{scraps of jacki's life}

now...

i have been playing with photoshop again. i just love it! i have been doing jessica sprague's photo editing course. i am going to learn about brushes next!

i pop into the cuttlebug challenge blog from time to time, to get some ideas and inspiration. their challenge for this week brought my butterfly post to mind, so i entered it. that post is still one of the most popular ones i ever did.

i am part of typepad's beta team, and i have been using typepad's new design for quite some time now. and i am very happy. but best of all is the AWESOME stats. their stats were not too bad to start off with, but now they are great.

for some reason i have been getting fewer comments lately. are you not talking to me anymore? i also often visit your blog without commenting, so i'm guilty too. but i have been trying a little harder, because i have been missing the conversation. please talk to me...

anyway, i have not had much to say on my blog since i started playing 'bricks breaking' on facebook and hanging out on twitter a few weeks ago. i wonder if that has anything to do with it?... nah! so, i stole this of my new blog-friend wenchy's blog, so i at least had something to post here today. besides, it seems to be list-season i blogland, so you cannot judge me as you probably did a list-thingy this week too...

1) Are your parents married or divorced?
married. 44 years last week.

2) Are you a vegetarian?
no. i like oxtail too much.

3) Do you believe in Heaven?
oh yes!

4) Have you ever come close to dying?
no. I may have wanted to, but no. (sorry wenchy. here i even stole your answer too. i stoop to great depths to provide great comic content to my loyal readers)

5) What jewelry do you wear?
chunky costume jewelry. i get bored quickly, and i don't have a rich lover. (yet)

6) Favorite time of day?
lunchtime...

7) Do you eat the stems of broccoli?
jip!

8) Do you wear makeup?
yes. always. never used to when i was younger.

9) Ever have plastic surgery?
yes. i need all the help i can get.

10) Do you color your hair?
of course. i am not as blonde as i pretend to be.

11) What do you wear to bed?
PJ's.

12) Have you ever done anything illegal?
who wants to know? who do you work for? are you wearing a wire?

13) Can you roll your tongue?
yes. why would anyone want to know that?

14) Do You Tweeze your eyebrows?
no. it shows.

15) What kind of sneakers?
crocs. i don't wear sneakers, as i don't do excersise.

16) Do you still own vinyl?
No.

17) What is your hair color?
who knows? i have not seen my hair color in years. greyer than i would like, though...

18) Future child’s name?
huh?

19) Do you snore?
of course not! that would be very unsexy! don't believe anything the man tells you...

20) If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?
new york. london. paris. cape town.  

21) Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
no. only the man, a jack russel puppy under the blankets, and 1-3 cats on top of the blankets. there is no space for stuffed animals.

22) If you won the lottery? …
i would pay my debt. and the rest? they would have to wait. just kidding. travel. fix my house.

23) Gold or silver?
silver. and silver-colored. see #5.

24) Hamburger or hot dog?
chinese. pizza. fish and chips.

25) If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Ice Cream. I declare it to be a food. (sorry wenchy! i could not come up with a better answer)

26) City, beach or country?
country. i love the bush. i just have to be within an hour's drive of a woollies, though. and have a good internet signal.

27) What was the last thing you touched?

*jacki scratches her head, thinking*

28) Where did you eat last?
here. now. salad for lunch over the keyboard.

29) When’s the last time you cried?
i cry often. cannot be more than a few days ago.

30) Do you read blogs?
Yes. all the time.

31) Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex?
probably not.

32) Ever been involved with the police?
i have been living with an ex-cop for 6 years. does that count?

33) What’s your favorite shampoo, conditioner and soap?
whatever is on special at clicks. times are tough..

34) Do you talk in your sleep?
I don’t know. i am asleep, aren't i?

35) Ocean or pool?
neither. toilet.

36) What’s your favorite song at the moment?
the theme song from sponge bob square pants.

37) What is your favorite color(s)?
eyes - blue. money - blue. to wear - black.

39 Ever met anyone famous?
ramblerclive. oh, wait. i have never actually 'met' him. heidi swapp. stacy julian. tim holtz. karen forster. donna downey. oh shucks, now i have to find links to all their blogs...

40) Do you feel that you’ve had a truly successful life?
no. not yet. 

41) Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it?
twirl.

42) Ricki Lake or Oprah?
jerry springer.

43)Basketball or Football?
neither.

44) How long do your showers last?
10-15 mins.

45) Automatic or do you drive a stick?
love automatic. then i can sms while i'm driving..

46) Cake or ice cream?
Ice cream cake.  (thanks again, wenchy. it seems we have something in common)

47) Are you self-conscious?
yes.

48) Have you ever drank so much you threw up?
no.

49) Have you ever given money to a tramp?
yes.

50) Have you been in love?
oh yes!

51) Where do you wish you were?
with my family.

52) Are you wearing socks?
yes. and slippers too. at work. what can i say - it's cold!

53) Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
fortunately not.

54) Can you tango?
no.

55) Last gift you received?
a kiss.

56) Last sport you played?
scrapbooking.

57) Things you spend a lot of money on?
groceries.

58) Where do you live?
on a plot in benoni, south africa.

59) Where were you born?
windhoek, namibia.

60) Last wedding attended?
can't remember.

61) Favorite alcoholic drink?
red wine.

62) What’d you do last weekend?
went away with the entire extended family, to middelburg.

63) Most hated food(s)?
hate food? i didn't know it was possible.

64) What’s your least fav chore?
ironing.

65) Can you sing?
yes. not very well, though. but i do. all the time.

66) Last person you instant messaged?
hayley. on twitter.

67) Last place you went on holiday?
holiday? i'm self-employed, in the retail industry. no holidays. alas.

68) Favorite regular drink?
water. coffee.

69) Current crush?
my man!

and thus endeth todays intelligent blog post.

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

busy, busy, busy...

i was reading this post by the talented artist and gifted wordsmith kelly rae roberts, who's blog is so beautiful and thought-provoking and interesting to visit. she was writing about how she was feeling 'blah'.

in fact, she said this: the truth is is that the last couple of days have made this week feel very very long. i'm a tad on the grumpy side, and a whole lot of restless. i start painting, i stop painting. i start reading, i stop reading. i start writing, i stop. and on and on. like one big giant unsatisfying circle of blah. you know how it goes. sometimes, it is what it is. even when we have nothing to complain about. even when life is going very well. even when a bad mood is just simply a bad mood without any complications attached. i'm trying to let. it. go. 

and it got me thinking.

we, modern man and women, especially those of us living in cities, have this urge to be productive. all the time. every day. we used to only be able to work at work, and overtime was an exception in peak times. now we work long hours. and have computers at home, and we work and check emails and make phone calls after hours too, and over weekends. and on holiday. we even check in from our cellphones.

and we multi-task. we cook while checking our kids' homework, we make phone calls while we drive, and we type that report while watching tv. time spent waiting in the car at the school or at the doctor's rooms is spent reading reports. we go to bed late and get up early, to make the most of our day. we use our social time networking with clients and marketing ourselves.

'wasting time' is frowned upon. computer games, watching tv, facebook and scrapbooking are scoffed at, as they are empty pastimes. housewives and full-time mothers are seen as 'ladies of leisure' and they do not get much respect. even when we go on holiday, we have to be active, out and about all day, entertaining ourselves and the children. when we sleep late and read and watch dvd's we are called lazy. students are expected to take jobs in the holidays. we even medicate depression and grief and exhaustion and trauma, and tell each other to 'pull yourself together' or get therapy when it takes too long.

as scrapbookers, we call ourselves 'memory keepers' or 'story tellers' or 'family historians', so we can justify the time and expense we 'waste' on our hobby. what happened to just playing or creating or having fun or relaxing?

why? i spend long hours a day in my shop. today i'm on a 14 hour shift, and there is no lunch or teatime. yet when someone walks in and catches me playing solitaire or on facebook, they always have something to say. and i feel guilty!

GOD created the dark, so we could rest at night, but we invented light bulbs and electricity, so we could do more. GOD created sleep, so we could rest, but we invented alarm clocks, so we could do more. GOD created seasons, so there would be a growing time and a resting time, but we invented hot-houses and heaters and fertilisers, so we could do more. GOD created sore muscles and tiredness, so we could stop working and rest, but we invented painkillers and energy boosters and caffeine and mood-boosters so we could do more.

why do we sell this to each other, and why do we buy this ourselves?

when i was reading kelly rae's blogpost, my thought was that she is probably just a little tired. and needs some downtime.

growing seasons should be followed by resting seasons. work periods should be followed by rest periods. over-exertion should be followed by healing. that is how it was designed. even when i work a while on my computer, it needs a few minutes to process and save the information. and so should i!

so. i am going to spend some time being creative. i am going to spend some time watching the sun go down, while processing and saving my work of the day. i am going to spend some time lying on the couch, watching recorded episodes of desperate housewives. i am going to sleep in and chat to my family and waste time. and not feel guilty!

now, i am going to spend some time with a cup of coffee, and play solitaire. and then i'm going to work again - reading blogs and playing on facebook and twitter. and it is not wasting time. it is networking and marketing. that is my story, and i'm sticking to it...

...i am blogging. and scrapping. after a long absence of inspiration. which kind of proves my point, doesn't it?...

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

alice in wonderland

alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book", thought alice, "without pictures or conversations?" so she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

and so the story begins, with alice following the rabbit, and falling down the rabbit hole, and emerging in a place called wonderland, where many silly and funny characters reside, and where they do all kinds of weird and wonderful and unexpected things...

often when i plug in my modem, and open my google reader, and start reading, following one link after the other, i too fall down the rabbit hole, and emerge in a place called wonderland, where many silly and funny characters reside, and where they do all kinds of weird and wonderful and unexpected things...

although i have been a very bad blogger lately, i have been reading blogs, and so i thought i would share with you some of the silly and funny characters that have been keeping me entertained in wonderland lately.

there has been a thought-provoking church debate going on at rambler, allie and mel's places. go. read. comment. (be nice). but most of all, think! all three are very interesting blogs anyway, local, and totally worth reading!

shadow project- photography with a humorous twist

fun cartoons with the internet in general and social networking in particular as a theme

speaking of social networking, you can find me on twitter and on facebook. you can also become a follower of this blog on facebook here.

i found some scrapbook inspiration from celine navarro, heidi swapp and donna downey this week, triggering ideas that translate into something else. sometimes a creative journey starts with just a spark..

although i have been a bad blogger, so you have not noticed it, i bought this e-book, and i am working through it slowly. i can definitely recommend it, if you are a blogger.

jessica sprague is hosting a free photo-editing class. you can get more info here. so, those of you who keep telling me you don't know where to start, go register! her classes are always good.

read this post by jodi, read it all the way through. there is a wonderful nugget of wisdom and insight in that story.

a comment i made on helen's blog, about ordering expensive scrapbooking kits from overseas versus buying at your local scrapbooking shop, sparked quite a few interesting responses. you can read the post here, and remember to check out the comments! thanks helen, for hosting the impromptu debate!

both helen and stefanie recently blogged about playing this game: you go to google, and type 'in what your name wants'. and you have a giggle at what is returned. here is 'what jacki wants':

little jackie wants to be the universe's biggest star

jackie-o wants to smash mos def

jackie wants a pre-nup

jackie-o wants to be your baby-mama

jackie wants to plan jason's wedding (the bachelor 13)

jackie wants you to want me

jackie-o wants to host the next big brother series

jackie wants 2 hot dogs on flickr

user jacki no longer wants to receive mail

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

gingerbread man

run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, i'm the gingerbread man...

is your life like mine? running, running, as fast as i can, trying to catch an elusive gingerbread man..

Now chase him old woman, now chase him old man
Chase him, yes chase him as fast as you can!
Through the garden and out the gate,
Catch him right now, before it's too late. 
The gingerbread man, he's out of the pan! ...

....Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man 
I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the pan! 

you can see the whole poem here.

this past week has been very busy, too much so. i haven't had much time for anything, let alone blog.

running, running after an uncatchable gingerbread man, something that doesn't even have lasting value...

anyway, rozanne recently blogged about how she uses google calendar to organise her life. so, i gave it a try, and i'm am very impressed. i am not going to write about the details, she explains it all very well. all i can say is that it is very user friendly.

on it i created a shop calendar, and i made it public. so my clients can see it here. it will be featured on my blog permanently, and updated constantly. planning a little ahead may make me feel a little more in control.

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

ps: i got the idea of the gingerbread man from kayla lamoreaux. something she said here got me thinking about it.

on mojo and a shoulder, and other things we are missing...

• my blogging mojo seems to have gone the way of my scrapbooking mojo. both gone.


• if you see either of them, capture them and return them, please? there will be a reward...


• and they will be punished. for going AWOL.


• the man went in for another operation on his shoulder today. to fix whatever came loose after the previous reconstruction. a re-reconstruction. he, quite literally, had a screw loose! let's hope there will be more success this time.


• and he has to stay overnight in the hospital. and i miss him while he is there!


• he has become rather handy with one arm, and is doing almost everything himself, with one hand, and his teeth.


• he has not driven in more than 2 weeks, and he is either home-bound, or i have to drive him where he wants to be. thankfully his mom is helping out with picking sean up from school and taking him home. that would have been our biggest crisis, otherwise.


• on mondays i have the day 'off'. that means running around like a crazy person, trying to get the entire week's errands/shopping/chores done. these last 2 mondays i had the man along, and we ran his errands too. yesterday we went to pick 'n pay (a supermarket/grocery store) for a few things. sean was with us by that time. and we spent ages there. browsing. can you believe it. browsing in a supermarket.


• normally grocery shopping is a chore, something i don't particularly enjoy. but as we were walking out, i thought about how fun that was, and how nice a day it had been. running errands. grocery shopping. together.


• when we came home, we made supper together. the man made chips (with one arm), i made steak, and sean made eggs. there were no vegetables in sight...


• and i realised again that the simple things can be so joyful, if you do them together. with the ones you love.


• on another note. i still have no new car. but today a salesman came to show me, and let me test-drive, the new kia soul. very new. it has not even been launched in south africa yet. 


• it is different. unusual. certainly not pretty. but the price is right. oh, the confusion...


• and my new laptop is out of order. i cannot believe it, i have had it for less than 2 months! it has also been in hospital for more than a week now. so tonight there is no man, and no computer. i'll just have to spend the evening with michael schofield and his friends..

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

max...

if you follow tertia, south africa's favourite mommy-blogger, then you will know that she had her baby, max, this morning.

what you might not know, is that max made twitter history, and the news, as you can see here.

interesting times...

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

8 things...

i have been tagged to do this at least 3 times, so best i do it, or be kicked out of blogland forever...

8 Things that I am Looking forward to:

1.  making soups and stews in winter
2. time!
3. improving our home and especially the kitchen
4. having a man who isn't a doesn't have pain
5. having a dependable car that i can enjoy
6. the economy improving, and while i'm asking, world peace
7. a quiet weekend
8. a social life. wait, those last 2 contradict each other, don't they? i' a complicated girl...

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. got up early to drive sean to school in the dark and rain
2. made mother's day cards
3. blogged
4. twittered, and twittered some more. i'm productive that way!
   
5. paid some bills
6. watched desperate housewives and fringe on tv
7. caught up with emails and blogs
   
8. fussed over the man with his sore shoulder

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. travel
2. have more time to do things i like
3. get my scrapbooking mojo back
4. design wesbsites (or blogs) for an income
5. write for an income
6. earn an income
7. buy an expensive awesome camera and take better photos

8 Shows I Watch:

1. desperate housewives
2. grey's anatomy
3. big bang theory
4. the mentalist
5. facebook - let's be honest, it is the world's biggest soap opera
6. CSI - love all of them!
7. brothers and sisters
8. 2 and a half men

8 People I'm Tagging:

1. you
2. you
3. you
4. you
5. you
6. you
7. you get it...
8. you


for the life of me i cannot get the papragraphs to align properly. so let's just pretend that it was intended to be this way, ok?

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

making cards, and a facelift for typepad...

i have been making these mother's day cards, to sell in the shop.

i am on typepad's beta team, which means that we get to test all new typepad products before they get rolled out to the other users. and i can tell you that there is a major facelift on the way.

as with all changes, it takes some getting used to. since it is quite a dramatic change, it takes a while to find your way around. and, as with all changes, there will be complaints.

but, after the initial confusion, i must say that is looks good. i think the improvements make all the changes worth the initial inconvenience. i'm working in the 'new' version now, and it works well.

i need to blog about tim holtz and the convention, but i have had so many things going on at the same time.

my man had a shoulder operation on tuesday. he is doing well, but in some pain. and the worst is that he cannot drive! that makes life very difficult. but before we know it, it will be over...

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

i heart technology!

i have been a bad blogger this week, there has just been so much going on.

my man had an operation on his shoulder yesterday, after it dislocated 6 times in about 8 months. 5 trips to the emergency room, and 3 times it had to be put back in it's socket in theatre under anesthetic. eventually the doctor agreed that it could not go on this way, so he did the surgery yesterday. and unexpectedly, the man had to stay in the hospital overnight.

i don't have time for a proper blog post, as he has let me know i can pick him up now.

i am sitting in my local mugg and bean, a coffee shop, having breakfast and coffee, and surfing the www on my laptop using my free wi-fi minutes. the internet is super fast, so i will keep it in mind for the end of the month, when i get capped. i am a mweb client, so i get 300 free wi-fi minutes per month.

i just love technology. and i'm sure these other people in the coffee shop think i'm this very powerful and important business woman. it's great!

by the way, while i typed this i noticed that certain words in my post are being underlined in red, and if i right-click on them, the spell checker suggests alternative spelling. thanks typepad, for making the spell-checker so much easier to use! just one thing, though. maybe you should include the word 'typepad' in your dictionary...

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

improve your blog..

do you want to customise your blogger blog?

you can find a free online course here.

today...

i thought i would do a link-post. because i know you hate surfing the web. or love it, and don't need any motivation to follow all these links.

i love following links. i love it when i really surf the web, wandering aimlessly, following links like little signposts, losing hours of my life and emerging a little disorientated and blinking against the light, to find the house in chaos and the family hungry. like alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole, and finding wonderland, with lots of crazy and interesting people.

maybe it's just me.

sometimes through a link or 2, you find these beautiful, inspiring and sometimes sad stories on the web. this one is worth a visit, and makes me appreciate my life.

i have linked to this before, but because mother's day is coming up, i will bring it up again. if you are in need of inspiration for the making of a card for your mum, watch this. and if you are a man, watch it too. and if you own a man, then it is for you. even if you just know a man, you should watch it. it's funny!

if you are a digital scrapper, or just collect digital scrapbooking goodies, like me, here is a gorgeous freebie. thanks summer!

i found this website, that gives you all sorts of design freebies. there are some gems.

i started wilna and kayla's 'bling out your blog' course yesterday. you can still join me, if you wish. it is for bloggers on typepad and on blogger. you will learn all about templates and gadgets and widgets and photo albums. i'm practicing on amelia's blog, and my just jacki blog, and of course on the one you are on now.

if you are interested in starting a typepad blog, email me, or leave a comment, and i will give you a 10% discount code. yeah!

my grandmother, Pauline Sophia Straatman, would have been 100 years old on 20 april 2009. to commemorate, my aunt wrote a piece about her. i saved it here.

 

sean had civvies day at school today. they could dress in anything, as long as it reflected the theme "wacky wednesday". he is wearing different shoes and socks, over his sweater he is wearing a scarf and his school tie, and half his hair is flat and the other half spiky.

of course, if he wanted to be really wacky, he could have combed his hair and worn matching clothes, but he chose not to be that different... :-)

i look at that child every day, but only when i opened those photos on my computer this morning, did i realise how tall he is getting.

it took me 3 days just to get this post out. so many distractions. whew!

now i can start working on the next one..

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

voting day...

• today is voting day in south africa. it is also a public holiday, but i am working, there is no rest for the retailers.


• i will vote on my way home later, because the queues were too long this morning.


• i am really enjoying all the status updates on facebook today, as one after the other of my friends are reporting that they have voted. there really seems to be quite a festive feel around today.


• it being a day off, but because i am working, i decided that today would be the day that i figured out how to use twitter. i have had an account for months, but i never got it before. now i see the light. i think.


• tell me in the comments if you twitter. and who you follow.


• do you have a blog? wilna and kayla are presenting a class called bling out your blog. it is for people who have a blogger, typepad or wordpress blog. or if you have no blog, and want to start one, they will help you too.


• it is like an extreme makeover for your blog. whiten, brighten, nip and tuck.


• would you like to start a blog? are you considering typepad? (you should. i love them. and although they cost a little, they also offer a lot).


• if you leave a comment, and tell me you want a blog, i will give you a 10% discount code. so you save on the annual fee.


• then, once you have the blog up and running, you can follow wilna's course.


• on saturday 9 may there will be a photoshoot at my shop. you do not have to be a scrapbooker to have your photos taken. you have to book a 15 minute slot, and cost is R100 for those 15 minutes.


• the photographer is amelia, who's photos you can see if you scroll down a little on this blog. she also has a new blog here

look who arrived at our house last week. this mama had twins. awww sweet! just in time for christmas lunch...

...just kidding!

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

i wish you a....

last year i did a easter 'egg' hunt, which is like a blog-hop, where you can find little treasures. this year i am doing something similar.

see the theme? a blog-hop? like a bunny? an easter bunny? and you will find little shiny treasures, less fattening but no less fabulous than lindt easter eggs...

sorry. it's lame, i know.

yet, it will also be different to last years hunt.

why? because all the blogs i'm 'hopping' to, are just plain fun. good writing. 'normal issues'. motherhood. life. worries. insecurities. and no scrapbooking.

first, i thought we could start with allie. her post hidden for finding is about the true meaning of easter. i love her quiet, shy little blog.

as always, wilna has a spiritual message too.

then we pop over to shiny, who has written a letter to the pope. you will love her writing. i do!

for mommy-issues you may, or may not, relate to, pop in to mommyismoody. she writes so well, even if i can't really relate to her life. so does tallnlucky. finslippy also writes mainly about motherhood, but she is sooo funny!

for photography that is just art, visit tara whitney. for beautiful art and introspective writing, visit kelly rae.

and i know i said no scrapbooking, but since tim holtz will be here in south africa at the end of the month, and he made an interesting easter tag, he gets an honorable mention...

it took me days to get this post this far. sometimes there are so many distractions, that nothing goes fast. so, i thought i would leave it here, and get it posted, before easter is gone and forgotton.

 

John 3:16

love, jacki

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

i don't know how it happened...

but it did.

somehow, time flew by. and before i knew it, it is thursday. again. and it has been almost a week since my last blogpost.

how did that happen? does time fly by in your life too?

anyway, in south africa we are at the start of long-weekend season. this was a 4 day week, so will next week, because of the easter weekend. the week after we have our national elections, so there is a holiday. on a wednesday. the week after that has 3 days, as monday 27 april is 'freedom day' and friday 1 may is 'workersday'.

unfortunately, as i am a retailer, i should be open on public holidays. they are prime shopping days! and as nobody wants to work on a holiday, it is i, business owner and sucker, who is working on those days.

so, if you are on the area, and you are off on those days, please come and spend lots of money in my shop. so it is worth my while? thanks.

also coming up is that fun time of the year for me, that time i call 'ronnie-week'. i can already feel the dread building up in me. 14 april is his birthday, and 19 april is the day he died. 7 years ago. you would think it would get easier...

on the 25th march i wrote a blogpost, and said i would draw a winner from the comments. and the winner is sophia! sophs, drop me an email, and tell me if you want a photo-edit, or a blinkie.

and remember that tim holtz is coming to visit south africa. the johannesburg convention on 1 may is sold out, but there is still space available in cape town on 25 april, and durban on 3 may. you can get more info here. and for a glimpse of what makes this guy so great, you can look here and here.

i want to wish you all a happy easter. and do remember that it is all about Christ's great gift to us. and hot cross buns and lindt easter bunnies....

and here is another photo taken by amelia at the photoshoot last week.

these are my friends. we have shared each other's lives for almost 20 years! this older photo of us was taken many years ago.

2 of the girls in the older pic have moved away. and one new one has since joined our group. and no less than 5 of the 9 girls in the older photo have lost their husbands since that photo was taken. we could almost call ourselves the 'black widows' club..

you can see what i wrote about these girls here and here. and you can see the individual photos taken on that day here and here.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

just a quickie...

i'm a little sleepy, i'm having a friday afternoon energy crash, i just want to get home and do nothing at all...

anyway, i just popped in to tell you that you can download this awesome free digital kit by summer here.

and as soon as i regain some energy, i will pick a winner from this giveaway. in the meantime, you can still comment, and qualify for the prize.

and check out the well-deserved praise blog-friend and south african girl candice is getting over at two peas.

if you are a reader of this blog, and you are on facebook, then you can click here to follow this blog, or in the 'follow this blog on facebook'  link in the right sidebar. this is not a separate blog, it is just a little group or community of people who follow this blog. it asks nothing further of you, but it is great for me to know who you are, that's all! it reminds me of the friends i have, in those 'nobody loves me' moments.

what, you don't have those moments?

if you have your own blog, you can link it on facebook here. it all part of networking... and if you are not my facebook friend yet, you can meet me here. i don't throw pigs or send drinks, i promise! 

every time i re-read this post, i find more silly typos. i cannot concentrate. so, i'm leaving for now.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

it's my party....

march has been quite a big month here at {scraps of jacki's life}.

first, we passed 1000 comments. 1000 times someone took the time and effort, to leave me a comment here. i cannot tell you how much i love and appreciate that!

then, my sitemeter counter passed 25 000 hits. wow! that means 24 000 people visited here without leaving a comment...

also, last week marked 18 months that i have been blogging.

to celebrate, we are going to have a party! with prizes!

between now and the end of march, if you leave a comment on THIS POST, and tell me how absolutely clever i am to be able to make blinkies, you will be in the draw to win your choice of the following:

a photo-edit. if you live within driving distance, i will invite you to a photo shoot, where my friend amelia will take your photos. but even if you don't, you can email me 4/5 good photos of yourself, and i will make them prettier! you can see examples of this all over this blog, like here and here.

OR

a free blog blinkie. if you have a blog, i will make you some blog-bling! you tell me what you need, and i'll make it for you!

i'm like a fairy godmother, making either you, or your blog pretty.

and if you happen to mention this on your own blog, and you leave me a link in the comments, you will get an extra entry in the draw. see what cathy said.

so, click on the word "comment" under this post, and leave me some love, and compliments, and laughs. who knows, if there are lots of comments, i might add another prize...

of course, it would have been an even better month if i had been a finalist in the south african blog awards. but, it was not meant to be, and we will give it another bash next year. but, you can hop over to the site, and see who the finalists are. and while you are there, vote for clive, who deservedly did make the finals.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

friday the 13th..

• i'm going to do the list making thing again today, as it has been a long week, and i'm tired, and i really don't have the energy to string a long series of random thoughts together coherently.


• i don't have coherent random thoughts. they are just random.


• thanks for your positive response to my post dear spar people. the events actually happened last week, and i wrote the post that same evening. then i saved it as a draft, and spent a few days wondering if it was postable. i don't want this blog to be a place of complaining and ranting.


• instead, i want this blog to be a place where i talk incessantly about myself, my issues, my feelings, my scrapbooking (or lack thereof), my achievements. you know, the inconsequential minutiae of my boring life.


• “People have often described me as a blogger. I generally shy away from the term because, to me, bloggers are boring, self obsessed narcissists who use their website mainly as a means to discuss the inconsequential minutiae of their day to day lives.” (Anonymous)


• check out this free digital scrapbooking kit. it is awesome! thanks summer!
  


• i noticed that i was nearing 1000 comments on my blog, and i wanted to have a RAK to celebrate. but before i could, i had already passed the mark. so i went to the comments folder to see who no 1000 was, and saw that i had 270 spam comments in my spam folder! and it automatically gets emptied every 30 days. 270 spam comments in 30 days! thanks typepad, for picking them out automatically.


• the 1000th commenter was toni, incidentally. the same one who surprised me earlier this week.


• i really love that i have got 1000 comments that are not spam. wow! thanks you guys!


• i made this list on stacy julian's blog.


• sean has been sick at home from school all week. i would tell you what he has, but i can't spell it. he will be fine, though.


• have any of you met clive yet? he used to be from benoni, he is really funny, and he has awesome shoes and a really famous shoulder. pop over and say hi, and don't forget to tell him i sent ya! and remember, you liked me first...


• this is really all i can think of today. so, i'm leaving to visit facebook, and make and print new gift vouchers for the shop.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

if you would be so kind...

she was a little shy. she was unsure if she could ask. she wondered if it would be rude. would they think less of her? would they think she was presumptuous?

what could it hurt? maybe she could just whisper. softly...

...if you like this blog, and if you think it is worth it, and you have not yet already voted for this, or your own blog, and if you wouldn't mind...

could you please follow this link, and nominate this blog for the south african blog awards? the nominations close 14 march are extended to 18 march. that's saturday wednesday...

thank you so much!

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

what an awesome surprise...

my facebook and blog friend from australia, toni, who i have never met before, sent me a surprise in the mail. she found my address in the side column.

i opened the box, and i found this:

 

a friendship kit. it is full of little goodies.

the card says:
a candle to light your way in the dark
an eraser to rub out your mistakes
a marble for when you feel like you're losing yours
a band-aid to heal your hurts
a dollar so you are never broke
a rubber-band to help you keep it all together
some bling to put a sparkle in your day
a tissue to dry your tears
a crown to remind you, you are a daughter of a king

xxx

she mailed it to me shortly after i blogged about the death of my friend henk.

wow toni. thanks for the wonderful surprise! i am touched and flattered that you would go to so much trouble. i love it!

you can see what toni said about this here.

love, jacki

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

no money. family to feed. please help...

in these tough economic times, i have decided to see how i can earn some extra money. i came up with some options:

1 - i can present scrapbooking workshops in places other than my own shop. i am prepared to fly economy class. if i have to. i do especially well in exotic, far-away places.

2 - i can help you start or improve your blog. i do know a little about blogging by now.

3 - i can edit your photos. in these digital days, you can just email them to me, and i will make you look beautiful! see here and here.

4 - i can do some freelance writing. it is this point i want to talk about today.

to get some freelance writing jobs, i have to prove my worth. i have to show my skills. and so this is kind of a cv.

• i passed grade 12 english with a distinction. i just missed a distinction in afrikaans. i can even write in dutch! and i know how to spell realize and apologize and color in american.
• during my one year at university, i studied BA Communications. i was going to major in journalism and marketing.
• i can spell. really well. i have a spell-checker, and i'm not afraid to use it. i also remember that 'i comes before e, except after c'.
• i can write about nothing.
• i realise that my lack of capitalization skills are suspect. i assure you that that is an illusion. when i type in microsoft word, capital letters are automatically inserted, and the spell-checker picks up the rest.
• besides, capital letters are so last season.
• i do, however, know the correct use of apostrophe's apostrophes the apostrophe. i can even spell it...
• i can report breaking news about current events, as you can see here. and here.
• and i am aware that one should not start one's sentence with 'and' or 'but'. but i choose to. it's my style.
• i have an abundant supply of !!!!, commas and points.... they come at no extra cost.
• i can write tutorials. especially about photoshop. this one alone gets hundreds of hits every month from google and from many other sites, like this one! and this one gets lots of hits too.
• i know the difference between .pdf, .jpeg, .psd, .doc, and how to create and convert them.
• i can write reviews about technical stuff, as you can see here.
• i know how to change fonts, and have lots to choose from.
• i can write a guest post for your blog. like i did here and here.
• i work well with a deadline. in fact, it is the only way i ever achieve anything!
• i am 2-for-the-price-of-one. i can write an article and provide the photos. you can see my brilliant action photography skills here.
• i can write and photograph recipes, as you can see here. 

going through all these skills, i am convinced that the writing jobs will be flooding in soon. now, please excuse me while i go to sit next to my inbox...

love, jacki

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

notes...

• i love how easy the list-making makes blogging. it links random thoughts together.


• i have an old, cheapie laptop. and increasingly it gave me trouble. as i cannot afford a new one, i sent it in for repairs and a RAM upgrade. R2100 and 3 months later, and it still doesn't work. i sent it back again. i regret having it fixed. i wasted lots of money.


• in desperation, i signed a 36-month (!) internet contract with vodacom, and i got a new HP laptop. this was the only way i could afford to get a new one, but i hate those long commitments. 3 years is a long time! the upside is that it has a 3-year guarantee, and when the contract expires, i can sign another if i want, and get a new laptop!


• i have to mention here that beauty, who works at the vodacom shop in the lakeside mall in benoni, gave me wonderful service. she is friendly and efficient and knowledgeable. in these days where service is scarce, she went above and beyond. i was going to buy elsewhere, but her great service got her my signature.


• having said that, i am getting very impatient with the poor vodacom signal lately. halfway through the morning the connection starts dropping and the internet gets impossibly slow, and it only gets better in the late afternoon. this means that they are probably over-subscribed.


• i will be able to go online at home again. so i can play more scrabble on facebook update my blog more regularly, and keep up with your blogs and my emails too.


• check out this interesting project. it is a wedding advent calendar. i love it!


• i have upated my blogroll. since i have started using google reader to keep up with the blogs i read, i have let the blogroll slip. so, now it is all current again. and yes, i read EVERY post from every one of those blogs. really. not everyone updates all the time, though. i also played a little with a new look for the blog. i'm not sure i like it, i may change it back. it is a little bland for me. once again i wish typepad would let me customise my blog without charging me more...


• i laughed so much about this letter of complaint, that the tears caused mascara streaks.


• for those of you who asked: to embed a file in the blog like i did here with a .pdf file, you need a typepad blog. i knew there had to be a reason why i have to pay for my blog and you bloggers don't. :-) well, that and the awesome stats it keeps. and i have never lost my sidebar items, sophia and helen.

that's all for today, folks. i have to go dust off my VERY rusty creativity, on a uninspiring friday afternoon, and make a card for someone. to make a few bucks...

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

10, no, 16 reasons why i love facebook...

it is funny how facebook inspires such strong emotions in people. there are those who won't! and those who love it and are addicted to it. some are embarrassed to admit they have joined. and some spend way too much time there, and are constantly looking for new friends...

you can use facebook to:

1. find old friends and family: i have found some cousins and old school friends that i have lost contact with. it is so nice to catch up again! you can see who looks fat or old, who is divorced, and who works where. things you just need to know about old friends...
   
2. waste time you would have used to do admin: years ago, it was rumored that tetris was invented by the russians to lower productivity in the west. now, we have facebook to do that. maybe we should give facebook to the chinese, to bring their productivity down to our levels... i hate admin, and love it when i'm sooo busy, and have no time for admin. facebook is a brilliant time-waster..
   
3. stalk follow favorite celebrities, and an easy way to 'speak' to them: i have 'friended' lots of scrapbooking and blogging 'celebrities'. people who's work i admire. people who's blogs i follow. it is a nice way to reach out and interact with them, without crossing that line between just saying 'hi' and being a nuisance. it is a modern form of fan mail. you can also join fan groups.
   
4. keep in contact with friends and family: i chat on facebook. i love to see who is online, and if i have some time, i like to chat a little. i chat with my sister carla in australia, my friends andre and elsa in dharhan, saudi arabia, some of my scrapbooking/blogging friends in capetown and durban, and even with angie. angie works 3 shops down from me in the centre. we can almost see each other. but we chat more on facebook than in real life. i know all sorts of snippets about people's lives, and all that without actually having to speak to anyone. all because i read their status updates, see their photos and see their profiles.
   
5. check out photos - sometimes before the family gets to see them: often people post their pics on facebook, where we get to see them before the grannies and others do. and we can comment on them too. it is also easy to tag people in photographs, which is a brilliant way to embarrass your friend by posting pics of what they did in the 80's, or last week at that raucous party...
   
6. easy way to send messages to friends/multiple people: i know of people who arrange functions and especially reunions exclusively on facebook. i also have friends who send business/marketing messages on facebook.
   
7. keep up with friends birthdays, and easy way to send birthday wishes and gifts: this is to me one of the biggest advantages of facebook. i know who's birthday is coming up, and i can pop in to say happy birthday, in spite of distance and time difference. now, if facebook can just figure out a way to send chocolate cake, we will be set...
   
8. free and subtle way to promote your business/blog/online profile: without being too 'in your face'. if you are online, for example a blogger, then a good facebook profile will only increase your online presence. it will also make you easier to google.
   
9. join a community/group of like minded: there are many groups and networks you can join, to share affiliation or ideas or interests.
   
10. it gives you something else to do with your computer and cellphone, so you need to spend even less time with your 'in real life' friends: it is a brilliant way to pass the time in the waiting area of the doctor's rooms and in queues. and if you are early to pick up the kids at school. have you done the facebook-thing with your phone yet? i love it!
    
11. phonebook: on your facebook page it says 'phonebook'. there you will find the contact details of all your friends. a lot of people are unaware of this, and put their personal cellphone numbers there. it takes the numbers you give it in your personal details.
    
12. bulletin board for announcements: you can post upcoming events.
    
13. pass those quiet hours away: ever been too tired/lazy to work? is it too late to start something new, but too early to go home? are you stressed and over-extended at work, and need some brain-candyfloss? facebook is just the place to go for some brainless fun!
    
14. spy keep an eye on your kids: if your kids are on facebook, you can friend them, and then sit back and watch what they do... i have friends who are not on facebook, who tell me their kids are studying very hard at university. but those kids, who are on facebook, tell a different story on their profiles...
    
15. six degrees of separation: this is the theory that everyone is separated from everyone else by no more than 6 steps. and nowhere is this more obvious than on facebook. i have so often seen friends of friends, and been surprised at who i found there. people know people in unexpected ways.
     
16. and finally, it's fun! it's the new tetris, only way more interactive.

so, you have recently joined facebook, and now you cannot see what all the fuss is about? it gets to be more fun the more active friends you have. and the more active you are. that way, every time you log in, there is a message or a new friend or a funny comment waiting for you.

personally, i love status updates the most. i love reading my friend's witty freeze-frames of their day. and coming up with something interesting myself is always a fun challenge. i wish some of my friends would update their status more often.

my son francois canceled his account. he says he wasn't friends with all those people in school, so why should he be now? and, the moment his mom joined facebook, he felt it had become too mainstream, too common, and he left!

you can read what other's say about facebook here:
status updates blog
addicted to facebook
use facebook to grow your business
amusing article by a facebook addict

want to be my friend? you can find me here.

want to be a follower of this blog? you can join here.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

tagged...

i got a few VERY APPRECIATED blog awards recently. thanks! i do see them and i'm thankful for them, but i run out of time to reciprocate. sorry, my bad!

i was tagged by rambler. i think it was a revenge-thing, since i tagged him here. but we benoni-bloggers need to irritate  support each other as much as possible...

USING ONLY ONE WORD! It's not as easy as you might think! Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers. Be sure to tag 5 other bloggers (and let them know!).. remember only ONE WORD!

1. Where is your cell phone?

pocket

2. Your significant other?

home ...i hope?... that is what he told me...

3. Your hair?

blonde

4. Your mother?

loved

5. Your father?

stubborn

6. Your favorite?

blogging

7. Your dream last night?

huh?

8. Your favorite drink?

water....

9. Your dream/goal?

fame and fortune. oh, one word... fortune!

10. What room you are in?

shop

11. Your hobby?

blogs

12. Your fear?

failure

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?

there

14. Where were you last night?

bed...? why? don't believe anything you see in a video. it wasn't me, and it wasn't joost van der westhuizen...

15. Something that you are not?

skinny!

16. Muffins?

yeah!

17. Wish list item?

travel!

18. Where you grew up?

grew up? not yet. where i got older? benoni

19. Last thing you did?

coffee

20. What are you wearing?

crocs... always crocs...

21. Your TV?

overworked

22. Your pets?

fleas

23. Friends?

appreciated

24. Your life?

hectic!

25. Your mood?

mellow

26. Missing some one?

always

27. Car?

undependable...

28. Something you're not wearing?

wouldn't you like to know...

29. Your favorite store?

woollies!

30. Your favorite color?

green

33. When is the last time you laughed?

today

34. Last time you cried?

often

35. One place that you go to over and over?

scrappintimes

36. One person who texts you regularly?

mom

38. Favorite place to eat?

anywhere

39. Favorite food?

pasta

40. What did you do today?

tagged

Okay, I tag:

you!

because i'm so bad at following up on these things myself, it is not fair if i expect you to do it. so, if you feel like doing this, then go ahead!

and as you can see, one word is not my forte... and i'm not so good at sticking to the rules...

i was also tagged more than once to do the 25 things thing on facebook. don't you know way too much about me already?

blogging: Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few. i found this smile here.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPINTIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

jacki has 215 posts in her google reader...

good golly! some people even post more than once a day! and i thought i was the only one who didn't have a life...

so, to add to the clutter on the internet, and to impress/stress you when you open your google reader, i thought i would post for a second time today.

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

bad blogger..

i have been such a bad blogger! i have just been so distracted by car problems, people, and things to do, and car problems, and '80 emails in your inbox' and car problems and '160 posts in your google reader', and interruptions. and car problems. and if i was making money it would be ok, but no. just stuff! and car problems.

and then, when i have a little while, my lovely vodacom 3G internet has been down or slow or on strike or just so darn full of whatever, that i cannot post or upload photos. normally i would spend an evening at home online to catch up to avoid that overwhelm, but my laptop has been in hospital for 2 MONTHS! so, i can only work in the shop, where the whole set-up encourages interruptions...

darn clients! can they not see i'm on facebook?

as you can tell, i'm stressed and frustrated and unfocused. ...breathe out negativity.... breathe in peace..... breathe out stress... breathe in calm....

coffee!

so, if all goes well, i will post again later today. i took great photos yesterday.

in the meantime: every once in a while i read a piece that makes my whole being scream 'oh my, i wish i could write like that!' this piece made me feel like that.

and did i mention i had car problems?

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

16 things about me...

i saw these '16 things' lists on ali edwards' blog, and also at helen's. it looked like a fun way to string some random blabbering together. so, here goes:

1. i went over to amelia (my next door neighbor who you met in this post) last night. she wants to take her photography further, and i needed a victim sucker guinea pig to practice my photoshop class on, so i got in my car, and drove to her house - what? it was night and i live in the country, our properties are big and there is electric fencing in between. so i drive. the entire 150 meters - and after a cup of coffee we left her husband to watch WWE Raw in peace, and got to work.
   
2. i left there at about 01h45, got to bed at after 2, and then i couldn't fall asleep. my head was buzzing, full of ideas. 'what if i tried this, i should change that, i'm sure that will be a great idea'... when i eventually fell asleep, i was happily dreaming of teaching photoshop to large classes in fancy venues with powerpoint presentations running on audio visual thingy-ma-jiggies. and i was using a laser pointer. that has always been my dream, to use a laser-pointer. for something other than playing 'catch the dot' on the walls with my kids...
3. so, this morning, now that i can actually start working on those brilliant ideas, i'm exhausted. my eyes feel like they have sand in them, my head fells heavy, and instead of thinking of all those wonderful ideas, my battered brain cells can think of nothing but coffee... lots of coffee... thank goodness for spell-checkers, because you should have seen what the first draft of this post looked like!
   
4. anyway, the point of this blabbering is to tell you that i'm excited. and i'm thinking/planning/dreaming. and that my posts have points.
5. i have found a few sites about photography that i need to study further. you might not be interested, but i want to look at them lots more over the next few days, and i need a place to put the links so i can easily find them later. so here they are. you can follow the links if you like. or not. if you do, you might just bump into me wandering around in there... coffeeteaphotography, cliff mautner
6. and my favorite photography place to visit is pioneerwoman photography. read this post for an interesting idea.
7. you see? my posts have points. lots of them. they just don't always make sense. and they don't always gel well together. that is why this list thing is a great idea.
8. this post and this one and this one had me laughing out loud today. you might as well just read the whole blogs while you are there. and while you are surfing, go see what donna downey has done here. with fabric. after you are finished on my blog, of course. ...you cannot leave now... i'm still talking... hey, come back... how rude!...
9. oh yes. this list is supposed to be about me, and where i am now. i forgot.
10. i have a serious affliction. i lose hours a day. almost every day. time gone. forever. unproductive. it is called internet-itis. the symptoms are: facebook. blogs. photoshop sites. scrapbooking heavens. wilna. google reader. my own blog. email. photography gaze-in-awe-fests. time, and brain cells get sucked in and swallowed up by that big black cyber-hole. bad for productivity. but oh-so-much-fun!
11. i have five more points to fill. darn! and i have nothing intelectually stimulating to say. like that has stopped me before.
12. :-)
13. after wearing contact lenses for 12/15 years, i have just got glasses. today. and since the medical aid will not pay for glasses and contacts in the same 2 year cycle, i will have to wear them permanently. if i can got used to them.
14. my son francois has just gone to register for his second honors degree. he studied BA (Economics and Politics), and then did his honors in economics last year. for the cv. but international politics have always been his passion. and now he is going to study what he really enjoys. he plans to study for many more years. anything to avoid working for a living...
15. i have not done any paper scrapbooking since mid-november. that is the longest that i have not scrapped since i started. but i have been creating a little scrapping corner in the shop to work in. i will post about it soon.
16. liza is teaching this awesome project on saturday 31 january. booking is essential. in fact, book now to avoid the stampede. it is different. it is unique. it is great!

it's a tea tray! with glass in it! (hence the reflective glare and the difficulty getting the lighting right) and it fits a 12x12 single page layout. so you can change the layout if you wish, or you can keep it just the way it is. isn't that so cool?

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

and the winner is...

tada...!

tracy, stefanie and carla each win either 20 butterflies OR an edit of 3 photos, after commenting on this post.

and toni wins butterflies AND a photo edit!

please email me and tell me which you choose, and i'll tell you what i need.

boy, i'm going to be editing a LOT in the next few days....

thanks for playing!

this layout was designed by the very talented rose, and adapted by liza, to teach this week:

each page has 2 flaps, and under each flap are lots more photos, notes, receipts, etc.

rose and liza both did a month in review, but it could be used for an overseas trip, a holiday, a birthday party, or anything that has a lot of photos. we even thought it might be nice for a wedding count-down, where you can show your hair-trials, dress fitting, choosing the flowers, etc. everything leading up to the big day.

it is also a great page for using your left-overs, letters, paper scraps, and single embellishments.

thanks rose and liza for an interesting layout!

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

i have been tagged...

by toni from chick-chat. funny how we can have friends on the other side of the world, that we will probably never meet...

toni was so nice. she said this about me: jacki is a very talented writer/Photoshopper/scrapper/all-rounder whose blog is always entertaining. thanks toni!

anyway, the tag works like this:
1. navigate to where you keep your pictures, select the 6th folder, and the 6th picture in that folder.
2. Then post it on your blog with an explanation of the story behind the picture
3. tag 6 other people to do the same, and make sure you let them know about it.

the photo:

the story:

in december the man and i popped in to say hi to our friends who also happen to be our neighbors, amelia and jannie. amelia and i get along well, we have scrapbooking and photography (amongst other things) in common, and our men also get along well (they have drinking beer in common :-)).

anyway, amelia and jannie's 2 children both got married within a month of each other, in november and december 2008. amelia was showing me their wedding photos on her computer. and the photos made my photoshoppin' fingers itch...

amelia cut me a disk with some of the photos, and i had a wonderful time playing around.

this photo is of amelia and jannie's daughter sheynelle and her new hubby morne. it just happened to be photo# 6 of folder #6.

it's good thing it wasn't that very unflattering one of me taken by my son... phew!

the tags:

chantal

melani

nicky

marcia

francois

clive

i have tagged some people outside my usual circle, and some new bloggers, and some new blog-friends. GO!

as you may have gathered from my sporadic posting over the last week or 2, i have been a little distracted. i have been thinking. ouch!

i have a few projects up my sleeve. first is valentine's day. every year i wake up to all the 'celebrations' a little late, this year i'm planning ahead.

next is a photoshop class. a 'real life' one. 4 classes, 3 hours each, commencing in march. i'm doing it properly, i'm planning and thinking and writing it down. the cost will be R400 for the course, and i will give you good value for your money. are you interested?

then, later, in a few weeks/months time, i want to convert the photoshop course into an online one. this needs a little more planning and research, so it will take a little longer to come to pass. amongst others, i need to figure out how i can receive online payments, as south africans cannot receive payments through paypal. any ideas?

would you like a course like that?

i am also editing photos for clients.

there is one more project/ambition/plan in my mind, but that will have to wait a little longer. i cannot do everything at once.

i am telling you all this, and i am saying it out loud, so i don't chicken out. i'm good at thinking and planning and dreaming, but i'm not so good at doing, taking risks, putting myself out there. maybe a fear of failure? but i have to do something, as my laptop is in hospital, and will cost a fortune to fix. a fortune i don't have, and i must earn soon.

i will announce the winner of my RAK that i posted here tomorrow, so you have a few hours to comment if you still want to be in the draw.

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

20 000...

i'm so excited!

today, my hit counter passed 20 000 hits, since i started this blog on 14 september 2007. wow! wow! wow!

first i would like to thank GOD, without HIM i would not be here. i would also like to thank you, who reads this. THANK YOU! then i would like to thank my parents, my man, and my kids at home. i would also like to thank my grade 11 computer-science teacher. thanks to my internet service provider, m-web, and my blog service provider, typepad, and my hit-stats provider, sitemeter. i would also like to thank...

ok, so i have been watching all the award ceremonies on tv, including the golden globe awards yesterday.

where was i?

oh yes. to celebrate, i will do a RAK.

so, if you comment on this blogpost between now and sunday 18 january, you will be entered in a random draw. and you can win.

there will be 3 winners. you can choose, i will either send you 30 butterflies, like these, and these, no matter where you live. or i will edit 3 of your photos for you, like i did here and here.

also, if you mention this giveaway on your blog, and leave a comment with a link to that post here in the comments, i will enter you in a seperate draw, where you can win butterflies AND a photo-edit.

so, click on the word 'comment' that appears under this, and every post, and send me some love! (you can read more about leaving a comment here).

 

this is a digital layout i scrapped of jomien. she is my friend's daughter. the photo was taken by rina. the paper and embellishments i used are from shabby princess. the border around the photo is from jessica sprague.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

in 2008 i....

made a word for 2008

attended the ceremony where francois graduated

had one of my layouts published

celebrated this blog's 6-month anniversary

posted my first tutorial - also the first time this blog was linked to by scrapscene

wrote this tribute to ronnie

wrote my first photoshop tutorial - oh, how much i have learned since then...

created an index to all the tutorials on this blog

received my first blog award

got a mention from my blog-mentor, wilna - what a thrill

confessed a fear

blogged about the highlights and statistics of this blog, with a very grateful heart!

got another layout published

folded a box

wrote this most popular post, by far! it has got literally thousands of hits, and i still get more hits for this every day. go figure...

got bestowed with this huge honor! i am still in awe!

witnessed the birth of a lamb

wrote this most fun post and was very surprised by the reaction

celebrated this blog's first birthday

did a guest post for scrapscene about the scrapbooking convention

did another guest post

baked a 5-minute chocolate cake

said goodbye to linda

photographed a puppy

made christmas cards

photographed my parents

took these fun photos of sean

started a 'thankful thursdays' feature

told a story about my great-grandfather

looked back on my word for 2008

i also cringed when i looked back at my earlier posts and photographs. at least i learned something in the process..

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

feedback on my word for 2008...

this year my word was 'grow'. i thought i would review it today, to see how i did. the italic words are direct quotes from the post i did about it on 2 january 2008.

remember, as 'grow' is a verb, i am grading the process, and not the end result.

i want to grow my creativity. i want to scrap more, and create more in other ways too.

i didn't scrap nearly as much as i should/could/wanted to. there always seems to be so much else to do, and so the scrapbooking  seems to take a back seat. so i give myself a D.

however, i did grow creatively in other ways. in blog writing and design, in photography, in photoshop and in digital scrapbooking. in those respects i grew a lot! the end results can still be improved, but in terms of the process, the learning curve, the growth, i give myself an A.

i need to grow in simplicity. i need to de-clutter my life even more. this will go a long way in decreasing some of the stress in my life. 

i did do some work here, but not nearly enough. i did put some actions in place, and i also learned to make some peace with projects that turned out to be very long-term. but here i give myself a C.

i wish to grow my inspiration. i will try to inspire others by sharing my passions, ideas and talents. i will also continue to seek out people who are positive, passionate and inspiring to me. 

not too bad. it is difficult to be inspiring if you are not feeling very inspired yourself, but i have started teaching workshops again, and i have done quite a few tutorials on my blog. i have found lots of inspiring people though, most of those in the blogosphere, where inspiration from the world's most talented is but a mouse-click away! so i give myself a B.

i have to to grow my shop. i need to get more customers, grow in turnover and in numbers of customers.

well, here i have failed. badly. but, it was not my fault... the declining world economy, and south africa's huge increase in food and fuel prices and very high interest rates has left very little extra money in my client's pockets. we are all feeling the pinch! so, an F here. *sigh!*

i will continue to grow spiritually. i know that GOD has a plan for my life, and for 2008, and i want to feel HIM at work in and through me.

this of course is a constant challenge. no matter how much i grow spiritually, it is never enough. maybe a C+?

i hope to grow the blog, both in the quality of the content, and in readership. i want to work on writing with the poetry and vulnerability of kelly rae roberts. i want to be as passionate as donna. i want to be as inspiring as wilna. i want to share ideas as freely as leah. i want to be as chatty as heidi. i want to be as disciplined as annette. and i want to be inspiring, and funny, and generous, as all the other blogs i visit regularly. and i hope more of my visitors will comment. hint, hint!

well, here i did well. this was my best subject, in a manner of speaking. i could probably look back and say that 2008 was the year of the blog, for me. once again, in the end result is always room for growth, but as far as the process goes, i give myself an A+

on 31 december 2007 i had had 579 total hits, and today (31 december 2008) i have had 19 182 total hits. so 18 603 hits in 2008. but if you consider that it took me to mid-march to get my first 1000 hits, i didn't do too badly from there on. from september 2007 to end february 2008 i had a total of 675 hits, and in march 2008 i had 667 hits. you can see the statistics and highlights of this blog here. and i am so thankful to all of you for this.

i strive to grow as a mother. i love francois and sean, and they need me to be the best mother i can be. they are the blessings in my life, and i need to show them this.

i love to grow as a supporting, happy, loving partner for mike, who is the most amazing man, and the best friend and supportive partner a girl could ever want, and who makes me happier than i ever thought possible.

these 2 are also the kind of things were one needs to work constantly on growth. unfortunately, as the economy worsened, i needed to put in longer hours in the shop. and my stress levels increased. the man also had a very demanding job that kept him going for long hours. these factors are not very conducive to family bliss. a C here. not too great!

i dream to grow as a friend.  there are so many wonderful people in my life, who are the sunbeams that brighten my days, the supports that help me carry the load, the fertilizer that help me grow. i need to love them more, to hug them tighter, to phone/sms them often, compliment them every time, and thank them constantly for their unwavering love.

once again, long working hours do not help in this respect. and between work and family/home life, there was way too little time for friendship. i am so appreciative of the friends who know and understand and forgive this, and who come to the shop to visit me. thanks! a C here too. maybe a C-.

i try to grow in positivity. in south africa today there is sooo much negativity! i will try to have and spread more hope, more love, more passion, more friendliness.

i did try. this was probably the most difficult year to be positive in, in south africa. we had a lot going against us. on the financial and political front there was a lot of drama and turmoil, and with electricity and telephone problems (my shop had been without a working telephone line for 11 months so far, and no end in sight), crime, uncertainty, a declining currency, and growing pessimism and huge emigration, it has been hard work. i started the year off low. now i'm better. or just numb. it is not great, but taking the tough times in consideration, i give myself a B-. 

did i do well? no. not at all. but it was a very difficult year. and i did have some growth. so, all in all i passed. i go on to 2009. i'm sure things can only get better...

did you have a word? what was it? how did you do? do you have a word for 2009 yet? tell me, i'd really love to know.

 

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

SCRAPPIN TIMES on scrapscene

my little shop was featured on scrapscene. you can see the post here. thanks angie!

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

tuesday...

it is the trend amongst blogger-scrappers to have a word for each year. a word that inspires, reminds, encapsulates, motivates you through the year.

my word for 2008 was GROW. i'm starting to think of what i will choose for 2009. at this stage i'm thinking chill/relax/sleep, bit that will change. i hope.

have you chosen a word? what was your 2008 word, and do you have a 2009 word yet?

ali edwards is thinking of her word for 2009 too. you can see what she says about it here.

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

blog survey, and other bloggy stuff...

if you participated in the south african blog survey, or even if you didn't, you might find the results interesting. read this to see what the south african blogosphere is doing. it seems that there are only an estimated 5000 active bloggers among the 4.5 million internet users in south africa.

do you remember when i told you to the new girl in the centre, dominique, who opened organic earth, the organic shop? well, i convinced her to start a blog. you can visit her here, and tell her i sent ya!

if you have a blog with blogger, you can check out this site. you sign up for an account, and it lets you back-up your blog. they have a free package, and also better packages that cost a little. they are also launching a 'convert your blog to a book' service soon. that sounds so cool! they say that they are working on other blogging platforms, and hope to make it available for typepad, and others soon.

visit the bloggers choice awards website. you can nominate blogs for 2009. and you can follow the links to the nominated blogs. see what makes some of those blogs so great. i must say, when i follow some of those links, i think that some of the 'smaller' blogs i read, and quite a few of the local ones, do a lot better than some of the popular ones there. maybe we should be nominating some of our favorites, so the world can see that we have great bloggers too, even if those blogs don't get thousands of hits per day! i signed up, and logged in, and then used the search block to search for some of my favorite blogs. if i found them, i voted for them, if not, i nominated them. who knows, you might just find yourself popping up there... just remember when you nominate a blog, to go back and vote for it too! remember, if your favorite blog does not appear there, it is your own fault!

and maybe you can spread the word on your blog too...

 

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

bloggers are boring, self obsessed narcissists?

“The bottom line is that blogging is like sex. You can’t fake it. You can’t fake passion. You can’t fake wanting to engage with the public. If you do, it will ultimately be an unsatisfying experience for both the blogger and their readers.” (Kevin Anderson)

huh? blogging is like sex? maybe i'm not doing it right...

the blogging, i mean.

“People have often described me as a blogger. I generally shy away from the term because, to me, bloggers are boring, self obsessed narcissists who use their website mainly as a means to discuss the inconsequential minutiae of their day to day lives.” (Anonymous)

that's what makes it so interesting to me! i love inconsequential minutae.

sjeesh. never though i would ever use that phrase in a sentence.

inconsequential minutae.

inconsequential.
minutae.

“As I have repeatedly written in one form or other, blogging is not about writing posts. Heck, that’s the least of your challenges. No, blogging is about cultivating mutually beneficial relationships with an ever-growing online readership, and that’s hard work.” (Alister Cameron)

jip! hard work indeed. 'cultivating mutually beneficial relationships with an ever-growing online readership', by writing about 'inconsequential minutae'.

i just love these quotes.

i think blogging is much like having pen-friends. you know, a generation ago people used to have friends who lived across the world, who they had never met, but who knew all about each other's lives. now we have blogs.

did you know you can buy blog banners? you can go to the shabby shoppe, and choose a package you like. if you are quick, you can get them on sale too. i have never tried them myself, so let me know how it works out if you do.

go to tim holtz's blog, and see his '12 tags' series of posts. even if you never make the tags, you will still pick up some cool ideas. that guy is just so creative!

if you don't know who pioneer woman is, best you check her out NOW! you are missing something if you have never visited her blog. she also has pioneerwoman cooks and pioneerwoman photography, and a garden section and a homeschooling section. visit her today, you will love her.

go to scrapgirls, and sign up for their newsletter. it comes to your inbox daily. and it is full of inspiration, ideas, tips, and a freebie in each newsletter. and, if you have broadband, you can download this digital scrapkit free from there too. it is a big one!

if you have not yet discovered the ease of blog reading through google reader, then go back and read this post i did on it, and get it. it must be the most time-saving and efficient things i have done recently. it takes me less time to keep up with the 69 blogs i have in there, and i never miss a post!

this is the gift i'm giving my dad for christmas:

 

it is a photo he has been nagging me for. it was taken almost 23 years ago, when ronnie and i got married. we were married 16 years when he died, 6.5 years ago.

you can read the funniest childbirthing story ever (and we all know how funny childbirthing can be) here. one tip, don't drink coffee while you are reading it, because you will have it coming out your nose. i know.

because i had nothing interesting to say today, i have included lots of links to people who do have things to say. their inconsequential minutae are so much more fascinating than mine...

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

blogging

people have asked me in the past to help them set up a blog. because typepad charges a fee, and blogger is free, they normally want blogger. but i have no experience with blogger.

so, i created a practice blog in blogger. it is called just jacki. i am not planning to blog there at this time, but i do want to use it as a place where i can experiment with blog headers and so on. maybe someday i can use it for a class, or a seperate blog.

in the meantime, i am having fun playing with my digital scrapbooking stash, to create the kind of banner that my typepad package does not allow me.

does blogger have page statistics? typepad keeps cool stats, with daily hits, and where they come from. 

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

tim holtz is coming to south africa!

did you see who is coming to south africa? the amazing tim holtz!

go to the convention's website for more info and to book. you can read more about tim here and on his blog.

you can see here and here how i have been inspired by him in the past.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

i'm still around..

i have been such a bad blogger lately. i have been distracted.

i have days in the shop where i get one visitor after the other - very nice, i appreciate it!, but then i get nothing else done. i have also been giving a quote for a wedding, to make place cards etc. a lot of work so i'm not sure whether i should hope i get the job, or not. i have to work so much harder at the moment to make less money, as is the case with almost everyone across the world at this time.

and it has been soooo hot these last days. we have been having lots of sticky days, and i wilt in the heat.

we got a new neighbor in the centre last week. 

dominique opened a little organic shop.

 

she sells gorgeous soaps and lemonade and baby products.

it smells so wonderful in there. of sugar and spice and all things nice. lavender and spices and vanilla and wood.

 

she made these light fittings herself. if you look carefully, you will see a certain blogger's 'trademark' flying below one of the lights....

 

she even has a little organic menu. we were hoping for toasted cheese and tomato, but she says bread is bad for us...

welcome to the neighborhood, dominique! i hope you do well here.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

bye nicky! we are really going to miss you!

last night our dear friend and client nicky was here for her last scrap evening before she moves to australia next week.

she has become such a great friend, and i'm really sad to see her go. i wish her and her family all the best down under! if you are a scrapbooker living in perth, or you know one, let me know and i'll pass on your details to nicky. she is a great girl to know, trust me!

and thanks louise, for visiting. i hope to see you again soon! you can be my new friend, since a posistion has just opened up...

and thanks to all of you who emailed to find out why i suddenly went AWOL. i had some connectivity problems - vodacom signal problems, followed by an amateur computer geek who fiddles too much on her computer, and should sometimes just leave things alone...

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

happy birthday, cathy!

cathy is one of the very best blog-friends one could ever hope for. she comments every time! thanks cathy, you are very special. i hope you have a wonderful day.

pop over to cathy's beautiful blog, and wish her a happy birthday. tell her i sent ya.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

butterflies with meaning...

so butterflies have accidentally become my 'thing'. my unintentional 'trademark'. all as a result of this post, that was unexpectedly linked to from all sorts of blogs from all over the world.

last week i found a link to me here. and she had a link that suddenly gave the butterflies a meaning.

 

In an effort to remember them, Holocaust Museum Houston is collecting
1.5 million handmade butterflies.

The butterflies will eventually comprise a breath-taking exhibition, currently scheduled for Spring 2012, for all to remember.

you can read more about it here. as a shop, we are going to participate, and make and send some butterflies.

i'm busy scrapping and catching up with my email and reading all your blogs.

 

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

christmas cards

these cards were featured yesterday on scrapscene as day 11 on their 'handmade christmas card a day' feature.

 

I always use 3 sheets of 12'x12' (30cmx30cm) cardstock that mix and match to make cards. In the case of the Christmas cards, i used a pale gold, red and green. I cut 2 cards from each cardstock, each measuring 8'x6' (20cmx15cm), and folded them in half, making a total of 6 cards.

The remaining 6 pieces of cardstock, each measuring 4'x6' (10cmx15cm) I cut a little smaller, so they fit on the front of the cards with a little edge of the card showing as a border. These pieces I use to decorate the cards with. These steps I use for all my card-making.

 

For these Christmas cards I got my inspiration from card sketch #85, by Tami Mayberry (http://tamimayberry.blogspot.com/) on http://www.cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/.

I cut scraps of Christmas paper into little rectangles so they fit 3x3 on each of the loose pieces, in a grid of 9 blocks, and stuck them with a little tape. Then i used my sewing machine, and using green cotton, i stitched with a zig-zag stitch around the edges of the loose pieces, and between each of the paper blocks, creating a quilt effect.

Then using foam tape, I stuck a block with some decorations on it, in the middle of the card, raising it a little. I cut little Christmas trees from paper, or used a little inspirational quote, or used a cuttlebug to cut and emboss a Christmas wreath.

Finally i stuck the loose pieces on the cards.

i made more cards using this style, and showed them here.

these cards were linked to on scrappin' mojo.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

how much is that doggy?...

visit this cute doggy, type in a command under her, and see what happens. tell her to sit, roll over, down, stand, sing, dance, shake, fetch, play dead, beg, etc. you can also type in 'kiss', but do it last. it's like having your own puppy, without dealing with the fleas...

when i formatted my computer, i also lost all the fonts i had collected over the years. so today i went in search of new ones. i found this website that had wonderful fonts, all free, and no pop-ups. i downloaded tons of great ones!

and great news for all typepad bloggers: i'm on typepad's beta team, which means i get to test all the improvements and upgrades before they are rolled out to you. and coming soon to a computer near you is an auto-save feature. that means no typing and editing and uploading just to lose it all. that is so great! if i think of all the swearwords i have uttered this last year or so...

did i hear you say yaaaay!?

  

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

just one of those days...

i'm tired today. it has been one of those weeks, where it feels like i have been working very hard, and accomplishing nothing. you know?

so, today i thought i would chill a little. catch up on those blogposts that i got so behind on. and not much else. the theory is that if i'm kind to myself today, i will feel energetic and revived again tomorrow. or not.

my sister-in-law told me that the other day she heard someone saying 'that's the girl from the blog'. they were referring to her daughter marni, who stars here and here and here and especially here. how cool is that? maybe not so much for her, but uber-cool for me!

if you are a south african blogger, why don't you participate in this survey here? you could even win a prize.

i'm off to do some photo editing. and to spend some quality time on facebook.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

circle of love

i was tagged by sophia, cathy and lara, to tell you 7 random facts about me. i think those of you who read my blog regularly already know more about me than so many people i see every day. why would you want to know more? can i not keep any secrets?

ok, you asked for it. here goes:

i can read, write and speak dutch. in fact, my parents and siblings and i still jabber away in dutch whenever we see each other. we even sms each other in dutch. but we were all born in africa... i also speak afrikaans and english.

the man and i are not married. we have lived in sin for more than 5 years now. we never meant to not get married, there just has never been enough time, money, energy. i know.

ronnie died 6.5 years ago, and his estate still has not been wound up. it's a process... ok, so this fact is not really about me, so it does not count.

i was married at 19, a mother a 20, and a widow at 35. i'm in a hurry. it was meant to be graduated at 19, millionaire at 20 and nobel prize at 35. somewhere someone got the order wrong.

i am a computer and internet junkie. and i can fix a lot on my computer myself. i even formatted my computer myself last week. it is a pleasure to work on now.

today is my birthday. i'm 42.

i love ice-cream and pasta. i don't like litchies and mangos. i drink almost no alcohol - it is not good for me.

i still have a grandmother. she is 92. she came to visit me today.

Here are the rules:
Link to your Tagger and list these rules on your blog.
Share 7 facts about yourself - some random, some weird.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post and link their blogs.
Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

as usual, i'm last to do this, so everyone i know has been tagged already. so, i have to go wider:

eilandkind

lori

hayley

rachael

annette

nicky

rose

these are some of my wedding photos.

 

i used some of the buttons and flowers we got from making memories at the convention, as used on this layout here. and the stamped circles i also learned at the convention, it was done by rachael scholz, as you can see here.

love, jacki

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

internationally known...

after my puppy snowy was featured on this internationally known blogger's blog in this post and here and here, she has been thanking me by bringing me breakfast in bed.

because she is still small, she gets small-doggie chunks twice a day, that i soften with warm water. but during the day she loves to steal the bigger chunks from the big dogs. then she runs into the house, jumps on my bed, and starts digging. she 'buries' the big dog chunks in my bed. between the blankets, under the pillows, anywhere.

after that post, i have had a few people scoffing at my claim to be an 'internationally known' blogger and photographer. so, here is my defence:

my sister carla lives in melbourne, australia. my friend elsa lives in dharhan, saudia arabia. i mentioned them last time.

i have a client of the shop, janine, who lives in seattle, USA. and another client, cheryl, is in ghana. also, annette scholz has met me, and she lives in perth, australia now.

i met wilna furstenburg from canada, rachael scholz from melbourne, donna downey from the usa, celine navarro from france, and others, at the south african scrapbook convention. they may want to deny it, but i have photographic evidence.

i have far-off family and friends of the family in holland, who would admit to knowing me. if i forced them.

all these international people know me, and would gladly tell you that i am not nearly as attractive and interesting in real life as my photoshopped photo on facebook and on my blog would lead you to believe.

so: internationally known! undisputable!

if a few of you would please leave some evidence in the comments, i would appreciate it... thanks!

i opened my google reader this morning, and i had 262 unread posts! and i have to read them all, heaven forbid i miss a thing. stacy julian and stefanie semple had 9 posts each, and cathy had 12! slow down girls. give me a chance to catch up! i got tagged a couple of times, i'll get to that soon.

i'm off to do some speed reading...

love, jacki

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

new cards

i have been making some more cards. i used sketch #85 from card positioning systems as inspiration:

i like to use scraps from my layouts so my cards 'match' my layouts, and these cards go with the butterfly layout i showed before. so, i scrapped the butterflies, then blogged about the butterflies, then scrapped the blogpost, then blogged about scrapping the blogpost. then i also made cards that 'match' the layout, and then blogged about the cards...

sorry. this just amuses me no end. just skip to the next bit while i sit and giggle here...

i would have used butterflies on the cards, but my cuttlebug butterfly template is worn out! it is so blunt, it won't cut through anymore. look, it did cut way over 1000 butterflies in 6 weeks, so i suppose it is ready to retire. i'll have to get a new one soon.

that is real sewing you see. i 'quilted' little blocks of scrap paper. i have even been so inspired by this sketch, that i'm using the 'quilting' effect on a layout too. it is not finished, but here is a sneak peek:

i also made some christmas cards using that sketch, but that is another post for another time.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

butterfly fever...

 

remember the fun little butterfly post i did recently? well, it was unexpectedly popular, so i printed the photos and the text, and scrapped the blogpost.

 

i put some of the butterflies i made that day on the layout. i just had fun with it.

so, i scrapped the butterflies, then i blogged about the butterflies, and then i scrapped the blogpost about the butterflies, and now i'm blogging about the scrapping of the blogging of the butterflies. (en die groen gras groei daar om) do you know what i mean? because i have confused myself! this circle could go on forever...

aren't you just so relieved that i managed to sort out my blogging issues? 'cause now i can write insightful blogposts like this for another year...

 

and more butterflies here.

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

peace is restored in blog-land

i explained in the previous post what my blogging problem was. i could not get my payment through. if my payment had gone through in august, when i started trying, it would have cost me about R100 less than it cost me when it did eventually went through, as our Rand had gone into a bit of a free-fall against the US$. in august it was about R7,50 for a dollar, and now it is about R9,20! uggg! this added to my annoyance, as R100 extra is quite a lot of money.

i never expected any credits or financial compensation, but i yesterday i got an email telling me that typepad would give me a $25 credit towards my next payment. do appreciate it! the $25 more than covers the increase in fees due to the exchange rate. thank you so much!

i am in the service industry myself, and this has just proved to me once again that there will always be complaints and unhappy customers. but, the way you deal with them makes the difference in how they perceive you. often a previously unhappy customer treated well, will be a more loyal customer in the future. at least a complaining customer gives you the opportunity to do something about the problem, a customer that just goes away unhappy is one lost forever...

thanks to typepad for your support! i am happy again!

i also have to mention that when i started blogging, i tried blogger. i actually had a blogger blog, and had it running for about 2 weeks. and i could not get it to work. i had all sorts of problems, on my shop's computer, and at home. and i asked them for help quite a few times, but never got any response. so, i moved to typepad, and have been happy ever since, bar this issue. whenever i have asked for any help on any issue, typepad has responded, mostly on the same day, and they have always tried to resolve my problems, even with the billing issue.

so, i'm all paid up for another year, and oil has been poured on stormy waters. besides, moving a blog is almost impossible. so, back to full-steam blogging! it will take more than this issue to get me to shut up...

 

i made this watch more than 2 years ago, from instructions in the creative reflections magazine. i still love it, but i don't wear it as all the ribbons get scratchy. so it hangs in the shop.

 

i'm off to conquer my inbox, and hopefully do some scrapping.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa

loren, and trouble in blog-land...

christina, this post is especially for you...

this layout was done by one of my clients, loren, in a workshop i presented recently. this layout was originally designed by liza. her version and mine can be seen here.

 

the couple in the photo are loren's grandparents. this layout is hauntingly beautiful, simple and soft and romantic. as usual, the photo does not do it justice.

i have to thank you for your sweet comments on my post yesterday. it's so nice to have you all popping in, and to know that if something were to happen to me, someone would notice. even if it took a whole week before anybody missed me... :-) thanks ineke, tracy, stefanie, cathy, loraine, jacqui, hayley and sophia. you are so sweet!

from end august i have been trying repeatedly, constantly, to pay my blog subscription fee. there was a problem with it, and my card details would not go through. it was the same account i used last year, just a new card with a new expiry date and security code. my bank told me that they saw the transaction, and approved it, they even gave me an authorization code so typepad could try to put it through manually. during a 6 week long constant conversation with them about it in my help ticket, typepad admitted that the problem was on their side, and they promised that they would not suspend my blog. but on tuesday they did. my blog was suspended as though i was a tardy payer!

eventually, in desperation and frustration, i borrowed someone's credit card, and paid using that. so, now my blog is re-instated. my happy relationship with typepad has not been re-instated though, i'm still soooo annoyed and grumpy!

if my payment had gone through the first time i tried, it would have cost me about R100 less, as the rand has weakened considerably in the last 2 months against the dollar. so, all in all, this experience has cost me a lot of money, even more time and aggravation, and has tainted my blogging experience. uggg!

enough ranting. i spent time investigating blogger and moving my blog to them, so i know more about that. and i used all this extra time to do lots of scrapping, and i made cool cards. i have photographed them, and have lots of material for new posts to come.

love, jacki

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa