Planners and idea notebooks

Posted June 23, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Pens, Paper & People, Planning Tips | 4 comments »

Many writers keep idea notebooks — myself included — to catch the random thoughts that cross their minds all day. One savvy reader has an intriguing method for keeping things a little more organized; in an email exchange, he explains:

i use planners to keep notes and ideas. i find it’s easier to refer back to the notes and ideas by just flipping back through the days or weeks. it’s much more organized than if i just kept an ‘idea’ notebook. that was just chaos.

Afterwards, our correspondent uses a Habana notebook to elaborate on the ideas he wants to develop. Pretty cool system, huh?

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Vintage file boxes

Posted June 22, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Cabinet of Curiosities, Editorial | 2 comments »

They may not be as breathtakingly intricate as antique writing boxes, but vintage file boxes are still pretty cool. My boyfriend brought this one home a few days ago from his office; it was given to him by a former colleague, and there’s a yellowing card that says “FILING” that’s still taped to its side. Kind of makes you want a typewriter, eh?

I photographed it outside since the light is better, but we’re going to keep it in our living room and use it to store mail.

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Writers’ Project interview with Jeff Abbott

Posted June 21, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Announcements, Beautiful Creations, Pens, Paper & People | Add your comment »

Our latest Writers’ Project interview just launched!

This time, we spoke with bestselling suspense author Jeff Abbott, who told us about his life, his writing routines, and his new book, Adrenaline.

You can read the interview at the Writers’ Project website. And if you missed our last interview, with Damon Young, be sure to check it out in the archives.

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Calligraphy & tea: An interview with The Archer

Posted June 17, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Beautiful Creations, Pens, Paper & People | 3 comments »

Photo by EJ Azucena; styling by Kristine Grace L. Natividad and Donna Bae Malayang

Many of you know Clement Dionglay from her blog, Rants of the Archer. I caught up with her recently to ask a few questions about her background, life, and hobbies…

Tell us about yourself… where are you from, where do you live, and so on?

I’m Clement Dionglay, a.k.a The Archer, the person behind Rants of the Archer blog. I was born in the sleepy town of Alaminos, Laguna, a big province south of Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. I am currently based in Los Baños, a small, closely-knit science community in the same province where I grew up; where I am currently engaged as a publications designer and electronic list keeper in an international organization. I am currently working on a degree through distance learning that I am scheduled to finish in a year. I’m a doting aunt to four girls aged 1 to 10, and an avid hoarder of a lot of stuff.

How did your passion for pens and paper develop?

My passion for pens and paper developed at a very early age. I was writing (and reading) long before I started schooling. My maternal grandmother was an elementary teacher, and had lots of paper I used to doodle on. I even had hand-me-down notebooks from my aunts and these were my first notebooks. My aunts supplied me with pencils and other stationery (scented erasers, colorful Sanrio stationery) and that I guess became the starting point of my longest love affair – that with pen and paper.

When did you start practicing the gorgeous calligraphy that we see on your blog?

I started doing calligraphy only very recently. I forced myself to learn the art after I received my first 2 bottles of J. Herbin ink out of the Bastille Day offer last year. I was about to write a review of the inks and I wanted to come up with a little extra aside from my regular handwriting, so I took out my Lamy Joy set and downloaded a lot of Chancery calligraphy guides from the internet. And I found out it wasn’t even difficult at all!

What are your favorite pens at the moment? Your favorite notebooks and inks?

I love Sheaffer pens. I got several NoNonsense pens and I love them. They are dependable, durable writers. But my daily stable of pens also include Schneider Base pens and several Lamy Safaris. I love blue and brown inks — Bleu Pervenche reminds of somebody’s dress, Terre de Feu of somebody’s eyes. I keep a large Quo Vadis Habana as my journal, and despite its weight, it’s currently my favorite notebook.

Which pens have surprised you most over the years, either positively or negatively?

My pens are mostly student grade pens. I love them all because they function well, and I am able to use them fully. What surprised me the most is the set of two Manuscript calligraphy pens I got from a store selling used clothes and shoes. I got the set for P50 (a little over $1) and did not like them at first because they have crisp italic nibs. After I learned doing Chancery calligraphy, I found out that these pens do fantastic work! So much value for their price.

I understand from your blog that you’re an avid diarist. Do you have any particular writing routines — a certain place, time of day, etc.?

Yes, I love writing in my diary/journal. I have a strange preference of where to write: on my dining table! LOL! Seriously though, I write, do craft, paint and even sew on my dining table. I don’t remember how this strange practice started, but I love using the dining table, perhaps because it’s bigger than my study/work table. I love to write at night, when I’m done with most of my chores and the neighborhood gets some semblance of calm and quiet. I like to write in silence. I always have. Silence brings me so much: words, emotions, remembrances — even sound. Writing has become ceremonial for me. Almost ritualistic. I like to write after my night bath, with a mug of steaming hot tea next to me. While I’m a coffee drinker, I love sipping tea at night, and I like it steaming hot because I love the aroma of tea filling the room. My journal entries always begin with the day and the date. I also include the pen and ink I am using for the day’s entry. Sometimes I also listen to late night jazz while I write.

To learn more about Clem, please visit her blog.

To learn more about EJ Azucena of EDGE photography, check out his Facebook page.

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Bloomsday

Posted June 16, 2010 by Karen Doherty
in Beautiful Creations, Cabinet of Curiosities, Pens, Paper & People, Where to Go? | Add your comment »

Bloomsday is a commemoration observed annually on June 16th in Dublin and elsewhere to celebrate the life of Irish writer James Joyce and relive the events in his novel, Ulysses, all of which took place on the same day in Dublin in 1904. The name “Bloomsday” derives from Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of Ulysses.

The novel recounts the hour-by-hour events of one day in Dublin–June 16, 1904.  Dubliner Leopold Bloom wends his way through the urban landscape, the odyssey of a modern-day Ulysses.

The special significance of June 16, 1904 was on that day Joyce had his first date with his future wife, Nora Barancle, a 20-year-old chambermaid. They walked to the Dublin urban village of Ringsend.

Davy Byrne’s Pub on 21 Duke Street was made famous in the novel. Leopold Bloom stopped there for a gorgonzola cheese sandwich and a glass of burgundy wine.

Within hours of landing in Dublin two years ago, a group of us trooped off to Davy Byrne’s Pub.  Since it was early in the morning the pub was still closed–they were sweeping ,vacuuming and polishing the bar–but the owner invited us inside and gave us a tour of the pub and some good stories about Joyce. We later went back for lunch. Our group was split between Guinness and burgundy wine!

This year illustrator Robert Berry is releasing Ulysses Seen, is a comic book adaptation of the novel.  The first chapter can be seen at http://ulyssesseen.com with an accompanying readers’ guide, and as a free app for the iPad.

The idea, born on a prior Bloomsday, was fueled, Mr. Berry explained, “by a few pints of Guiness and a bet.”

Has anyone followed in the steps of Leopold Bloom? Participating in a Bloomsday event?

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Calligraphy in Montreal: Fibres, poils, cailloux

Posted June 15, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Beautiful Creations, Pens, Paper & People, Where to Go? | Add your comment »

From calligraphy artist Lorna Mulligan comes word of a new exhibit in Montreal’s Ame-Art gallery called Fibres, poils, cailloux. Featuring pieces by Mulligan and other members of the Les Calmars group, it’s on display through June 20.

For those of you who can’t make it to the show, we’re lucky enough to have pictures of two pieces that are on display (both are by Lorna). The first, Beaudelaire, started with small landscape segments done in J. Herbin’s Lie de Thé and Bleu Myosotis. After that, Lorna added the text from Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal in black ink with a pointed pen and brush.

The second piece includes an image transfer of an old map of Montreal that shows Lorna’s neighborhood beside the park. Beside this she created a moody background with a mix of earthy inks (Ambre de Birmanie, Lie de Thé, and Vert Olive). The words talk about different ways of walking: And so I must be going… sauntering, wandering, meandering, and so on.

See more of Lorna’s artwork on her website.

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The Note 27: My big fat luxurious planner

Posted June 14, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Announcements, Product Reviews | 6 comments »

I prefer a smaller datebook for the sake of portability, but the splendid new Note 27 Karen sent me makes me want to reconsider. It’s difficult to describe just how luxurious this planner feels. The paper is gorgeous, thick and glossy and smooth and crying out, in its understated ivory way, for fountain pens and tasteful inscriptions. A picture, and my pictures in particular, could never do it justice, but feast your imagination:

The layout gives you a full page for each week’s appointments and another page for notes; unlike many of our other planners, there’s also plenty of space for Sundays. There’s an address book insert tucked inside (its white cover sort of clashes with the other pages, but the paper itself is ivory), an “anno-planning” feature that gives you a quick overview of the year, and the usual maps and reference charts.

Alas, my little point-and-shoot camera did no justice whatsoever to my ink tests, but hopefully you’ll get the idea — beautiful feather-free writing and no bleed-through or show-through with anything other than a Sharpie. (And frankly, if you’re using this planner, I’d suggest you use a different writing utensil, anyway. It’s very classy.)

Continue reading »

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Notebook hack: Lauren’s elastic fantastic

Posted June 11, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Beautiful Creations, Pens, Paper & People | 1 comment »

Funny story: I was just watching a new video we made for Clairefontaine (Karen’s going to blog about it later), and followed one of the automatically generated suggestions to find the clip that’s embedded above.

Who was “Brian,” I thought to myself — could it be Brian Goulet? Sure enough, I emailed him, and he knew exactly what this was. One of his customers, Lauren Irby (irbyls on the FPN), purchased some Basics notebooks, and he sent her follow-up note asking for her feedback. One thing led to another, and Brian ended up featuring her elastic band notebook hack on his blog back in April.

Lauren also, of course, made this video, which seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle until I stumbled across it yesterday. Funny coincidence, eh? Anyway, it’s a cool demonstration, so I figured I’d feature it here.

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Composition Workshop

Posted June 10, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Pens, Paper & People | Add your comment »

Some things you see so frequently that you never really get a good look — I’ve passed by this sign dozens, if not hundreds, of times since we moved to Red Hook, and it wasn’t till the other evening, on a walk to the nearby Gowanus Nursery, that I stopped to admire it.

Judging from the sign itself (and a quick Google search), the company seems to be in the set designing business; their website is currently down, but an archived version echoes the composition notebook theme.

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Dodo pads and planners

Posted June 9, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Cabinet of Curiosities, Pens, Paper & People | 1 comment »

Dodo Pads are a British phenomenon that I somehow failed to learn about while studying in Cambridge. I know about them now thanks to the wonders of the Internet; the company found me on Twitter a couple months ago and kindly offered to send samples.

But first, some history. According to this web guide:

The Dodo Pad began life way back in 1966 as the desk diary that gave you space to doodle. It quickly gathered a cult following and soon became ‘indodispensable’, as the website says.

“The website,” of course, is the company’s, and its design and overall aesthetic seem to be a pretty good reflection of their sense of humor, starting with this bird/mascot:

At any rate, I couldn’t resist his surly little scowl, so I had the company send two products that are way more specific than anything we make: the Book of Dates, and the Book of the Big Day, which came up in response to a post I wrote about pregnancy planners.

Continue reading »

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