Hello! My name is Thea (THEE-uh), or you can call me Tea. This is my website, made primarily from my calligraphy. I am a queer, trans woman living in Minneapolis. I have a boring day job, but in my spare time I like calligraphy, drawing, journaling with my fountain pens, biking, archery (takedown recurve, nearly barebow), and spending time with my wonderful girlfriend Jules <3! I'm learning Italian off and on, and trying to prepare myself to enter nursing school at some point while also saving up to buy a condo.

I recommend you check out my gallery page, which has scans of some of my favorite prints I have made. My links page has some interesting articles, tools, and blogs that you might like to check out! Oh also, don't worry if you find my grocery list. I still forgot to get cream ;_;

Feel free to email me at thea@lovethea.net! You can also link to my site using the below badge:

Supplies Used for This Site

• Paper: Rhodia 80 g/m² grid paper
• Pens: Pilot Parallel 3.0mm
• Inks
  Headers: Unidentified Sailor ink (I think)
  Homepage links: Endless Alchemy Golden Sunburst
  404 Text: Monteverde (I think) Olivine
  Secret header: Endless Alchemy Mystic Forest
• Canon Image Formula P-208II scanner

Other Tools I Like

Fountain Pens

• Kaweco AL Sport, medium nib - This was given to me by an ex as she did not like it. I reset the feed which fixed some issues with flow, and it has been a reliable pocket pen since, although it writes somewhat dry.
• Platinum Prefounte, fine nib - This was my first fountain pen and it will forever hold a spot in my heart. More feedback than other pens, but in a way that feels like a pencil and can be pretty satisfying.
• TWSBI Swipe, extra fine nib - I feel so-so about this pen. It's cheap and it feels like it, but it writes reliably. Something about TWSBI nibs just doesn't feel the best for me though.
• TWSBI Vac 700r, extra fine nib - This feels better than the swipe both in body and nib, not entirely sure how the nib feels better but it does. Still not my favorite pen for some reason.

Inks

Broadly speaking I don't have strong opinions about inks other than that I love Endless Alchemy inks. I have Golden Sunburst, Mystic Forest, and Candy Sea, and they are extremely friendly inks in fountain pens even with Golden Sunburst being a shimmer ink. The shading on Candy Sea is undeniably gorgeous, and Mystic Forest is such a beautiful emerald green with some shading in very thick applications.

On the negative side, I would not recommend buying Noodler's inks if you can help it. They're very affordable and the ink bottles are big, but the owner seems like a libertarian creep and has been marked by multiple scandals over the imagery of his labels. Also, the inks smell PUTRID and the vast majority of them are aesthetically unremarkable. The only Noodler's ink I bought was Baystate Blue for its notorious permanence, and the other Noodler's inks that have come into my possession are thoroughly unremarkable.

Paper

For journals, I like the Clairefontaine journals. They're really affordable and great for fountain pens. For calligraphy practice, Rhodia grid paper is excellent. For finished pieces, large format artist marker paper holds up to the Pilot Parallel pens very well, but struggles with fine nib dip pens using fountain pen ink. When using dip pens with this paper, india ink works better and doesn't feather.

Printmaking

• Blocks: Speedball Speedycarve (the pink rubbery blocks) and Speedball grey linoleum. I try to buy mounted blocks because unmounted grey blocks warp after being washed.
• Carving tools: Speedball beginner carving tools, later prints used an Edward Lyons carving set.
• Baren: A wooden spoon, its honestly the best.
• Inking plate: A tempered glass slab I got at a secondhand art store.
• Paper: Honestly I cannot remember what paper works best, I have a lot of paper floating around ;_;

To Do

• Keep coffee page updated, and maybe make a map of coffee origins I have tried?
• Add blogroll to links page Done, but needs filling out with more badges
• Join a webring
• Host my own blog
• Add my crystal/rock collection to my page
• Create a badge to give out
• Add a fragrances page Need to fill out this page!
• Make site more mobile friendly
• Add guestbook
• Add nav bar
• Add recipes?