Notepads & Paper – Writer's Bloc Blog

February 28, 2017February 28, 2017

Clairefontaine Staple Bound Notebooks: Great Paper at a Budget Price

Clairefontaine Side Staple Notebooks - Great Paper, Budget Price — Clairefontaine Side Staple Notebooks – Great Paper, Budget Price

There are many things to love about Clairefontaine Side Staple Bound Notebooks. First and foremost is the paper. If you’ve never tried this paper you don’t know what you’re missing! In addition, the price of these staple bound notebooks is easy on the budget, so they are a great way to be introduced to some of the best paper in the world for writing.

Clairefontaine Staple Bound Notebooks and Nova Orange Plaisir Fountain Pen

The thing that makes this Clairefontaine paper so great is the quality. It is 90g, bright white, and because it’s so ultra-smooth your pens will glide effortlessly across the page. If you enjoy writing with fountain pens you will discover that there is little to no ink that bleeds through the paper or feathers on the page.

Prices start at $2.15, and there’s even a large size notebook for only $3.30 (2017 prices), so this notebook is often chosen by teachers to introduce a class of students to the fine art of handwriting. In fact, these are the everyday notebooks used by students in France! The prices in our store are already discounted, and if you’re interested in purchasing 10 or more, there are some deeper discounts for this quantity on our website (contact us for ordering details if you need to place an order larger than our current inventory).

Clairefontaine is environmentally responsible, minimizing impact to the environment as they manufactures their own paper. The bright white paper is not bleached and the wood materials used come from forests independently certified by PEFC or FSC as sustainably managed.

Clairefontaine’s Side Staple Bound Notebooks are basically one thick signature of paper stapled at the spine with 2 or 3 staples. The covers are laminated to repel water and dirt and come in a variety of colors. As a left-handed writer I particularly appreciate that fact that there are no rings, wires, or discs to get in the way when I’m writing in these notebooks!

The number of sheets of paper varies from 24 to 48 depending on the size and style of notebook you get. In the USA, available sizes range from 3″ x 4.75″ to 8.25″ x 11.75″, and paper styles include ruled, ruled with margin, graph and French ruled.

Do you write with Clairefontaine paper? We highly recommend it!

January 17, 2017January 31, 2017

New! Rhodiarama Dot Grid Softcover Notebooks

Great news for dot grid paper fans: the Rhodiarama soft cover notebook with dot grid paper is now available in the USA!

The paper is ivory in color and has a subtle grey dots printed in a 5 mm x 5 mm grid. These dots are meant to be an unobtrusive guide to your writing and sketching and they are also great for Bullet Journaling. If you haven’t already heard of Bullet Journaling it’s a simple and effective method of organizing your notes as you take them. The Rhodia Drive blog has a series of blog posts on Bullet Journaling to get you started.

We’ve already reviewed the details and performance of the Rhodiarama soft cover notebook with lined paper here: Rhodiarama Soft Cover Notebooks. Some of our favorite features of this notebook are:

The 90g high quality paper is fantastic for fountain pens!
The journal is slim and easy to carry
Comes with dot grid or lined paper
The leatherette cover is not only flexible it’s soft to the touch
There’s an expandable pocket inside the back cover
Binding is stitched so you can open the notebook flat and pages don’t fall out
Available in a variety of fun cover colors

Do you use Rhodia notebooks? Which one is your favorite?

January 3, 2017December 29, 2016

Clairefontaine Loose Leaf Paper Rules!

Just about everyone in the USA and Canada is familiar with the bulk packages of loose leaf paper for 3-ring binders that are purchased in late summer at the the beginning of every school year. Loose leaf paper is generally utilitarian: very cheap in quality and price and not meant for enjoying the pleasure of writing. If you’d like loose leaf paper that goes above and beyond common no-frills paper, the exceptional quality of Clairefontaine loose leaf paper will take you to a much higher level.

Clairefontaine Loose Leaf Paper - Ruled with Margin — Clairefontaine Loose Leaf Paper – Ruled with Margin

Clairefontaine is a French paper manufacturer that is famous for the fine quality of its products. Their loose leaf paper has a weight of 90 g so it is thicker than ordinary binder paper. The paper has an ultra-smooth finish that keeps your pen happily gliding across the page. Fountain pens write like a dream on this paper because there are very few, if any, problems with ink feathering, bleeding through or showing through the paper.

Clairefontaine Loose Leaf Paper - Pastel Graph — Clairefontaine Loose Leaf Paper – Pastel Graph

Clairefontaine standard loose leaf paper is bright white so you can really enjoy the full impact of any color of ink you choose to write with. It is also available in packs of pastel colors that can be useful for organization. The paper has pale violet lines and comes in these formats: ruled, French ruled, graph (5 mm x 5 mm grid) and blank.

Many of these loose sheets are metric A4 size which is approximately 8 1/4″ x 11 3/4″ compared to common 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper in the USA. They are meant to be held in 3-ring or 4-ring A4 size binders which can be rather hard to come by in the USA but they are regularly imported and sold at Writer’s Bloc.

The funky arrangement of holes punched in this paper allows it to fit inside American 3-ring binders, but the paper will stick out a little from the top and bottom of the binder. If you need to use an American standard size binder, this problem can be solved by taking the paper in to a local print shop or office supply store and having a little trimmed off the bottom and top of the pages.

Clairefontaine 4-Ring Binder for Loose Leaf A4 Size Paper

Clairefontaine also has double sheets, which are A3 size pages folded in half to make a double A4 size sheet that’s connected at the spine. In French they are called “Copies Doubles Perforees” or in English “Double Sheets”.

Clairefontaine Double Sheets - French Ruled — Clairefontaine Double Sheets – French Ruled

Since Clairefontaine manufactures their own paper, they can guaranty consistent quality and they can control the environmental impact of the manufacturing process. Their paper is made from materials sourced from certified sustainable forests, is chlorine-free and is only printed with natural inks. Clairefontaine supplies most of their own energy and they are committed to waste reduction and recycling.

We love Clairefontaine loose leaf paper so much that we make a special effort to import it from France. It takes a few months of travel in a shipping container to get it to the USA but we feel it’s definitely worth the wait!

Clairefontaine 90g Paper Writing Test - Front — Clairefontaine 90g Paper Writing Test – Front

Clairefontaine 90g Paper Writing Test - Back — Clairefontaine 90g Paper Writing Test – Back

October 11, 2016January 22, 2018

Save Money by Buying Rhodia Notepads in Bulk

Writer’s Bloc routinely sells Rhodia paper notebooks and other Rhodia products at a discounted price – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Did you know that if you purchase as little as 5 or more of some Rhodia notepads you can get an additional discount? We have a special section on our website listing popular items that are often purchased in bulk – you can take a look at the selection here:

Quantity Discounts

If there’s an item you want that’s not listed there, or if we don’t have enough inventory to fill your order, send us an email and we’ll do our best to fulfill your request. If your order totals $200.00 or more (US), send us an email before you place your order and you may qualify for a greater discount. Special requests can be filled with as little as 3 weeks turnaround time in the USA.

If you’re a Rhodia fanatic this is a great way to save money on your favorite orange and black notepads!

Rhodia Bloc No. 18 with Black Cover and Grid Paper

September 27, 2016September 25, 2016

5 Essential Rhodia Products to Help You Thrive at the Office

It’s a jungle out there! If you’ve ever worked in an office you know what I mean. Stock up on these Rhodia essentials and thrive during the daily workplace chaos.

Rhodia Meeting Book

When your day at the office or at client meetings includes taking detailed, specific notes that you need to refer back to in the future, the Rhodia Meeting Book comes to the rescue. Its paper is in the Cornell Notes format, which is an effective layout for taking notes during meetings and then adding cues to help you to find specific details later. If you’re not familiar with how this method can help you, take a look at our previous post “How to Use The Cornell Note Taking System Effectively for Business or Client Meetings.”

Rhodia Pencils

The triangular shaped Rhodia Pencil won’t roll off your desk and is comfortable in the hand. The orange body perfectly matches your orange Rhodia notepad and the black wood around the lead makes a bold statement.

Rhodia Ice Bloc 13 with a LAMY Al-Star Fountain Pen

Rhodia Bloc Notepads

Rhodia Bloc Notepads are the iconic product that Rhodia is famous for: top staple-bound paper notepads and bright white 80g paper with a 5 mm x 5 mm violet grid. Each page is microperforated at the top so it can cleanly and easily be removed. There are probably about a million different uses for these everyday notepads! These notebooks come in a wide range of sizes, colors, styles and paper types.

Rhodia Webnotebook - Medium, Orange, Dot Grid — Rhodia Webnotebook with Dot Grid Paper

The Rhodia Webnotebook or Rhodiarama Flexible Notebook

Pull out a classy Rhodia Webnotebook to impress clients and coworkers at business meetings and the premium paper inside pairs perfectly with your executive fountain pen. Rhodia Webnotebooks and Rhodiarama Flexible Notebooks are perfect for use as guest books, corporate gifts, etc. These durable notebooks are great for everyday notes and come in a variety of colors, sizes, formats and paper styles.

Rhodia Weekly Webplanner

Who doesn’t need a calendar to keep their busy office schedule organized? The Rhodia Weekly Webplanner has your weekly scheduling on the left page and a page of Rhodia’s famous grid paper for notes on the right. This leather-like hardbound planner has a stitched binding to keep pages from falling out. It’s available in pocket or desk size, with an orange or black cover.

What are your favorite essential Rhodia products for work?