Invergordon mum-to-be Krista Whittingham has two significant arrivals due within weeks of each other.
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The arrival of her second child is just a month away, which is exciting enough.
However, the birth of a musical project that has taken 10 years to conceive happens this week.
Twenty-seven-year-old Krista's album of songs that she began writing as a Notre Dame College student will be launched with a live performance, a few stories and plenty of finger food at South Shepparton Community Church on Friday.
The location is important because Krista's music comes from her Christian faith, which is summed up in the album's title, Safe.
Krista's delicate drawing on the album cover shows a young woman sitting in the palm of a hand.
“It says that life can be hard, but in all circumstances you can be sure that you are safe — in God's hands. We all are, but not everyone knows it,” she said.
She said each song on her album had a story; many were from her own life, while others came from the lives of other people — their joys, their tragedies or their challenges.
“There's someone who has lost her son, who took his own life. Then there's someone who had tattoos from a past that didn't reflect her life anymore. I thought her tattoos were like her battle scars, so that was my title, then six months later Guy Sebastian came out with his own song with the same name. So I changed my song to Tattoo,” she said.
Krista said music had been a part of her life for as long as she could recall. She remembered singing with her mum, Lauri Rumble, in the car as a child. Lauri sings with her daughter on Safe.
When Krista was a bit older, her dad Mark taught her some chords on the guitar.
From there she went on to enjoy music and theatre at Notre Dame College.
She thanked her teachers Neroli Cochrane, Ryan Black, Jason Giuliani and Kierin Murphy.
“I found school a struggle because of my faith, but without those people and the music side of things it would have been really hard,” she said.
She said since the birth of her daughter Adele two years ago, music recording had taken a back seat, but she continued to play and sing her songs at home.
One night, she was singing her songs to baby Adele when her husband Steve — by her description, a man of few words — spoke up.
“He said ‘Krista, you need to record these, they're really good’," she said.
“He gave me the encouragement, so I said `it's expensive, but let's give it to God and see what happens’," she said.
Recording took place at Ladd Studios in Bendigo over nine months with friends and family.
This Friday Krista's songs will be released to the world with the hope they may make a difference in someone's life.
“I hope it reaches someone on a dark day. It's for anyone who is feeling lonely and needs some encouragement, and who needs to know that it's gonna be okay and they're not alone,” she said.
``I'd love to think that someone might stumble across it one day and get a little bit of a lift.”
Safe by Krista Whittingham will be availalbe in CD format for $20 during Friday's launch from 6 pm at South Shepparton Community Church, 15 St Andrews Rd, Shepparton. It is also available across digital platforms including Spotify, iTunes and Amazon and can be ordered through Krista Whittingham Music on Facebook.
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