Exacompta Planners – Writer's Bloc Blog

January 31, 2017January 31, 2017

Greenery: 2017 Pantone Color of the Year Gift Guide

Greenery - Pantone Color of the Year 2017 — Greenery – Pantone Color of the Year 2017

Pantone recently announced that the color of the year for 2017 is a shade called Greenery. Their website calls the Greenery “nature’s neutral” and provides this description of the color:

A refreshing and revitalizing shade, Greenery is symbolic of new beginnings.

Greenery is a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew. Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.

I’m crazy about anything in the color yellow-green! We’ve put together a gift guide to help you shop for pens, ink and journals that are similar to this shade of green.

Green LAMY Safari with a Calligraphy Nib

LAMY Safari Fountain Pen

The first fountain pen that came to my mind when I saw Greenery was this LAMY Safari fountain pen in green. If you haven’t already collected a Safari in this color this is a good year to do it! We replaced the regular nib on the pen in this photo with a calligraphy nib.

Pilot Prera Demonstrator Fountain Pen

The Pilot Prera Demonstrator Fountain Pen in Light Green has a clear body with a pop of green on the end of the barrel and cap. The nibs on Prera fountain pens are great if you have small handwriting or like to write with a very fine pen.

Pelikan M205 Duo Highlighter Fountain Pen

This Pelikan M205 Duo Highlighter Fountain Pen in Shiny Green is a special edition, so if this pen strikes your fancy don’t wait too long to add this to your desk. It comes equipped with a Broad BB nib and since it’s a fountain pen it can be refilled over and over again with highlighter ink. Our choice of ink? Why, of course matching Pelikan M205 Duo Highlighter Ink, also in Shiny Green.

ilot Iroshizuku Fountain Pen Ink Chiku-Rin - Bamboo Forest — Pilot Iroshizuku Fountain Pen Ink Chiku-Rin – Bamboo Forest

Pilot Iroshizuku Fountain Pen Ink in Bamboo Forest Green (Chiku-Rin)

Chiku-Rin or Bamboo Forest fountain pen ink is a yellow green shade similar to the color of new growth on plants in the spring, which also happens to be the same color in nature that inspired the shade Greenery. Truly a beautiful and refreshing color!

J. Herbin Vert Pre Fountain Pen Ink

J. Herbin’s Vert Pre is another one of our favorite yellow-green fountain pen inks. The top of the glass bottle has a handy built-in place to rest your pen. J. Herbin uses all natural dyes in their inks, which makes them non-toxic and pH neutral.

Rhodiarama Pad Holder - Anise Green — Rhodiarama Pad Holder – Anise Green

Rhodiarama Pad Holder No. 12 with Notepad – Anise Green

Carry your favorite Rhodia paper in this pocket-size refillable Rhodia notepad holder. It has a pen holder and pocket to stash receipts and business cards.

Rhodiarama Soft Cover Notebook - Anise Green Cover — Rhodiarama Soft Cover Notebook – Anise Green Cover

Rhodiarama Soft Cover Notebook with an Anise Green Cover

Your fountain pen will write like a dream on the high quality paper inside Rhodiarama soft cover notebooks. Your choice of lined or dot grid paper – just what those of you who are crazy about bullet journals have been waiting for!

Pentel Tradio Mechanical Pencil – Apple Green

The cap of the Apple Green Pentel Tradio mechanical pencil protects the tip from damage and breakage. It’s got a button on the side near the grip that you can click to advance the lead for uninterrupted writing.

Other ideas for a Greenery themed desk top include: the Quo Vadis Habana Journal in Anise Green, Quo Vadis Planner with a Bamboo Green Texas Cover, a Platinum Preppy Green Highlighter with Green Highlighting Ink, and the Staedtler Textsurfer Classic Green Highlighter. Several Clairefontaine notepads are available with yellow-green covers: you can request a yellow-green cover during order check out and if we’ve got that color in stock we will send it to you.

What yellow-green stationery items do you have on your desk?

October 25, 2016October 18, 2016

How Do I Know What Refill I Need For My Quo Vadis or Exacompta Planner?

How to find the name of the Quo Vadis planner refill that you need.

It’s Autumn again and time to start thinking about buying a brand new paper planner for the upcoming year. If you’ve got a Quo Vadis or Exacompta agenda planning diary with a refillable cover, all you need to get is a paper refill. The trouble is, it’s been a whole year and you can’t remember the name of the planner that you bought last year.

There’s an easy solution to this problem. Open the front cover of your current planner and look at the first printed page on the right. The name of the planner refill you need is located to the left of the year. In the example above, the name of the refill is the “Minister.” Problem solved!

Writers Bloc routinely carries refills for the following Exacompta and Quo Vadis yearly planners:

We also have refills for these academic year planners for students:

Have a great year everyone!

July 7, 2015July 3, 2016

Why Use a Paper Appointment Book or Planner?

Exacompta Space 17 Pocket Size Weekly Planner

In the age of smart phones and digital calendars, why on earth would anyone want to continue using a paper planner to schedule appointments? I personally have both a digital and a paper calendar because I find that each one has a particular role to help keep my life organized. Here are some of my favorite reasons to use an old-fashioned paper appointment book to keep track of my schedule:

1. The act of writing by hand is a memory aid. When I pick up a pen and write down events in my schedule I am much more likely to remember these events without looking at any calendar – whether it’s paper or digital!

2. You can use your beloved fountain pens to write in your planner. Yes, you know who you are. If you’re like me, writing with a fountain pen is a satisfying, calming experience. (Check out our list of Fountain Pen Friendly Planners if this applies to you.)

3. It slows you down and helps you to focus. There are no notifications, videos, ads, texts, etc to get in the way of your thoughts as you put your pen to paper. Distractions can cause me to schedule things poorly but a paper organizer eliminates digital “clutter” as I plan out my weeks.

4. A paper planner can also become a memory book. I seldom look back through my digital records to reminisce, but a paper diary or record of my past events has a much more personal feeling to it.

5. It encourages creativity and is fun to personalize. I really enjoy using a different style and type of planner each year. Some planners I’ve used are very traditional and business-like, other years I’ll choose something pocket-size or a planner with eye-catching artwork. Inside I like to mix it up with a variety of ink colors and a some doodles. Some people go all-out and completely decorate their planners with stickers and memorabilia. Emotions can also be expressed with the fonts and style of handing writing that you use.

6. Handwriting is also good exercise for the brain and we all need more of that, right?

7. Writing in a planner or diary is an opportunity to help keep your penmanship in tip-top shape.

8. Maybe it’s just me – I really prefer the “week at a glance” or “month at a glance” view in a paper planner over a digital planner, especially for the non-work related events in my personal life.

Do you use a paper appointment book? Why do you enjoy recording upcoming events using pen & paper? Planners for 2016 are now in stock at Writer’s Bloc.

Quo Vadis Notor or Textagenda Daily Diaries — Quo Vadis Notor or Textagenda Daily Desk Diaries

September 23, 2014December 8, 2015

Sizing Up Quo Vadis Weekly Appointment Books

When it comes to keeping track of your schedule in a paper weekly appointment book one size definitely does not fit all. Some of you want a planner that fits in your pocket or purse, while others want a large work-horse capable of keeping track of a very detailed schedule. Quo Vadis comes to the rescue with a full line of planners with a classic week on 2 pages scheduling format. The size and features, such the amount of room for notes, vary from planner to planner. Typically, the larger planners have more features than the smaller planners but they all have the same basic page format.

Generally, these weekly appointment books include:

Boxes on the right side of the right page to jot down information such as phone numbers, email addresses, expenses and other notes.
Weekdays usually have a schedule from 8am to 9pm in half hour increments.
Weekdays each have a box at the top of the day to list priorities
Sunday is the least prominent day of the schedule.
Monthly calendar(s) in the top right corner of the right page
A notation to tell you which week of the year & day of the year it is
Section for addresses
A yearly calendar
Most can be purchased with a refillable cover or as just a refill
Acid-free, pH neutral paper
Planners with 90g paper are fountain pen friendly
Sewn binding
Tear off page corners

Here’s our list of Quo Vadis planners with a similar weekly appointment schedule format, from smallest to largest, mentioning a few of the features that make them special:

Business

4 x 6″ compact pocket size
Calendar year
64g white paper

University Academic (same page format as Business, shown above)

4 x 6″ compact pocket size
Academic school year
64g white paper

Executive

6.25 x 6.25″ square shape
Calendar year
90g white paper

Minister

6.25 x 9.38″
Calendar year
90g white paper

Minister Academic

6.25 x 9.38″
Academic school year
90g white paper

Trinote

7 x 9.38″
Calendar year
90g white paper
Space for notes at the bottom of each day’s plans

Septanote Academic

7 x 9.38″
Academic school year
90g white paper
Space for notes at the bottom of each day’s plans

President

8.25 x 10.5″
Calendar year
90g white paper

Prenote

8.25 x 11.63″
Calendar year
90g white paper
Space for notes at the bottom of each day’s plans

Quarter

9.5 x 11.75″
Calendar year
90g white paper
Spiral bound with a polypro cover
15 minute intervals for appointments
7am to 8:45pm schedule
Largest Quo Vadis Weekly Appointment Book

Do you use a Quo Vadis planner? What are your paper planner’s favorite features?

August 26, 2014August 1, 2016

Find a Pocket Size Planner with High-Quality Paper

Space 17 Weekly Planner & Pelikan Fountain Pen

In order to conserve on size, space and weight many pocket-size planners use thin low-quality paper that may not provide a very satisfying writing experience. Where can a pocket planner be found with good quality paper? Quo Vadis, Exacompta and Rhodia come to the rescue! Clairefontaine has a reputation for creating some of the best paper in the world for writing, and these brands have chosen to use Clairefontaine’s French-milled paper for their compact datebooks.

The gold standard 90g bright white, super-smooth Clairefontaine paper that is fantastic for fountain pens can be found in two pocket-size Quo Vadis monthly planners:

Quo Vadis Visoplan Monthly Planner
Quo Vadis Exaplan Academic Monthly Planner

Several Quo Vadis, Exacompta & Rhodia pocket-planners contain 64g bright white Clairefontaine paper that has an ultra-smooth finish. This paper is acid-free, pH neutral and PEFC certified. You can find this wonderful paper in the following planners, most of which have a weekly planning format:

Rhodia WebPlanner 4×6 Size
Quo Vadis Biweek
Quo Vadis Business
Quo Vadis University Academic
Quo Vadis Sapa X
Quo Vadis Sapa X Academic
Quo Vadis IB Traveler
Quo Vadis Notor Daily Diary/Planner
Quo Vadis Textagenda Academic Daily Diary/Planner

Another Clairefontaine paper variation is a light-weight, exceptionally strong 55g ivory paper. It is acid-free, pH neutral and PEFC certified. Both of these weekly planners contain this type of paper:

We’ve had many of our readers ask if Clairefontaine’s 64g white paper and 55g ivory paper are suitable for fountain pens. I can say that I’ve personally used it successfully with a fine nib fountain pen and select inks. However, this may not be true for all inks and all fountain pens. To help you decide if you’d like to try these datebooks for yourself, we created some samples using various nib sizes and inks. Take a look at the results below.

If writing with a fountain pen is the most important thing to you and not the size of the planner itself, we would recommend taking a look at this previous post: Fountain Pen Friendly Planners

Have you discovered any pocket-size planners with high-quality paper that you like to use? Please let us know what they are in the comments – we’d like to hear from you!

Front side of the page 64g paper. A Quo Vadis Business Planner (same format as University Academic) was used for this sample:

64g White Clairefontaine Paper Writing Test - Front — 64g White Clairefontaine Paper Writing Test – Front

Back side of the page 64g paper (Quo Vadis Business Planner):

64g White Clairefontaine Paper Writing Test - Back — 64g White Clairefontaine Paper Writing Test – Back

Front side of the page 64g paper (Biweek Planner):

64g White Clairefontaine Paper Writing Test (Biweek) - Front — 64g White Clairefontaine Paper Writing Test (Biweek) – Front

Back side of the page 64g paper (Biweek Planner):

64g White Clairefontaine Paper Writing Test (Biweek) - Back — 64g White Clairefontaine Paper Writing Test (Biweek) – Back

Front side of the page 55g soft ivory paper (Space 17 Planner):

55g Soft Ivory Clairefontaine Paper Writing Test (Space 17) - Front — 55g Soft Ivory Clairefontaine Paper Writing Test (Space 17) – Front

Back side of the page 55g soft ivory paper (Space 17 Planner):

55g Soft Ivory Clairefontaine Paper Writing Test (Space 17) - Back — 55g Soft Ivory Clairefontaine Paper Writing Test (Space 17) – Back