sowing the seeds of love BCN sneak peeks

well the beginning of Feb marks the newest release from the Boys at Kraftyhands.
A new CD I think aimed at Gardeners, or anyone who like florals. I must admit, I wish I had got my hands on some of Rob Adams tools to go with the cd!
heres one to tickle the taste buds!

so tune in next week to see what the boys, and girls and myself have come up with. I do think this is a very versatile CD!

Also if youre old enough like me, or a child of the eighty's, then the words sowing the seeds of love sent a song dancing through my head for days!!!!

would you drive a car when you were only allowed to buy fuel from the car manufacturer? And what I found out!

would you drive a car when you were only allowed to buy fuel from the car manufacturer?
Well? Would you?
If the car companies tried to do what printer manufacturers do, then the answer would be NO!
I posted a few weeks ago about what I had said to my MP, you can find it further down
So in my continuing quest to get this sorted heres the letters I have recieved:

 and here's what I wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority, and what I found out!!!
Dear Sir/Madam

As advised by Mr Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, I am contacting you to raise my concerns with Printer Manufacturer monopolies.
In America, the scenario we have with Printer Manufacturers is Illegal, which made me query the UK Situation.
Here is a copy of the text of an email, I sent to My MP Mr Michael Meacher Dated 30th Dec 2014: See blog post here
I then proceeded to contact each of the 4 main Printer manufacturers to query the warranty adjustments Mr Cable states can be made.

Canon, 0207 660 0186, Printer dept Michael.
They categorically DO NOT offer any adjustable warranties with regards to their printers. Any use of unofficial cartridges or CIS immediately voids their warranty. In addition they do offer printers that will take heavier weight cardstocks, up to 300 gsm, but the warranty ONLY covers use of Canon's own 300gsm card stock, no other manufacturer is allowed, otherwise the warranty is VOID.
Hewlett Packard, 0207 660 0596 Claire. No adjustment to any Warranty to enable use of unofficial Cartridges, or CIS is available. Warranty is VOIDED if used immediately
Epson, 01952 607111 No warranty adjustment is available to use unofficial Cartridges. Epson are now offering one A4 printer model with their own CIS, Called an ECOTANK, model number L355, for the cost of £249.99 inc vat, so will not make any adjustments to warranties as they have their own CIS which is only available for one model. The CIS is a an open system, and refillable, but information does not clarify as to wether other companies inks can be used to refill the CIS without voiding the warranties.
Brother, 0333 777 4444, No adjustable  warranties are available at all. Any use of unofficial Cartridges or CIS immediately VOIDS the warranty.
So it would seem that MR Cable is Wrong in his assumption that Printer manufacturers provide adjustable warranties.
Each of the printer manufacturers have complete monopoly over any inks used, or even in some cases materials used in their printers. Warranties are immediately voided if you use another companies ink cartridge or INK.
Those who work from home, or have hobbies requiring a lot of printing, eg, card makers, amature photograhpers, if they do NOT want to risk voiding their warranties are held to ransom by these companies.
I understand that I do NOT have to purchase a printer. However in a lot of cases, as stated in my original email to Mr Meacher, we are forced to use printers. Childrens school homework is now done via a computer and internet access. Everything is electronic now-a-days, thus you need a printer.
I understand that printers would be more expensive and that companies would lose revenue if they made ink affordable and printers expensive.
However my original points still stand. Ecologically it is irresponsible of printer manufacturers to adopt this stance, I also believe it is irresponsible for Printer manufacturers to force you to buy their cartridges which are NOT refillable, and are a constant addition to our ever growing land refuse resources.
I still view this as buying a Toaster from Sainsburys but only being able to toast Sainsburys bread in it!
I would like you to Inform myself as to how this situation is NOT a monopoly. The country would be in uproar if we were forced to by car Fuel in the same manner that Printer manufacturers force us to buy ink.

I am forwarding a copy of this email to My MP Mr Michael Meacher, I will also endeavour to email a copy to Mr Cable. I will also be publishing this information via social media sites.

Yours Sincerely,

So Canon do a printer that takes 300gsm, but its ONLY covered by warranty if you only use Canon 300gsm card.
Epson now do a CIS or Ecotank as they now call it, for ONE A4 printer which takes up to 255gsm.
Both of them still hold you hostage though!
So the question remains, would you buy a car if you could only fill up at the manufacturers garages? Would you use other garages which were cheaper even though it VOIDS the cars warranty? So why  do we allow it to happen with our printers?

My MP has shown interest in Printers! Why?

I have a printer, well its number 7 of the same model, so when it decided to break again over New year, I was somewhat fed up.
One thing that annoys me is the fact that if I use a compatible brand of printer cratridge then I i8mmediatly invalidate my Warranty on my printer, so being in a bad mood with my printer I emailed my MP via Write to them, a government email system for all MP's.
This is what I wrote:

I write with regard to printer manufacturers .
Please can you explain to me how the government has not tackled this problem before?
In America it is Illegal to void a warranty or repair if you have used ink cartridges not made by the Printer manufacturer. Yet in the UK, if we use another brand of Ink cartridge, as in NOT made by the Printer manufacturer, eg, Hewlett Packard, Epson, Canon, Brother, etc, which cost on average £12.00 for 6 milliliters of ink per cartridge, the printer manufacturer can VOID the warranty of a printer?
In this era where re-use and recycle is encouraged by all Government parties, can you please explain to me why we are filling dumps with printers where its cheaper to buy a new printer instead of a set of ink Cartridges? Where a re-useable system of controlled ink-flow is allowed to VOID a Warranty, by reducing the need for buying ink cartridges which in turn are then tossed in the bin.
In the current economic Climate pennies are tight, yet all government and local government departments prefer you to print out forms at home, to cut YOUR costs, yet put the additional burden of paying in the region of £40.00 to the client in order to print out a letter to send to you?
After a couple of months of not using the printer, as you dont want to use up the ink incase you have to print out yet another form, you need to print out another form.............only to discover that the ink has dried in the cartridge through lack of use, or even worse, dried in the printer head. The only thing to do then is...............go out and buy another printer!!!! Its cheaper in a lot of cases to buy a new printer than to replace the Ink Cartridges, and definitely cheaper than replacing the print head.
In my situation the Ink cartridges cost: £41.09, the printer costs £89.00, and the print Head is £149.99. For my printer I could buy a CIS System, a Continuous Ink System (Controlled Ink Flow) for £40, and 400 milliliters of ink for £12.00. Most standard cartridges contain 4-6 Milliliters of ink, and they charge @£12.00 per cartridge.
In most cases the printer is in the region of £30, and the cartridges cost in the region of £40, from most Supermarkets.
With a view to re-cycling, and re-using can you please explain to me why NO government has tackled this issue, which is Illegal in America, and what the government can and will do about this?
How on earth have the printer manufacturers been allowed to decide to Void a warranty if you use some one elses ink? Its like buying a toaster from Sainsburys, but only being allowed to toast Sainsburys bread in it! or Buying a Ford and only being allowed to refuel at a Ford garage! Or being forced to buy paper and envelopes from the Post Office, so that you can send a letter!
Common Sense dictates that this is a ridiculous situation, and I would like you to rectify this nonsensical impasse as soon as possible, especially with regard to re-use of ink cartridges and CIS systems.
Yours sincerely,

Today I recieved a reply from my MP, (Which brings me to another rant, as all my post had been opened and read, then stuck through my letter box!) heres his response:

Thank you for your recent email about warranties on Commercial Printers.

I have to admit I am quite astonished by some of the points you have made here. As a former Environment Minister, the potential environmental effects of this policy alone are very troubling.

I have written to the government Minister who has political responsibility for business competitiveness on your behalf, and asked him for comments about this.

I will be in touch with you when I receive a response, 

So any one want to write to their MP? lol, as my MP normally sends long detailed reasons why something is done or not done, this letter is out of the ordinary for him, in its honesty, personal opinion, and brevity! And I didnt know he was the former Environment Minister either, lol. But if enough people complain about this making references to things like using a ford car and having to use ford Petrol, and the deliberate cheapness of printers versus the cost of the ink, then we might be all able to use compatibles, or CISS systems without voiding the warranties of the damned things!

Which in our situation is quite important, as we can use a LOT of ink!!!!

New year means changes

Okay the Kraftyhands Challenge blog has now merged with the Kraftyhands main Blog, so for entires you need to go here!http://kraftyhands.blogspot.co.uk/
For details on my card here's the link to youtube: