Bring Coco to Milwaukee #mkecoco

Conan O’Brien, won’t you PLEASE come to Milwaukee for a show? We’ll feed you the best burgers Milwaukee has to offer at AJ Bombers with some local brews I’ll buy from Blatz Liquor!

Pretty Please? Midwestern hospitality is out of this world. Pinky swear.

Don’t believe me that AJ Bombers has the best burgers in Milwaukee? Feast your eyes on some burger porn from AJ Bombers’ burger whisperer.

Conan, if you come to Milwaukee, I’ll buy you a burger and a beer. Hell, you can even stay at my place.

#mkecoco

Where I’ve been…

This blog has been quiet for the past month, but I’ve been busy (which is always a good thing when you run your own business).

I’ve been busy working on Wordpress sites for clients (stay tuned for reveals) and on a super secret crafty venture. I’m so excited about this new venture I could burst at the seams!

Things are also going great at Pink Ink Studios, where I design graphic resources for professional photographers. We have really ramped up the site this year, with awesome giveaways (um, Intuos 4 Wacom anyone!!!) and a stellar design team.

Here are some of my newest products (click to view):

Outside of all this, I’ve also made a commitment to be a healthier Amy Kant. As such, I’ve launched a new blog, Losing it without losing me. I haven’t felt this good about myself in years. I will be making that blog more personal, and this one will become more professional. I am very open and honest over at Losing It, so if you learn more about me than you’d like to know, well, then don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Christmas Decorations: A Handmade Holiday

My sister and I are obsessed with Christmas. It’s pretty ridiculous, actually. But, neither of us had a lot of money this year, so we devised a plan to decorate our apartment for cheap! We spent less than $30 on new decorations/supplies. Everything else we had on-hand. Here are some photos:

These are two wreaths I made using vintage milk bottle caps, some flowers/leaves from Prima and some gems (oh, and a heckulva lot of hot glue).

Here’s our Christmas tree. It’s an artificial one because Em had it already and we didn’t want to spend money on a real one this year. A third of our ornaments are handmade. Some are vintage (we got to raid Grandpa’s stash) and some are new. We used bead strands instead of garland. The countdown to Santa was a Secret Santa gift I got last year. It’s adorable. Next year, I need to buy or make an Advent calendar (after all, Jesus is the reason for the season). Then, at the foot of our tree next to the presents is a wine bottle light. I got it at a craft fair last year, but it would be super easy to make one yourself – it’s an empty wine bottle (I have plenty laying around here), put a short strand of Christmas lights in the bottle and decorate the neck of the bottle with ribbon, wraffia, and other little trinkets. Next year, I’m making a bunch of them!

I also wanted to make a Christmas banner. I’ve just recently started making banners and They are ohhhh-so-fun. I mostly use items from some Kenner Road kits, but also included some of my scrappy stash and vintage treasures. Here are some close-ups:

Let’s not forget about paper chains. Who says they’re just for kids? I used cardstock and papers from Cosmo Cricket and a fabulous transparency from Hambly. I included three li’l “ornaments” that fell from the swoops of the chain. Each one is circular and has a vintage milk bottle cap, a button, a felt shape and a gem.

There were plenty of other decorations, but I don’t have pictures of it all. Hope you had a fabulous Christmas. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Photographer Resources: Retirement Sale at Pink Ink Studios

In order to make room for some new designs at Pink Ink Studios, I’m retiring a bunch of my oldies. Get on this before they’re gone!

Web Design: Beta Epsilon Chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta

As you may or may not know, I was in a sorority in college. I am proud to still be an Alpha Gam. In fact, I am the Vice-President Member Development Advisor for the Beta Epsilon Chapter at Carroll University. I am also the Alumnae Chapter President here in Milwaukee.

Last spring, the girls were talking about how badly they wanted a new Web site. When I took a look at the site, I knew they weren’t joking around. The site was outdated and was in dire need of a facelift.

So, the girls hired me to do a complete overhaul on the site before they started recruitment this fall.

Click on the image below to check out their site! (Note: Due to the winter hiatus, we are still waiting for a few pictures and some copy for the site… so don’t be alarmed if you see a “coming soon” graphic).

Buy Local: Tim Kant Photography, greeting cards and prints

My talented dad is an “amateur” photographer here in Milwaukee. I say “amateur” in quotations because my dad does not consider himself a professional photographer… but a hobbyist.

After two years of sharing booths at craft fairs, I convinced him to set up shop on Etsy to sell his photo cards and prints.

If you’re looking for some last-minute Christmas cards or prints for gifts, consider stopping by his Etsy shop (http://timkantphotography.etsy.com). I’m sure if you placed an order before Christmas and live in the area, he would find a way to get them to you!

He’s running some specials, too!

Photo Greeting Cards for the Holidays or Any Day – Free Shipping on all photo card orders.

LAST MINUTE SALE: Prices on photo cards are reduced through December 31. Order no later than Sunday, December 20 for USPS delivery by December 25. I cannot guarantee delivery to Canadian addresses by December 25 but I’ll try my best.

GRAND OPENING PROMOTION: FREE GIFT TO MY FIRST 5 CUSTOMERS — See the “Welcome” section of my Shop Policies for details.

Inspiration: Reds and Teals/Turquoise/Tiffany Blue

I absolutely LOVE the hot color pairing this holiday season – Red and Teal!

When I moved into my new place this summer, I decorated the kitchen in this color scheme! Red and teal or turqouise with white… oh-so-heavenly.

Here are some holiday (and other) uses for this color palate I’ve found in my online travels.

via eat drink chic

This gorgeous paper. I couldn’t find it online, but I bought this teal with red birds paper at Broadway Paper and used it to wrap up some Christmas gifts. (img via karleighjae)

Teal and red felt bows? LOVE! (via Twig and Thistle)

This hat would look fabulous on my head. Just sayin’. (via knitsational)

I actually bought one of these a couple of weeks ago at an antique shop! It’s in my kitchen now. (via ricracandbuttons)

(via dedeetsyshop)

Oh, and don’t even get me started on the vintage pyrex casserole dishes!

All bundled up and on the road to recovery

Wowzers, I haven’t blogged in forever. Life has gotten the best of me lately. I’ve had so much going on, I didn’t even realize I was getting sick.

A lack of energy and continual tiredness was attributed to my new work schedule – 5am to 2pm weekdays – even though I was getting plenty of sleep, I never felt 100%. I could take a 4 hour nap after work, wake up to eat supper and then go back to bed and I was still always tired. Then, the coldness kicked in. I was always cold at work, home and everywhere else. It became the norm for me to keep my scarf, hat and coat on at work… and this was soon joined by a blanket on my lap. My skin always felt warm to the touch to others and I never had a fever. I took my temperature multiple times a day because I was convinced I had some type of infection. Why else would I be so cold so much of the time?

Conversations with family and my Twitter friends led me to wonder if something bigger was going on. Luckily, I already had my yearly physical scheduled for the following week, so I just toughed it out until that appointment.

My doctor confirmed what friends hypothesized – I probably have a thyroid problem. Numerous blood tests later, I found out that not only did I have hypothyroidism (with a TSH count of 10.2, normal is 0.4-5.0), I was also very anemic.

No WONDER I felt like death. Seriously, if I had to guess what death felt like, it would have been how I’ve felt for the last month or so.

Looking back, the symptoms started this summer… but I attributed them all to my work schedule and a changing routine. My symptoms didn’t come on suddenly – I was just ignoring them.

I can tell you this – if I had the sick/vacation time left this year, I would have taken a couple of weeks off work to rest up. I probably would have qualified for short-term disability, but that only kicks in after 7 days… and I couldn’t afford to take 7 days off unpaid before the short-term disability kicked in. So, I struggle through the work day (still working 5a-2p) and quickly crash the minute I get home.

I have been taking my new meds for almost a week and have only noticed slight improvements. My coldness isn’t constant anymore. It is worst in the morning and evening. I still am bundled up most of the day, but I’m not shivering like I was a week or two ago.

I am still exhausted and have very low energy levels, but I’ve been told it can take a couple of weeks to a month until you really start feeling better. This is probably one of the worst times of the year to feel like this, but it has caused me to slow down and not get caught up in the commercialism of the season.

My sister and I decorated our apartment for less than $30. And let me tell you, there are decorations all over the place. We were just thrifty and used what we had on hand… along with our craftiness to decorate the place for Christmas.  I will have to take photos and write up a blog post about that this week.

Bloody Brunch Holiday Extravaganza

Bloody Brunch is a charity event I started with my friend @sarandipity. And we’re pulling out all the stops for our next event, the Bloody Brunch Holiday Extravaganza! Here’s a li’l info:

Bloody Brunch™, the popular Milwaukee Tweetup event in search of the city’s best Bloody Marys, is making its next stop at Stack’d Burger Bar on Sunday, December 13^th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a Holiday Extravaganza. That’s right, Bloody Brunch ™ is going beyond Twitter for a day of celebration, benefiting Toys for Tots, the Blood Center of Wisconsin and the Great Lakes Hemophilia Foundation.

All guests bringing a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots (don’t be a grinch – suggested value of $10) will get a free Rehorst Vodka or Gin Bloody Mary with a Buffalo Water Bison Blonde chaser (while supplies last). The first 25 people to bring in a toy valued at over $25 will receive a swag bag full of coupons and goodies from local businesses, a Bloody Mary with chaser and a Build-Your-Own-Burger.

The Blood Center of Wisconsin and Great Lakes Hemophilia Foundation will receive all proceeds from the silent auction, with items including a one night’s stay at The Iron Horse Hotel and a custom pet portrait. Other festivities at the event include free pictures with Santa Claus, holiday tunes from DJ Ed Cetera and the Packers vs. Bears game on flat screen TVs.

Trivera Interactive president Tom Snyder will be on hand for mini-workshops. Just getting started or even an old hand, he’ll have tips and tricks to help you get the most out of Twitter. Tom will share all the latest tools to help you get the most out of Twitter as a powerful business tool, or just for fun.

If you’re looking to do some good this holiday season, please stop by the event. There’s no cost to get in, but if you want a swag bag, you’ll have to bring an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots.

Bloody Brunch was even highlighted in this article from OnMilwaukee.com.

It began as any Sunday morning might. Two new friends met for brunch only to discover they share an affinity for a well-crafted Bloody Mary. As one Sunday flowed into the next, an idea was born. The Bloody Brunch was born.

On a personal level, Bloody Brunch co-founders Amy Kant and Sara Conrad hope to try as many Milwaukee Bloody Marys as they can through this venture, but that’s not the real goal, they say. The ladies went public with their weekend events via Twitter and accrued quite the following. Today Bloody Brunch is a popular monthly Tweetup that gathers the Milwaukee Twitter community to raise money for a good cause.

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