I didn’t realize it earlier, but our new Habana artist series encompasses more than Keith Haring — we’re also importing two Matisse designs, along with Picasso’s Portrait of Dora Maar (above).
Here’s a preview of the Matisse:
Posts Tagged ‘notebooks’
More Artist Series eye candy
Posted February 11, 2011 by Leah Hoffmannin Announcements | 2 comments »
Equology notebooks?
Posted February 8, 2011 by Leah Hoffmannin Pens, Paper & People, Product Reviews | 8 comments »
Thanks to everyone who wrote in about expanding our line of Equology planners… we will keep you posted if/when we add new formats. Next question: how about an Equology notebook? They are available in France, and we’ve been toying with the idea of importing them for a while.
As before, the issue of fountain pen friendliness will doubtless play a role. But perhaps more pressingly, given how many different notebooks and journals are competing for your attention… would you try out a new option just because it’s eco-friendly?
Move the pocket? Part II…
Posted January 18, 2011 by Leah Hoffmannin Pens, Paper & People, Product Reviews | 9 comments »
A couple months ago, Karen wrote a post on Rhodia Drive about moving the Webbie’s pocket from the back to the front of the notebook, as per a reader suggestion:
I generally write on one side of each page in a journal. I also use the rear pocket for ticket stubs, receipts, mementos, etc. As the pocket gets things in it it becomes more and more awkward to write on the right side of the open journal. Has there ever been any thought of moving the pocket to inside the front cover, instead of the rear?
We got lots of great feedback in the comments (I particularly loved one commenter’s suggestion of a customizable stick-on pocket), and because I’m guessing Habana fans will also have opinions on the matter, I decided to post the question here.
What do you think? Are you happy with your pockets in the back, or would you prefer to see something different?
Habana: the new artist series
Posted January 13, 2011 by Leah Hoffmannin Announcements, Beautiful Creations | 31 comments »
Speaking of cover designs, I’m excited to announce a new addition to our Habana family… a suite of “artist series” notebooks with artwork on the covers. First in line are these darling “Haring Habanas,” as we call them, that feature the art of Keith Haring! We’re importing them from France, and they should be available later on this year. I’ll post more info on the timing when we have it, but in the meantime, here are the specs:
• 85g fountain pen friendly ivory paper
• Lined
• Expanding pocket
• Elastic closure
• Black ribbon bookmark
There’ll be four designs and two sizes in total.
“Baby,” above, comes in small (4×6) and large (6-1/4×9-1/2). Continue reading »
Flip your notebook
Posted January 4, 2011 by Leah Hoffmannin Cabinet of Curiosities, Pens, Paper & People | 4 comments »
Who knew there were so many ways to use a little piece of elastic? One of the comments to my recent post on elastic bands contained a suggestion that I found so novel and surprising, I just had to repost it here:
I also used the elastic band for a bookmark, but I say the whole notebook world is upside-down! The first thing I do with a new elastic-banded notebook is…flip it over.
For me, the band is for getting USED pages out of the way, wrapped together under the “front” cover. This secures my existing notes for privacy and convenience, and leaves a bookmark for as many blank pages as I may need to rifle through while taking notes. If I need to reference existing notes, that’s when I pull a few pages from under the band. I don’t need to conceal blank pages from anybody, especially me, and I don’t like bumping into the band when I write.
The only problem, according to our illustrious commenter? “The only trouble is that I haven’t seen a decent banded book that conceals the elastic attachment points. Everytime I look at my notebook, there are the ragged nubs on my ‘front’ cover.”
I don’t think the problem is so easy to fix; after all, the elastic’s gotta be attached to the notebook somewhere, and if it’s not glued to the “back” of the cover it creates a bumpy surface for those who use the notebook the — I wouldn’t say, right way around — shall we say the traditional way?
Nonetheless, a very interesting idea.
Habana news
Posted December 15, 2010 by Leah Hoffmannin Announcements, Pens, Paper & People | 63 comments »
Habana news, hot off the presses!
In 2011, we’ll be switching our Habana notebooks over to the same paper as Quo Vadis France. The ones we sell in North America will still be made in the US, but they’ll now contain ivory colored paper that’s 85g in both small and large (and lined and unlined) versions.
The decision was made in the interests of international standardization.
I know people have strong preferences when it comes to white vs. ivory, and all Clairefontaine brand notebooks will continue to be filled with bright white paper — as will the Rhodia pads, though the Webbies have ivory paper. If you’re looking for a notebook that’s got white paper AND a Habana type cover, keep in mind that you can get much the same effect with a Clairefontaine basics notebook and a leatherette planner cover. I’ll be experimenting with other planner cover/Clairefontaine combos in the weeks to come.
In the meantime, we don’t yet have any samples of the new Habana, but I’ll be sure to post more information and updates as soon as we do…
UPDATE: If haven’t already seen it, please check out Karen’s comment about the switch, and our future plans.
How do you use your elastic band?
Posted December 7, 2010 by Leah Hoffmannin Pens, Paper & People, Planning Tips | 7 comments »
Elastic bands are great for keeping notebooks closed in a cluttered pocket or purse. In fact, it never occurred to me that there might be other ways to use them until I saw a friend use his Roadbook band as a bookmark. In hindsight, it’s a simple idea: loop the band around the unused portion of your notebook so you can flip straight to it when you open.
I’m not a total convert (the notebook above, for example, has little tear off corners that work just as well), but there are definitely times when, working at home and juggling multiple notebooks, I’ve put the idea to use.
What do you do with your band?
Clairefontaine and club: Basics get a new cover
Posted October 5, 2010 by Leah Hoffmannin Pens, Paper & People, Planning Tips | 7 comments »
How cool is this: I was cleaning out my desk the other day when I found a couple old Sapa X covers and two staplebound Clairefontaine basics. Turns out, it’s a perfect fit — with the tiniest bit of care, I was able to maneuver the notebooks snugly into each cover. Here’s a shot from the side:
I love the pared-down aesthetic of the ordinary basics cover, but the sleeker, more professional look of the leatherette club is hard to argue with. It’s also the perfect way to put those old covers to use, and makes me feel better about switching to the IB Traveler, which I’m thinking of doing next year.
The fact that I had one red and one spring green cover, and one red and one green basics notebook… well, that was just gravy. My only question is: what should we call this mashup? Sapics? Basix? Basa X?
Planners and idea notebooks
Posted June 23, 2010 by Leah Hoffmannin 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?
My new vocabulary notebook
Posted June 2, 2010 by Leah Hoffmannin Pens, Paper & People, Product Reviews | 3 comments »
Here’s something I bought in one of Vienna’s many stationery shops: this cute Clairefontaine Vokabelheft, or vocabulary notebook. It’s a small, staplebound book with a vertical line down each page, the idea being that you write your words down one side and translations down on the other. Afterwards, you can cover up each half if you want to quiz yourself.
I’ve always preferred notebooks to individual vocabulary cards — less chance of losing things. Another advantage, at least for me, is that a notebook enables you to organize your words sequentially, as you learn them, which helps you remember the context later on. By reviewing the words that I learned while reading Ingeborg Bachmann‘s story “Simultan,” for instance, I review the progression of the narrative and am reminded of certain scenes. And when I walked through Vienna on Sunday and saw a sign for a “Dolmetscher,” I remembered that it was a word I’d encountered in the story (which is about a translator who’s traveling in Italy).
At any rate, it’s a product we don’t currently carry in the U.S. (foreign language programs aren’t as robust here), but it certainly wouldn’t be hard to make your own with a Basics notebook…
