My Quo Vadis Will Tell Me Where I'm Going

A few years ago, I jumped on the Bullet Journal bandwagon, but the system never really worked for me. As much as I loved the idea, and the opportunity to purchase a brand new Leuchtturm notebook full of sleek fountain-pen friendly paper, I quickly learned that I work best with a paper calendar that shows a full week at a time and in which I can mark meetings, one-time appointments, birthdays, holidays, and yahrzeits.

This year, back in October, I entered this giveaway and won a 2018 Quo Vadis Hebdo planner with a Rose Grenadine cover (in honor of breast cancer awareness month):

Thank you for entering the Quo Vadis Rose Grenadine planners giveaway:

Congratulations, you are one of the winners! Your new planner will be sent to you at the address you provided in your entry.

We’d love your feedback on your planner. Just a few sentences about what you like about the planner, and what you would change if you could, would be great. We would also love to know how you use your planner. Please email comments to Laurie (at) Exaclair (dot) com. We appreciate any feedback you can give us.

Thanks again for participating, and I hope you enjoy your new planner!

Have a great weekend,
Laurie

Laurie Huff
laurie@exaclair.com
www.QuoVadisBlog.com
www.RhodiaDrive.com
Instagram @quovadisplanner

A brief exchange with Laurie Huff followed:

Hi, Laurie,

Thanks...you made my day – not only because I was just starting to think about a new planner for 2018, but also because my family has been significantly affected by breast cancer. As a BRCA gene mutation carrier, I'm doing all I can not only to protect my own health, but also to raise awareness about these mutations and what they mean for families in which they are present.

Thanks again...have a great weekend!
~ Jane.

And, finally, this:

You are very welcome, Jane, and thank you for sharing how your family has been affected by breast cancer. I wish you good health and good luck.

I hope you enjoy your new planner and that you get to write lots of good things in it all year!

Laurie
Laurie Huff
laurie@exaclair.com
www.QuoVadisBlog.com
www.RhodiaDrive.com
Instagram @quovadisplanner

Recently I started to fill my new Hebdo and discovered some terrific features I will appreciate throughout the year:

• Fountain pen friendly paper, like all Quo Vadis planners
• Monthly layouts for January to December 2018
• A full week (starting with Monday) in each two-page spread
• Plenty of room to record meetings, appointments, and the like, not only on weekdays, but also on Saturday and Sunday
• Blank lines at the bottom of each page of the spread for miscellaneous information and what-nots
• World maps, time zones, and 2017, 2018, and 2019 grid calendars

Thus far, there are only a few things that seem to be missing, but their addition would bump the Hebdo and its Rose Grenadine cover from really great to perfect:

• An elastic closure to keep cards, notes, and miscellany from falling out 
• A back pocket, which is where I currently keep postage stamps, a few special notes from friends, and the all-important school photo of my nephew. 

In the meantime, I’m hopeful that I can figure out a work-around for each one, and am looking forward to a year in which my Quo Vadis keeps me organized and, indeed, answers the question “Where are you going?”

Thanks, Quo Vadis...You Made a “Habaliever” Out of Me!

As nice as it was to learn that I’d won a Quo Vadis Habana notebook in a recent giveaway, it was even nicer to receive it in the mail!

Although the color wasn’t up to me, I love the “circus peanut” orange of the 4x6 hardcover notebook with the matching elastic closure. Its 80 sheets of 85 g/m² paper are a complementary ivory (I’d call it “vanilla”) with fairly-close-together gray lines for writing – more along the lines of college ruled than wide ruled (pun intended!). A black page marker, a back pocket, and a sewn binding, allowing the book to lay flat, round out the features of this little gem.

The paper – smooth but not slick – takes various inks well, which is exactly what I’ve come to expect from the Clairefontaine brand. Among others, I tested these fountain pens: Schneider, Pilot Metropolitan, Platinum Preppy, and Lamy Vista.

Although I’m partial to the flow of fountain pen ink on this paper, other pens – including a Liquid Flair, a Sharpie, a Le Pen, a regular Flair, a Paper-Mate Ink Joy, and a Uniball Vision Elite – performed well also, with virtually no show through on the opposite side.

I intentionally used the last few pages of the book for this testing so the balance will be available for notes, lists, observations, and the what-not of daily life that I intend to record in my new Habana. It’s the perfect size for a backpack, tote bag, or purse, and that’s exactly where I intend to carry mine.

No Surprises Here

Having been participating regularly in the #RhodiaPaperProject, I won't surprise anyone with the news that I loved the most recent samples as much as any that have come before.

Week #17 included three different sheets of 90g blank white paper:

• GraFit Sketch Pads (the smallest)
• Trophee Sketch Pads (the middle size)
• Crok' Book (the largest size)

Week #18 samples included four sheets of ivory, lined paper:

• Rhodia Webnotebook  90g (small)
• Quo Vadis Habana 85 g (small)
• Rhodia Webnotebook 90g (large)
• Quo Vadis Habana 85g (large)

Of course all the samples are smooth, high quality, and accommodated the wet, heavy inks I prefer -- with no bleed through, no feathering, and no smudging.  The Week #17 samples are best suited for sketching or doodling, and I certainly will use them for that purpose.

By contrast, the lines on the Webbie and Quo Vadis samples make them best for writing. Although I like the size of the large Quo Vadis Habana sheet, the line spacing on the page is too tight -- and not nearly wide enough to accommodate my large writing.  The same is true for the small Quo Vadis and Webbie samples.  Only the large Webnotebook sample has a line width that will accommodate my penmanship adequately, although I could adjust my writing to be able to use the narrower ruled sheets.

Looking forward to Week #19 paper samples and to more experimentation with paper and pens!

#RhodiaPaperProject: Yet Again, 90g is the Winner

Now that the #RhodiaPaperProject happens ever other week, I think I anticipate the arrival of paper samples twice as much.  I was glad to receive Week 14 samples in the mail a few days ago and to try out various inks on them this evening.

Fountain Pens and the #RhodiaPaperProject: A Perfect Match

Two weeks ago, January 23, was the 278th anniversary of John Hancock's birth. In honor of his status as the first signatory -- and his bold signature -- on the Declaration of Independence, the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA) designated the the date as National Handwriting Day, providing "a chance for all of us to re-explore the purity and power of handwriting."