still me

post-3-days of disney

It’s sat. night… about 9PM and me and the girls are back in the hotel room, while the boys are going out to finish the last batch of ‘fast passes’ for calif. Screamin’… LOL… and I am HAPPY to be back in the room.
Ok, my personal experience in the past is that you come to Disneyland while you are on vacation over here, and spend like one day… do it opening to close… you totally beat the pavement, acting like every moment is GOLDEN… only last year did we come over specifically to do Disney… and we got the 2 day park hopper pass… and we thought we were hard core… once again… we made every moment count. Rode the rides, took in the shows… the works. This time has been totally different than any other time.
We are staying on site at the ‘grand californian’. The hotel is way nice and is located right inside ‘california adventure’… which is across from Disneyland. We got a room that has, in addition to a queen bed, a set of bunk beds, with a pull out bed underneath… as well as a crib for the baby! I am feeling like the highlight of the trip for the boys has been that we let them each have their own room key. (chuckle)… surprisingly, neither has lost it even once (which is MUCH more than I can say for myself) and they certainly feel important… so funny.
It’s quite convenient to not deal with cars and parking during all of this! But there has been a lot of walking.
I think that the highlight for ME was yesterday. I calculated what the mid-point of our 3 days would be a scheduled myself a mother-to-be-massage at the spa here. It was wonderful… well, what I can remember was wonderful! I HATE IT WHEN I FALL ASLEEP during a massage… but I was SO exhausted, and so comfortable and relaxed. The therapist woke me up at the end… and I was SO MAD that I missed the ‘conditioning foot rub’!!!! I am sure that I had some physiological benefits to the massage, but I feel like I missed out on some of the phycological! LOL. It was a little easier to face the evening back at Disneyland, post-massage!
This morning was another great perk of staying here on-site… we were able to have ‘early entry’ into the park. That means 7am, as the park opens officially at 8am on sat. we were scheduled for a character breakfast at 8:10am, so we went over early and rode more rides in that hour than we could all day! (the lines have been HOLY COW long). Let me tell you, it’s a lot easier to get the kids out of bed for Disneyland than 8am church! They were bounding out of bed.
Capri has been amazing. She has been drinking this place in. I think that despite the fact she has NO IDEA what is going on here… she can feel the energy and enthusiasm from the kids, and is feeding off that! She loves all the activity and colors…it’s been very pleasant actually! She has had no prob eating and sleeping on the go.
As I said earlier… the lines are a bit obnoxious. I guess it’s the spring break curse of, well- spring! But the weather has been so absolutely perfect, that you just simply can’t complain! We have had a great time.
Is 3 days too long?
I think you definitely need to learn to pace yourself. And I didn’t really have that one figured out. But was glad to have today! We’ll sleep good tonight, in preparation for the ride home tomorrow.
The sad story of the trip… is, well, very sad.
My camera batteries died and I didn’t bring a charger.
I am so dumb. How dumb do you have to be?
So I don’t have high hopes for my scrapbooking… but we’ll hit on the highlights!!
For now… that means sleep~!

A few observations:
*for an every night fireworks show.. that is amazing
*never quite can get over the branding genius that is this park, every character, ride tied in with merchandising, food and promotion. Scary good.
*the floats may be few in the parade.. but they are stunning. I mean, just the chandeliers on the beauty and the beast float… fantastic
*as an adult, it’s still a thrill to see the characters in real life. (is that normal?)
*it’s amazing how sweet and cute a skull and cross bones is when it’s tied to Disney… the “pirate princess” take is pretty dang cute…
*I didn’t think that red hot chili peppers seemed like an obvious tie-in to Disney and Space Mountain… but frankly, I am still hearing that song in my head. Very nice addition! I liked it a lot – cory’s first words off the ride: “I want that song on my ipod”.
*it’s best not to add up your receipts. (I did get suckered into a mickey t-shirt for a family photo)
*I don’t think that quincy will forgive me for making her go on the ‘tower of terror’ again. That is pretty intense…
*there is nothing worse that being less than 1” too short to ride a ride.
*peter pan is still my favorite ride…cause I like to fly over England. (why is that line always so horrendously long? Guess I am not the only one)
*it really is pretty magical... good messages, good memories, good traditions...

good night.

disney... here we come!

Whoever invented ‘otter pops’ is so cool. Dang… they are tasting so good to me right now. And I kind of feel like not very many things taste really good!  Everything is just kind of  blah.  So yay for ‘poncho punch!’..
So life is good… busy, crazy good… I am happy, I have been very productive this week, I think that the COLD I have been suffering from for almost a month is finally gone, and I have been able to have a couple nights of good sleep.
Guess where we are off to tomorrow??? Disneyland!
We are going with eric’s family, and it’s the first time we are heading over for the specific reason of ‘disney’…we are even staying on site… and making just a whole 3 days of it!  it’s funny because, you may remember, that last year, I got feeling like I wanted to do something fun with my kids… out on a whim –because I knew that the dynamics of our family would be changing, and I thought that going to Disneyland as a non-stroller-bottle-diaper family would be awesome.
So here we are… one year (almost) later, doing disney WITH the stroller, diaper, bottle scene! And PREGNANT AGAIN!!
you would think that at 25 weeks pregnant… I would get USED to the fact that I am pregnant! There must be some elements of denial!  I did buy some cute new maternity  clothes. So I am starting to embrace it! LOL!
The kids are so excited to go, be with their cousin, aunts and uncles, grammy etc… so we’ll have a great time. I was telling a friend of mine about our trip today, and she said ‘do you feel like your life is just like that movie “groundhog day”’… I had to laugh, b/c I think that all the time.
So my GWEN was on idol tonight.  she rocks… I can’t wait to see her perform tomorrow night!  And we’ll be on the road, so I will be missing idol, top design and LOST.    Hmm… there will be some good TIVO to come home to!
So I am attaching the ONE page that I did last  year from our Disney trip… (notice the NON-typical-disney-color-theme) … last year I didn’t even take the camera to Disneyland, and relied on the ones that they take of you at the park and a disposable camera.  but this year… I have my cutie little canon ELPH and since I have Capri to hang back with,  maybe I can concentrate on photography! So maybe there will be some DISNEY pages coming at you… I like the thought of a Disney kit! Hmm… we’ll have to see!

link to KITS:

ok... try this:

LIMITED EDITION KITS S HOPPING CART:

good news!!

Good news! (warning… long post!) 

I finally have links to 2 EXCLUSIVE (limited qty) kits that I have personally put together! I know that sometimes it’s hard to find mass-amounts of my products, so I thought it would be fun to gather a few items that I enjoy, and make them available as a set. (I am hoping I can do this from time to time here on my blog… I had a little learning curve of what it takes to set this up from the back end etc… but now it’s all ready to go!)

There are only 100 of each kit available… (if the links aren’t getting you there… you can find these posted under “education” on my website www.heidiswapp.com) 

Birthday Girl Kit:
Large Pink Florals (a must have)
Silver Glitter Iron-ons in upper and lower case
‘happy birthday’ iron-ons
pink 3” upper case chipboard letters (these have the numbers too)
“&” chipboard letter
Index Tabs
Brown and Pink argyle tape
Clear oval bling frames (I love to cut these up for crowns)
Clear variety bling frames (these have circles and squares)
The FAMOUS edge distresser
Pink Bordeaux Rub-on alphabet (the new, good ones)
Pink plastic alphabet (control freak)
Lime “she” chipboard alpha
Lime “center of attention” chipboard alpha
Pink Café Decorative tape
5 sheets of Girl  stickers
12 sheets of 9x9 pink papers… (sassy sweet)

for tips, ideas and a little commentary on how I used these products click the above link and I have close up looks and info on how I used all this fun stuff!

So certainly if I was going to do a “girlie” kit, I had to put together a fun BOY kit! So… I I pulled out some of my favorite pages from the “just for looks” book and created a kit that has a bunch of great stuff… I also wrote up some tips and tricks for creating these pages! (click the below link)… grab yourself a copy of the book to get an up close look at the layouts I have highlighted!

Extreme BOY Kit:
White Silhouette Stars
Crimson (boy) Fuzzy Rub-ons (see tutorial below)
White (stars) Fuzzy Rub-ons
Ghost stars
Numbers Decorative Tape
Summer Days Decorative Tape
Sport Decorative Tape
Sports Rub-ons
b/w Block letter stickers
Pumpkin “center of attention” chipboard alphabets
Star mini-mask
Black & White “Center of attention” rub-ons *the new, good stuff!
2 sets of “hot stuff” clear stickers…don’t be afraid, these ROCK!
“Days of the week” journaling spots
Brads

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the ‘just for looks’ book … you have to get your hands on one! Of course, there is no shortage of idea books out there! But I wanted mine to be a little different. I decided to compile a bunch of layouts (almost 100) into a simple-staple bound book (so it would lay open as you use it)… the book is photos of layouts ONLY.. there are no step by step instructions, no long-winded commentary… it really is “just for looks”. The photos are up close and make it easy to study the tiniest details. I used pages from Janet Hopkins, my education coordinator as well as Emily Waters, (my right hand)… we have posted how-to info on my website in case there is something that you see and need to get a little more info on! (just click on “books” from the main page) for $9.99… it’s a great deal!

As part of the year-long class “A year to Remember” that i am teaching at Big Picture Scrapbooking, every student got a copy of the ‘just for looks’ book… here are a few of the  reviews that I rec’d in case you are wondering what people are thinking…

"just for looks" is a rare gem!  It isn't often that an idea book can
educate and inspire with such simplicity. The large pictures and simple
format allow me to get an up-close and personal glimpse of the artists'
techniques, layouts and product use, and the style begs me to try the
methods used.”  Krisi Williams

“I have dozens of idea books on my shelves, but I've spent more time studying
THIS one than all the others put together. I'm looking for universal
principles and basic concepts of strong design that I can apply to any
layout and - it's all here.” Nancy Boothe

"just for looks” is a refreshing approach to the typical idea book.  By
catering to the visual senses, this book becomes much more than a "how to".
Users are not limited by feeling they have to run out and purchase the exact
supplies used in the layout (since no specific list is provided), but are
given a visual aid to jump start their own creativity!  This book provides a
wonderful springboard to allow you to apply Heidi's ideas to your own
layouts.”  Ashley Hansen

“Loving the eye candy! Not only is the book a visual buffet of amazing
layouts and ideas, it is really inspiring. The layouts (eye candy for people
with my type of sweet tooth) are finally large enough to see ALL the
details.” Laura McKinley

“It has so many quick and easy techniques, it's simple to reproduce them in my own layouts...and I have.” Maria Hanson

“I received a ton of ideas and love having the book as a reference guide.
Heidi really used ideas that do not have to be explained word by word, the
instructions come out through her pages!!” Sara Brownell

“The scrapbooking artists featured show even the novice scrapbooker how to
use Heidi’s products with ease.  I have reached for this fabulous book time
and again!” Shannon Allor

“...it was so refreshing to pick up a book, flip through it and feel inspired and excited to sit down and scrap.” Talia Audenart

“Ladies, this is not your ordinary idea book!  No step-by-step instructions
here; nothing cookie-cutter at all.  Just page after glorious page of
layouts that allow the scrapbooker to deconstruct each component of the
layout.  This is a book that puts you up close and personal to the details,
so close you can spot the machine stitching, clearly see the ghost shapes
and letters, distinguish a sticker from a rub-on, and yes, actually even
read the hand-journaling.” Susan Lussier

“I was very intimidated on how to use some of Heidi’s products as they could
be considered "non-traditional"; however, your idea book has given me the
confidence to break out of my comfort zone and really bring a fun twist to
my scrapbook pages.  This book makes using paint, masks, and plastic shapes
look so easy!  Thank you!” Deene Souza

good stuff.

It’s a stunningly beautiful day here… there are even big poofy clouds, which is rare for our az sky! I am working today in my studio with the doors open and a very nice, pleasant breeze blowing in… I have a couple more hours before the kids come home, the house is quiet-making it easy for me to concentrate. Lots needing my attention today…       new ads,  big picture classes, natl’ scrapbook day promotions… working on a card kit… only thing that would be better is if this room was clean and organized! About 2 weeks ago, I spilled a bowl of sequins on the floor of the closet. I haven’t cleaned it up. I am just keeping the door closed! LOL… it’s bad. I have been thinking about attacking the closet… I think I am just really going to have to gear myself up for it.
Over the weekend, I got some old pages back from something, and was so thrilled to get them back. I had sort of forgotten about them, but then when I saw them, was amazed at how they took me back! Cory is turning 8 next month, so seeing these photos of him as a 3 year old…just melted my heart! And this page… one of my favorites… of the night quincy was born. Man, I was so tickled to get a girl! And I felt to great to have that pregnancy OVER. (I can really relate to that  right now!) I thought I would share…
This is why I scrapbook! Because without these pages… I wouldn’t remember this.  Without trying to get better photos, I wouldn’t have these precious photos of cory… he hasn’t changed much… same little firecracker.
Ok
Back to work… just thankful for the reminder of why I love my hobby… how fast time goes by… and what is really most important… good stuff.

happy st. patricks!

It’s only about 10:30pm and everyone is asleep… I am watching a re-run of ‘TOP DESIGN’ and eating a little dove choc. and drinking a little diet coke. What a day! Happy St. Patrick’s Day! What a funny, quirky holiday! I made a cute little mini-book/card for eric…I had each one of the kids write eric and tell him why they are ‘lucky’ that he is their dad. They really are so lucky. He is a great dad. He loves to play with them. He’ll jump on the tramp, wrestle, be goofy, and be patient… I am really the lucky one, cause there is no jumping on the tramp or wrestling from me! It was fun, cause this isn’t the kind of holiday that you expect a card really, it was a nice surprise.
I had a fun day today! Today was for sure Barbara Blank’s lucky day! She won the “love your space” contest/promotion at Recollections. She was flown here, along with her friend Shelley. She was sent $500 worth of Cropper Hopper organization stuff, and then had a $500 shopping spree in the Recollections store. The day started at 8:30am having breakfast with all the store associates/teachers. It was fun to visit and learn a little about how things run around there. I gave Barbara a few “lucky” goodies… and we did a little shopping. I created a 12x12 layout about her daughter’s b-day, and then we went to this YUM restaurant called Bravi in Glendale (59th and Union Hills). Nanci Jarman recommended it, and it was sensational. I loved it… I will have to post some photos… of course I didn’t pull my camera out, so I will get some emailed to me to share. It really was a lot of fuN! Man, they had these super cute easter projects in there. I had to buy a paper mache easter bunny… so cute. I can’t wait to do her up cute. I love that paper mache stuff.
On a not-so-lucky note, I was cleaning off my big computer, and somehow deleted my entire email program. All my emails (probably 6,000 that should have been cleaned off anyway), all my contacts and lots of attachments, that I just leave in my email program if I need to find them… all gone. Zapped. The geniuses at the mac store have the machine at the moment…but they are doubtful they can get it all back. Hmmm… bummer.
Backing up is important.
Alright, that 8am church comes awfully early. Everyone is showered, clothes ironed and ready to go… I am beat. Good night.

spring break

It’s spring break for my kids…
It’s funny what “spring break” means at different seasons of your life! LOL.
When you are young… in school, it’s the best week of your life… sun is out, everyone is out of school… such a perfect time for relax and enjoy!! I can remember heading up the canyon and pulling into a campground and ‘laying out’, listening to music from our car stereos… if you were from SLC the spring break thing to do was to go to St. George, UT. Seemed like everyone went, and it was a mad house…
Then… you have little kids that aren’t old enough to be in school… and spring break doesn’t even effect you… and you kinda feel left out!
Now, spring break means somehow finding stuff to do to entertain the kids for an entire week! and not getting any work done! But it’s nice to back off on bedtime and homework…
We weren’t going to do anything exciting, or go anywhere… as eric just got back from a week in china, but with the reality of a week and needing to entertain children of all ages…we made the last minute decision to cruise up to utah for skiing/boarding.
My dad is a CPA, so this is a bad news time for my folks, so we invaded their home with no expectation of their involvement in our festivities! My family all lives up here, and I just love so much seeing them and spending time hanging out. So fun…
Eric was taking the boys up to Brighton … and unexpectedly, while they were getting ready to go Monday morning, Quincy chimed in that she wanted to go! She has never been up before, and never really expressed any interest… so eric pulled together some of the boys’ old gear and they all went up! SHE HAD A BLAST! I was so surprised when she came home and was floating—so excited! It was so cute .. she decided to learn to ski, instead of snow board, because she is worried about no one skiing with me… (I have officially given up on snowboarding… I am a good skier… I like skiing… no reason to beat myself up trying to board- do you sense the hostility?) I am so loving that she is a ‘natural’!! (of course!)
As the 3 older kids were up working on their ‘skills’… so was Capri! She is crawling all over, and even pulling up on stuff. (The mobility is, um, stressing me out! ) but the cutest thing, is that she is saying “hi” … when you come in the room, and say hi to her, she raises her left hand and just holds it up.. (no waving)… and kind of mimics a high pitched “hi” sound… dang, it’s so cute. She is totally a lefty! Just like Colton.
Anyway… it’s time to go home, just a short trip, but so thankful for lots of frequent flyer miles, and the chance to spend time with family!
It’s the best kind of spring break!

CONGRATS!!!

So this Saturday (the 17th) I will be hanging out at the Glendale, AZ Recollections to help BARBARA BLANK spend the $500 she just won, along with another $500 of Cropper Hopper stuff… she is being flown in from Dallas to play here in sunny AZ for the weekend! How much fun is that??
I also would like to send a big shout our to JENNIFER YATES who won the page contest that has been going on in all 11 Recollections stores! I was sent the 11 store finalists and asked to judge, and select the winner… what a HORRIBLE JOB to judge scrapbook pages! I hate it! I think that everyone has their own twist and vibe, and I think it’s so hard to choose… nevertheless, I was FORCED… and I did love Jennifer’s layout….i thought that it was fun and spunky… I could tell that she had a great time putting it together, and that is what scrapbooking is all about! I love the ripped off piece of lined paper that she listed the things she “loves”… it seems to me that she appreciates the little joys in her life as well as the big significant blessings!

CONGRATS girl… I hope you have a great time with your winnings!
And Barbara… if you are out there… you are coming to AZ at a glorious time! the weather is warm and darn-near perfect… these delightful temps will soon be skyrocketing, so this is PRIME TIME in AZ! I am so looking forward to meeting you and helping you cash in!!! Recollections has a bunch of my products… Emily and I will come and hang out for the day… who knows.. maybe we’ll even do some scrapbooking!
It’s been so fun working with Recollections..
I have a little secret to tell… and I am not really sure if I am allowed to be talking about this yet… but Recollections invited me to create 3 classes along with demos and make n takes for their National Scrapbook Day Celebration… I won’t show you the projects yet… until they give me the green light to give a little sneak peek… but I have to tell you… that I love how they all turned out! they supplied me with their EXCLUSIVE spring line of paper from Daisy D’s and I went nuts with it! you will be surprised when you see it, cause it’s totally not my typical look/feel/colors… so it really pushed me out of my comfort zone…
Be sure that if you live by a Recollections, you make sure you keep your eye open for sign ups… I don’t like to brag, but I think the classes rock! (wink)

Anyway… see you on sat. Barbara… and be sure to wear green!!
(good excuse to go shopping)

thursday....

Yesterday we spent all day in a creative escape meeting, finalizing all the projects for the classes, and sorting out  various details… so my scrapbook time was seriously compromised! So I had no choice but to stay up late to scrapbook! I do enjoy scrapbooking all night! Luckily I had lots of TIVO to draw from: American idol, LOST, top design… all set! I finished these 3 layouts of Colton’s birthday last  year… when he turned 8 and got baptized… I guess these are really baptism pages, and no so much birthday.the feel is so different from the quincy party pages.. but I felt like it  fit!

This morning, when I was getting ready to work on cory’s party last year…Capri was just waking up from her morning nap. I could hear her in there talking and so happy, so I grabbed the camera. She was sitting up in her bed… and so we had a little photo shoot. I loved the photos so much, that I had to switch gears and go back to pink!
Sweet baby!

But I am sure when the kids get home from school I will be questioned by cory! They are definitely keeping tabs on my progress! It’s funny… they love being the subjects of my pages.  I am so thankful for my EPSON R1800, cause I am just printing whatever I need in different sizes right here on the spot…I love that. And the photos are really beautiful!
Makes this power-scrapbooking so much easier!

I just might need to take a break and open the mail and put away the laundry… I washed and folded EVERYTHING MONDAY… (it’s Thursday) and I haven’t put a stitch of it away.  Maybe later!!

quincy's birthday parties!

So in my opinion, there are 2 kinds of scrapbooking…
There is the kind that is to inspire and impress… and for ‘show’… the ones that you want to dial it up a bit… try something new, incorporate cool techniques and freshies…
Then… there is the ‘reality scrapbooking’… the kind that is no pressure… fun. Doesn’t take forever to complete, they flow. The focus is on capturing the moments… the memories.
I do a little of both…(smile)
But the truth is… with all that I am juggling at the moment, the reality scrapbooking category has taken priority! But you know…I love it. I totally love to scrapbook. Especially the no pressure, playful kind!

I mentioned that I had spent some time going through photos and realizing how much I have NOT scrapbooked! I don’t believe in “being behind”… cause it’s just a process I think! I am embarrassed to tell you… I felt tragically behind!  So I decided to start with birthday parties… I have 2 years of birthday parties for the kids where I have maybe scrapbooked one or two photos here and there for this or that… but I think that for a child, his/her birthday parties are some of their favorite memories!
SO…
Today I started with quincy… 2006 and 2005 birthdays:
(i went back to my roots and did 8.5x11 pages)!!

i always get the feedback that people can’t find the products… so I decided to put together a little “kit” (for lack of a better word) that would incorporate a bunch of the items I used today as I was scrapbooking… watch for a link in the next day or so to see what’s included… this is an exclusive deal, and I’m offering it for a ROCKIN’ deal… 
the link will also take you to my site where a few more details and pointers on these pages will be located.

Ok… going to bed. More scrapbooking tomorrow! I gotta rest up!