Scrapbook Challenge

Amongs all the excitement and activity of buying our first house here and packing up to move, I have tried to keep busy with my scrapbooking.

Let's Scrap had a really great challenge recently where we were asked to create a layout using only one piece of white card stock and black ink and black pen.  We were allowed to use another colour (limited use) but the idea of the challenge was to create a background on the white card stock and not use coloured or patterned paper except to mat the photo.

Ohweeeee!  That was a super challenge for me as I so like to use a lot of paper and do the layering thing.  But once I grabbed the black pen and started drawing and doodling on the white card stock it was such fun.  For my layout I decided to stick to the black and white colours with just a splash of red ribbon and little red hearts for colour pop.  This colour scheme was just perfect for a 30 year photo of the two of us on hubby's 21st birthday celebration. 

And for me, it brought me extra luck... and I was the winner of lucky draw for the challenge.  So that was great for me.... first time I have won a challenge at Let's Scrap.

But for me, this is just a special layout.  Hubby and I, 30 years ago, special moment, special memory.  And I would never ever have thought to do a layout like this and I just love it!! It has to be one of favourite layouts I have ever done!

First Time Published!!

Toot Toot !!  I am so excited.... my baby layout of my great-niece Zoe was published in the lastest edition of Scrap Affairs (edition 29).  I achieved my dream of getting published, WhooooHoooo!!!  I am absolutely stoked. 

Thanks to my niece for the gorgeous baby photo of her cutie pie used in the layout.  Loved the photo and loved doing the layout.  This is firmly one of my favourite pages.

March Madness

Oh my Gosh, saw that my last post on my blog was at the end of February.  A flurry of activity all round has kept me busy and on my toes for all of March.  So what has been going in my life that has kept me so busy?

Work has been extremely busy as March is the end of our financial and tax year here in New Zealand.  And as always the Chartered Accounting firm that I work had a huge number of clients accounts that needs to be completed by 31st March.... so on the work front, that meant head down, work, work, work.... and I was well kept out of mischief.

Except that this year, I decided to add the crazy activity of house-hunting in the mad mix of March!  What a crazy thing to do!  So it was working at a crazy pace Monday to Friday and maniac driving from one open home to the next one over the weekends!  But luckily 2 weeks into March, we fell in love with a cute little house that ticked all our boxes and totally suited our budget - so the house hunting came to an end.  But then all the paperwork to buy the house started and that was quite a process in itself.... valuation, building report, mortgage loan, housing subsidies.... But all the documents are now signed and we should be moving in about 3 weeks into our new home.

Our cute litte house:

All through this house buying activity, all went very well at work for me.  Our firm got all of the targetted work done and it was a very satisfactory end to our work year.  So for me personally it was a great achievement.  I have been through a full 12 months of accounts and tax at the firm and I feel that I fitted in very well with the work ethic and culture.  I love my job and it brings me so much happiness and satisfaction.  I am truly blessed to have such a fantastic job.

But amongst the March madness,  Edwin and I experienced the sadness of losing a loved parent.  Edwin's dad sadly lost his fierce spirited battle against emphysema and passed away in Durban on the 6 March aged 82 years.  He had fought this battle so well over many years.  His fighting spirit was totally amazing. 

It was a really heartsore start to the March and although we hadn't seen him for over 4 years, it was still really heartbreaking for us to loose him.  We only have our mums left now and they are also well into their 80's and having tough health challenges as well.  It is a heartbreaking sadness we carry with us every day knowing that some-day we will be saying a final good-bye to our dearest mothers.

In memory of our dad Musto:

With all this going on in my life in March, my scrapbooking as been limited, but I did manage to do a little bit which I share with you in separate posts.