Our second product showcase is for our custom-designed cards! Our graphic designer, Meg, designs cards for our clients using their personal style, party theme, or even nursery decor for inspiration. She creates birth announcements, party invitations, greeting cards, holiday cards, or anything else you dream up using your Heidi Hope images!

We’d love to show you some. First, some pretty pink birth announcements:

Then, cute tri-fold cards for party invites and just saying hello:

We can’t forget this golf-inspired first birthday party invite, using photos from a cake smash shoot!

Lastly, our favorite holiday cards from 2011 (never too soon to start planning 2012′s holiday shoot!):

Each card is unique and completely customizable. Meg has also created custom card templates for photographers, which you can find here!

We’re all tied up this Holiday Season!

After a whirlwind of a busy season at the studio, it’s about time we let you all in on our little secret.  Looking back over the last few months, I wonder at how we survived.  Now that we’ve finally made it to the excitement of sharing our news, it all seems worth it.

For the past 3 years, every time I’ve had an announcement, I’ve had to preface it with “no, I’m not pregnant.”  Now I can finally give an emphatic “YES”, Shaun and I are expecting baby #2!

This may not come as a big surprise to many of you, given the fact that I’m 5 feet tall and somehow begin looking 3 months pregnant before I even see a plus sign on the stick.   I’ve gotten “the look” more often than I can count in the past 14 weeks.  My sweet clients, especially those who have known me for years, would nervously eye my tummy, too polite to ask me if I’m pregnant (just in-case I had put on a few pounds, mainly in my uterus).  Also, because the last 5 pounds I put on before becoming pregnant made zippering my jeans almost impossible, I started wearing maternity pants almost immediately, their unmistakable bands peeking out from under my shirts as I ran around the studio.  No sooner than I saw a plus sign was I was unloading boxes of elastic waistband pants from my garage in a deep sigh of relief.  “Praise the Lord of elastic-bands!”  At least I have a good excuse, right?  Honestly, I think elastic waistbands should be socially acceptable for everyone… especially around the Holidays… and I write this as I polish off an entire bag of Cape Cod Salt and Vinegar potato chips…   but I digress…

Other than our 4 sets of parents and a few girlfriends who knew as soon as, in their words “Heidi didn’t have her wine”, our two employees were the first to know.  We let them in around week 6, after a series of afternoons when I mysteriously disappeared from the studio, too sick to do anything but close my eyes and hope my lunch didn’t come back up.  I felt so bad taking off without an explanation that after our first doctors appointment, we decided to fill them in.  We figured if anything bad should happen, we would have to tell them at that point anyways.  Plus, I feared they thought I was becoming really lazy and high-maintenance every time I made them lug the heavy chairs up and down the studio stairs for me.  I wouldn’t have made it through the last 3 months without them and Meredith even photographed the three of us for this post.  I kind of thought they were going to leave us tied up after dealing with me for the past few months!

Thankfully, my nausea didn’t last too long and I was back to my long days chasing around toddlers, scaling furniture, and rolling around on my tummy to get the perfect shot!  (Just don’t tell my doctor.)  For a while, I forgot I was even pregnant… that is until I returned home and found myself drooling on the couch by 7pm.  So no more late night catching-up on the blog for me, but other than that, I can’t complain.  I was extremely sick for my entire first pregnancy, but this time around, I’m feeling much better.  They say that each pregnancy gets easier, but I’m thinking that after your first, laying around sick is just not an option.  I remember being pregnant with Giuliana, returing home after teaching all day, throwing on Oprah and falling asleep on the couch until Shaun came home.  We ordered pizza almost every night.  I was too sick to cook, too sick to pick up the house, too sick to blow dry my hair.  I was creating human life after all.  Of course, that could never happen now.  We’re juggling running a business with having a normal family life and there isn’t a whole heck of a lot of time to put my feet up.  I look at women who are business owners and have 3 or 4 kids and wonder how they do it want to know what drug they are taking.  “Can I have some and is it safe for pregnancy?!”  After surviving the first trimester, I realize the key to making it through pregnancy while juggling it all: “NEVER SIT DOWN!”   Trust me, the second you sit down, you’re a goner.  So I’m up at 5am, doing my yoga, checking my email, starting my day.  When I finally sit down around 8pm, I better have everything done, because I’ve got approximately 5 minutes until unconsciousness.

Giuliana is privy to our impending arrival and so far, she’s thrilled.  She’s even let a few people in on our secret.  I’m guessing this will be old news for her entire preschool class.  She’s already drawing pictures for her baby, which she lovingly refers to as “my baby in your belly.”  Of course she is 3, so I see this lasting for about 1 week after the baby is born until she starts asking us when the baby goes back to where it came from.  But for now, I’m enjoying all of the adorable, loving, big-sister cuteness.

So now you know why things have been extra crazy around the studio.  As we wrap up our busy season, I’m happy to have the first trimester behind me and look forward to the quiet that comes during the winter months.  We’re keeping our normal schedule through April if you’re thinking of a session with us, but will sadly have to turn away newborns due in May and June as I’ll be on a limited shooting schedule and then a brief maternity leave.  I anticipate May to be a little baby boom after Hurricane Irene left us all without power around here!  We have lots of recommendations we can make for some very talented photographers throughout New England who we know will take good care of you and we’ll be offering a special promotion to all families who are due during those months that we can not accept time sensitive sessions such as newborns, so certainly still give the studio a call if you are due in May or June.

Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving and start to the Holiday season.  I know I have a lot to be thankful for this year!  xoxo

I had another social butterfly to cuddle last week.  Baby E went through periods of sound sleep and being wide awake!  We were able to get her all curled up in some adorable hats and headbands as we started our session, but she was bright eyed and looking for food about half way through.  We rolled with it and actually pulled off the shot of her sleeping in the basket at the end!  I wasn’t sure we were going to get that one, but it turned out to be one of my favorites from the day.  That portrait reminds me of Snow White, with E’s long dark lashes and ruby red lips!  So sweet!

Look what Santa brought early!  Baby M was one of the gorgeous newborns I adored cuddling last week.  She wasn’t super sleepy, which means I had the chance to cuddle her a little extra.  Always the best part of the job!  She kept me on my toes, but when she finally did curl up and sleep, she looked like a little angel.  I love the stocking portraits because I think they really show how teeny tiny she is.  I can just see her a few years from now, holding that stocking and pulling the toys out at Christmas, with mom and dad remembering when she was tiny enough to be swimming inside of it!  Enjoy your sneak peek.

I can’t get over how many of our baby planners have turned 6 months old recently!  I love baby plan sessions because it is so exciting for me to see how much a baby has grown.  I like to figure out if they’re starting to look more like mom or dad and watch their little personalities start to develop and express themselves.  Baby’s first year is such a fun time to be a part of a family’s life.  So baby B and family visited the studio for their 6 month baby plan session.  We decided to head to the park for a little variety as the 1st birthday session will probably still be too cold to venture outdoors.  Unfortunately, fall foliage hasn’t really arrived in Southern New England.  After hurricane Irene, most are forecasting a pretty dull foliage season.  I’m still hoping that we see SOME color by the end of October!  Luckily baby B was so cute that it didn’t matter much what the great outdoors looked like.  He stole the show!  We captured some great smiles and everyone playing as a family.  I think we have some perfect Christmas card nominees!  Can’t wait to show you the rest!  Enjoy your sneak peek.

If I had a spoon, I could have eaten him up!  I mean seriously, check out those cheeks.  Baby W was so adorable and easy going.  We started our session with some holiday portraits of him and family and then got some classic 6 month portraits to wrap up.  I’ll be catching up on previews this afternoon, so keep an eye on the blog!  Enjoy your sneak peek.

I love this time of year!  Believe it or not, we are already digging up all of our holiday props and getting started on holiday cards!  Baby A was one of the first little tots to try out some of our holiday sets this year.  She couldn’t quite sit up yet, so we had lots of tummy time, but her best expressions where when she was looking up at me.  Those eyes are amazing.  She almost looks unreal she is so beautiful!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

Kerri and I share a lot in common.  We are both young mothers of young children who began our own businesses with our babies in our laps.  We’re hard workers and we both know very well the everyday struggle of balancing husbands, children, friendships, family, clients, and running a thriving business that must always keep a creative edge.  One thing neither of us have balanced very well in the past year is time for ourselves.  What mother out there truly does?  There are never enough hours in the day and if there are, we want that little bit of extra time to give one more hug to the children we never feel we see enough.  And no matter how hard we try, there will always be unanswered emails, unattended events, and unfinished business.  When I decided last month that I was going to take better care of myself and make some time for the gym, I knew the only person busy enough (and crazy enough!) to agree to get up at 4:30am 4:45am with me was Kerri.  And she did.  So we’ve been meeting almost every morning on the elliptical trainer for a spin and a business chat.  I used to loath going to the gym, and now, it is one of my favorite parts of the day.  I must say, we do our best thinking on that elliptical!

Kerri owns Sweet Indulgence in Warwick RI, right down the road from our studio.  She is amazingly talented and creative and I’ve never met someone with a stronger work ethic.  We had a fire at the studio in October and guess who showed up on my doorstep at 1:00am to crawl into our guestbed and stay with G while we went to clean up the mess?  Kerri.  I wanted to do something special for her son’s Christmas portraits this year to give a little something back to her.  While we were riding our ellipticals the ideas for the shoot came pouring out.  We wanted to create something fun and adorable and age appropriate for her 5 year old son.  We came up with the whole concept, Kerri shopped furiously, and her mom painstakingly glued up the entire christmas light background!  I must say, it was worth all of the hard work.  Even G, who is obsessed with Sweet Indulgence cupcakes (that’s actually all she wants from Santa this year) had to gobble up one of A’s creations.  Looks like he’s following right in his parents footsteps!  I just adore how these photos look, but most importantly, I love seeing how much Kerri enjoys them.  Enjoy your preview Kerri, I know your cards will be a hit!  ;0)

Note to self: if you ever have another baby, aim for November!  Seriously.  These November babies have been a breeze!  They have been super sleepy and so easy going.  M was a true model.  She looked adorable in everything and loved being posed.  She rocked it up on her arms and laying on a sled surrounded by snow.  Such a gorgeous girl!  Enjoy your preview!

Remember these two adorable siblings from the spring?

Well, the stars of one of my favorite sibling shots of all time came back to visit me at the studio last week!  Mom booked two separate session back-to-back so we had plenty of time to create amazing portraits of both kids individually as well as together!  We started with A’s 6 month shoot and got some amazing holiday stuff.  My next preview up with be L’s super cool cake smash session for his 5th birthday!  Wait till you see what we came up with :0)