Our Free Giveaway last week had a great response so we decided to do it again.  Remember now, these books are NOT perfect.

So, we are giving away 2 of our 108 page Medium Journals, one with a wrap and tie closure and one with a strap. The first commenter will need to specify which closure they would like. More info on this journal can be found HERE. The second commenter will get the other one.

Like last week, we chose this journal because it is the one we use to test the people we are interviewing and… we have been interviewing people for the last couple of weeks.. and have some more. These are not 100% up to snuff for us to sell, not that anyone except us would really notice… we could discount them but we decided to give them away.  FYI… the strap closure book has it’s rear endpaper sewn on incorrectly.

Have fun competing and… as usual, click HERE to read the rules of this Free Giveaway.

Here are the pics representing these 2 journals.

Just a heads up…. our newsletter this month will be offering the wrap and tie version of this book at at 20% discount.  The secret code will be found in the newsletter when it comes out later this month.  The special on these medium 108 page wrap and tie journals will be first come first served and the only option available will be personalization.

Last week when we posted the Free Giveaway it was grabbed up in under 2 minutes.  Some people who were keeping careful watch took a short break and missed it.  So, this week we decided to have 2 giveaways and the first two commenters will each get one.  And for all you clever people out there… the first 2 commenters must be different people and not related.  Yes… I can hear all the moans and groans already but we really want any many as possible to get something for free.

This week we are giving away 2 of our 108 page Medium Journals, one with a wrap and tie closure and one with a strap.  The first commenter will need to specify which closure they would like.  More info on this journal can be found HERE.  The second commenter will get the other one.

We chose this journal because it is the one we use to test the people we are interviewing and… we have been interviewing people for the last couple of weeks.  These are not 100% up to snuff for us to sell, not that anyone except us would really notice… we could discount them but we decided to give them away.

Have fun competing and… as usual, click HERE to read the rules of this Free Giveaway.

Here are the pics of each of the 2 journals.

We wanted to give you all advance warning that the cost of our Custom sized Book Covers will be going up $5 for each size.  Also, all of the covers for the Moleskine books will be increasing a couple dollars as well.  This will start on the week of 17/November so if you were planning on ordering either of these items you might want to do so before then to save a few bucks.

This is our first random Free Giveaway.  We wanted it to be useful for everyone so we decided to give away one of our Modular Bags.  This Modular Bag was originally designed to hook up with the 5.5 X 8.5 inch Discbound books like Rollabind and the Circa brand.  So, if you are using one of those you can get the other modular component OR… if you do not use the discbound system you can just carry it as a smaller bag.   Click HERE to see more details about this bag and HERE for more info about our modular systems.

This modular bag has 1 Moleskine size pocket inside (one of our POVS’s) and 3 pen loops.  If you are a Moleskine user it will fit a large Moleskine journal in the main compartment as well.  In fact, if you would like to see all that it will fit, just click HERE to see what Arthur’s Daily Carry looks like.  This bag comes with a medium 1-1/4 inch wide shoulder strap and pad.  If you are tall and need a larger one just let us know.  We will email the winning poster asking for directions.  Our bags are meant to be used and with use the leather softens, stretches a little and develops a wonderful patina.  You can feel free to cruble it up, kick it around and introduce it to light abuse to rusticize (is this a real word?) it and accelerate it’s overall aged look.

Come back often to see what is happening at Renaissance Art.

To get our new mailing list click HERE.

Remember to check out our Sale items.  This months Specials make great stocking stuffers for Christmas and are discounted from 20% - 40%.  Click HERE to see them.

Well, election day here and in the studio it is pretty much the same as any other day.  New Mexico is an early voting state so everyone here who is going to vote has already done so.  We are hiring, so this week has been full of interviews… three yesterday and four today.  More tomorrow too.  Guess who does those?  LaShanda is out for the rest of the week on vacation (she already voted too) so that will put a little pressure on getting things like book covers and all sewn up and our bags and discbound stuff out as well.

OH… and I decided on what the free giveaway will be although I have not yet decided when it will be formally posted.  But, yesterday I saw this extra lonesome small modular bag laying on the bottom shelf of a table.  So I thot that would be a most excellent giveaway.  After all, it is not getting used down there and I already have the original, inferior, prototype.  So, I will formally post it later this week to see who gets it.

A customer wanted to get a simple slipcase for their laptop with an extra compartment, an outside pocket and handles to carry it.  We offer that.  But, they also wanted a closure similar to our Leather Tote Bag.  This is what we came up with.  Extra cost was $25.

The Asus Eee may be an ultra portable laptop… lightweight… all that good stuff.  But this is one mean, heafty, overbuilt bag and it is lookin for trouble.

We let our employees use our studio on their own time to create their own inventions.  In this case, a former employee, Allin, came over on Saturday morning and left very late Sunday evening.  (Well, he did go home for a nap in between).  This was his invention for the brand new Asus Eee he just purchased.  While Allin is no Harley rider, he does get on his motor scooter from time to time and this is what he will be carrying his new Asus Eee in.

Weighing in at about 5 pounds (that includes the massive shoulder strap), this bag sports a separate compartment for the Asus Eee and another larger compartment for your other goodies.  There is also a rear pocket on the outside.

You might be wondering, can I buy one?  If you have $800 and about a month to have one made for you, then the answer is yes.  The accent color, shown here as an rusty orange, is available in other colors as well… avocado, red and ocean (a kind of tourqoiseie blue but richer).  We do have more pictures so if you are interested, let us know and we will send some out to you.

Cool Prototypes, seconds… even firsts…

We want to have some fun and so we thought we would start a weekly program where we give away all this stuff.  So, here’s the deal:

1. Once a week on any random day
2. Starting the first week in Nov, 2008
3. We will post a prototype, a second, a first, an experiment… basically something we have made and give it away.
4. The first person to comment on it gets it… for free.  Yes, we will post a pic although it will just be a working pic taken on one of our studio tables.
5. We’ll need a valid email address to work out the details of getting your prize to you. Each prize also includes free ground shipping in the lower 48 US states only. However, anyone in the world can feel free to play along. Who knows what you might win!

So come to our blog often cuz you never what we are going to post or when we will post it.

This offer is for everyone.  You do not need to be a customer.  We just hope that what we offer will be useful to you.

The same person can only win once in a month.

We did two things to a standard Folder Holder for this tweak.  The customer wanted us to add a snap closure on the outside and to make the left and right sides the same on the inside.  So you can follow along on this tweak, go HERE to see what the original Folder Holder looks like. Then just compare the outside and inside pics below with what is on the link.  The cost for this tweak was $50.

We are starting a line of things that have more Rustic Elegance.  For this we will use thinner leather and the more lightweight sewing machine.  We have some new leather colors.  This leather came from New Zealand.  It is cow and comes in full 50 - 60 square foot hides.  We got these 4 colors to start working with.  From left to right they are Red, Avocado, Mango and Ocean.  In addition to these we will also have a dark chocolate brown and a black.  In addition to that we will split down our rustic brown and use the lighter weight sewing machine.

So, the first thing we did is a single 3X5 card case with additional storage.  And, at 5-1/2 X 3-3/8 X 1/8 it is the smallest case we know of so it will take up less space in your pocket.  Here are some pics of the new leather colors… Red, Avocado, Mango and Ocean.

Top O’ the Week to everyone.  To start the week we are showing a recently tweaked product.  Regulalry, people will want one product to include something they see on another product.  We call these tweaks.

Amy ordered a modular cover for her letter size Circa notebook but wanted the Junior size modular bag to fit on it instead of the letter size.  So that is exactly what we did.  This particular tweak did not cost her anything extra.  Below is a pic of what we did.

Happy Friday! Today we’re posting the last of the reviews Kadymae, a forum member of the Fountain Pen Network, did on our paper. Zerkall seems to have been her favorite, she gave it a 9.

Kadymae says:

I can’t decide if I like the vellum or the smooth better. Things dry a skoosh faster on the vellum, but the smooth is like writing on Rhodia … but 40lb (estimated weight) Rhodia. (The vellum being what vellum would be like if Rhodia did it.)

Be warned, this is not an inexpensive paper, but if nothing but bar none the best, the Rolls Royce of paper will do? I’m not kidding.

You can view the review and any comments at the Fountain Pen Network. You can read her last reviews of the Arches and Frankfurt paper by clicking on the links.

Thanks again Kadymae for reviewing our papers and giving some honest feedback. We’re glad you enjoyed them. And thanks to the Fountain Pen Network for being a great resource.

Durk is the name we have given to our big sewing machine.  You can read about it here.  Yesterday durk broke.  When Durk breaks it means that book covers and bags cannot be made.   A small, seemingly insignificant piece in the shuttle just plain broke.  A shuttle in the sewing machine is what holds the bobbin and connects the thread on top to the bobbin thread below.  So, it is an absolutely essential piece.  You can see in the 2 images below the broken shuttle and the housing for it.

The pieces above fit into the housing on the side of the machine:

This morning the new shuttle arrived and within 30 minutes the piece was installed and the bobbin tension set.  Btw… for you serious crafters, fyi, this piece was $100 less at Campbell-Bosworth than it was at Weaver Leather.

Today we’re sharing Kadymae’s second review of our paper. Kadymae’s a fountain pen user anda forum member on Fountain Pen Network. We sent her some samples of our three paper types a while back and this review is about our Frankfurt White and Creme paper.

Kadymae says:

As you can see, there is some showthrough, but that’s only because of the bright light of the scanner. This paper is about 32lb weight and under normal conditions, there’s no showthrough.

The scanner does not pick up the subtle watermark decoration of this paper, and that’s a shame. To the human eye, this paper looks like it’s going to be heavily ridged and boldly textured, but running one’s finger over the paper reveals that the paper is quite smooth with only a subtle texture. Holding the paper up to a light source reveals that that irregular cross-hatch “texture” is actually a form of watermarking, which I think lends the paper a sort of fun sophistication. It certainly is a distinctive paper.

Verdict: Wonderful stuff.

You can view the review and any comments at the Fountain Pen Network. You can read about her last review of the Arches paper here. We’ll be posting her last review on Friday. Thanks for the honest review Kadymae and to the Fountain Pen Network for supplying a great resource.

Awhile ago, we mailed out some paper samples to Kadymae, a member of the  www.fountainpennetwork.com.  Today we’re posting a link to her review of our Arches Text Wove White paper. We use this paper, along with two other types, in our all journals and books. The Arches is the best all around artist paper we carry and works well with light watercolor washes as well.

Kadymae says:

Despite the fact that this paper is called “white” it’s clearly a very lovely cream color. I do not know for certain if this paper is acid-free/archival or not. Given that it’s clearly an artisan paper, I think so, but you’ll have to double check with them to be certain.

Despite the texture, it did not make my already toothy M205 an unbearibly scratchy writer.

It’s not what I’d choose in a journal, but if you like/need a heavy paper with nooks and crannies, it’s very good — the ink does not feather and the nib will not “lint” up.

(And there’s no show through under normal lighting conditions. The very bright light of my scanner did produce a hint of show through on the top sample.)

You can view the review and any comments at the Fountain Pen Network. We’ll be posting two more of her reviews this week (one on Wednesday and one on Friday), so stay tuned. Thanks for the honest review Kadymae and to the Fountain Pen Network for supplying a great resource.