Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

For Love of Ivy: My Beloved Mini Printer

For Love of Ivy: My Beloved Mini Printer
An expensive gift becomes less pricey when it’s a gift for everyone in the family. One such option: A mini printer that works with your smart phone. 
Photo by Cynthia Hochswender

Here’s an idea for something everyone in the family will love and should in theory be able to share: A Canon Ivy mini printer that works with your smartphone ($98.99).

I bought one a few weeks ago and I’m completely in love with it. I’ve already bought two for friends.

The quality of the images is very good. If you are able to work with your phone camera and do any light editing to make images brighter, darker etc, you will find this printer to be very easy to manage.

This is a no-ink printer (or ZINK, which stands for Zero Ink), so you’re not always fussing with expensive cartridges.  The ink is in the paper; but the paper is smooth, not puffy like the old Polaroids.

Each piece of photo paper has a sticker back; the images are small (2 by 3 inches), which is perfect for journaling, keeping a travelogue and doing step-by-step or Final Masterpiece photos of new recipes for your own recipe file.

You can also buy coin-sized pre-cut sticker paper for your printer, perfect for kids to decorate their laptops or schedule books.

A pack of 20 pieces of 2-by-3-inch photo paper is $10; 50 sheets is $24; 20 sheets of sticker paper is $12.

Another brand worth looking into is the Kodak Mini 3 Square 3x3 Retro Portable Printer. As its name suggests, this printer (also known as the P300R) gives you 3-inch-square prints.

There are other models that make different-sized prints. The P210R prints are 3.4 by 2.1 inches, and there is a 4-inch printer called the Dock Plus.

The prices vary, depending on who’s selling them and which model you get. Most of the Canon and Kodak printers usually are sold bundled with some packs of ZINK printer paper. It does make sense to order some paper, so the family can test drive the printer right away (before it gets put in a drawer and is forgotten).

One thing you do need for both these printers is Bluetooth on your phone. The Canon Ivy has a USB cord that allows you to charge it up; the charge seems to hold for a fairly long time (I haven’t yet run out of power). I’m not certain whether the Kodak units can be charged or if they are battery-only.

I’m not a super high-tech person and I found the Canon Ivy stunningly easy to set up and use. If you’re unsure, you can go online and find several YouTube tutorials.

Cynthia Hochswender

Latest News

The Millerton News - September 10, 2026

The Millerton News - September 10, 2026

Download directly

Wassaic Project co-founder Eve Biddle presents her “Field Notes”

Wassaic Project co-founder Eve Biddle presents her “Field Notes”

Artist Eve Biddle and Tremaine Gallery Director Terri Moore.

D.H. Callahan

On Wednesday, Sept. 2, the Tremaine Gallery at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville opened its new show, “Field Notes,” with works by multidisciplinary artist Eve Biddle.

Biddle is best known in the area as one of the founders of the iconic Wassaic Project in the hamlet of Wassaic, New York. The project, which is part art incubator, part gallery, part studio and a whole lot of community, is housed in an old converted grain elevator right next to the Metro North train tracks. It’s credited by many as the spark that revitalized the hamlet, which now boasts a craft bakery, a curated wine and liquor store, a pizza hot spot, the Lantern.

Keep ReadingShow less
exhibit

Victor Cella is painting his own path

Victor Cella is painting his own path

Artist Victor Cella with his recent painting “White Dog” in his studio and shop, Little Store Antiques in Great Barrington.

L. Tomaino
If I taught art, I’d teach it in a different way. I could teach it as an awareness — how to free yourself up.
— Victor Cella

Paintings by Victor Cella of a blue dog, a flower still life and a colorful abstract greet visitors as they mount the steps to The Little Store, an antique shop he runs with his husband, John Ortisi, at 88 Main St. in Great Barrington, Mass.

The shop is filled not only with antiques but also with Cella’s paintings. People stop by to see what Cella is currently painting and to talk with him. He is known for his amiability as well as his paintings.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Fear and Loathing in the Woodland

Fear and Loathing in the Woodland

Fear and Loathing in the Woodland Japanese barberry, an invasive shrub with thorny branches, provides shelter for mice and can contribute to conditions that allow tick populations to thrive.

Provided

I am tempting tick-bite fate by writing this, even from the safety of my office.

Eight people emailed me with a link to the New York Times article on ticks that ran in the Aug. 20 magazine section.My Instagram algorithm made sure that I saw the same story several times over.The article, “The Summer the Ticks Took Over,” by Benjamin Wallace reads like a horror story, engendering a kind of paranoia that sidewalk-hugging New Yorkers can easily fall prey to.The reader comments enhance the author’s terror and fall into key categories: readers who are living proof of the sometimes harrowing, life-altering consequences of a tick bite; readers’ instructive life hacks against ticks (“permethrin is your friend”); readers’ collective chant to kill the deer; and, finally, readers who question why anyone would ever go in the woods again.

Keep ReadingShow less
the ungardener

Oldtone brings roots music, dancing and community to Cool Whisper Farm

Oldtone brings roots music, dancing and community to Cool Whisper Farm

The Allum Ridge Boys & Ashlee at Oldtone Music Festival in 2025

Jim Wright

The Oldtone Music Festival returns Sept. 10 through 13, bringing musicians and audiences together for a four-day celebration of roots music at Cool Whisper Farm in Hillsdale.

Founded in 2015 as a one-day show in Wassaic, Oldtone moved the following year to the Schober family’s Cool Whisper Farm, where it grew into a three-stage camping festival. The festival ran annually until the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation in 2020. After limited attempts to bring it back in 2021 and 2022, organizers announced in early 2023 that the festival would end.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

“Come From Away,” a story of kindness at Sharon Playhouse

“Come From Away,” a story of kindness at Sharon Playhouse
“Come From Away” cast in rehearsal. (Back Row L to R): Jeffrey Konowitch, Meagan Lewis-Michelson, Max Bennett-Parker, Michael F. McGuirk, Tracy Liz Miller, Ricky Oliver, Cherish Love, Willie Marte (Front Row L to R) Cameron Sirian, Chelsie Nectow, Erin Lindsay Krom, Sophie Nassiri
Lynette Shy

Twenty-five years after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the Sharon Playhouse is staging a musical about what happened in the aftermath — and about an extraordinary act of kindness in a small Newfoundland town.

“Come From Away,” the Tony Award-winning musical by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, runs Sept. 11 through 27 and concludes the Playhouse’s 2026 MainStage season. Directed by Hunter Foster, with choreography by Krystyna Resavy and music direction by Eric Thomas Johnson, the production tells the true story of the thousands of airline passengers who suddenly found themselves stranded in Gander, Newfoundland, after U.S. airspace was closed following the terrorist attacks.

Keep ReadingShow less
performances
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.