Hillary Heidelberg's Blog

Back from the dead...sorta

Ugh...has this flu hit just about EVERYONE? well, it's hit me and mine, and let me tell you, it's been hanging on a week and will NOT let go. I went to Scrap Bowl 08 last weekend and it was a BLAST, but it would have been even better if  I hadn't been so darn sick. In any case, of COURSE (we scrappers are nothing if not committed) I managed to complete a bunch of layouts, and lots of 2 pagers also, so I am happy.

I took Stacy Julian's class, and while I have to admit I was chagrined to meet someone who could talk faster (and more) than me, her class was good. It was called Finish Line and it was all about "completing a mini book" in under 3 hours. And for those of you who have taken my classes at nycscraps.com, you know I am ALL about the "glue it down" philosophy, so I actually put this to the test. I completed a 20 page 6x6 album of our trip to Disney in January, and I like it! And more importantly, the boys LOVE it. It's all about the photos and the memories for kids. They really don't care that I used pink Scenic Route on their Star Wars photos. Although I do have to admit it still niggles at me just a little....

Okay, now to share some layouts..and some knitty goodness :)

Some layouts that I made for scrapbooks.com!!

I also have some cool before/after pics to share of my boys' toy organization (or lack thereof) which i will try and post tonight...for now, this will have to hold you!!!!!

Full Size Goofy (and yes I realize it's pluto...)

Full sized Homeschooling in Starbucks

Full sized Zig-Zag Fun

Full Sized SImple Things

Full sized Magical

Win a free copy of Scrap Simple!

Hey! my book is out (amazon will be getting their order in a few days, so pre-orders will go out first, and then everyone else) but Memory Makers is giving away a free copy of my book on their book blog if you haven't pre-ordered it...plus, there's an interview with me over at the forums (since I am oh-so-private on my blog I'm sure you're dying to know more intimate details about me......)

So, I went to that FANCY party I was telling you about the other day, you know the one where I agonized over the outfit for 2 weeks...it was held in probably one of the most spectacular apartments in NYC...four seperate balconies overlooking Central Park, and all of Manhattan. THere were at least nine different Christmas trees, a toy train running on a track, spiked eggnog handed around by tuxedo-clad waiters, and unbelievable chocolate desserts. I had a few wonderful glasses of champagne, and Michael and I had a chance to talk (since we didn't know a ton of people there)..but the dress looked really good, if I do say so myself. My hair, not so much, since I haven't had a cut or color in months. But hopefully nobody was looking at my head.

In two days we head for sunny Florida to visit my family, and from there we'll go directly to Disney World. We'll be gone almost 3 weeks!!! Luckily, I'll have some internet access. I know you were worried I wouldn't be posting. But I will. A lot. I'm sure you all want to see the many photos of Mickey and Winnie that we'll capture. But really, the weather has turned SERIOUSLY nasty here in NYC, so I am really really glad that we're going.

I also have some GREAT but secret news (I will be able to share in a couple of weeks). I am really excited about this scrappy news, and I can't wait to share.....have a wonderful holiday, everyone.

Wooohooo going to an all day crop....

...if I can actually pack my stuff up!! that's the pita part....anyway, in honor of my all day scrapbooking bonanza that I have planned for today (until midnight!! thanks Michael!) I share with you some layouts I created while away last weekend...my own handwriting no less.. uber uber simple for some challenges at the SS blog :)

That last one I actually created ages ago, but forgot to post it :)

Have a great Saturday everyone!!!!

  

Finally the pic.....

Here's the pic I promised a few days ago.....the advance copy of my upcoming book Scrap Simple.... it arrived from Memory Makers Books and it looks really good! Okay, the pic is a little blurry...sorry...really the pics in the book are better. But the colors are perfect, the text looks so clean and sharp...my editors Amy and Christine really did a wonderful job (thanks girls).

Just got back from Long Island--we decided to go out there so as to avoid the Thanksgiving weekend rush, and it was so pretty-the fall leaves were the most perfect color.  Plus, Scoop had an UNBELIEVABLE sale...got some AG jeans reduced from $220 to $39 dollars! even though I have to get them shortened to fit my stumpy legs, they're still going to be a bargain in the end...Luca wanted to buy a t-shirt, but unfortunately his $5 allowance didn't cover the cost of the $345 DOLLAR KID'S TEE SHIRT.....oh wait, it was on sale. For $220. For a kid's t-shirt. Who BUYS this stuff???

I also am rededicating myself to getting in shape. I've decided that I need a class to attend so that I feel more "compelled' to exercise, so I'm resuming yoga. At one point, I practiced astanga yoga 5 times a week or more, and I was seriously CUT. Now, not so much. Anyway, I went to a 2 hour class out in sag Harbour on Saturday, and then today, went to a class at Jivamukti Yoga near Union Square. It feels SO GOOD to practice again. It feels like heaven. Heaven. I am going to try and get to class 3-4 times a week, so I will post again in a few weeks and let you know whether I'm still at it. I have a feeling i will be. I just have to remember this feeling and how good it is.

Sharing some pics of our lovely weekend....

The mojo left..and then reappeared....

I was feeling low yesterday; Michael has been working some INSANE hours, and I haven't had a chance to scrap for like a week (which is an eternity to a crazy scrapper like me), nor was I feeling even the motivation to scrap. But I was asked today to submit to a cover call for Memory Makers, and some friends of mine sent me some GREAT photos to work with (MM asked us to use a photo of a girl). And suddenly I am psyched to scrap again. I am going to get the boys to bed by 7:30 and get cracking. I also have two layouts I need to finish up for my article for the May issue of MM, and another project that I am going to complete this week...really.

I am reading a great gothic novel by Jennifer Egan called The Keep. Has anyone read this? So far, I love it. Hard to explain what exactly it's about, but it's good.  Oh, and by the way, for those of you who emailed me advice about booking my Disney World Extravaganza...THANK YOU. I did finally book the trip..we're staying at the Animal Kingdom for 7 nights in January, and I've gotten ADRs at the Crystal Palace and a few other key places. Luca is psyched to become a real pirate under Captain Jack's tutelage...

So I ordered 125 prints from Shutterfly.....

..on Wednesday night, and they got here this morning...not bad, especially since their ETA was next week sometime. Anyway, it's been ages since I uploaded photos to a developer and ordered a bunch of 4x6 prints. For the past year and a half, maybe longer, i've been fooling with the photos in PS (for way too long) and then cropping them to the size i want, and then printing them...let's just say it was a good hour before I even GOT to the scrap table. So i wanted to try something new, and go back to the basics, so I uploaded some summer shots as well as shots from my brother's wedding last weekend. Oh, and by the way, all the shots were taken with my new Canon SD1000, which I now think takes GREAT pics. There was no way I was going to lug my new Canon Rebel to the wedding and the reception etc. etc. I get too worried that I'll misplace it after I've had a few drinks. And yea, I suppose the guests are trustworthy LOL but still, I wouldn't want to leave it on my table while I danced. So ANYWAY. I got all these photos today and was totally psyched that I could just GO SCRAP. Like, right away. So I quickly pulled out some cardstock and started cutting and gluing. Woohoo! I whipped out these two pagers and I really like both of them....and hey, if anyone in my family is visiting, you can click on the images to see them larger.

What else? Oh! Simple Scrapbooks called me last week and requested a page of mine for their "Share" Feature--it's a page about my 'hood and I love it, so I was psyched when they requested it. Memory Makers also emailed me, requesting that I write an article on scrapping simply for next spring, and also do five layouts for them. It's nice to know they haven't forgotten us old Masters :)

For those of you who have been following HOF-Gate, I just want to remind people not to forget all the very wonderful Hall Of Famers themselves who created the wonderful layouts in the book which is in stores...I especially want to give a special shout out to Summer Fullerton and Paula Gilarde--I love their layouts in the book and they are both wonderful scrapbookers.

In Hollywood news...can we just say that JUST WHEN YOU THINK  Unfitney Britney has gone as low as she can go..she goes lower still. First the girl was unreachable to set up drug testing, which the judge in her custody battle mandated, and then she failed to show up for another court-mandated requirement, parenting lessons. So the parenting coach basically called the judge as was like "I quit." I do think though that Brit Brit is keeping Starbucks in business. Having two young boys myelf, I can't quite fathom how someone can act like her. The only thing I can imagine is that she is a drug addict, and hence acts like a total idiot. That can be her only excuse. I actually had this weird dream a few weeks ago (okay, I know this is going to make me look like some weird freak, but really, it's EMPATHY!) that I met Britney and told her to come over and stay with our family for a few weeks. So she comes over, and I show her how to push a swing in the park, change diapers, rock your baby...it was really weird. And I was so happy to help her, and she was so grateful....A little background: a friend of mine, another acupuncturist, actually went on TOUR with Britney on her last European Tour (cool, right?) and all she would say was "she's sweet." I always tried to get her to divulge more, but darn that doctor-patient privilege thing....Just kidding! I think this began my interestcoughfascinationcoughobsession with all things Britney. Come on girl!!! Go into rehab for a year!!!

Okay, enough Britney commentary. I need to go watch Thank You for Smoking.

Today is my birthday...

and it was a GREAT day....first off, DH let me sleep in by taking the kids out for breakfast and to the park....ahhhhhh. So I awoke a quiet house, had some coffee and (get this...) SCRAPPED!! I made a layout for the Simple Scrapbooks' due today, a bit late but hey. Then I took the boys to the park and played basketball with them, and this evening, we went out to our favorite upscale pizzeria called Adrienne's over in the financial district..YUM...then...I SCRAPPED AGAIN! I know, a miracle, right? Did another page for the SS call, at this point just 3 hours before the deadline LOL...I loved them both.

I also fit in a run today, which was great and rejuvenating. During the run, as happens, I started thinking about where I am in my life right now, both with scrapbooking and with my family. I have placed a self-imposed deadline of tomorrow to decide whether I will leave my manufacturer Design Team positions, and while running, I realized that while I definitely still value the layouts I create, I am more and more creating for someone other than myself. And that's not okay with me, at least not at this point in my life. I also realized (belatedly) that the last year has been FULL of deadlines: the book deadlines, which were very stressful, combined with the deadlines from the magazine, all while trying to be a great mother with no sitter. I want to 'get back to the basics', scrap for me, use the products that I feel like at any given moment, and shop. Yes, I said shop. I haven't been shopping much at all for about the last 8 months simply because I have been sent a lot of stuff by manufacturers, which (don't get me wrong) is FANTASTIC. But in a sense I feel like I 'shouldn't' shop but rather use the stuff that has been sent to me. Now, I often DO want to use the stuff that is sent to me, but I also have a specific style which doesn't work with every product. Am I making any sense here?

Anyway, to make a long story short, I am leaving my design teams, along with Project X which I left last week. I want to focus on nycscraps.com, focus on my kids and focus on my husband. He's told me often that i don't work very well with tight deadlines, and I've always argued that I do indeed. What I finally figured out is that while I may produce work I am happy with on tight deadlines, and enjoy that rush of adrenaline that accompanies them, I tend to get stressed and short-tempered and nothing is worth that. Okay, some things might be worth that :)

Oh! I almost forgot to mention what my lovely husband got me for my birthday!! First of all, to all the feminists out there whom I call my sisters, do not be offended by this gift, because I ASKED for it. I am now officially a housewife. I got a Dyson Animal. Which I have been coveting for years. I also got a GORGEOUS Canon Rebel which he used for about a year at work but is now giving to me as he needs to upgrade. This thing is fantastic, and just about brand new since he only used it indoors. It's so much lighter than my old Rebel! So two gifts that make me happy happy.

Some shots from my bday dinner:

Need some inspiration????

So, I've been spending a lot of time in the Simple Scrapbooks Gallery, and I feel totally, completely, wonderfully inspired. Now, I haven't found the time to scrap for about 2 weeks, and it's killing me. What with preparing for my brother's wedding next week, running my One-in-48 over at NYCscraps.com, preparing for Debbie's upcoming class, and Michael working weekends and also til 10 pm during the week, I feel totally exhausted by the time the boys hit the hay. BUT. I am still totally inspired. Let me share with you some of the layouts and projects that have truly caught my eye.

This mini album by the incomparable Severine took my breath away.

These layouts by Danielle Marie-Claire are the perfect example of simple simple simple when you have a sentiment to convey.

And of course, the incomparable Celeste, who was just selected for the Simple Gal Team at Simple Scrapbooks. She has a wonderful ability to use patterned paper as her base, a skill  I have yet to learn.

What a great day....

You know when you have one of those great days? They don't come along that often, but everything seems to 'click' (sorta like Murphy's law in reverse)? Today was one of those days....met some other Manhattan and NYC homeschoolers at a weekly soccer get-together near our house, and Luca found a wonderful playmate named A***, the sweetest little girl who totally "got" his sense of humor and style of play (LOVE when that happens). Then we picked up Julian at nursery and got a scoop of icecream for each of them, and headed up to a playdate where the kids we were meeting were just getting out of their car (usually we're way late for things, or way early, so this was a nice change)..and Luca had more fun hanging with some of his long time friends while I got to catch up with two of my mom friends. Then we headed home and the boys are so wiped that they're already in bed (and it's 7 pm here...which means time to scrap and time to watch t.v.....life is good...)

I also completed a couple of layouts for Die Cuts with A View; two I can't share as they're for publication, but I made this one of Julian's summer birthday party in Long Island:

All DCWV except the orange alpha stickers, which are Doodlebug, and the buttons.

In other GREAT news, the fabulous Debbie Hodge, a contributing editor at Memory Makers Magazine,  has agreed to teach a class for NYCscraps.com....it will start October 15th, and it will be fantastic!!! I will be posting more information on the class over at the main site shortly, but for now only newsletter subscribers can register, and it's filling up! Debbie even prepared a sample class pdf, which I will make available for download when I post the info about the class. The class will be all about scrapping EVENTS...you know, birthdays, holidays, parades, parties and will feature primarily 2 page sketches....It will be a blast. Seriously.

Tomorrow we head out to Long Island for a long weekend, and then NEXT weekend is my little baby brother's wedding in Georgia!! The boys will be in the wedding, so let's just pray they're well rested :) Have a great few days everyone!