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12 Days of Christmas - Day 3 - Heirlooms

Photo Credit: The Land of Nod

Welcome to InkSpot Workshop's 12 Days of Christmas. Today I am pleased to bring you my hand selected picks for day 3, where it's all about Heirloom quality gifts.

Click here to view 12 Days of Christmas - Day 1 - Flower Lovers
Click here to view 12 days of Christmas - Day 2 - A Christmas Story

Who wouldn't love this elegant silhouette ring?
Something to hand down from generation to generation.
Le Papier Studio has a full line of silhouette jewelry
almost every piece is priced under $50.00

The Nikolas Ring
Le Papier Studio
$30.00

I'm taken with the unique, sentimental jewelry line found at Posh Mommy Personalized Jewelry They offer heirloom quality pieces for moms, dads, children, even the family dog! This Wee Loop necklace is my favorite for little girls. Personalized with your child's name and birthstone, for her cherish forever.

WEE Loop
Posh Mommy Kids Jewelry
$60.00

This is the ULTIMATE in Heirloom gifts, especially if you come from a family who l♥ves to cook and bake together! The stylish, heirloom quality aprons from Ice Milk Aprons are available in an Heirloom Kit.

Each kit contains: apron, heritage tag (where you actually sew your own initials onto the fabric tag, grandma too, and attach to the inside of your apron for generations to enjoy) plus blank recipe cards to pass down all your favorites. All packaged in an antique looking mason style jar.

Click here to see my tutorial, where I share my very own longtime family recipe for my great grandmother's sour cream apple pie. She would have loved this gift!

Heirloom Kit
Ice Milk Aprons
$100.00

12 Days of Christmas - Day 2 - A Christmas Story Fan

My favorite Christmas movie of all time is A Christmas Story. Not just because it's original and FUNNY! But because it was filmed in Cleveland, Ohio (my hometown) in the early '80's when I was just a little tween. I remember all the buzz and hype when they were filming because nobody EVER picks Cleveland to make a movie. The crew was downtown at the Higbee's department store, filming the famous Ralphie visiting Santa scene, where the elf kicked him down the slide, remember that one?

OK, thanks for my little trip down memory lane:) Now, let's get down to business. Yesterday I launched InkSpot Workshop's 12 Days of Christmas with gifts for the Flower Lover, click here to read full post.

Today I bring you (tongue in cheek) gifts for the A Christmas Story movie fan on your list!! Don't we all know one? I discovered a virtual online portal for ALL things A Christmas Story movie related, a website called A Christmas Story House This site is filled with all sorts of movie memorabilia, behind the scenes facts, plus did you know you can actually take a trip to Cleveland and visit the real Christmas Story house? They have a whole tour, complete with a Chinese turkey dinner, who knew? Be sure to visit A Christmas Story House and have fun! PS. They also have a ton of fun gifts for Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation movie lovers.


Here are my personal picks for day 2 of InkSpot Workshop's 12 Days of Christmas...

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out T-Shirt

A Christmas Story House
$15.99

Ralphie's Pink Bunny Suit (both adult + children's sizes)
A Christmas Story House
$59.99

A Christmas Story Leg Lamp
50" Full Size Replica Complete with Wooden Crate
$199.99

12 Days of Christmas - Day 1 - Flower Lover

Photo Credit: The Land of Nod

The countdown has officially begun! Starting today and ending Christmas Eve, InkSpot Workshop brings you The 12 Days of Christmas. Each day I will feature my top 3 favorite hand picked finds, for 12 different themes, in 3 different price categories.

Ready? Today we're kicking this series off with gifts for the Flower L♥ver on your list
Enjoy!

Floating Flowers Earrings
Fleur Fatale
$21.00

Vera Wang Flower Collection
FTD
prices starting at $49.99

Garden Flower Pendant
Tiffany & Co
$2,950

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Coming Soon! New Blog

I can hardly wait!
The amazingly talented Susie, of Zee Studios
is working on the finishing touches
for the ALL NEW
InkSpot Workshop Blog

New head shot pictures from C. Davis Photography
scheduled for Sunday

I will be offering advertising space on the new layout
Interested? Drop me a line by clicking here

Stay tuned....

New! 2010 Holiday Collection

Tis
The
SEASON!

Introducing the new 2010 Holiday Collection from InkSpot Workshop, available by clicking here. I've had so much fun making this year's collection, using my trademark bright, modern and bold color palette. Hope you enjoy it and get inspired to have some of your favorite friends and family over for a little Holiday Toast this year!

Retro Bike Series
featuring your choice of little passengers for your basket;)

Rainbow Christmas Lights Series
featuring cupcake toppers, invitations and gift tags
YOU DESIGN!

Mod Ornament Series
Available in 3 Color Combinations

Mod Presents
Personalized Holiday Cards
Personalized
Available in 3 Color Combinations

Mod Presents

Hanging Gift Tag

New Fall Design

These gorgeous Fall note cards
are the perfect way to simply say
hi!
try them personalized!
To purchase visit InkSpot Workshop
or
click here

Key elements to include in a party invitation

click image to enlarge

Today I thought I'd share a little advice with you on key bits of information to make sure each and every invitation you send out includes. With the holidays right around the corner, I thought you could use a little reminder:) Plus when you see InkSpot Workshop's fun lineup of Holiday Party Invites (launching Nov 1) you are so going to want to have a reason to throw a party!

The idea to create this post came to me today, as I was designing this actual invitation to be used for a Mom's Night Out get together I soon will be hosting. Can you tell I have a complete obsession with the show Mad Men? I'm pretty sure I'm having this get together just so I could use this design I've had in my head:) Now the pressure is really on me to get some much needed yard work finished!

Here you go...

1. Festive Intro - This really sets the tone/mood for your shin-dig and gets people excited. Have fun with it.

2. Who, What, Where, When - Common sense, right? You'd be surprised how many customers I have that do not include this info in their invitations. ALWAYS be sure this information is clearly stated somewhere, even if you need to include a map, which seems old school now that everyone has a GPS or Google Maps.

3. Special Instructions - This could be a dress code, or a gift "theme" if it's a wedding or baby shower, basically anything out of the ordinary you want your guests to be aware of.

4. RSVP - Don't fall into the "Regrets Only" trap because many people will forget to notify you if they do not plan to attend your party. A response is also helpful when you are trying to secure a head count. If you are using a caterer and need to have a complete number of guests by a certain date, don't forget to include an "RSVP by..." date.

Be sure to send your invites out at least 2-4 weeks before your party.

HAVE FUN!

iCandy - Severance Celebration Edition

Wall Decal from Whirlibird

Happy Friday everyone! and for me it's super HAPPY! Today's iCANDY feature is meant to be inspirational and is very near and dear to my ♥ this week.

You see...for the past few years, well actually ever since I first started InkSpot Workshop in April, 2008, I've secretly had a bad case of Severance Package Envy! InkSpot Workshop has been my side business, while I have been a full time Medical Sales rep for a large medical device manufacturing company (can't name until after the end of the month). It seemed like a rare occurrence for medical device sales people to get laid off in this industry so when other internal people in my company would get severance packages I would secretly feel envious and wish it were me. It's not that I didn't like my job of 9 years or the people and customers I worked with, it's just that I really wanted to be making pretty paper goodies instead:) I never meshed my two worlds together (paper and needles) but there were several sales calls when I just wanted to shout at the nurses...."hey ladies, you think this iv catheter is neat? let me show you my line of stationery" :)

Then there was the tremendous guilt! The guilt of having a very good sales job, the type of job people always had their friends call you about to see how they could "get into the business" but wishing you didn't have. The guilt from having a very good job that you really didn't want, but were so good at doing, when so many other people in the country are losing jobs left and right. The guilt from cutting your day short to take care of customer's invitation orders, when you could have made one more sales call. Ugh! guilt is really such a burden. I won't even mention the toll leading a double life was taking on my family.

On Wednesday of this week my secret wish came true! My company like so many others out there had to reduce head count in order to make a profit for the shareholders and you know what? I completely understand that. It's one of the risks you take working for a large, publicly held company. When I got the call (along with 24 others) I seriously was doing a tap dance while on the call. The sky got bluer and the trees instantly got greener and I felt like the hugest weight ever had been lifted off my chest. I could now stop living this double life and be truly dedicated, 100% to growing InkSpot Workshop! I must also mention the fact my husband who also is in medical sales is super supportive and has made me feel at ease about this decision. Of course he enjoyed my paycheck which contributed 50% to our total income but he also has seen InkSpot Workshop grow, plus my stress associated with keeping a double life and knows if anyone can make a business work, it's ME!

Right now I want to leave you with the inspiration that living your dream CAN happen, not to mention watch what you wish for because someone obviously is listening:) I plan on writing a Part II on this subject where I give some advice for those of you currently working and help you to plan your "exit strategy" now that hind sight really is 20/20. I understand not everyone is fortunate enough like me to receive a severance package after 9 years of service, so I'll try to make sure that post comes from a different perspective.

Oh Happy Day! Thanks to all of you who have made InkSpot Workshop a profitable success and all of this possible for me. Guess you could say....SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED A LITTLE SHOVE TO DO WHAT YOU L♥VE!

1. Collage Poster - Green Nest, $14.00
2. Super Mug - My Other Little Shop, GA $23.00
3. Silver Pendant Necklace - Lisa Hopkins, IN $68.00
4. Notebook - Honey Design Books, New Zealand, $6.50
5. Matchbook Doodle Pads - Monkey Mind Design, CO $6.00
6. Wall Decal - Whirlibird, IL $24.50