Where do you call home?
Auckland, New Zealand. I’m so blessed to live in this beautiful, peaceful, laid back little piece of paradise.
Tell us a little about your family…
When I was in the Army, I swore I would never marry a soldier. Then I met my husband to be (also a soldier) and the stars aligned. We started dating a few days later, married a year after that and celebrate 16 years this year. He is a jack of all trades, and master of everything really. He’s an amazing husband and an incredible father to our two daughters Brooke and Elisa. They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and I think that’s true with our girls. They’re lovely, kind, funny, thoughtful, happy girls and we consider ourselves blessed to be their parents.
When did you join Sweet Shoppe Designs & what’s your favorite thing about being a member of the team?
I joined SSD in April 2008, and was invited to become a SugarBabe in September 2011. Every day I still can’t believe I’m a SugarBabe. The camaraderie, love and support within the team is amazing and we really do feel like family. My favourite thing about being a Babe is that sense of family and the friendships I’ve made.
Where do you find inspiration for your pages?
From my photos and from the kit itself. Sometimes I’ll look at the kit/template and instantly be inspired to do a particular layout. I’m not really one for browsing the galleries or pinterest.
What are your must-have digi-scrap supplies and what kind of gear do you use for scrapping & photography?
Must have supplies for me are templates. The other Babes are awesome at freestyle layouts, but I really struggle with that (hence constantly feeling like I don’t measure up as a Babe). I feel my strength lies in making good use of a template, and showcasing a kit to best effect. In kits I have to have realistic flowers and lots of greenery. It kills me when a kit has flowers in it but either no greenery or just a single little leaf. When it comes to leaves, the more lush the better in my opinion. I scrap on a desktop computer with two monitors. I tried using a laptop, but just can’t get my head around only having one screen. For photography I use a Fujifilm X-S1 camera and love it. I’ve only just recently got a phone with a decent camera on it, but outside of photoshop I’m technically challenged, so I’m not sure how much I’ll use the phone camera for scrapping purposes.
What is something we may not know about you?
You mean besides the fact I don’t like to cook, and can’t dance to save my life? I served 15 years in the military as an Army Medic, and found it to be the career of a lifetime. I got to travel the world, save lives, and look after people. I made amazing friendships and grew a lot as a person. It was the most challenging, frustrating, amazing, rewarding experience of my life, and even though I’ve been out for 10 years now, I still miss it.