Archive for May, 2012

Less and more

Posted May 31, 2012 by
in Editorial, Pens, Paper & People, Planning Tips | Add your comment »

Long-time readers may remember Lani Rosenstock (now Lani Inlander), fashion stylist and occasional guest blogger. I keep up with her these days on her own blog, and was inspired to share this line from a recent post on the art of closet editing:

The less you have, the more you will wear.

It’s a great point about clothes but also, I think, about stuff in general. I am lucky enough, through this job, to get tons of great writing supplies. When I edited my ink collection recently and gave my little-used colors to a friend, I rediscovered some bottles I’d been meaning to throw back into my regular rotation, and suddenly the task seemed less daunting. I’m sure the same would be true of my books if I had the guts — though I always cull when I move, and that often prompts me to rediscover things I want to reread.

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The decomposition book

Posted May 30, 2012 by
in Cabinet of Curiosities, Pens, Paper & People | 1 comment »

I’m not alone in my appreciation of Mead’s classic composition notebooks.

At the National Stationery Show, I discovered a clever riff on that tradition: the so-called Decomposition Book. (The company has apparently been there in years past, though I didn’t happen to walk past its booth until last week.)

Decomposition Books are made from 100% recycled, chlorine-free, post-consumer waste paper and printed with soy ink. There are a variety of cover designs, and the size is roughly equivalent to that of the better-known Meads. What’s more, the manufacturer, Michael Roger, just moved to my neighborhood in Brooklyn! They’re out on the pier near the Fairway, for those of you who are familiar with Red Hook.

The paper seems thin to me, though Office Supply Geek tested it a few years ago with various pens and got decent enough results… I surrendered my own sample to my husband after I saw him flip through it longingly.

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Happy Memorial Day!

Posted May 28, 2012 by
in Editorial | 1 comment »

Easy to say, hard to fathom: thanks to all our servicemen and women…

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Scenes from the Stationery Show

Posted May 24, 2012 by
in Where to Go? | 1 comment »

It’s always fun to stop by the National Stationery Show and ogle all the booths… Last year, I discovered that many exhibitors are willing to sell their samples on the last day of the show, so yesterday I made sure to bring a big bag and a few extra dollars.

I’ll share my finds here over the next few days; in the meantime, here’s a picture of the Exaclair booth — click through to see a larger version — and, after the jump, a closeup of the Quo Vadis lineup, with the new Texas covers on the bottom shelf. Continue reading »

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Find us at the NSS!

Posted May 22, 2012 by
in Where to Go? | Add your comment »

It’s that time of year again… the National Stationery Show! This year, you can find us at booth 2537; please stop by, if you haven’t already. Our president, Christine Nusse, will be there, and I’ll swing by Wednesday morning.

If you don’t live close or don’t have a pass, don’t despair: I’ll post pictures later this week.

Hope to see you!

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Background noise

Posted May 21, 2012 by
in Editorial | 2 comments »

Now that it’s open-window season, I’ve been thinking about noise and distractions. I don’t live in a particularly loud neighborhood, but as I write this post, I hear my neighbor’s fountain gurgle, birds chirping, and a steady, loud-ish buzz that sounds like some sort of belt sander and recurs throughout the day.

All this is punctuated by the occasional rawl of fighting cats and, less frequently but more alarmingly, fighting humans, slamming car doors or yelling into cell phones or shouting as they walk down the street. In New York, we pride ourselves on being able to tune out noise, but I think that’s largely a delusion, because I’ve lived here since I was 18 and every fall I have the same experience: shut the windows, turn off the fans, and marvel at the sudden hush. Or maybe it’s just transitions that are awkward — give me another few weeks, and I’ll no longer be distracted by the strange grunts and screeches of the squirrels, or even notice when an airplane passes overhead.

What noises do you hear throughout the day?

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Take a walk

Posted May 18, 2012 by
in Editorial, Planning Tips | Add your comment »

Time-management experts often tell us to take short breaks throughout the day. It’s advice I find easy to agree with but hard to put into practice, at least regularly, because I don’t remember, or I just wasted time checking email and don’t see how I can justify it, or I’m not really sure what I should be working on now, anyway.

Yesterday around 4:00 pm I realized I had a serious case of work doldrums — it was a sunny day, and I hadn’t gotten much accomplished, and though I knew I was in no danger of, say, blowing a deadline because of it, I couldn’t bring myself to give up… and yet I couldn’t focus. Usually what I do in such times is take care of some small, domestic errand like folding laundry or doing the dishes, which is generally enough to kick me back into action at work. Instead, I took a short walk.

Lo and behold! It was glorious, and I felt great on my return, and though I was initially tempted to grab a book and relax on the sofa, I sat down on my desk and enjoyed a compact, productive next hour.

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Do you write music?

Posted May 17, 2012 by
in Pens, Paper & People | 1 comment »

One of the more specialized product lines in the Clairefontaine catalog is our modest collection of music notebooks.

Since the task is so specific, we don’t spend a lot of time promoting them, but we recently got an inquiry from a New York based music store, and it occurred to me to poll our readers and see how many of you write music. After all, why should composers have to put up with shoddy paper and an inferior writing experience?

Do you write music?

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The sketchbook library

Posted May 16, 2012 by
in Beautiful Creations, Where to Go? | 2 comments »

The Sketchbook Project was created by Steven Peterman and Shane Zucker in 2006 to collect and archive travelogues, photo logs, memoirs, and, of course, sketchbooks — more than 12,500 from 130 countries, according to a piece in Sunday’s New York Times. Participants pay $25 for a 32-page sketchbook, which they then fill and send back to add to the collection. For an extra $30, you can also add your book to the Project’s online digital library.

The physical collection was first housed in Atlanta, and has been in Brooklyn since 2009, though I somehow managed not to hear about it when it was in my neighborhood, Red Hook (it’s since moved to Williamsburg’s Brooklyn Art Library). The coolest part, in my view, is that each sketchbook is available for checkout, where it can inspire new work.

For those of you who don’t live in the area, there’s also a touring component.

Have you participated in the Sketchbook Project?

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Ghost Story

Posted May 15, 2012 by
in Beautiful Creations, Cabinet of Curiosities, Editorial | 4 comments »

I visited St. Augustine lighthouse over the weekend and I was inspired by an encounter with a ghost!

I thought it might be fun to work with a group of people from Quo Vadis Blog and see if we could develop our own ghost story – either a page or two of writing each, a sketch, a collage–whatever writing or artwork we want to create to tell our part of the story.  We would pass the notebook along and create as we go.  The last person would write the ending.

Please send me an email (karen@exaclair.com) if you might be interested in participating.  The goal is to have fun, work on a collaborative project together, and publish our Ghost Story on Quo Vadis Blog when it is done.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

 

 

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