Project Life Week Three

It was a pretty dull week as a result of my dodgy back giving me grief.  I spent almost the entire first three days flat on my back (as much as I could given that I have two little boys to look after), and we didn't head out of the house until Thursday.  

This week I used the Clementine Digital Core Kit available from acdigitals.com, and an Ali Edwards overlay and circle element.  Just like I did with Seafoam last week, I opened my photos, edited them and added the digital elements.  I opened my journalling cards, cropped the rounded corners off, typed on them and dropped two cards onto a 6x4 canvas ready for printing.  I added a few little bits and pieces but for the most part, this layout is comprised of digital product.

The only big difference this week is that I bought one of these.......

........and printed everything at home!  It's an Epson Picturemate PM235.  I have always been sceptical about at-home printing, preferring to make the trip every Monday morning to Big W or Harvey Norman to get my photos and journalling cards printed.  After seeing how much other Project Lifers, particularly the ladies on the PLA Facebook Group Page, rave about these little guys, I decided that I would get one. After an awful experience at the store (that's a story for another time) I eventually got it home, plugged it in to the power and started printing- yup, you don't need to hook it up to your computer- just insert your  memory card and print away.  However, since I edit everything in Photoshop, it is easier for me to hook the Picturemate up to my computer and get the photos to the machine that way.  The software was easy to install and is very easy to use.  I had to fiddle around with my borderless/bleed settings a little to avoid the cropping that occurs, but the printer remembers these settings now, and I don't have to re-do them every time I turn it on.  It only prints 6 x 4, but that is perfect for PL and most of my scrapbooking. The other thing I really love about it, is it's small footprint on my desk.  It's a little over 8 x 6, so you don't need much extra space next to your computer.   Now, the prints themselves- I was pleasantly surprised by how fast the photos printed and dried and even more surprised by the quality. It's fantastic.  The cost per print is more than doing it in-store, so I'm sure I won't abandon store trips completely, but considering how much time and effort is saved by printing at home, and the fact that the quality is terrific, I say it's money well-spent.  

I'll be sure to share more about the Picturemate once I've used it more, but for now I give it a huge thumbs-up!