I Want 6 Colors!

So I have had a really nice photo printer. It was an HP photosmart all-in-one. It did borderless photo printing, was a six-color system, had the slots for the memory cards, some in-system photo editing, designated photo tray. You know, the works.

Well it died. The printing quality started to go downhill. I did everything I could but it just wasn't as bright as it used to be. Then it stopped feeding the photo paper from the photo tray. No problem, I just printed from the main tray. Then it stopped feeding photo paper from that tray. I can still print on regular paper, but no photos. And most of my printing is photo printing. I'm a scrapbooker!

So I did all the self-cleaning I could with the printer's own functions. Then I did all the trouble-shooting and fixing I could do according to the HP help people. Then I did all the trouble-shooting and fixing I could do according to all the voices and people on the internet. It came down to needing some new parts and to get them and have them installed was going to cost me about $100. Well heck, I figured I might as well cost out some new printers.

So I did. And I was able to get a highly rated, 6-color photo printer with all the same capabilities as my old HP minus one thing. I can no longer fax. Oh darn.

So for $130, I have replaced the HP (it has served me well for 6 years now) with the Epson Artisan 730. Please don't say anything bad about it, because I'm very excited to have it. :)

Halloween Wreath

My new wreath for Halloween....ok, so it's not new anymore. I made it over a month ago.

I found the black leaf garland and painted wooden Halloween garland at Marshalls. The BOO letters were wood cut-outs from Hobby Lobby that I painted white from paint on hand. A little floral twine and the grapevine I already own completed the task!

Pinterest Domination

Get on Pinterest- everyone is doing it.

And on that note- here's the wreath I saw there that I wanted for myself. So I made it. It's been really warm here in our corner of the state and I'm ready for spring!
Inspiration wreath:

Final Product:

I used brighter colors than the one in the inspiration photo. Mostly because that's what I could get my hands on. The final wreath took about 20 sprays of baby tulips all clipped apart. I used an 11 inch foam circle, some low temp hot glue, and got down to business. Basically I bent the ends of the flower sprigs to make an L bend, stuck some hot glue on the end and crammed it down into the wreath so that it laid flat. Layer those sprigs all around the circle and you get a wreath (oh and you have to do the edges and inside too). It took about 2 hours and around $40 in materials. Pretty easy if you're comfortable with silk flowers and hot glue, otherwise it might be kind of intimidating.