I've been trying to start this piece in the midst of all the chaos going on around me - what with school just starting here on my side of the planet and the endless barrage of questions and interruptions of my motley crew of a family and making lunch and dinner in-between.Of course these are just temporary rants that will eventually subside once they all scoot upstairs (my two kids and hubby included) and retire to their beds and I can finally find some peace and quiet - settle down on my chair and get my SCRAP fix for the day.

Scrapping has become almost therapeutic for me and although I'd like to scrap every photo I've ever taken in my entire life I know that would be a miracle because life happens in between. I must say though that I am thankful for this hobby because this has been one of the vehicles that has helped me through a very difficult time in my life last year. I lost my father almost a year ago around this time and I know I still remember every little detail about that event but choose not to to keep the pain at bay. That event made me stop scrapping for quite a while and I withdrew to allow myself time to heal.

In the middle of all that I decide to make a layout in honor of my father especially for my children so that they would never forget him. I had scanned a lot of my dad's memorabilia which we used during the funeral service and I decided to use them in the layout. Little did I know that the source of my pain would be the vehicle that would bring me back into what I love doing. It was Digital Scrapbooking Day during that time and there was a call for a layout using scanned memorabilia. I told myself I already had that and decided to enter the layout I did in the contest. I wasn't really aiming for a prize, I just wanted people to know how much I loved my dad.

I was quite surprised when I received an email later on from Ms. Angie Pedersen letting me know that I had won one of the DSD Grand Prizes. I had won 5 Shutterfly albums! I couldn't help but cry because I felt my father's hand soothing me...comforting me...letting me know that he's still taking care of me.

Now, everytime I join a challenge and win a prize, I know it's God's way of assuring me that my dad is in good hands and that he is proud of me no matter what. This is just one of the many intangible rewards I get as a scrapper. Another example happened recently. I just finished a layout two days ago and believe it or not, I always ask my husband or the kids for CC before I finish a layout for printing. The layout I made was about my son and his reaction when he saw what I did was just priceless. He was gushing with joy and hugging me and saying thank you over and over. It was so touching that it made me rethink my reason for scrapping - it recalibrated me.  It's fun to be acknowledged and be praised by colleagues and fellow scrappers but at the end of the day I would say a scrapper's reward is a finished layout appreciated and enjoyed by those for whom we make it.

So here's the layout that won last year during Digital Scrapbooking Day:
 " A letter of love"  - credits - Michelle Coleman background paper; scanned memorabilia mine (image bottom right)

and a few more layouts I did for the Shutterfly Prize:
some of our wedding layouts
credits - Alice Koh's Remembrance Kit and Eleganza Kit

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