince has been translated into over 180 languages and approximately 80 million copies have been sold which makes it one of the world’s 50 best-selling books!

The whimsical drawings reproduced in most versions of the book are done by Saint Exupery himself. One drawing gives us a view of The Prince on his house-sized planet, B612, which has three volcanoes (two active, and one dormant) and a rose. We also see him caring for his planet by digging up the baobab trees that are constantly trying to grow there. If the baobab trees become too many the asteroid is in danger of being split into pieces! Before travelling to earth, The Prince visits other asteroids, one of which is inhabited by a sleepless Lamplighter. The Prince shows much empathy for him as this Lamplighter must light and extinguish a lamp once a minute to keep up with his asteriod’s speedy rotation.

A pilot lost in the Sahara Desert meets The Prince when he arrives on earth and creates a portrait of this young extraterrestrial with golden curly hair and princely robes. The Little Prince also meets and tames a fox who explains to The Prince that even though there are many roses, his rose is unique and special, because she is the one that he loves. In another drawing we see The Prince sitting on the ruins of a stone wall with a poisonous yellow snake at the bottom, and in case you haven’t read the book we won’t tell you what happens next!

Le Petit Prince notepads and planners by Art Deco 7321 are decorated with many of these memorable drawings and are now available at our Writer’s Bloc online store. If you are not yet familiar with it, why not pick up a copy of Le Petit Prince at your local library or bookstore and see for yourself why this book has such enduring popularity.