{scraps of jacki's life}

without words...

here are some photos of what we are doing this weekend away in mpumalanga:

eduard:

marni:

 

tian:

eduard, sean and francois - 3 birthdays in one week:

 

love, jacki

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

becoming a teenager...

happy 13th birthday sean!

i don't know that much about when he was born, as i was not there. but i do know that he is a kind and gentle boy, and that my life is better for having known him for the last 6+ years.

on sunday he brought us breakfast in bed, and when i asked why, he told me that it was 'evil stepmother's day'.

thank you sean, for enriching my life. without you i would not be a stepmother, evil or otherwise. and my life would have been poorer for it.

you can read what i have blogged about him before here.

tonight we are going out to supper and a surprise. typical scrapbooker/blogger, i saw a photo-op earlier in the week. and tomorrow we are going away for the weekend. with my entire, extended family. who are all already there.

and i am taking tonight, friday, saturday and monday off. wow! i hope the economy survives.

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

happy birthday!

today is francois' birthday.

23 years ago tonight, my son was born. he was such a cute baby, with LOTS of hair...

he was born at 22h30, weighed 4.01kg and was 53cm long. he was unplanned, but not unwelcome!

and this is what he looks like now:

he has become a beautiful young man.

i scrapped this quick and simple layout this week, with the photos taken of him at the photoshoot in may, by amelia.

i used treasures and colormates cardstock, pattern paper from paper explosion's wedding collection (south african), a little scrap of 7 gypsies paper, rub on alphas and ribbons from my stash, silver photocorners. and my 2 most trusty scrapbooking tools: my black pen and my stapler.

all along the border of the cardstock, i repeated morse code for i love you.

he is away with his grandparents, so i don't see him today.

happy birthday francois! i love you, and your father would have been proud of the man you have become.

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

ma en pa...

i scrapped this layout this week:

the photos are of my mom and dad. i took them in november 2008, and i posted them on my blog here. the photos of this layout do not do it justice.

i found it rather difficult to fill the space on this layout, as i had challenged myself to not use any flowers. since i found this very difficult i have now proven that i can do this, i am not challenging myself like that again...

the inspiration came from celine navarro, you can see her layout here. the page on the right is a 90 degree flip of the page on the left.

i used treasures and colormates, jenni bowlin's ledger paper, 7 gypsies 'elgin' paper, and 7 gypsies rubons, heidi swapp ghost hearts and her awesome distressing tool, and words and alphas from wilpro. also 2 stickers from karen forster's anniversary range.

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

photoshoot - my family

here is harrison ford my dad, jan:

and another of him:

my mom and dad:

my mom, lottie:

francois and my mom have always been very close:

francois up close:

mother and son:

mother and daughter:

i wanted the man and sean to be in the photographs too, but it was just after the man's surgery, and he could not drive, so he could not get to the shop. we will have other photos taken soon.

i posted these and other photos to amelia's blog too. and i posted more photos taken on that day on her blog here.

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

marni

i scrapped!

after an extended absence, i have found my scrapbooking mojo.

it is too soon to tell if it was temporary, or if it is back to stay..

as you see, i used a transparent butterfly, and some gauzy flowers. and stitching. as always there is stitching. the pattern paper is basic grey, and the cardstock is treasures and colormates.

the photos are of marni, you can see one of them here.

i thought i had forgotten how to scrap.

now, if only my blogging mojo could come back...

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

on buying a car, and letting go...

last saturday afternoon, exactly a week ago, when i closed the shop, i had a thought that i had not looked at buying a nissan for either myself or francois, or for both of us. we both need a car. i had looked at almost everything else, but not nissan. so i drove to the dealer, hoping to still catch them open. they were not.

so on monday francois and i went there, and we test drove some cars. we decided against the tiida for francois, because it was too expensive and a little too big.

on tuesday evening a different dealer stopped at my shop, and brought red tiida to show me. it is almost new, and in a good condition, with low mileage, for a good price. it was either a good deal, or too good to be true. so on wednesday i arranged for the car to go to the AA for a full test, which it passed with flying colours.

on thursday the man and francois, and my dad, saw the car. and they approved.

on friday the car was serviced, cleaned, fitted with a new windscreen, and insured. francois got the car late on friday.

phew! what a week! last saturday we were no closer to buying a car, and now it is all over, bar some administrative things.

the process this week went by in a whirlwind. i found it quite stressful, and the whole week i had a lump in the pit of my stomach. this morning, during a quiet minute, i reflected a little, gathered my thoughts...

...and there, deep inside, under the tension, and the relief of having it all done, fluttered a teeny butterfly. wondering what it was, i discovered, to my surprise, a little pride.

a pride in doing it myself.

look, i had a lot of help, input, and many, many opinions, from the man, francois, family and friends. but mainly, it was a project driven by me. arranged by me. organised by me. and looking back, i am quite proud that i pulled it off.

i also spent a few minutes wondering why buying a car seemed so difficult and stressful to me, when it seems to be so easy to others. and i realised that it is because most people finance their cars, and get used to a Rx per month car payment. when they buy a new car, they re-finance, and just continue with the monthly car payment. so same cost, new car.

for me, it is a new cost, and it is a lot of money for something that rapidly loses it's value. i have also had bad experiences with my jeep, that is a huge expense to maintain. i am a little scarred, and traumatised.

and also, there is an emotional reason. our current cars are our last big, visible, tangible link to ronnie. he chose and bought the 'old' cars. selling them, and driving different cars, will remove yet another daily reminder of him.

letting go turned out to be a little more emotional than i expected.

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

boy, meet car...

here is francois' old car:

he was due for an upgrade.

and here is the first glimpse of francois' new car:

it is not completely new, just new for him:

 

it is a nissan tiida.

he is ready to drive it for the first time...

so shiny and clean...

oh, is this where the engine goes?

may you have many years of problem free motoring!

 

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

news on the pain...

just a quick update on the man's shoulder:

he is in a lot of pain. much more than last time. i'm not sure why. maybe it was a bigger procedure than last time? maybe because it was the second surgery in 2 weeks? the pain blocker that they inject also only lasted a few hours this time, instead of the 2.5 days of last time. and it is quite a bit colder than 2 weeks ago.

last night he really felt overwhelmed. for the first time. he was difficult and grumpy and whiny. he just could not get comfortable, and the pain killers did not help.

thanks for all your good wishes and support, both here and on facebook. i know things will be a little better every day.

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

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

us...

sometimes i have so much to blog about, and sometimes i can think of nothing to say. this seems to be one of those quiet weeks.

the man went for a shoulder operation tuesday before last. over the weekend he started to complain of more pain. on wednesday he managed to squeeze himself in for a early appointment to the doctor, and something inside the shoulder has come loose. so on tuesday he is getting operated on again. and the healing process is pushed back by 2 weeks...

the biggest problem with the shoulder is that the man cannot drive. so i have to take sean to school, and take the man everywhere.

this has added some strain to my days..

here is another photo from the photoshoot, of francois and myself.

*edited to add: are you a coldplay fan? you can download their album leftrightleftrightleft FOR FREE here. i did, and i'm listening right now...*

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

mom and dad

i just wanted to post this photo of my mom and dad, taken by amelia at saturday's photoshoot.

why?

'cause it makes me smile...

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

photoshoot saturday...

they came to the shop on saturday. each in their appointed time. all groomed and painted and gorgeous. some alone, and some with reluctant family members.

they all spent their few minutes in front of amelia and rika's cameras. they smiled and posed, and their images were captured on many camera cards, to be saved on disks. this day, this look, this time frozen for ever...

ineke

cathy and aaron

you can see what cathy said about the photoshoot here.

prieur

dirk

christina

cheryl

rene

laetitia and wilhelm

of course, these people were there too:

these are just a fraction of the many gigs' worth of photos taken on the day. dontcha think i have beautiful clients?

thanks amelia, we had lots of fun!

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

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

boys will be boys..

i have become quite a walking car encyclopedia.

i have learned a lot about cars in the past few weeks. i can hold a conversation, comparing cars and their specs, and their price versus value for money. i was chatting to a car dealer today, holding my own completely, and i even heard the words 'power versus weight ratio' coming out of my mouth! i was channeling that guy from top gear!...

...i think. i have never watched top gear.

seriously, i'm most guys fantasy. i can compare a tuscon with a sportage, and compare the prices of automatic versus manual. i know which are korean, and which are japanese, and which are american, and which are german. i know that which car is under warranty for how long, and i know which has the longest maintenance plan. i can debate about whether buying new is better than buying secondhand. i even know about fuel efficiency and carbon emissions and ENCAP safety ratings!

ugh! i hate that!

i know many guys who, the moment they drive their new car off the lot, start looking at what they would like to buy next. but i am one of those people who would drive a car for ever. i have no real desire to buy a new car. i find the whole thing quite stressful.

but i must. i have been spending more on my and francois' cars per year to fix them, than some people pay in installments.

so, i'm looking for a car. and talking to everyone about it.

the thing is that everyone has an opinion. a strong opinion. and everyone knows someone who is the best guy to buy a car from. and heaven forbid i do not follow his advice! i can see that there are many 'i told you so' s in my future...

 

as sean and i were leaving the shop today, we found this in the parking lot. of course, no 12.5 year old's life is complete if he has no photos of this amazing experience, to show his friends.

as he was posing (with my car keys in his hand, not the ferrari's) for photos next to the car, the owner came out. and he made sean's day week year.

 

he insisted that sean get in, in the driver's seat. sean, who is normally quite shy, was squealing in delight...

 

then the guy made him scoot over, and gave him a lift to the exit of the parking lot.

 

sean got out with shaky legs. and when we got in my dirty, old, uncool car, he said, in a tiny voice...

...'i think i'm going to pass out'...

by the way: it is a ferrari 612 Scaglietti.

it shares its naturally aspirated 5.7 L (5748 cc) V12 engine with the 575M Maranello. The Tipo F133E engine produces 397 kW (533 hp) at 7250 rpm and 588 N·m (433 ft·lbf) at 5250 rpm with a compression ratio of 11.2:1. The car is capable of 315 km/h (195 mph) and has a 100 km/h time of 4.3 seconds. It comes with two six speed transmission options: a conventional manual or the F1A semi-automatic paddle shift system, a much refined version of the F1 system in the 360.

just kidding. that info came from here and here. i have no idea what that means.

i think sean may just be excited to go to school tomorrow, for a change!

love, jacki

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

bulletpoints...

• this a feel good story, if ever there was one. rambler, i dare you to watch this without shedding a tear...


• i couldn't watch it without shedding a tear.


• i'm doing fine. very well in fact. the concerns i blogged about are gone! thanks for letting me plaster all my issues all over your computer screen. it helped.


• both francois' and my cars are giving lots of problems. so we are shopping for cars. i test-drove the getz for him and the tuscon for me today.


• i am ** years old, and i have never has a say in what i drive. this time i making the choice myself. and i find myself wishing someone else would make the choice for me. the pressure!


• if you are a font-a-holic, like me, you can find some free fonts here.


• you can get a free digital scrapbooking kit here. thanks kayla!


• my 9-year old nephew tian was bitten by a snake over the weekend. a brown one. he is fine, so apparently it is not a poisonous one. it seems the snake was not too happy with being caught...


• i have run out of night cream. i am aging visibly as the collagen biosphere levels in my dermis layer are dropping fast!


• i just heard that my uncle has 3 pregnant daughters! he has 4 grandkids now, but by the end of the year he will have 7!


• my 93 year old gran wants a cellphone. she wants to send smsses. wait until i tell her she can facebook from her phone. maybe she will want to twitter too.

look who i shared a shower with over the weekend!

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

it is that time of year...

i often say this blog is form of therapy. a place for processing my thoughts and emotions. well today's post is one of those. so please excuse me as i have a little emotional meltdown.

this week is ronnie week. it is that week that starts on the 14th april with what would have been ronnie's 46th birthday, had he not died. the week ends on the 19th april, the day of his death 7 years ago.

this is a difficult time for me every year. you would think it would get easier as time goes by, and it does too, but as always the days leading up to this week are intense.

now, to make matters worse this week, i also have to face my biggest fear. i have blogged about it before. we all go through life with that wonderful gift of denial, that conviction that 'it can't happen to me'. well it did. and when it did, i lost that conviction. it did happen to me. and now, i can never shake that fear that it can happen to me again. and i know how blindingly devastating and suffocatingly dark "it' can be.

in fact, i am not even going to go there...

this week the man is on the road again. on thursday he is flying down to cape town, and driving back up. he is bringing up a very ill family member to johannesburg. and you know that his being on the road for such a long period is very, very difficult for me, as you can read here.

so, i have to deal with both issues in one week. the re-living of the death of my husband ronnie, and my fear of something happening to my man. a double whammy. or maybe a big, final test? i hope so..

anyway, there is a reason why i'm telling you this. i have found in the past that putting it out here, on my blog, works for me. i need to yank it out of the dark, moist, fertile folds of my heart, where it can grow and fester and multiply, and expose it to the cold light of day, where it will wither and die. i need to expose it, i need to think and write and read and edit and process it out, so it has no more hold over me. somehow saying it out loud, putting it out here, and telling you about it, exposes the fear for the parasite it is, and helps me to conquer it.

and now that it is written here, i am going to pray over it. and ask you to pray for me too. and then i am going to lay it at the foot of HIS cross. and turn around, and walk away, and leave it there. and whenever those dark thoughts try to tell me how big the fear is, i can tell the fear how big my GOD is.

because i trust that GOD has a plan for my life, and even if that plan includes the worst, as it has in the past, HE will never let me walk that path alone, HE will carry me, as HE has always done.

as i write this, i feel the tears build up in me. but they are not the tears of sadness and defeat, they are the tears of relief, and the tears of cleansing.

it is not a coincidence that this week was preceded by easter. i was reminded this past weekend that for those of us who believe and call HIS name, HE has already overcome the darkness and everlasting death, so i may have everlasting life in HIM. the message of easter is that of overcoming. and i will carry that message forward in me this week.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

i started to write this post on sunday, and then left it in it's raw, emotional form. then i edited and worked on it today. and can tell you that i already feel better. the moment i wrote this down on sunday, it was out of me, and i felt victorious. the demons were exorcised.

in closing i want to say this: i did not write this because i need sympathy. also, remember that although this is on my mind, it is not the only thing going on in my life. i am fine. i am happy. i have dealt with this issue, and i am dealing with this issue. there is no reason to be worried or concerned about me. at all. i promise!

i often say this blog is form of therapy. a place for processing thoughts and emotions. well today's post is one of those. so thanks for excusing me as i had a little emotional meltdown...

 

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

my first layout...

a while ago, desire showed her first layouts on her blog. i thought i would blog about that too.

my sister-in-law, cornelia, started scrapping some years ago, and she kept nagging me to start too. so, on 12 april 2005, i joined her for a class taught by valinda, and did this:

all the photos are of ronnie. i refused to use patterned paper, as i thought it would be too busy. she helped me choose bazzill paper, and i thought it was weird that they would call blue paper 'basil', as i thought basil was green.

it was no coincidence that i started scrapbooking on 12 april, as it was the beginning of what i call 'ronnie week'. his birthday is 14 april, and he died 19 april, and that week is always very emotional for me. i thought it would be a good way to celebrate the memories of him.

i finished that layout of him that day, and i was totally hooked! so much so that i went to another shop the next morning, to attend another class, where i did this:

this layout shows photos of my son, francois, and was done on 13 april 2005.

the next one was this:

it also shows photos of ronnie, and was scrapped on 15 april...

initially, i dated my layouts, but then it became apparent that i wasn't doing much else, so i stopped that. (i didn't stop scrapping day and night, i just stopped dating the layout - less evidence...)

to all the scrapbookers reading this: i challenge you to also blog your first layouts, and to put a link to your post in the comments, so i can see it!

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

your father would have been proud, part 2...

i attended francois' graduation ceremony yesterday. he got

baccalaureus commercii cum honoribus (trade and development).

got it? me neither...

actually, it is B.Com (hons) Economics. which is kinda ironic, since he has a BA degree, that he got last year. this year he is studying his honors in international politics. and everybody asks the same question - the answer is no. politicians don't study politics. analysts, journalists and consultants do. politics is his true passion, the economics was just a little detour for background.

as always at occasions as this, ronnie is missed. he would have been so proud of his son.

your father would have been proud, part 1 here.

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

ready to go...

soduku, pencil, eraser - check.

phone on silent with facebook enabled - check.

camera with fresh batteries - check.

ok, i'm ready...

i'm going to francois' graduation ceremony at the university of johannesburg. he is getting his honors degree in economics. you can see my post of his graduation last year. and the layout i made with his and his father's graduation photos here.

those ceremonies are not particularly interesting, so i plan to do a lot of facebook surfing from my phone...

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

when?

when do you stop the tooth-in-the-shoe ritual?

when your 12.5 year old baby gets too old to believe in the tooth fairy?

(i photoshopped these teeth to remove the bloody bits - for you cheryl!)

when his shoe is longer than my hand?

when the dentist extracts 2 baby molars, and he takes the discomfort without a fuss? (i was so proud of him!)

 

or when he puts notes in his shoe, to negotiate rates with the tooth fairy?

 

the note says:

negotiation: 

tooth 1  R 5

tooth 2  R 5

         +  R10 because they were forcefully removed.

of the R20 he asked for, he got R16,85, because that's all the tooth fairy had available.

just for the record, he has not believed in the tooth fairy for years, but we still go through the ritual every time. he only has one more baby tooth left. and yes, the writing on the note is very untidy! but there were no spelling mistakes...

 

in november 2006, when he was 10.5 years old, he wrote this note:

dear tooth mouse

can you please go into my stomach and fetch a tooth that i swallowed.

thank you. sean

imagine. a tooth mouse in your stomach. needless to say, i do not have that tooth saved with the others. i think some sewer rat got it...

you can see my blog post about my oldest son, francois' tooth fairy story here.

 

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

interior decorator...

a decorator came into the shop today. she did some re-arranging.

 

she felt that the butterflies needed to make a bigger impact.

 

she thought that they would make a striking statement if they were packed in rows on the floor, from the door.

 

she spent quite some time ensuring that the fung shui of the shop was right.

 

she has quite a talent!

 

you need her services too? her name is carli, and she is the daughter of my sister.

although, everytime people ask her, she says her name is 'liefie' (lovey).

she is right!

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

flashbacks...

the day was coming to an end....

almost everybody was gone, and the people who were left, were cleaning up, and washing the dishes. for the first time in that dreadful week, i was left alone, and i sat down with a sigh. it was the end of a long and emotionally draining day, and i relished a few minutes of quiet.

she came up to me. quietly. shyly. she was about 5 years old. very unsure of the correct protocol, yet aware that some polite thanks were socially expected, she stood before me. in a tiny voice, she said: um... aunty jacki, um... ah, um... thank you that your husband died...

her mother had taught her that it was polite to thank the hostess for the occasion, and to her, a funeral was just another occasion.

henk's death last week, and his funeral on saturday, brought back that, and many other memories.

what you know to expect after a death of a loved one, are the tears, the sadness, the condolences, the flowers, the support. but what i found, and did not expect, was so much laughter too! yet it makes sense. many people gather together to celebrate his life, and to say goodbye. and everyone has their own story, their own fond memory. and the need to share.

also unexpected, was the stress level. at least in my case. as ronnie's death was so sudden and unexpected and dramatic, we were all in shock. and the adrenalin levels were very high. as a result came hightened senses. and i heard everybody and remembered everything. so many little details. what was said, what happened, and what everything smelled of. that day, and lots of days afterward, i experienced in high definition, and the details are burned in my memory forever. and strangely enough, although it was a very sad time, as with henk's funeral, it was also happy and funny and special. a celebration of his life.

within hours of ronnie's accident, people started offering (almost insisting) calming tablets. and i refused. i was fine (under the circumstances). and i wanted to be present. i wanted to feel. and i have not regretted it, as it means that i have all these bittersweet memories, that sometimes come out and remind me of that time. (i did take sleeping tablets every night for almost a year after, and i had therapy once a week for a year, together with anti-depressants. i have nothing against drugs. i just didn't want to be fogged)

although the memories of that time are sad and difficult, it is good to revisit them every so often. it is part of the healing process. in time the pain begins to fade, and in it's place are the fond, happy memories.

 

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

henk amoraal

my friend henk who i blogged about here, passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning.

he was suffering from cancer.

 

he was 60 years old.

 

he leaves a huge hole in a large and close family. he will be missed!

he was the father of jomien, who you can see here, and at the end of this post. and the husband of my dear friend anne.

 

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

new look...

twins? no, smoke and mirrors. well, no smoke. just mirrors...

i would love to have a secret twin, then i could do double the work in half the time... or spend double the money in half the time...

 

this is just to show you the new look. after 12/15 years of wearing contacts, i have switched to wearing glasses. i'm gradually getting used to them. and you can't really see, but my hair is longer in the front than in the back. it is so great - the best of both worlds...

i have been a bad blogger. i have just been so distracted. the worst is that i have nothing to show for all my time, it is just normal everyday stuff. you know?

also, i have been very sad for a very good friend of mine, who is slowly slipping away from this life. it is so awful to see the cruelness of cancer. and the tragedy of a family waiting... waiting for what they don't want to come. their lives are on hold, they are holding their breath, they are speaking in hushed tones, they are holding their tears. man, it is a difficult time. i have been editing photos of him, but from time to time i have to stop and move away, because the emotions become too huge, the sadness becomes overwhelming and the tears make it difficult to see.

and, as always when i am confronted with this kind of situation, i wish i had time to say goodbye almost 7 years ago, to my first husband ronnie. always there is a price to pay - a sudden death leaves loved ones behind in shock, with so many things that were left unsaid. a lingering goodbye usually means suffering and pain and memories of a loved one battered by a merciless disease. fortunately we do not get to choose. because that choice would be impossible.

my heart aches for my friend, because i know what lies ahead for her. i know what she is heading for. i know how empty her bed can be. i know how long her sundays can become. i know how lonely the hours can feel. i know how bland a cup of coffee can taste. i know how empty a house can seem. even with family and kids and friends and love and support, i know how huge and hungry the black hole of emptiness can get....

but. i also know how huge HIS mercy is. i know how comforting HIS love feels. i know how calming HIS presence becomes. i know what is is to 'walk through the valley of the shadow of death' (Ps 23:4), but i also know that 'the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus'. (Phil 4:7) (quotes from bible.com).

in our darkest hours, that is when we truly feel HIS presence.

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook 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

here is a prezint...

a few days ago it was my sister paula's birthday, and two of her kids were visiting my mom. she brought them to my shop, and they spent some time making cards, amongst others for her.

 

on the inside tian wrote this:

it says: 'here is a present'. does a card really need to say anything more?

 

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

ss Agamemnon and Captain Douwe Sparrius

i am bound to them,
though i cannot look into their eyes
or hear their voices.
i honor their history,
i cherish their lives,
i will tell their story.
unknown

Ss Agamemnon

On the morning of 8 November 1940, the steamship ss Agamemnon (1930 ton) carrying freight, was in a convoy, in Barrow Deep on the English East Coast, on the way from South End to Cardiff (another source says from Newcastle to South End). The Captain was Douwe Sparrius, my maternal grandmother’s father.

At about 13h55 a German bomber dropped 2 bombs on the front deck of the ship, and one bomb fell next to the ship. The front of the ship began sinking immediately, and thick smoke rose from the engineroom. The engine was stopped and the crew tried, under leadership of C Mentink, to lower the lifeboats who were always ready to be launched. But as the front of the ship was listing too much, this was no longer possible. Within approximately 3 to 5 minutes the whole ship had sunk.

The crew had jumped in the water, and held on as far as possible to planks from the wreckage and one lifeboat that had come loose. After about 45 minutes the crew was picked up by the British destroyer HMS Cattistock, but my great-grandfather, Captain Douwe Sparrius, who had not been wearing a lifevest, probably drowned due to exhaustion. He and the English radiographer C Hubbuck were never seen again. The body of the British Cannoner Sgt Kenneth Thorpe was found. That same evening the crew was dropped back at South End. Three crew members were hospitalized.

this telegram was to inform the family of Sgt Kenneth Thorpe of his death.

Sources: various internet sites. www.google.com

francois has always been fascinated with history, and so all those family stories have always meant a lot to him. after he had heard the story about the ship and his great-great grandfather, he googled it, and found some info, including a photo of the ship. isn't the internet awesome!

 

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

memories...

this post is for lorianne, who says she gets irritated if she opens my blog and there is no new post.

i came across this pic last year. i scanned it and reprinted it for my siblings, and gave it to them last year as part of their christmas gifts.

ah man! so many memories!

we had this family tradition, where on the first day of school, all us kids had to line up next to the car for a photo. this must have been andre's first day of grade one, that's him second from the left. i am the stunner on the right. if it was andre's first day, then he must have been 6, paula 8, and then i must have been 10. carla was about 3, almost 4. it was probably 1976, or so.

what do you mean you can tell it was the 70's?...

now a days we would not take a photo in front of the car, it does not make the best background. but looking at the photo, it adds to the context, the memories. it is a 'do you remember that car!" moment. funny how the 'awful background' now adds to the story...

we have quite a few of those kind of pics, each from a different year. the school uniforms and the cars differ, but the uncertainty on our faces remains the same.

what are your family's first day of school traditions?

 

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

safe and sound...

i am happy to say that after almost 22 hours on the road, my family is home safe and sound. exhausted, but with some extra cash in their pockets.

and i'm feeling just a little sheepish for my panic...

and thank you jacqui, toni, cathy, sophia, linda and jennilee for your supporting messages and emails and comments on facebook.

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

my worst fear...

today i'm facing my worst fear.

some time ago i wrote a post called it happened to me, where i wrote about how, after losing my first husband ronnie in an aeroplane crash, i have this issue. ok, i have lots of issues, but today we will just focus on this one, ok?

you see, when something bad happens to you, you also lose your built-in 'it cannot happen to me' shield. since that dreadful day, almost 7 years ago, i have had to deal with my constant fear of it happening again. generally i am an optimist, and i don't tend to worry about what-ifs. except this one: i worry that someone close to me may die. i especially worry that the man, francois and sean may die. i know people die. heck, i know people die! but i also know how terribly bad that is. and i also know that it can happen to me.

this morning, very early, the man, francois and my mother, left with a bunch of other people in 2 mini-buses, to go to port shepstone from benoni. a trip of about 7/8 hours. on the highway. in holiday season. on a public holiday. in the early morning hours, when drivers are tired. i stayed behind, because i had to work today. 3 of my closest loved ones, together in one vehicle.

as i write this, the man has already let me know they have arrived safely. so one half done. before i heard this, i could not even write about it, my stress levels were too high. after they got to port shepstone, they each get behind the wheel of a little chana truck, and started the long drive back. lots of those little trucks need to be driven to gauteng, so they are paying people to drive them back. the man was one of the drivers down in the bus, so he will be driving a total of 15/16 hours today. the rest will drive only one direction. alone in a truck. including francois, my 22 year old son, who has never driven more than 2 hours in one go. they will only be home late tonight.

from the moment that it was all arranged and confirmed last night, i have had this internal battle. i have been constantly praying. i have had the thin, cold snake of fear slithering inside my stomach, so bad that i woke up with a stomach ache. and i feel like i cannot really breathe. extreme stress. in fact, i'm finding it very difficult to write this...

but, i have been working on it. i have been trying to breathe, and to relax. i have been placing my fear in HIS hands. ok, i have been taking it back all the time too, but i know that HE is in control. 

today i'm facing my worst fear. and i'm not doing too well. what is yours?

 

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

happy birthday, theo!

this is what i got you for your birthday, but since you are away on holiday, i cannot give it to you...

ek hoop jy het 'n wonderlike dag, ou swaer!

and today is a public holiday in south africa. it is day of reconciliation.

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

happy birthday, paula!

it is my sister paula's birthday today.

she is used to having a sister in her fourties by now, but it is a first for me...

i hope you have a wonderful day sis, and remember what mom always says: you are only young once, but you can be immature forever...

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPINTIMEs scrapbook 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

praying mantis

on sunday sean got a new little friend.

"hey, little friend. nice to meet you!"

"let's see you up close"...

 

"oooh, you are tickling me!"

 

"let's pray together, my friend".

and to prove that i actually do some work around here...

what do you mean scrapbooking isn't work? it is for me - i have a scrapbooking shop.

it was another tough day at the office...

 

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

pappa and mamma

i did a photo shoot of my mom and dad last week.

they came to the shop. we hung a tablecloth as a background. they wanted some 'formal' shots.

i think they came out great.

now i have christmas gifts for my siblings - a cd of all the pics and prints of the above ones, and plenty of good photos to scrap.

 

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

how to remove red eyes with photoshop - it's easy!

this is a little tutorial for beginners, and people who have never got round to mastering the red-eye tool.

i use photoshop elements 6, but it will work the same in other versions.

open the photo you are going to be working on. marni and anika look a little possessed.

 

look for the tool in your left-hand toolbox that looks like this. click on it.

your cursor becomes a little cross. hold the cross over the middle of the red part of the eye, and click. see the red disappear. it's magic! repeat for all eyes, and you will have this:

ok, not exactly this. it would be weird if you had a photo of my nieces. but you get the idea.

you can see my other tutorials here.

 

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

graduation....

i took the photos from francois' graduation, and used them on the paper i 'quilted' as i showed here.

 

the left side of the layout shows francois' dad, ronnie, at his graduation in 1985. he got a B COM (Accounting) degree. and the next year a B COM (Hons). he was a chartered accountant.

the right side of the layout shows francois where he got his BA (Politics and Economics) degree. he is almost finished with his BA (Hons) in Economics, so we will get more pics to scrap soon.

so, father and son graduated at the same university. and they are the same age in these pics. me? well, i still look the same, just different hair...

 

you see how scrapbooking lets you tell a story?

do you also see that once again i used no 'graduation' themed paper or embellishments? and no flowers or butterflies. i used great restraint.

 

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

welcome to the naughty fourties, simon!

simon is my sister carla's guy. they live in melbourne, australia. i blogged about him, and her, here.

i hope you have a great day!

 

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

ron...

i used the photo i edited and used as part of my creative cropping photoshop tutorial on this layout:

it is ron, the man's dad. do you recognise the paper strips, and the letters that spell 'ron'? they are leftovers from jenni bowlin's layout that we made at the scrapbooking convention, as shown here.

i did zig-zag stitching around the outer edges of the layout in black cotton. the tape that says '3 metre' i found somewhere in the man's workshop. a whole roll...

i'm going to the scrappink event on saturday. are you also going?

i think there is a big storm coming, so i'm rushing off to get home before i get soaked.

 

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

christmas is coming...

 

i edited this photo of marni over the weekend. i'm not sure what i did, i just played. i really like it.

last week i played a little with making christmas cards, but i didn't get far, as i cannot feel the christmas spirit yet. then yesterday i went to a teacher's class (yes, we teachers go to classes too. we also need an inspirational kick in the butt), and we did a christmas layout. there is no more denying it, christmas is coming..

 

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

camping

going on holiday is not an option right now, so sean has been camping in his tent in the garden.

 

you see that door just to the right of his tent? that is our bedroom. he is closer to us in his tent, than when he is when he is sleeping in his own room.

 

a twelve-year-old's version of independance...

edited to add: he has slept there a few nights, cathy. and yes, kota, my 22 year-old lives in a flat on my property too, and he is only a little further away from us. during the week he lives on campus, though.

 

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

convention layouts: margie romney-aslett

margie represented making memories, and she presented 3 single page layouts that i converted into 2 double layouts.

the paper on the outside looks a lot pinker than it is.

i am not one of those people who feels that a layout of a boy/man may not have any flowers on it whatsoever. the flowers i used are blue and green. how do you feel about using flowers, ribbon and a little pink on 'guy' layouts?

 

the journaling says:

hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,

hundreds of bees in the purple clover, hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,

but only one MOTHER the wide world over.

george connor, found on quotegarden.

i see that quite a few of my bloggy friends are posting their finished layouts. stefanie, sophia, and others.

 

you can download a free school digital scrapkit here. thanks annette for the heads-up.

are you as confused as i am about all the drama in south africa's politics? you can find out a little more about kgalema motlanthe, who is apparently our new president, here.

 

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

convention layouts..

so, it turns out, being (sort of) up to date is no fun at all. last night there was a workshop in my shop, and the girls were scrapping. antoinette is the teacher, and i just (wo)man the till. and i had no blogposts to read. and no emails to catch up with. sure, there is always work to do, but this is thursday evening, for goodness sake! so, iv'e changed my mind. please post? lots of posts! and please comment?

the man's father was in america on holiday, visiting his step-daughter, when he had a stroke, probably sunday/monday. he was flown back, and landed on wednesday afternoon, and taken straight to hospital. yesterday evening they operated on his brain, to stop the bleeding. it was a tough time for him, his family, and for us all. he is in ICU now, and stable. just before the weekend i made this gift for his wife, for her birthday. i used the photo i made for my creative cropping tutorial:

   

hey ron, you have to stick around a little longer, we still need you!

on a lighter note, here are the layouts i have made so far from the south african scrapbooking convention:

 

this is from jenni bowlin's class.

the next 2 are single pages, from rachael scholz's class.

 

journaling: no matter how old you get, you will always be my baby.

 

journaling: once upon a time there was a beautiful princess called anika.

thanks rach, i really enjoyed your layouts! i'll be scraplifting them again soon!

i made a photo-album with all my convention photos in it on my blog, in the left column, here.

look what i got! the magazine launched by celine navarro. it is in french, but i can look at the pictures. i love it! the layouts are more artistic, different.

 

for those of you who have been watching it, i will definitely be hitting the 10 000 visitors mark today. wow! 10 000 visitors? wow!  so, time for another RAK! the last one worked well, so i am going to do it again. if you leave a comment on this post, between now and sunday, you will go into the draw to win a photo-makeover, like the one you see here. i edited jodi's photos yesterday, she won the last RAK. she hasn't responded yet, so i don't know if she is happy...

 

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