Overdue Rhodia Webbie Review

So, I can't say I don't win anything anymore! A few months back (I know, shame on me!) I won a Rhodia Web Notebook on Rhodia Drive. I was thrilled! I had been wanting to try Rhodia for some time, but had not yet ordered one.

Rhodia "Webbies" as they are affectionately known, come in two colors--orange and black--with corresponding end papers, elastic closures (which I was too dumb to photograph), ribbon markers, and back pockets. They come with your choice of blank, lined, or dot grid paper, and in two sizes: 3.5" x 5.5" and 5.5" x 8.25" (mine is the larger size). Rhodia paper is 90gsm, ultra smooth and FABULOUS as only Exaclair paper can be.

Rhodia Webnotebook paper is "ink resistant" like Clairefontaine paper, which means that the ink you use will not feather or bleed--and is therefore PERFECT for fountain pen use!  In fact, there is ZERO feathering or bleed through on any of my pages, and I've tried close to 50 inks, including Noodler's Ink, which is sometimes very wet. (I wasn't smart enough to photograph the back of one of the pages for you, but mine is not the only review online by any means, and most of them are clearly better at this than I am and show you that there is only minimal show through, no bleed through).

I chose the orange cover, and dot grid paper. Here is that brilliant orange cover:

This picture, of course is not exactly the right color--this is a bit too washed out--the notebook is a true orange orange. It is also soft; almost like leather, and a bit "bendy", if you will.  For some odd reason, I didn't take a photo of the orange elastic strap, but you can see a better picture here and here.

On the front inside, the end papers are also orange:

Then, in this notebook, like many others, the first page is actually glued to the end paper, so it's not as usable as the others, although I've managed to not waste any of this delicious paper!

As you can see, there is an orange ribbon marker, and I'm using this notebook for pen/ink sampling. Which brings me to my next point--this is a bit weird.  The color of Rhodia Webbie paper is odd--not an "ivory" in the usual sense of the word--but almost "apricot".  It makes inks look very very different than they would on a true ivory or white paper.

Now, you may find that this does not bother you. It bothers me. You see, I prefer bright white paper--all the time. However, since Quo Vadis quit making the Habana with bright white paper, there is an unfortunate dearth of quality notebooks with white paper. This, I think, is a travesty (and a brilliant market niche gap if you happen to make fanfreakingtastic notebooks with fanfreakingtastic white paper). 

Clairefontaine does make a journal type notebook, but not of this quality. 

Now, with that being said, let me reiterate that Rhodia paper, like all of Exaclair's paper product line, is SUPERB, and I will continue to use Webbies. However, I am going to have to choose ink carefully, and also try my inks on regular Clairefontaine notebooks to see the "true" color of the ink.

Any hoo, here's the back pocket:

Right now mine is full of Goulet Pen Company bookmarks and stickers, a Noodler's Ink Flex Nib Creaper pen instruction sheet, and Karen at Exaclair's business card.

I love this notebook, and thank you, thank you, thank you Exaclair and Rhodia Drive for giving me the opportunity to win one! This is my "journal of choice", and when I finish my dratted Piccadilly notebook, I'll be getting a Webbie to replace it. If you're in the market for a new notebook, I highly recommend a Webbie! They can be purchased from my favorite pen, paper and ink retailer The Goulet Pen Company, and while you're there you can get some ink and a pen to go with it. Enjoy!!

I'm Back! and a Goulet Pen Company Review

So, some of you have missed my blog (thank you both of you, I <3 my fans!). To be honest, I got frustrated with doing all the typing and loading of pictures..and correspondingly totally ran out of things to review or to say. I know, hard impossible to believe I had nothing to say--

Happily, I have some new things to review, and I have missed blogging lots, so I plan to actually make a "blog post schedule". That's right! Semi-regular blogging! This post schedule will be kept in my Filofax for now, although regrettably, not in fountain pen ink (special note for all my fellow FiloCracks).

As some of my Tweeps know, I have gotten mildly totally madly obsessed with fountain pens and inks lately.  I was already mad keen on papers of all sorts, and had tried fountain pens before, but was never particularly satisfied with my fountain pen/ink experience. I honestly don't know how I found The Goulet Pen Company, but since I have--boy howdy have I gone kabonkers! I will save recent pen/ink acquisitions for another post, but I wanted to share with you a review of The Goulet Pen Company.

The Goulet Pen Company is located in Virginia and headed by Brian and Rachel Goulet. You can read about how their company got started here. They carry fountain pens of all sorts, calligraphy pens, some roller ball pens, fountain pen and calligraphy ink, and paper to use your pens and ink on. Pens run the gamut from Edison Pen Company offerings right down to the Platinum Preppy pens, which I adore.  Most of the paper they carry is from Exaclair--the gold standard of fountain pen friendly papers. They carry a plethora of fountain pen ink, and are due to get more soon, including  Rohrer and Klingner and De Atramentis.

Their website boasts what is known as "The Swab Shop", which shows scanned swabs of the inks that they carry. Also in The Swab Shop, you can compare ink swabs, which is absolutely brilliant, and totally unique in the fountain pen/ink world! You can also purchase samples of all of their inks, which is one of my favorite things about Goulet.  I have ordered countless samples of inks to try, and I can't tell you how awesome it is not only to try so many inks--which is more fun than a barrel of monkeys--but to be able to try an ink BEFORE you buy a bottle (or a dozen) of ink that you end up not liking.

Goulet's prices are reasonable, and they ship uber fast. I placed an order last Tuesday, and received it on Friday, much to my delight! I wanted to include a few pictures of how they wrap your precious inks/pens/papers, because their packaging system is outstanding. This is the box that I received Friday:

Inside this box was this box:

Then this:

As you can see, all of my merchandise is wrapped in bubble wrap which is taped down really well. They also included a bookmark and a sticker, and that's my invoice. There is always a hand-written note on your invoice--awesome personal touch in the modern age of such crappy customer service from so many companies. (Altogether another rant, some of which I have already shared here)

 After the bubble wrap was off, it looked like this:

You can see my whack of sample vials through the plastic wrap. HOURS of unbridled inky entertainment!

And we've arrived at the merchandise--all held perfectly still in shipping, and all in a tidy little package. (Wish I could afford a tidy HUGE package, but alas and alack...mostly a lack). Any hoo,  I ordered a whack of ink samples,  two bottles of Noodler's Ink in Saguaro Wine and Green, a bottle of Aurora Ink in Black, two new Platinum Preppy pens for my mom, and another Noodler's Flex Nib Creaper for me, this time in clear.

This is how my fingers looked after I was done playing with samples of ink:

Underneath you can see my Rhodia Webbie (which I won from Rhodia Drive, and I'll review in another post) that I adore to distraction. That black is still on my fingers--quality stuff!



The Goulet Pen Company's customer service is just so top-notch! Twice, after I've placed an order, I've emailed them with something I wanted to add to the order. Both times, they have kindly added my merchandise to my order with no problems. They've quickly responded to any emails I've sent them as well, and have been super helpful when I've had pen or ink questions and needed assistance or recommendations.

Brian Goulet has a blog called Ink Nouveau, and it is chock full of useful and helpful information about the products they carry. Brian and Rachel also do a weekly live broadcast called Write Time at 9;  it's on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. They usually talk about the goings on at Goulet, but they have also interviewed Nathan Tardif of Noodler's Ink, and Brian Gray of Edison Pen Company.

All in all, a completely pleasant experience with The Goulet Pen Company, and I can see why they have a bit of a "cult" following. (I hesitated to use that word, but read about the October Flexpocalypse and you'll see it may not be missing the mark by much). Their following is totally deserved though, and I know that Brian and Rachel have worked very, very hard to cultivate and keep this following by providing outstanding customer service and far exceeding customer expectations. I'm (obviously) a bit of a "Goulet Groupie" myself, and can't wait until I can order some more inky goodness!  I can safely say that if you order from them, you'll enjoy the process AND the product.

I hope you've enjoyed my review, and I hope you'll stop by and take a look at The Goulet Pen Company.  I will be reviewing some of the new items (and a few of the older ones as well) I've purchased at Goulet soon: stay tuned!