Laura Vegas

someone recently asked me where my printers and computer are, after seeing photos of my scraproom (where they were NOT located). and recently, i shared a great deal on my favorite photo paper on facebook, which started a conversation about photo paper. so i thought i would share about these on my blog today.

i have a desk upstairs in the loft, where i keep my printers and where i could work on my laptop. this was great when i had my scraproom upstairs. when i moved my scrap stuff into the downstairs bedroom, my desk stayed upstairs. mainly because i just don't have any room downstairs for it. i would still sit upstairs a lot and work on the computer, since the girls are up in the loft all the time. but, it's not the most ideal spot to have my printers, since i spend most of my time downstairs these days. 

i was racking my brain, trying to think of a spot where i could put my printers downstairs. then it dawned on me. this red cabinet. it was from my scraproom upstairs, and we moved it into the playroom downstairs. it's a great spot to put all the large, and bulky toys for the daycare kids. it's great to be able to close the doors, and not have to look at toys when the kids aren't here. it wasn't all that full. so i moved some things around, put some toys in another TV cabinet we have in the same room, and cleared out one side of the cabinet.

so, half the cabinet is for my printers, and supplies. i keep a lock around the knobs, when the little ones are here. i had my mom come and make some  holes in the back, so i could put the cords through the backside, to the outlet behind the cabinet. i love that i don't have to take my laptop upstairs to go print something. or send something to the wireless printer, and then go upstairs to see if it really did work. all my stuff is right here, and much more convenient.

on the bottom shelf, i have a plastic drawer unit that's about 13×13. i already had it, and it fit there. the black boxes are about 13 inches deep, and i had those already too. in the drawers, i have extra ink cartideges for the printers, my external hard drives, my external flash, card reader, video camera, camera batteries and memory cards. pretty much anything related to my printers and cameras. in the boxes, i have misc stuff. a box of folders, notebooks, envelopes, report covers. a box of office type stuff, like staples, paperclips, labels, tape. a box of tools and hardware, that i keep in the house for easy access. and a box that is filled with instruction manuals for just about everything in the house, and that i have never looked at, but feel i need to keep. lol!

on the sides of the printers, i have just enough room to store a few things. on that top shelf, i have printer paper, white cardstock for printing journaling, and photo paper. on the middle shelf, i have my binders that hold all my paperwork for making memories, creating keepsakes, and a third binder for all other design teams and scrap related work.

this is my regular printer. it's a kodak, and i actually wouldn't recommend it. lol! i really liked my old printer, but it wasn't compatible with my new laptop when i got it. and no drivers or anything available, to make it compatible. this printer came free with my laptop, so it's what i'm using. i DO like that it's wireless. even though it doesn't always work. i take a chance, any time i print. it also does NOT want to scan. i have never found a printer/copier/scanner that actually did scan. no idea why. and this thing seems to suck up ink. not big on that fact.

this is my photo printer. which i would recommend to anyone and everyone. LOVE IT! but. it's an older printer, and not easy to find. it's an HP photosmart D7300. which is basically the same as THIS ONE. and THIS ONE is an even newer version. i bought this printer about four years ago, when i first started doing my own collages and wanted to be able to print at home. i have never, ever had a problem with this printer. excuse me, i'm going to knock on a bunch of wood now. ok. i'm back. lol! i do have to plug in my laptop, in order to print. but i keep the cord right there on top of the printer. so i can just set my laptop on top of the cabinet, plug it in, and print. this prints exactly what i see on my computer. what i edit my photos too, in photoshop. i still order lots of prints from costco, and they look good. even great sometimes. but this printer prints my photos wonderfully.

and THIS. this, my friends, is the most awesome photo paper out there. HP premium plus photo paper, in soft gloss. it's just like a matte finish. but nicer. it's thick, and just has the nicest look to it. it's usually about $35, for a 50 sheet pack. i used to wait and wait, until i could find it on sale. you could often find it buy one, get one free. last year, i found a great deal on amazon, and stocked up. but the deal i found about two weeks ago, was the best one yet. they have it for $7.99, for a 50 sheet pack. AWESOME! i bought a ton of it. i had a few friends that took my word for it, ordered it, and said they loved it too. and they went back and ordered more. and i know for sure, that one of them wasn't printing on an HP printer, but an epson. so, if you're looking for a good photo paper, you have to trust me on this one. i would not steer you wrong. and this is the newer packaging that you will see, if you order it. but it's the exact same paper that you see below. i promise 🙂