Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

A happy St. Patty's day to all you wonderful readers, both those that are Irish and just Irish for today! In celebration of this wonderful day, the Quo Vadis blog is giving away free bottles of J. Herbin green and orange ink, really.

Sláinte (cheers)!

James

J. Herbin Diabolo Menthe Review on Clairefontaine Paper

image via

J. Herbin Diabolo Menthe is named after the popular French beverage that bears the same name, made from green mint syrup and either lemonade or 7-Up (I found differing recipes). In either case, the model for the ink is a very diluted green color, with bubbles.


The J. Herbin take on the diabolo menthe has many similar characteristics as the drink. The ink is very faintly green and I described it as "frosty" even before I found out that the drink it is modeled after is carbonated. Where the model and the product differ, however, is that I would describe the ink as a teal, with more blue than green. But, then again, I did find both to be refreshing.


The above image is my full page review of the ink, taken with a flash. Click for full view.


This above image is the same review, taken without a flash. Click for full view.


While writing on the wonderfully smooth 90 g Clairefontaine paper in my new Quo Vadis Habana journal, I experienced no feathering, no bleedthrough and no nib creep.

Overall, I found Diabolo Menthe to be a nice, cool, teal with a very wintery feel to it. While I don't think I will be using Diabolo Menthe as an everyday ink, and I don't have any current plans for it... I will think of something. After all, winter is right around the corner, and this is just the color ink to get me into the spirit of the season.

NOTE: Winter is my favorite season of them all, and I can't can't can't wait for it to get here.

Quo Vadis Habana Notebook Review

The crown jewel of last week's package from Karen at Exaclair was this new Quo Vadis Habana notebook. It's got a nice semi-flexible cover made with supple faux leather, as opposed to the smooth, stiff fake leather cover of a Moleskine.


To demonstrate the flexibility of the cover, and the size of the Habana's inside pocket, I placed my trusty little Moleskine inside.


Voila! It still closes... albeit with a little bulge.


Made from 80 sheets (160 pages when both sides are counted) of 90 g Clairefontaine paper, the Habana is also almost as thick as a 192 page Moleskine notebook.


And, the Habana also has a Moleskine style woven tassel, which I much prefer to the Piccadilly style ribbon tassel.

Well... that was quick. I figure that you can tell more about the Habana from looking at up close pictures that you can by me trying my hardest to describe it. But wait, you're probably asking, tell us more about the paper, that's what we really want to know about! Well, friends, for that you'll have to check back tomorrow, when I will post my J. Herbin Diabolo Menthe Review, as written on Quo Vadis Habana notebook paper.

See you then!

EDIT: Link to ink review now active.

GREAT Mail Day

Wednesdays are my days that never home, and I rarely get to open my mailbox till 10 o'clock at night. And yesterday, I really needed an evening pick me up. As luck would have it, it was a great mail day. Along with a package of new stamps, a letter from a pen pal, came a thick envelope from Karen Doherty of Exaclair, the U.S. distributor of all my favorite ink and paper products.


About a week ago, I responded to a post on the Quo Vadis Blog to receive a free Quo Vadis Habana notebook, for the purpose of reviewing it on Everyday Correspondence. Sure enough, that was in the package I received last night... along with a hefty Clairefontaine notebook, a pad of my favorite G. Lalo paper and two bottles of J. Herbin ink, Diabolo Menthe and Vert Reseda. When I opened the package, I ran my hands across all the goodies, as though my fingers were taste buds and the papers were prime rib covered in a delicious au jus.

Once I had taken it all in, I observed that all of the freshly arrived items were green, in one way or another. Then, I remembered reading on the Quo Vadis blog that Clairefontaine had recently changed the ink it uses to rule the paper to a more eco-friendly water-based formula that uses vegetable based pigments. This, to add to Clairefontaine's existing PEFC certification.


In simple terms, to receive PEFC certification, the forest from which the paper pulp was obtained must meet certain standards of sustainability. Oooooh, paper I can feel good about.


Although I look forward to reviewing the Habana notebook, my favorite of Karen's gifts are the pad of G. Lalo Verge de France paper and the J. Herbin inks. Frequent visitors may remember my adoration for the Verge de France line of papers, as I have it in both ivory and pink. But, I had no idea that it came in green! I'm so excited about it that I think I'm going to make a green themed letter in response to the pen pal letter I received yesterday.

Thank you, Karen, for helping to make a good mail day a great mail day.

Everyday Correspondence has no affiliation with Exaclair and the products it distributes. The free Quo Vadis planner featured in this post was given only in exchange for my agreement to review it on this site. All other freebies in this post were given freely and without strings.