I have been using some Crane's. It works really well, the paper is great. Its kind of expensive though. What do you use?

Funny, I thought I would love Crane's but it does not work for me at all. 90% of my pens simply refuse to write on it!

I could never settle on a good letter-writing paper and would simply write on sheets torn from gridded Rhodia pads ...Until I discovered Elco paper. Elco is just perfect for me. It looks elegant, feels luxurious, and works flawlessly with all my pens. My favourite are the A5 vellum writing pads in white and cream with deckled edges. Mmm-mm, good!


QM2

I've used Crane paper for years and years. QM2- I have never had a pen refuse to write on it. I think it might be a bad batch of paper or perhaps the ink you used? I use everything from the full 8.5X11 sheets to the 3X5 index cards. I especially like the correspondance card for short quick note to people between long, juicey letters.

I do like to use Clairefontaine Triomphe which works wonderfully with lots of different inks and nibs. Rhodia is also very good (after all they are both made by the same company, even though there is a subtle difference between them.)

I've been using Neenah bond 25% cotton and Neenah vellum lately.

G Lalo works really well for me.

If the letter is intended as a "keeper", I use 24-lb paper usually used for resumes which I purchase in 100-sheet packs from Staples or Office Depot. I recently purchased a pack of Wausau parchment finish paper, and it's working well. I could say the same for similar papers from other manufacturers. I purchase Crane stationery from another vendor, and I occasionally find something interesting when I visit stationery shops on trips. I generally use fine nibs and my lettering is small, so I'd like to find college-ruled paper that responds well to fountain pen nibs. Yes, some of us need lines. Much of what I've encountered is so absorbent, it's like writing on toilet paper or newsprint. I too would be interested in reading recommendations.
Ed

I also like the Wausau parchment finished paper. Another paper that takes FP inks well is Southworth parchment paper.

Paddler

G Lalo Vergé de France, in gray. When that's not on hand, I use Seyès-ruled Rhodia or Clairefontaine paper. Regards,
David

I like Southworth parchment paper too.

Hi penhound,

I've bought different kinds of Crane's paper, and none of it works! What happens when I try to write on it, is that the nib literally will not move across the paper, it gets stuck in the paper. I write with very fine nibs (XXXF-XF), so that may be the problem. But even my Aurora Talentum (which is XF but writes more like a F and is normally very smooth), comes to a screeching halt on Crane's correspondence paper : ( The inks I use are Noodlers, Herbin and a few MB.

I find that those "toothy" papers, like Crane's (and some of Southworth's), are best suited to some of my dip nibs. In those cases it's as if my nib is cutting into the surface of the paper. You can get great shading and nice thick/thin lines but it's an entirely different feeling than nibs gliding on smoother paper.

I use HP32# laser paper from Office Max. I print my heading / address via laser printer on one-half side (landscape orientation) then cut into two sheets, 5.5 x 8.5 in, one printed, one plain. Then I buy white envelopes for that size folded. Voila, cheap FP-friendly stationery.

Fabriano Mediovalis and Fox River .

Jim

I have used inkjet paper to good effect. I thing the inkjet paper works a bit better than the laser paper because it is designed with wet ink rather than powder in mind.

In terms of nicer paper, I have some Argoz stationary that is pretty nice. It is full Letter sheets, but I cut them in half with my wife's paper cutter. I also just got some of Richard Binder's "fountain pen" pads. I used a couple of sheets last night to write a letter. It was very nice. Not as smooth as Clairefontaine, but no feathering or skipping.

The corresponcence cards I use are Crane´s 100% cotton, (with some feathering though), or G.Lalo Renaissance Card & Envelope Set from http://www.johnnealbooks.com, surface shipment for less $$


For longer letters I use Character paper and envelopes from www.Scribblers.co.uk. A good paper at a nice price.

The problem with Crane´s is to have them shipped at a reasonable price. Crane simply just have to deliver them at my door for a lot of $$$.

I bought some Crane so I am using it until gone, then on to some grey Original Crown Mill paper. After that who knows!


Kurt

What's you angle of attack? if you try lowering the body of the pen and reducing the angle the Crane might work. I know that on some paper if I write like with a ballpoint it doesn't work as well.

Kurt

Rhodia No15 lined or grid pads usually, although there are a few A4 pads around the house. The No 15 pads have 300 pages so at least they last a while.

I write at a fairly acute angle as it is (a 45 degree angle or so) and hold the pens very close to the nib...

QM2

Since my correspondence goes overseas, I use Glama 17lb Vellum from The Papermill Store.

-Bruce

NB: Crane's sometimes has free shipping periods, which they let you know about if you're on their email list.

I got some of the fountain pen pads from Richard Binder's site. I like them a lot, though they seem to be ever so slightly "sided." The back is more likely to feather a little bit than the front.

I've loved using Crane paper. My son found a closeout deal at a local Office Depot on the Monarch size w/env for only a dollar a box! He bought the last four they had.. he's a good son..

But I've also been enjoying Brookfield stationary. I'm on my third or forth box and really enjoy the unique icons. It accepts my pen/ink combinations well and I'd expect it to work well for others. I purchase it from a small paper shop when passing through their way, but it looks like it can be ordered online from the manufacturer as well.

Of course, my Office Depot house brand of premium color laser paper is nice too. It claims 115 brightness in the 28 pound weight. It really is white! I like how my inks look against it. Like many others, I cut the sheet in half and use a small envelope.

Amalfi Angel watermark and Smythson monarch sheets.

Okay, so I went to get my stationary kit full of Crane correspondence cards (in varying colors and sizes) and their note paper. Started with return address on the envelope using a 1930's Parker vacumatic EF nib with Quink Black in it. Hadn't used the pen in a couple of days, so I got some skipping. Tried to write with it on a Rhodia pad and it was just as bad. Took out my Pelikan M300 M nib with PR plum in it to write the persons name I was going to send the note to. Flowed like a dream. For the street address I used a Parker "51" 1947 F nib with PR Lake Placid Blue - not a bit of trouble writing a sweet line. The City/State/Zip went down like butter using a Parker "51" aromatics with a F/M nib using PR Buttercup ink. My friend Dorie is used to my eccentricities with fountain pens and ink, so the inside is written with a variety of Parker's, Pelikan's, and a Visconti Van Gogh with a fine nib, Omas Sepia ink. Not a single problem with anything but the EF Parker nib. It glided over the page but left skip spot as in bad ink flow.

I used to get my Crane paper from the Crane Store in Chicago, but it has been over three years since I bought paper from them and now that store is closed. I have an ample supply for at least another couple of years. (I have a tendency to stock pile paper! I know that no one else has ever done that! )

I feel really bad for you if your pens will not write on the Crane. I love the paper as it comes from a renewable source and is environmentally friendly. I've been using for as long as I can remember - every since I became a "tree hugger." Some inks do have a tendency to feather a little bit on the Crane paper, but not enough to bother me or the people I write to, Dorie has been known to write me on the backs of fliers or any other scrap of paper she can find laying around when the mood to write strikes her. (BTW all our correspondence typically includes a Suzy's Zoo sticker somewhere.)

It really doesn't matter what you write on all that much as long as the personal message is conveyed in a form other than electronic! ! !

Happy Writing.

I've used Crane's, Rhodia pads, and Clairefontaine Triomphe tablets. And Office Depot looseleaf. It's all good

For Poems sent in letters: Verge De France Rose (5 3/3x 8 1/4), and Ampad Gold Fibre(20-007) Retro ivory Paper (5x8)

For letters: Eaton(Southworth) Diamond White Bond Paper(25% cotton). Eaton Connoisseur writing paper(100%), both are very smooth, and my favorite paper. I have sent a few letters on a Southworth Antique Laid paper, but it was too rough for a smooth writing experience, and would actually hurt my hand after a while. I believe Southworth still makes the Diamond bond paper, which is also good for old manual typewriters!!

I have yet to use my Crane paper for anything but literary writing, but it is the thesis paper(100% cotton) and is very smooth. Having a apparent smooth finish I thought is wouldn't hold the ink that well but I was wrong!

I write lots of letters, so I always keep a writing kit in my bag: a Rhodia Uni-Blank no. 16 (A5 size) for letters. (I hate lines. I tolerate grids. I love blanks.) In the back cover I insert a few envelopes, some stamps, and some correspondence cards. (These I make by taking Fabriano Mediovalis 150 X 200 mm single cards, trimming the edges smooth, cutting them in half to make two cards approx. 100 X 150 mm., and printing my name across the top in a nice, simple, small font.)

The kit is not all that elegant, but is simple, lightweight, and very practical.

I'm a paper freak. I use mostly Crane's. Among my Crane's, I have -

sizes: monarch, business, Kent, Corinne, folded notes, folded letter sheets ( a large sheet folded twice to fit into a tiny envelope), correspondence cards.

finishes: wove, kid, laid, parchmont, airmail.

colors: pearl white, ecru, natural white, azure, Cambridge blue, Wedgewood blue, celadon, aqua, and orange.

bordered paper: pearl white with navy border, ecru with navy, ecru with gold, azure with silver, wedgewood with white, ecru with triple navy hairline, white with triple navy hairline, pearl white with silver vines.

weights: 24 and 32lb.

envelope linings: white, navy, red Florentine, blue Florentine, and airmail stationery envelopes lined with an antique map design.

watermarks: standard Crane's "100 % cotton", "Crane and Co. 100% cotton", Crest, Crest recycled, and Bond.

And personalized stationery: pearl white Monarch with name copper plate engraved in navy.

Now only if my letter writing rate would justify the buying rate.
Did post a few finally.

I use navy-lined Crane with Private Reserve American Blue for an all-American, masculine look

Zerkall Book Smooth. It is all cotton rag, 145gsm. It has the look and feel of a very luxurious paper.

Kadymae did a review on it. Here is that link:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...&hl=zerkall

I've been using Verge de France in gray, champagne, and ivory, with matching lined envelopes. I also bought correspondence cards in a couple of different styles from Classic Communication when they were having a sale in that you could get the envelopes printed/embossed with a return address for free (that saved a bundle). I took great pleasure in sending a correspondence card that looked fairly professional to rsvp to the invitation to attend the 30th reunion of my high school graduating class (I declined to attend). I'm still looking at different papers to use as my "signature" stationery, though.

All,

I write with a signature stub, which is very free flowing. I use Crane's stationery for letters. I use G. Lalo Verge de France, which I got from Pendamonium at the Washington Pen Show for quick notes. I also have a batch of Hallmark stationery I am trying to use up, again for short notes.

Regards,

Wade

I mostly use Crane's (ecru, monarch size) the most up till now. I like the stiffness of the paper (100% cotton) and the way it takes ink. But I recently got some Lalo Verge de France and although not as heavy or stiff, is smoother and takes ink very well. The laid texture also helps me keep my lines straight without resorting to a lined "cheater" sheet under the paper, which I admit to using when writing some letters. I just sent a couple of letters out with it this weekend. I find A5 a bit too small (making my words seem trivial), and A4 a bit too big (making my words seem less friendly), but I'm thinking I'll get used to it. Hope that goes for the recipients too.

FPN member melnicki's letters and superb traveling journals are from varieties of paper he gets from a recycler, and these papers are very nice. I'm looking for such a place here in Honolulu. I'd feel better making my writing habits less destructive to the environment. (Leaves to hug a tree...)

Doug

About Crane's: I love, love, love their paper IF the nib will work on it. The general rule (which doesn't ALWAYS apply) is that fine nibs, and certainly extra fine nibs, don't work so well on Crane's. Glide with a medium and you're good to go. Crane's takes ink beautifully and feels good against your hand, even.

Normally the price is prohibitive for me, but I have to crow that they are having their big 50% off sale now, so this is the time to stock up.

I like this:
http://www.crane.com/prdSell.aspx?NavName=...cruwhiteNotepad

G. Lalo/Verge de France is great. It will take any nib size and generally not bleed through. Many colors available.

I just bought my first Clairefontaine but haven't tried it yet.

This may be an unpopular answer, but I'm a bit of a stationery freak. I use a lot of things that aren't exceptionally FPN-friendly (though they can be workable) just because I'm nuts about the design, and I write a lot of letters. I tend towards the offbeat. If I sent you links to my favorite stationery purveyors, this would go on all night. But if anyone encourages me with any questions on unusual, unique or offbeat letter papers, I can go on...

and on...

I've tried quite a few. Actually did a report on various papers and posted it here perhaps 8 months to a year ago. I've settle on Clairefontaine, Rhodia and if you can deal with loose sheets, Kodak Bright White Inkjet paper. If you like lines, run the Kodak paper through a printer and lay down some of the palest blue lines you can. Works like a champ. All three papers are excellent for fountain pens, the Kodak is least expensive by a huge factor.

Cheers,

Bill J

I use Pineider stationary. It is Italian and you can no longer get it in this country. I just picked up a box in Italy and when I came home bought a box for a fraction of the cost in Italy. It is a beautiful watermarked paper (their logo is a fleu de lys in a circle) and it is has a hand painted edge and the envelopes are lined in a contrasting tissue. It is really almost a work of art. Its cost is fairly prohibitive now with the exchange rate but I consider it a rare luxury and don't write many letters.

Neglected to say that I found it on e-bay.

Basildon Bond in the Post Quarto size. It is quite amazingly brilliant.

I really do like the Post Quarto size, because it relay is a wonderful size to write on, however it is getting increasingly hard to get hold of.

But personally I prefer the Champagne.