Black and white and lovely all over, the interior of Vosges Paris’ studio.
Ink Drop for June: Summer Picnic
Spoiler peek at the Goulet Pens Ink Drop sample colors for June arrived and they are themed “Summer Picnic”. Its all fruit and vegetable themed. None of the colors were particularly keen to my flex nib dip pen but I think that actually bodes well for the fountain pens. I am particularly fond of the warm orange of the Sailor Jentle Apricot and the de Atramentis Plum which is a lovely deep teal blue.
I’m looking for a different method for sampling inks in the future. Does anyone have a suggestion?
(Sorry about the cruddy photo!)
Lonny Workspace
Have you perused the Decorate Workspaces section on Lonny’s website? A feast for anyone considering giving their office a little aesthetic boost.
Daycraft Giveaway Winners!
According to the random number generator, the winner of the Gutenberg notebook from Daycraft is:
Louie, Who won his choice of the Gutenberg notebook.
And drum roll for winner number 2:
Dana, from Save Snail Mail, won the Cookie Bookie!
Congrats to you both. Emails were sent to the addresses used in the comments. Thanks to everyone who entered!
Fabriano Eco Quo Dotgrid Notebook
When I saw the Fabriano Eco Qua dot grid notebook at our local Utrecht, I couldn’t pass up that lime green cover. I purchased the A5 (5.8″x8.25″) size with a light grey dot. Its 85gsm paper in a soft white. I wouldn’t call it ivory but its not a bright blue-white either. A pleasing-to-the-eye white. The grey dots are fairly unobtrusive and pretty close together so its good for anyone with small handwriting or if you want to use two rows of dots for larger writing.
The cover is not sealed to the perfect bound (or more specifically glue padded) sheets so it can be folded back out of your way while writing. Because the sheets are only glue bound into the book, I wouldn’t recommend this for long term archival uses as the glue will grow brittle over time and the pages will fall out. But for work notes, letters or situations where you would want to be able to perf out pages quickly and easily, this is a very good pad for that.
I had so little issue with bleed through, or even show through, that I totally forgot to take a picture of the reverse of the sheet. The only line that even showed through on the back was the Lamy Studio 1.1 with dark brown ink.
I’ve written several letters on this paper as its a good-quality inexpensive pad to carry around with me. $4.99 available with eight different colored covers. Other sizes and configurations are available.
East… West… Everywhere also reviewed the Eco Qua and does fantastic calligraphy with it!
Field Notes Crop Edition and Father’s Day Deal
Everyone who has a penchant for paper goods has probably already heard of Field Notes. I know the Red-Blooded edition got lots of great press in February for my pal Bryan’s love letter video to his darling wife. But have you given a good look to the hearty Crop Edition? Its a set of six notebooks inspired by the crops of the US and come packed in a box with a patch and a map.
I love the Field Notes notebooks for their adherence to the classic good looks and functionality of the vintage notebooks while bringing a lovely designer-ly touch to each quarterly special edition.
Available from Field Notes and they even have a special deal for Father’s Day. Spend $20 or more this week and then type “YAYDAD” into the coupon code blank and get a free mixed set (blank, lined and grid) of Kraft notebooks.
When bad things happen to good iPhones
Tuesday while I was walking to my car, precariously balancing a travel mug, my bag and trying to read Twitter all at the same time, my hand slipped and my precious communication device ended up flat on its back on the concrete parking lot floor. As it hit, I heard a distinctly crunchy sound. When I leaned to pick it up, I felt the results. Shattered. Crap.
So, I got in my car and drove directly to the Apple store. I did not pass go. I did not collect $200. When I got there, I was informed it would be a 30 minute wait before a “genius” could see me.
I looked at the bright-eyed young clerk and said, “Can you just give it to me straight? Can this be fixed and will it cost me $600?” She said, “Oh, yeah. it can be fixed while you wait and if everything is still working properly, replacing the back costs about $30.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll wait.”
About 15 minutes later, a young genius came over and asked me what I needed. I flipped my phone over. He said, “Okay. No problem.” He noodled with a couple settings and then disappered with my phone for 10 minutes. When he returned, I had a shiny new back and he even wiped all the dirt of the edge of my bumper. $28 plus tax and all was well in the world.
I was informed that, had I broken the front of the phone, the price would have been $150 to repair as all the delicate electronics are soldered to the touchscreen and the fonr glass. So, once again, dear readers, learn from my mistakes. If you don’t have a cover or some sort of protection on your phone, get some. Handle it gently or make sure you applied for the insurance policy. I managed to escape with the equivalent of the cost of dinner. I’d hate for you to suffer the same fate.