EcoPrint2 Pro

I thought I would share with you a new software program I just got. I bought a bundle of software from a company in the UK, Serif.com  They have a variety of programs for web design to graphic art and much more. I got to know about them when I bought an earlier version of the WebPlus web design software.

They made me an offer on a bundle of products to try and one of them I am especially pleased with. It’s not their product, but am so glad that they are a retailer for it. I did not know that makers of printers, set their printers up to use the most ink and of course that makes total sense from a retail perspective. You want people to buy lots of ink. If you are a graphic artist or designer of some sort, you will want to have the best resolution and quality prints you can.

However, for the everyday consumer like me, who takes a lot of online classes and has tons of printing to do, the ink can start to cost a pretty penny. Well, that’s been nipped in the bud so to speak. When you are ready to print your documents, you just open them up in this program, then send it to your regular printer to print it out. What this program does, is resets the ink usage in your printer and reduces the amount of ink you use by 75%. I does not reduce the quality of what you are printing either. Imagine how much money you can save.

Normally when I print colour pages, the printer will stop and let the pages dry before it prints the next one, and so on. I did a print out this morning of approx. 50 pages. The printer never stopped. That tells me that the amount of ink used was greatly reduced because otherwise the printer would have kept stopping to allow the previous pages to dry.  Not this time and I am now a happy camper. I wish I had known about this sooner. Drat…..

Another tip to share with you, or at least something to watch for when you buy a printer. Look at printers that use individual cartridges for each colour. The reason is, if your printer has one cartridge for the colours, if one colour runs out you have to replace the whole cartridge. Very expensive especially since there is still ink left in the other colour chambers. Ask me how I figured that out. If you run out of one colour with individual tanks, you only need to replace that colour, and each time a colour runs out, it will only cost you the price of that colour. Just something to think about next time you buy a printer.

The site for the ecoprint2pro is here.   There are two versions, one is to save on ink and toner, the other is ink, toner and paper. That’s the one I have.  EcoPrint2 Pro.  You can download a trial version and give it a go and see what you think….Good luck.

****Just remember, open your document as usual, choose ecoprint2 from the printer options. When the ecoprint2 window opens with your document, then choose your printer from the options, and voila****

Oriana and Ariel

I’m working on my latest doll/dolls. We are having a two colour challenge in our doll club that is due at next months meeting. I chose black and white, although I suppose that it could be argued that they aren’t actually colours, they are usually used to change other '”real” colours to a darker or lighter shade. Rules should never apply in the doll world though, because as we all know, they have the last word.

Last post I showed you some Minky fabric that I used on Ari Briavel’s cape. It’s so beautiful up close and personal when you can touch it and feel just how soft and elegant it feels. At the same time I bought that, I also bought this other Minky fabric, thinking ahead to this challenge. I absolutely adore paisley prints and was quite blown away when I found that Minky was available in black and white and in a paisley print. Could have knocked me over with a feather.

Here is the black.

And the white. Sorry the pictures aren’t as clear as I would have liked them to be, but I think you can see enough of the pattern, I hope.

This is Oriana, the older of the two sisters. She is a design by Michelle Munzone.  Website here Blog here. Oriana is practicing her dance moves to impress the audience at her next performance while I busy myself working on her costume. She’s busy instructing me also on what she wants her new costume to look like… She’s going to be fab, not to worry.

Her younger sister Ariel, is all sixes and sevens just now. She’s hoping to be able to join her sister on stage some day, but first she has to pull herself together. I’m sure she will. Stay tuned for that day to come very soon….

Ari Briavel is done

The little lady is finished.

She’s been for a walk in the forest and along the way has gathered up a few things. She found a walking stick to help her along bumpy paths and her new leather boots helped to protect her delicate little feet. She is also very glad she chose her warmest pants, a forest can be a cold place some days.

 

She was very glad to have taken her cape along with her, as it proved to be a bit chilly in the forest. She also brought along her hat, and not long after, she found the prettiest feathers and decided the safest place to keep them from harm was in her hat. I think she was right.

The feather trims are a nice addition to the golden snowflakes she wears around her neck. There are no white snowflakes in her world, only golden ones. She had her baubles to hold her cape on her shoulders.

A little further along she found a big beautiful feather. Now where is the bird that has lost this amazing feather. She is now gazing skyward in hopes that, what must be a magnificent creature, will show itself to her. She is patient and can wait as long as it takes…

Soon she will be moving on to her new home and will have stories to share with her new family….

Ari Briavel

I’m almost finished making a doll that I am swapping with a local pottery artist. Louise makes not only pottery cups, plates, bowls, she also makes these fabulous masks.  Please click here for her website, then click on the picture of the mask. As you scroll down that page, you’ll see a blue one that is marked as “held”. That’s the one I chose as my swap art piece.

I love the idea of swapping art pieces, you both come away with something you really like and no exchange of money, just a lovely new piece of art that you can enjoy..

This is where I was yesterday with the doll and today she has more clothes. The shirt is made from silk. Inside the bottom of the sleeves, are golden snowflakes and glass leaves. The trousers are made from a synthetic fabric I found in the upholstery section of the fabric department, but it feels every bit like leather. 

The base is just a simple piece of wood, but will be covered in fabric and trims. I seem to gravitate to wooden bases a lot, but with the right fabrics and trims, they can look pretty nice.

In the next couple of days or so, I’ll have the finished look to show you, so come back again. The doll design is by Barbara Schoenoff. Another of my favourite designers.

The big reveal !

For those of you who have followed my blog for a while, you would remember our doll club started a round robin swap in March. We had our big reveal last night, and I am so pumped. My doll came back so pretty, everyone that worked on her, did such a fabulous job. I am so impressed with her makeover.

This was Fern when she left home in March.  And below is her finished look. Didn’t she turn out great.

The Time Keeper

I finished this doll on the weekend. It’s from a class with Michelle Munzone. I have taken classes and used her patterns since pretty much day one of my doll making journey. I like Michelle dolls, mostly because she does do the mystical type and in the beginning she won me over with her Jesters.

This doll is watching time. On the inside of the box, I used the celestial face that I found on an Etsy site, where Maggie has tons of collage papers you can buy and download. Here’s Maggies link. In the box along with the clock face, I added a little bottle to represent the sands of time along with some nautical elements charms that symbolize those which the mariners long ago would have used to travel the world, the sun, moon and stars. That was their only way to know what direction they were going. At the bottom of the Celestial face, is a ships wheel charm.

The clock for the front works on a battery. The Time Keeper himself is keeping track of time with his hourglass. I didn’t embellish him as much as Michelle did, but that’s just a personal preference. She was more daring than I for that part. It was a great class and maybe you’ll take a class with Michelle one day to.

Her website here:  Bambole Designs   Her blog here: Art by Michelle

And here is the Time Keeper