Posts Tagged ‘Habana’

User review: Lauren on the Habana

Posted April 14, 2010 by
in Product Reviews | 2 comments »

Lauren from Prescott, Arizona took one of our large Habanas for a test drive recently; here’s what she had to say…

I’ve developed a true respect and affection for this notebook. I use it to record my textiles activity: ongoing projects, lists, dreams, materials, reference charts, etc. It’s a perfect size to throw into any type of project bag (or handbag). The construction feels ballistic solid: I imagine it will last the years it will take me to fill the journal, and that it will look as new when that time comes as it did when it arrived last November. The elastic piece that keeps the journal closed is perfect.

I use the blank pages in the front to write up reference charts, the pocket in the back for miscellaneous patterns. The Clairefontaine paper is delightful. I write mostly with a mechanical pencil or fountain pen on the paper, and both look great and hold up like new. The paper is beautiful, smooth, and accommodating. The bookmark perfect for setting the place where I’m working. (Does make me dream of a notebook with a few, different colored bookmarks! :)

Thank you so much for this wonderful notebook! It’s truly a delight. Inspirational. Practical. I’m fantasizing about one for each category of my life! (And a larger one for each of the smaller ones. :)

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Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs

Posted July 24, 2009 by
in Where to Go? | Add your comment »

Keep sending us those signs! You’ve got till August 9 to get your pictures in (yes, you can submit more than one) and enter our new photo contest.

question-sign

In the meantime, here are some recent submissions — and another picture of the prize that’s at stake — to whet your appetite…

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New contest: Win a laser-engraved Habana!

Posted July 17, 2009 by
in Where to Go? | 1 comment »

domo

Thanks to the folks at Etchstar, who sell laser-engraved Clairefontaine, Rhodia, and Quo Vadis notebooks over at NotebookEngraver, we are now the proud owners of 4 black Habana notebooks (6.25″ x 9.25″) engraved with my own favorite Domo design! Which is pictured above and also, on a different notebook, at the NotebookEngraver website.

We’ll be raffling them off to the winners of our newest contest, the “Where to Go” sign/photo contest (not to be confused with our regular “Where to Go” contest). Here’s how it works: you send us photographs of particularly cool or unusual signs — highway signs, bathroom signs, wilderness trail guideposts, mileage signs, etc. For example, here’s a license plate Tom Hall saw in Wisconsin:

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New Habana colors

Posted May 27, 2009 by
in Pens, Paper & People | 2 comments »

habana-swatches

Last week, we got a question from Beth about next year’s new Habana colors, which I stupidly forgot to photograph at the National Stationery Show.

There’s a group shot of them already on the QV website; fortunately, I was also able to dig up some individual photos that do a better job of highlighting the colors. Admittedly, the way the light falls on the pictures makes the colors look slightly different from the swatches above (and individual monitors may vary), but this should give a decent idea… click each picture to see a larger version.

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How many notebooks are in your regular rotation?

Posted February 20, 2009 by
in Editorial, Pens, Paper & People | 4 comments »

clairefontaine-notebooks

As I mentioned earlier, I have a bunch of different notebooks that are dedicated to various work-related tasks— to do lists, special projects, clients, and so forth. But I can’t even begin to fathom how to count or categorize the other notebooks that are lying around the house.

Like many writers, I carry a notebook with me pretty much wherever I go to jot down thoughts and ideas or remind myself of things I want to look up when I get home. Most times, it’s a black engraved Domo Habana, which sits in my bag, but I have a bunch of tiny Clairefontaine and Moleskine staplebound books that live in smaller purses, too, along with a Memoriae that I keep in my backpack when I go hiking.

I don’t keep a journal, but I dedicate at least one or two other notebooks around the house to random non-work musings. And I’ve had an irrational fondness for those black-and-white Mead composition books since high school (awkward size! flimsy paper! but so clunkily charming, somehow), which I keep on a table near the armchair that’s in my office. Still, there’s never a single notebook that’s the *only one* I use at any given time.

One of the nice things about this distributed system is that I rarely “finish” a notebook, which means I don’t have to worry about whether or where to “archive” it (though I was quite impressed by Biffybeans’s crated collection). Of course, it also means I may have to hunt for a half an hour to locate something I’m sure I jotted down somewhere.

How many notebooks do you use?

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On paper: A whiter shade of pale

Posted September 5, 2008 by
in Pens, Paper & People | 18 comments »

habana-ivory.jpg

The difference between a pleasurable writing experience and one that’s merely functional is all in the details: the paper thick and smooth, the fluid pen, the light just so. Of course, everyone has their own preferences. When the French arm of our company first created the Habana notebook, they used heavyweight Clairefontaine paper in an ivory color; later on, thanks to various manufacturing quirks, the U.S. version ended up with white pages.

We’d been planning to switch back to ivory paper in the fall, but one of our blog readers recently voiced her preference for white. Hence this post: which do you prefer, and how much does it matter to your writing pleasure? If you were given a choice of both colors, would you stick to one or the other, or would you alternate?

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Habana central

Posted August 4, 2008 by
in Where to Go? | Add your comment »

Another update for those who are curious about the Habana… both Swisher Pens and The Daily Planner now carry them online.

Other retailers who’ve ordered them, in no particular order: Art Brown, America’s Office Supply, Dunkerley’s, Morgan Hill Bookstore, Bucknell University Bookstore, University COOP, Salt & Paper, Rubinstein’s, Plimpton’s, Oblation Papers & Press, Newtown Bookshop, Malaprops, Maine Coast Bookshop, and Jason’s Office Products.

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Habanas are here!

Posted July 25, 2008 by
in Where to Go? | 10 comments »

habana-2.JPG

I’ve got good news for North Americans who are curious about our new Habana notebooks. We just shipped a bunch of them (with white, 80g paper) to various retailers; both the Daily Planner and Art Brown should have them… I don’t see them listed online yet, but I’m sure you could call the companies and order them over the phone.

Habanas with Ivory paper won’t be ready till later on this fall. Also, as Karen mentioned earlier, we’re currently looking for a couple of Habana reviewers! If you’re interested, please send us a message with your name, phone, and blog or website. Thanks!

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Habana update

Posted June 12, 2008 by
in Pens, Paper & People | 5 comments »

habana-3.jpg

Many thanks to everyone who wrote in with comments and questions about our new Habana notebooks…

By way of update, I’d like to announce that we will be importing the French Habana into the U.S. late this fall (rather than manufacturing it here with U.S.-made paper and French-made covers, as we’d initially planned). France, meanwhile, is going to start producing the Habana with 80gr ivory paper, instead of the 60gr they’re currently using. So there won’t be any difference between the notebooks you’d buy here in North America vs. the ones you’d find in Europe and the UK.

Please let us know if you have any further questions, of course!

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