Sweet deal. 23 – you've been great. Thanks for the to-do list accomplishments. Thanks for doing your best for the past 365. I will remember you fondly. Take care.
enJOY it
an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.
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Paul was cool enough to humor me. Here are his answers (BEFORE he saw mine):
What are your middle names?
Joy and AndrewHow long have you been together?
about 2.5 yrsHow long did you know each other before you started dating?
probably about 10 yearsWho asked whom out?
P asked EHow old are each of you?
26 and 23.95Whose siblings do you see the most?
Pretty close, even. Maybe Kris?Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Stress related to work, for both of usDid you go to the same school?
Grade and high schoolAre you from the same home town?
yesWho is smarter?
Pretty close. we each have our areas of brilliance 🙂 If I had to pick one, maybe E.Who is the most sensitive?
Depends on the topic. E overall?Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Lebanese or chipotle, most consistently.Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Just the two of us? Not very far.Who has the craziest exes?
Both have goodies. Maybe E?Who has the worst temper?
PWho does the cooking?
P, but not always. E is the baker.Who is the neat-freak?
Pretty even/different.Who is more stubborn?
Tough one. pretty even. P?Who hogs the bed?
Neither? Except on a few rare occasions 🙂Who wakes up earlier?
P, usuallyWhere was your first date?
PF ChangsWho is more jealous?
Not sure. Maybe P?How long did it take to get serious?
Forever.Who eats more?
PWho does the laundry?
Pretty even. Maybe P?Who's better with the computer?
Different skills… Prob E?Who drives when you are together?
P+++
I highly recommend this quiz – Do it separate from your partner. And Paul would like the record to state that he does not hog the bed but instead I steal the blankets. And also that he is much better than me at fixing the internet.
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What are your middle names?
Paul's is Andrew. Mine is – yep, you guessed it:Ethel.Joy.How long have you been together?
Living here together in Maryland for 1.5. In a relationship for about 2.8How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met in 1994. I was 9. He was 12.Who asked whom out?
Tough call. But him the time that led to our actual relationship.How old are each of you?
23 and 26. Until Sunday, then we will be 24 and 26.Whose siblings do you see the most?
His, I would say. We definitely talk to Kristen more. I haven't emailed or spoke to Robbie since January 3. "Hi Bro!"Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
That on occasion my teeth try to leap out of my mouth. That someday he has to spend months away becoming a doctor and then he will go away for longer stretches as a military doctor.Did you go to the same school?
Elementary school? Yes. High school? Yes. College? No – we are rivals (USC and Cal Berkeley).Are you from the same home town?
Yes. Except I was born in Minnesota and he was born in California.Who is smarter?
Paul. But also me. So it is sort of a tie. Except in things like science.Who is the most sensitive?
The one who writes the blog.Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Starbucks. Chipotle. And also the Lebanese Tavern.Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Out to Maryland. To live.Who has the craziest exes?
On the chance that they are reading this blog, I would plead the fifth. And say that we are each others' craziest last relationship.Who has the worst temper?
Me. Except when Paul gets mad it is much rarer and therefore much scarier.Who does the cooking?
Paul. I do the baking.Who is the neat-freak?
Me. Paul is in general more organized but I am more prone to panic when the house gets messy.Who is more stubborn?
Paul. He would say me, but that is because he is stubborn.Who hogs the bed?
Paul. Times one million.Who wakes up earlier?
Me. But I go back to sleep after breakfast.Where was your first date?
PF Changs. I got drunk.Who is more jealous?
I can safely say neither of us have jealousy genes. Well, sometimes I want to punch a hole in the xbox.How long did it take to get serious?
Aside from the first 12 years it has all been serious. We're The One.Who eats more?
Paul. Thank goodness. I have issues with being the biggest eater.Who does the laundry?
Both. But he folds the t-shirts.Who's better with the computer?
Me. He would disagree.Who drives when you are together?
Paul. It should be the law.Good times. I think I'll email this to him and see what his answers are.
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I had a pretty lame day yesterday. One of those days where everything makes me want to cry. Ugh. Lame. I made this book sort of in protest. I hope to fill it up even more but we'll see.The covers were part of a birthday calendar from Anthro (no link to be found). Some of the other pages are currently framed on the impossible to photograph and make it look good wall.
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I have heard so much about this show – "The money's in the banana stand" – but tonight we sat down and watched disc one of season one. It's a knee slapper, let me tell you. -
Paul and I celebrated love on Sunday by winetasting in Virginia. I have no idea which places we went to – Paul is the direction guy – but I do know that it took us about an hour to get there. We had a picnic outside before going to the first place. It was 40* and windy. Not the best picnic weather, but hey, I'll take what I can get on this coast.top photo: our frozen picnic.
bottom photo: our wine cork collection. -
The February Scrapjacked is up. The giveaway this time around is Kenner Road – definitely check it out. I made a tag book out of photos taken last weekend when it was so beautiful and Paul and I went to Eastern Market. The thread stitched on the tags came from the string that was looped in the top when I bought them. The green paper on the back of each is a paper I found wrapped around a stack of newspapers at Starbucks. Photos were printed at home on Paper Source luxe white cardstock.
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My introduction to letterpress printing came in August 2007 when I
started working at Paper Source. We sell letterpressed invitations as
well as boxed sets of letterpressed cards. At first I was like
"ho-hum." And eventually I was like, "That is fantastic." Back in the
day, letterpress printing was the most common form of printing.
Newspapers were letterpressed. Books were letterpressed. Everything was
letterpressed. Now, it is usually just found on higher-end greeting cards and
wedding invitations (and prints and stationery and baby announcements
and business cards). It is considered more of an "art" and something
special as opposed to an everyday printing process.I
took a beginner letterpress workshop in the spring of 2008 at a local
art studio called Pyramid Atlantic. The class was three hours on
three consecutive Saturdays and cost about $215. During the workshop, we learned
about the the process, had a chance to typeset, carved an image from a block and of course, used the presses. We learned on a
Vandercook printing press – which was originally designed to be used as
a proofing press before large runs of newspapers, etc. made it to the
larger printing machines.
The Vandercook is
the only press that I have experience printing on. It is characterized
by a large "bed" which is where the text, plate or image is set into
place. Presses come in all sort of sizes, shapes and weights. The type
of press that I would love to own someday is called a Chandler and
Price (Pilot?) which looks like the photo directly above. The smaller ones usually weigh about 250
pounds compared to the Vandercook which weighs well over 1000 pounds.
There is a video tutorial here if you would like to see how a smaller press works as well.
So
far, the only type of work I have done is with individual type. Pyramid
Atlantic has drawers and drawers of lead text. Each one looks very much
like this.
The drawers are divided into what is called California Job
Case style and the letters are housed in separate boxes. (The site
where the job case image is from called
it the QWERTY of the post-Gutenberg era.) Believe it or not, I am
getting good at remembering where each letter is stored.
When you are
typesetting a block of text, the letters are placed in the reverse of
how they will be read on the page. Metal pieces called "slugs" divide
the lines of text. Hopefully seeing it like this explains why it is
not worth it to run a single print of anything. Too much work goes into
setting up the text. You can see above how I accidentally placed a letter "u" as an "n". "b" and "d" are also easy to mix-up. And the expression, "mind your 'p's' and 'q's'"? That comes from the letterpress days.My prints are made
out of handset lead type and I make stationery out of wood block
letters that I purchased on etsy. The wood letters are much larger that
the lead text but are the exact same height. Everything that sits on
the press must be "type high" so it stands above the print bed and is just
high enough to make an indent and leave a mark when the paper is rolled
on top.
The text block is carefully transferred from the tray to the bed of the
press and then packed tightly with wood pieces called furniture. A chase
pushes up from the bottom and an expandable metal piece called a quoin is turned with a quoin key to put
pressure on the block from the side. Little pieces of copper and brass
get wedged into the text to eliminate remaining loose space. Everything
must be secure and "locked-in" to guarantee a clean image when the paper is rolled on
top.Printing can also be done using
plates. Most wedding invitations and graphics are designed in a program
like Illustrator and then emailed to a place like Owasso Graphics to
be turned into plates. I have yet to try this but I am sure I will
soon. While it seems much easier, I have not yet needed to work with
plates. The important thing to remember when ordering plates is that
you actually need the reverse of the image to be created and that the
plate should be secured on a wood block that is type high.
The
Vandercook that I use is electric and the ink rollers move on their own
with the flip of a switch. Currently, I use oil based printing ink
because it is easy to find locally. I would love to switch to something
rubber based or more eco-friendly. (Any brand recommendations?) I mix
the link and then spread it on to the top roller with what looks like a
putty knife. The rollers spin against each other and distribute the ink
evenly throughout the 4 other rollers (two of which will be used to ink the text).
After all the set up, the actual
printing process is relatively quick and methodical. A large crank is
manually turned in "trip mode" to first apply ink the text. The crank
is turned a second time, this time in "print mode" with paper
attached to the cylinder. A quick roll brings the paper over the inked text and leaves
an impression in the paper. The paper is removed and the whole inking
and printing process starts again.
Each color
is printed in a separate run – you cannot print two colors at the same
time. For this reason, two color prints or invitations are usually
close to double the price of their single color counterparts. The above print is available here in teal and here in black.Letterpress
is an old printing process that seems to be experiencing a
great revival. Currently, presses for sale are antiques and usually in
need of some love. I hope that some eccentric company starts making new
presses and materials again. How cool would that be? For now, it is a
little bit of a wild goose chase to track one down and then collect all
the parts to get it up and running.If you
are looking to try printing, I highly recommend taking a
workshop. If you are willing to travel, try taking a letterpress class
at Penland in North Carolina. To find something local, try a google search. Or look at briarpress.org which
is an online letterpress mecca. I know I am pretty lucky to be near a
rental studio. Now I just hope I am lucky enough to stumble on a press
for sale for under $2000.Hopefully you made it
through this behemoth of a post. Please leave your questions in the
comment area and I will be sure to do a Q+A follow-up. -
It was 72* today. I wore a t-shirt and flip-flops. And shook my head at the folks in sweaters and jackets. Seriously? Just because the calendar says February 11 does not mean you have dress like it when the sun shines.I picked up my retainer today. Let's be clear, this is a substitute for braces, therefore it is a little more intense than your usual bent wire. It is designed to move my teeth, not just keep them in place. It weights about a quarter pound and make me talk like a frog. The good news is, I do have a dull pain in the teeth that are supposed to be moving so it must be working.
After the orthodontist, I went to letterpress land and printed and printed and printed. I also GOT MY HAIR CAUGHT IN THE MACHINE. I am not kidding. I don't even know how I would attempt to do it again – it was that much of a freak accident. The worst part is I have about 100 hairs total so losing 10 is quite a calamity.
And then these are my just baked dessert cookies. They look like cupcake tops. Which would make sense as the batter was better suited for a cake pan.
enJOY it 