{scraps of jacki's life}

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

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

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

because you nagged...

...and you asked nicely. and because i managed to find the appropriate people to credit:

here is the layout that got me scrapping again, for the first time in months:

it is much more fiddly than i usually do, and i swore i would never do paper piecing...

anyway, the layout was designed by scrapin' a box. because i thought it was cute, and it is very different than my usual colour scheme and style, i didn't change a thing.

it was good to scrap again, and it was good to do something different, and it was good to be able to just do it without having to think too much about it.

now i have a problem: i don't have photos for it!

 

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

valentine's day...

the theme for this month in the shop is of course valentine's day, and to celebrate we encourage our clients to scrap photos of themselves with their 'significant other'.
 

this layout was done by liza, to celebrate the love that she and her husband dirk share.

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

tea tray...

as i mentioned in the previous post, liza scrapped this tea tray for a class next week. 

it has glass over it, but i took it out as the glare off it made it difficult to take good photos. a standard 12x12 layout fits inside it, so it makes a great 'frame'. as the glass just pops out, you can display your latest layout every week.

if you wanted to make it more 'permanent', you could put a little silicone between the glass and the wood, so it is more spill-proof.

 

the trays are made for me by a local supplier, the same guy who makes the layout frames. they are made of plywood, that stuff that they make the goods from that you decoupage. liza limewashed it with blue and white paint, and then distressed it. finally she varnished it.

they make great gifts. we might repeat the class before mothers-day.

 

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

this post got a mention on scrapscene here

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

dear diary...

liza scrapped her diary last year:

not every page, but where it was someone's birthday, or a special occasion, she scrapped something.

it made the diary very interesting!

this year, she will remove all the scrapped items from last year's diary and stick them into this year's diary, and she will scrap some new items for 2009.

this way, in a few years time, almost every page will have something scrapped on it.

nice idea, isn't it?

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

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

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

christmas book...

yesterday i went to a class with melani. we did a christmas book. it was really a lovely morning, thanks melani. you can see what she said about it here.

melani is a wonderful person, and one of the most talented scrappers i have ever met! i love attending her workshops, as her style is so artistic and informal and different. shabby chic.

she sometimes needs my help on her blog, and i am so relieved, because at least there is something that i'm better at. in almost everything else she is just amazingly awesome...

thanks melani, for letting me learn from you a little sometimes!

after i left melani i had to run lots of errands, and my car's airconditioner is out of order. i nearly died in this intense heat! i was not feeling well when i got home last night, i think i had a mild case of heatstroke.

over the weekend, freak winds during a storm, blew a large shack that is temporarily stored on our property, quite a few meters in the air, before dumping it it on it's roof.

 

the right arrow shows where it stood. the mess you see around it, is actually where the man stores scrap metal, and building materials. not quite a tornado, but freaky for us.

and the night before, someone came through out electric fence, and stole 4 of our sheep.

interesting times...

 

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

i'm having computer problems at the shop. it's either a worm/virus, or my hard drive is packing up. i'm not sure which to hope for...

for the last few days i've had all sorts of problems, then it's one thing, then it's another. on saturday i could not get my internet connection to work. francois tweaked and fiddled, and now the internet works, but is is very slow.

late yesterday afternoon we did a sales transaction as usual on the point of sale software, and a few minutes later we could not get in to cash up, and i have not been able to get in since. uggg! i can scream in frustration!

so, now i'm using a pen, invoice book and calculator point of sale system. slow, but fail-proof. the only virus that can affect it is when i sneeze on it...

i did do backups about 10 days ago, and i can backup almost everything again now, but i'm afraid to plug in my external hard drive, in case i infect that. it seems to me, in my expert opinion, as though a worm is making it's way through my system, slowly corrupting files. my anti-virus software did a scan last week, and picked up malicious software, and quarantined the files. that was it's last heroic deed, because now it won't work anymore either...

*sigh!* i am a hair's breadth away from formatting the whole damn thing!

recently liza presented a workshop with paper piecing. here is what laetitia did:

 

and here is ineke's version of the same thing:

 

here is a close-up of ineke's owl. isn't he a gorgeous fella?...

 

he is handmade from scraps of paper.

in my shop, we pride ourselves on the fact that we adapt each layout according to the client's style, taste and photos. no 2 layouts are the same. it is more work for the teacher, but it is also more creative, and more rewarding to see lots of different versions, and lots of happy clients.

anyway, i'm off to fiddle more on my computer. pray i don't crash the entire system...

 

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

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

free online class with jessica sprague

this looks great! i'm in...

 

you can find more info here.

love, jacki

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

single pages...

for the RAK i announced on this post, my random number generator picked number 5, so that means comment no 5 wins. that is cathy!

cathy, email me 3-5 nice, close-up photos of you, preferably alone.

edited to add: to see what cathy said about this, look here. and to see what i did with her photos, see here.

we don't scrap single pages often, but we need them for the front and back of our albums. i did a total scraplift of this layout, and nicky and cheryl were inspired by mine. (when i am back in the shop, i will edit this post, and credit the person i scraplifted from.)

please note that the bottom left corner was left open for journaling. that is why it looks a little unbalanced.

here is cheryl's page. this is a photo of her. what a babe!..

the one below was made by nicky, as a front page of an album of her son.

 

and this one is mine. the journaling says: i finished school in 1984. this photo was taken in january 1985, just before i went to university. i was 18 years old and standing on the edge of my life...

 

as i was scrapping this page, i kept wondering what i would tell this young girl. (would she even listen?) that may be a nice theme for a LO one day - a letter of advice to the 'young' me. what would you say to the young you?

love, jacki

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES 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

carla

i was going to blog some more about the convention, and i have a post half-done, but i am at home this morning, and my convention photos are on my computer at the shop. so, here is something different for today.

last week i did this LO. is was inspired by antoinette's class. i was feeling a little uninspired in the last few weeks, so it was either scraplifting or not scrapping at all.

 

i really enjoyed doing this page. and i'm happy with how it came out. see, more butterflies... carla is my baby sis, the one who lives in melbourne, australia.

it has taken days, but i'm finally getting a little caught up. first i read lots of the 153 unread blogposts in my google reader. then it took 2 days to wade through my inbox. it still needs more trimming, but at least i'm no longer too afraid to check my email. unfortunately, 2 days of springcleaning email meant my google reader got filled again... the shop's admin is also getting a little more up to date.

i managed to do a little scrapping on monday, and i'm hoping to do some more before the week is over. normally i'm a late-night scrapper/blogger, but after this hectic week iv'e been to tired at night to do anything, collapsing in bed much sooner than normal.

am i complaining? NO! i'm loving it! the convention is always a highlight for me, and being busy is so productive.

sophia, ineke and tracy, are you having fun with your cuttlebugs?

love, jacki

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

Celine Navarro

are you going to the south african scrapbook convention in sandton? these 2 days are all about scrapping, and having fun!

it is held on saturday 13 and sunday 14 september 2008 at the sandton convention centre, johannesburg. the cost is R2250,00. this includes everything.

the teachers this year are:

stacy julian, kah-mei smith, margie romney-aslett, guinevere wessell, jenni bowlin, celine navarro, rachael scholz and kelly white.

they are all international teachers. they will be teaching 8 classes over 2 days.

one of the teachers, celine navarro, comes from france. here is a message to you from her:

Hello fellow Scrapbook Artists!

Céline Navarro here! I'm counting the days til I meet you at the SA Scrapbook Convention in Johannesburg, I know it is going to be one of the most amazing experience I've ever had! Be ready to get inspired, to meet new friends, to enjoy yourself and to CREATE!

I want you to know that I've prepared a class for you that will get your hands a little bit dirty :) but don't be scared : this class is all about YOUR OWN CREATIVITY.
I'm so looking forward to visiting your amazing country, it has been a dream of mine for so long, and I am PROUD and HONORED to be able to get to meet you :)

See you REAL soon!

Céline Navarro

Things have been crazy here in France : we released our very own Scrapbook magazine two days ago! :)

thanks celine!

i don't know about you, but i'm really looking forward to meeting her. her style is different and interesting and creative. you can see a little of what she does on her blog. pop over there to have a look, and to say 'hi' to her. tell her i sent ya!

there is still space available at the convention, if you are interested. they will be taking bookings till the very last moment, so if you find yourself available for that weekend, you will still be welcome.

celine wrote a post in reply on her blog.

you can read about rachael scholz, one of the other teachers here.

love, jacki

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

verjaarsdag...

the afrikaans word 'verjaarsdag' means 'birthday'.

here is a layout i scrapped on friday. the photos are of francois's 11^th birthday, in 1997:

i haven't made cards in quite a while, so i thought i would use the scraps and make some. i used card positioning systems sketch #78:

see the sewing? it's my current addiction.

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

these cards were featured on card positioning systems

thoughts...

friday:

at what time of the morning do you accept that your cleaning lady is not going to come today? when do you stop hoping? at what time do you stop ignoring the mess? when do you stop pretending not to notice?

during your 12pm coffee break, that's when...

i'm in such a creative mood! i've been scrapping. those of you who read this blog often, know that this has become a rather rare occurrance. i've been busy lately, and i have kinda caught up with some things, for now, and finished some projects, and done a little spring-cleaning. so, today i thought i deserved a little break, and i would do some scrapping...

then the cleaning lady didn't come. so, what am i doing? scrapping? no, cleaning...

saturday:

i have discovered the sewing machine. there has been one in the shop for ever, but once i tried using it, and it made a mess. tension, the experts said... so, it had been sitting there, gathering dust. then, a few weeks ago, antoinette hauled it out for a workshop. and it seemed to work fine. so, i thought i'd try again. now, i want to sew everything! we did quite a bit of sewing in the workshop today, and with great results.

this is a layout by amy, a 9 year old first-time scrapper, in today's workshop. she is a daughter of a dear friend, donna:

isn't it beautiful? keep it up, amy! it's a pity the photos never do justice to the real thing.

we have been having such beautiful, warm, spring weather. august is often nicer than september. what is the weather like where you are? 

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

window on the world...

i have shown this layout before, but it is always so great to see what others do with it. we used chipboard products made by wilpro, a local company.

this layout was made by laetitia. she scrapped photos of her trip to greece.

 

she was a scrapper before she went on her trip, so she took photos of the pebbles on the beach, and brought home some of the pebbles, to make a shakerbox. you can find a tutorial on how to make a shakerbox here.

we all agreed that this was the best shakerbox we had ever seen. she even covered the sides of the shakerbox with strips of the photo of the pebbles.

here is liza's take on it:

see how she used the same elements, yet it has a totally different feel. and here is another peek at mine:

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

opa arie

by the way, the tape measure accross the page is not stuck skew, i cropped the photo skew.

this is a layout i made with the photos of my paternal grandfather, arie bakker. he married 'tante janny' after my grandmother died. he died in 2001, just before his 91st birthday. she moved back to holland after he died, and i have not seen her since. i was very fond of her. if you look closely, you can see i did some sewing, on the darker paper, and accross the flowers. i meant to do a title, but could not find an alphabet that did it for me, and did not think of anything to say. maybe i will add it later. or maybe you could suggest a title in the comments?

lately, i have been wanting to scrap simply, understated, white space. not good for a shop owner, i should be 'advertising' stock. and i have been wanting to journal more.

i once read that if people page through your album, and still ask questions, you have not journaled enough. someone somewhere (i read a lot, and widely, so i often cannot remember where i read things) said recently that she threw an old photo album away because although it had nice photos, and it must have meant a lot to someone once, and although the people in the photos were probably family, it meant nothing to her personally, as she had no clue as to who the people were. . you see, it is not about the photos alone. it is about the stories. about the histories. as you page through your album, ask yourself if it will mean anything to a future generation. or will someone just throw it away some day, because she has no clue who the people in your album are?

love, jacki

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

sean's school photos, and a linky-day keeps work-blues at bay... what?...

i made this layout last week, after being inspired by a layout by the amazing, the talented, the nicest melani. i used those boring school photos. i love the way the 2 pattern papers (queen of hearts and 7 gypsies) go together! this is the kind of layout that the shop-owner in me does not approve of. it has very little 'product' on it. only paper, mainly. not a big sales booster. also, notice that although it is a school layout, it has no school embellishments/paper etc. but i am enjoying it, it makes my eyes happy.. edited to add: i taught this layout in our workshop today (saturday), and although everyone's layout was different, they were all beautiful!  that is what makes scrapbooking so rewarding!

blogging in bed again. thought i'd have a linky day, to keep you from your work, and so avoiding those work-day blues. it sure beats solitaire... remember to open an excel spreadsheet in another window, so you can switch to it quickly when the boss walks by... just my contribution to the productivity in your office. remember when tetris came out? it seems like a million years ago. at the time, it was said that it was invented in russia, to decrease productivity in the west. i think it worked, too...

i have found 2 new blogs that i would like to kick of my 'blog of the moment' feature with. i enjoyed visiting them: my marrakesh is about a woman who is living in morocco. also, i enjoyed 37 days, that asks the question, what if you had 37 days left to live? the third blog that i'd like to highlight, is one i have been visiting often, for quite a few months, and is in my blogroll. yet, christine middlekamp is always worth a visit. there is so much scrapbooking inspiration there, and real life, too. tell me what you think of these blogs, i'd love to know!

next, go to jessica sprague. she is an awesome source of photoshop-inspiration. see her tutorial for making your photos 'pop'. also, i found a link on her blog to a photography article on 5 ways to hold your veiwer's attention. in fact, the website that the article is on, beyond megapixels, is a good site to visit if you are a photography fan.

then, if you have taken the digital photo, and photoshopped it, then you can digitally scrap it by using the free digital scrapbook kit you can find on that great site shutterfly.

if you have not done so, visit the south african scrapbook convention's website, and book. on the booking form, where they say 'group' tell glenda you are with scrappin times, and she will put you in our group. it really is a great event. and glenda is great too...

tomorrow is madiba - nelson mandela's  90th birthday.

i have not forgotton about the brillante weblog award. i will pass it on soon, i promise! in the meantime, please nominate any blog you read and love. i would like to make it democratic.

if you follow any of these links, leave a comment to tell me what you liked. also, on those blogs, leave a comment and tell them jacki sent you. comments are good. comments are what bloggers blog for. bloggers loooove comments. i know i do. don't know how to comment? just look directly below this post. there you will find the word 'comment'. just click on the word, and it will take you to a comment form. easy! even blondes from benoni can do it...

anyway, i'd better get out of bed, and get ready to go to work. i finished another scrapbook layout last night. seems i got my mojo back!

love, jacki

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

tannie muis - time and about magazine issue 8

i have just spent the entire morning reading blogs. i have tons of work to do, which makes reading blogs soooo much more fun. i wish i could make blogging my full-time job. then i could call this morning 'research'. mind you, if blogging was my job, i would probably spend the entire morning filing and doing admin, since anything is always better than working... having said that, i made scrapbooking my full-time job, and look how much scrapbooking i am doing lately.

i want to introduce a feature here, a kind of a blog of the week. except, i don't want to commit myself to a weekly thing. so i will call it a blog of the moment. it can be any blog. anything you like. tell me who you read. and i will tell you who i find. ok?

i have a new baby in the house. sean got a little jack russell puppy for his birthday. it is sooo cute! and demands attention all the time. it has spent the morning lying on my lap, sleeping in my blanket.

a while ago, time and about magazine asked me to participate in their 'inspiration' challenge. it appears in the current magazine, issue #8. it follows on the previous time i had a layout published. does being published twice entitle me to say i have been published a couple of times?... :) here is what it is about:

when francois was little, he used to refer to the 'tannie muis', instead of the 'tande muis'. this is afrikaans for the tooth fairy.

i made a shakerbox containing his baby teeth! i have wanted to do that for ages. it seemed to me to be a logical place to store them. so much better than in a used plastic pill container in my panty drawer...

you can find a tutorial on how to make a shakerbox here.

 

on the journaling tag i wrote this (translated from afrikaans):

"you always talked about 'tannie muis' (aunty mouse) instead of 'tande muis' (tooth fairy). when you were about 7 or 8, you declared one day that you no longer believed in the tooth fairy. yet, you spent the entire afternoon putting the tooth in a jungle oats box, on cotton wool, with a note. and then you created a trail from the front door to your room, with letters and arrows, in case the tooth fairy could not find the way. you were too afraid to not believe.

it is a pity that i did not scrap then. because then i would still have all the notes and lots of photos. fortunately, i did keep all your teeth, so now i can at least scrap the only 2 'toothless' photos, and the teeth, and the story." 

along with the layout, we also had to create something else. i made these three cards. i used my revolutionary, world-famous, ground-breaking (not!) method of cutting 3 cards from one sheet of cardstock.

here is the magazine, in case you want to rush out and buy it, mom...

and here is what we got as the source of inspiration. see if you could do anything better with it...

every time i get to this point in my post, the whole typepad screen crashes, and i have to open typepad again, get to this post and try to go on. and then it happens again. when will i learn to save continuously? fortunately, i have an amazing command of HTML. i can insert <br>. that's it. that's all i know. but it has helped a million times. maybe soon i could do a tutorial on this...

in the meantime, however, i am sooo late to fetch sean from school. so i have to rush!

love, jackie

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

motherhood by liza, and my version of it

i'm coming to you today from a very cold south africa! it is rather dark, and there is an icy wind blowing. ideal scrapping weather...

this is a layout created by liza.

here is my take on it:

it was fun to do. each block can be decorated differently.

the journaling says: "i have so much fun playing with photoshop. it gives me the opportunity to turn an ordinary photo into something special".

man, it felt good to be scrapping again! thanks liza, for the inspiration!

for a nice tutorial on making paper flowers, visit kim here.

i found this site, that has maps, and this one shows scrapbook shops. i am proud to say that i am their first scrapbooking shop in africa! maybe they think i am the only scrapbooking shop in africa..

well, i'm off to make some hot chololate...

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

this post was linked to by kim watson

friendship - liza, and happy birthday elsa!

last week i was a good blogger. but this week i have been scrapping, and that has not happened so much lately. so i'm playing while i'm all inspired...

the above layout was done by liza. i will be showing mine later in the week. now that i have some...

my dear friend elsa, who visits this blog often from dhahran, saudi arabia, celebrated her birthday yesterday. elsa, i thought of you all day, but i did not go online at all yesterday. i did not even plug in my modem! so, here is a late HAPPY BIRTHDAY! i hope you had a special day, and i hope you have a blessed year. and thanks for being such a supporter. i have friends in benoni that i hear from less often than i hear from you...

i have an inspiration. francois would say "it came to me in a series of dreams". i have a scrapping-related idea. it has to bubble a little bit. it is not my idea originally, i saw something in a magazine that created a spark. of course, i do not have all the stuff i need, or i would not be blogging, i would be scrapping. it feels like my head is going to burst with this idea, i am so excited...

i'm off to photograph my recent layouts!

 

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

thanks janine, i had a great time!

janine used to attend our wednesday morning workshops. then she moved to seattle, USA, in january 2008. she is here for a week long visit, and came to present the workshop this wednesday morning.

we made this very nice book/folder. here is mine. remember that it has no photos yet. i have edited and saved the photos, and will print them and add them soon.

thanks janine! i had a great time, and i love my little book! please visit again soon!

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

south african scrapbook convention

here is more info on the south african scrapbook convention:

it is held on saturday 13 and sunday 14 september 2008 at the sandton convention centre, johannesburg. the cost is R2250,00. this includes everything.

EIGHT INTERNATIONAL CELEBRITY TEACHERS:

• Stacy Julian • Kah-Mei Smith • Margie Romney-Aslett • Guinevere Wessell

• Jenni Bowlin• Céline Navarro • Rachael Scholz • Kelly White   if you want to go, you can book online, or pop into the shop for your booking form. if you do go, please mention that you are part of the SCRAPPIN TIMES group on your booking form, then they will put us all in one group together, and you will know lots of friends.   in the meantime, do visit all the celebrity teacher's websites and blogs, this will help you get in the spirit of things...   jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop, benoni, south africa

precious memories

i have been a little quiet, haven't i? did anybody miss me?

i have been busy making a photoshop tutorial that i will post tomorrow or so, about creating a softer look for your photos. this is for people like me, who need a lot of softening to look good...

my sister, carla, lives in australia, and my parents have gone to visit her for the first time. my brother, andre, and his wife, cornelia, are in france. andre just completed some simulator training there. he is a pilot. so, with more than half my family out of the country, i'm feeling pretty left behind. only paula and i are left here.

as i am writing this, i am listening to the news. oy, it's bad... xenophobic violence, record high fuel prices that are going to rise further, and interest rates that are also rising. tough times ahead! staying positive has become quite a challenge in this beautiful country.

i have had this layout ready to post for a while, but the pictures do little justice to it.

 

this layout was made in a class by wilpro.

 

i know it is difficult to see, but on the chipboard heart is a stack of chipboard puzzle pieces. some are glittered, some have dimensional glaze on them, and some are plain.



i have ordered stock of this, and will be teaching this layout in a few weeks time.

how are you doing? tell me, i really want to know!

 

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

digital scrapbooking - my new addiction...

i had sooo much fun this morning. i did my first real digital scrapbooking! i downloaded a few free digital kits this week, and now i got to play with them:

the couple are mariska and ian. mariska is my cousin. all the digital goodies are from shabby princess, the promise collection, except the frame around the photo, that is from shutterfly, michelle coleman, renewal. did you see there are even staples in there?

i must say, my eye does miss the inking around the edges of the paper, and the sanding of the edges of the photo. and i miss having ink under my fingernails. but i did have fun. i do need to ask, if i don't have a blog, what do i do with this now?

as i mentioned before, i am part of typepad's beta team. we have been testing all sorts of new features for a few weeks, to iron out the bugs. so, if you are a blogger with typepad, you will be getting these features within the next few days. there are a few improvements, and they are quite easy to use. enjoy them!

 

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop

photoshop elements tutorial: how to download and use a frame on your photos

i use photoshop elements 6, but i'm sure it is very similar in CS2 and 3.

let me say this from the start: i'm by no means an expert. i have had photoshop for a few weeks only, and i'm still very much a beginner. there are lots of amazing free tutorials on how to edit your photos on the web, so i would much rather point you that way for advice way better than mine. but i did not find any tips on putting a cute frame around my photos, and that is one of the things that i was really wanting to do when i decided to buy photoshop. so let's learn this together:

lets start with the cast of characters:

one is wonderful and gorgeous and cute, and the other is carli... carli is the daughter of my sister, paula. i did some editing on the photo of carli, softening some of the background a little. make sure that your photo is cropped and edited the way you like it. that is for cleverer people than i to explain. head on over to digiscrap 101, if you want to know more about that. the frame is part of a digital scrapbooking kit that was free.

i always open the tutorial i'm using in one window, and photoshop in another. then i can switch between windows, and try the steps myself, till i have got it. so, we will all wait a few minutes while you go off, make that quick cup of coffee, close the office door, and open photoshop. remember to open a spreadsheet in a third window, so if the boss comes by, you can switch to that...

back yet? comfortable? ready? ok, here we go:

on your desktop, you open a new folder, and call it 'downloads'. i always have that, and download everything in there, so it is easier to find afterward. we are all going to visit a website called shutterfly. it's like a little field trip. let's all synchronize our watches, and meet back here in, say, 15 minutes time. but wait! before you go, let me tell you what to do when you get there.

you just have to click on the red word 'shutterfly', and it will magically open a window, and you can follow the breadcrumbs. spend a few minutes looking around. then click on the place in the sidebar that says 'digital scrapbooking freebies'. you scroll down to a place that says 'Thank you Michelle Coleman : What an Inspiration! (or, you can just click on this link, and it will take you straight there. it's a shortcut...). 

see  'download 1.zip' etc? you can download all three, but the frame is in download1, i think. right click on that, and choose 'save target as'. choose to download it in your 'downloads' file. when it is finished, you have to unzip it. because you have to give credit to the designer when you use the product, and rightly so, i always rename the file, and mention the name of the website, designer and product, so it is easy for me to remember later who to credit. in this case my file is now called 'shutterfly, michelle coleman, renewal 3'.

when you have done all this, click on the 'downloads' folder, and check if it is all there, and what the filename of the frame is. (MCO DecoFrame). then go do some work for a few hours, to keep the boss happy.

open photoshop. just so we are all on the same page (get it? the same page? ok, sorry...), go to organiser mode. find a nice photo. you will not have a photo of carli. at least, i hope not, unless you are paula. and even paula will not have this photo of carli, as i took it. i digress...

with the photo open, click on 'fix' and then 'full edit'. while i'm doing this, my anti-virus software is running it's weekly full scan, so the computer is sooo slooow. you'll just have to be patient. like me. patient is my middle name. the editor mode will open with your photo, like this: 

 well now, that photo is just awful! please excuse me for a few hours while i go look for a tutorial on doing tutorials...

it will just have to do. you can't just leave a bunch of people sitting in front of their computers, reading this, and go off to figure it out. it's my homework for next time.

now, where was i? oh yes, in editor mode. where it says 'layers', you should see a small photo, and it should say 'background' and be locked. right click on the little photo, and click on 'duplicate layer', to create a new layer. make sure the new layer is highlighted, because this is where you are going to work. if you get this far, then you have full marks for part one. yaay! there is an amazing description of the concept of layers at pioneerwoman's blog. go read it some time. i cannot describe it better than this and this!

click on 'file', 'open'. in the top menu bar, find your downloads folder. and look for the frame. MCO DecoFrame, remember? double click on it. it will open in the editor, above your photo. use your mouse, and move the whole frame block to the right, so you can see the photo and the frame at the same time. use your mouse, click in the middle of the frame, hold the button in, and drag the frame over the photo. let go. it should be sitting there, on the photo, although the size and position may be wrong. we'll fix that. it's amazing what we can fix. close the box with the frame in it.

in the 'layers' box, you will see that there is a new layer, one with the frame in it. make sure this layer is selected. now you will be able to move and resize the frame. while you were moving your mouse around there, did you notice that the little arrow somtines get curved, or rounded? when it does that, you can click there, hold your mouse button down, and rotate the frame, turning the frame upside down. move it around until you are happy. when you are, you can click on the green tick.

with the frame layer still highlighted, you can click where it says 'opacity'. a little slider will appear. slide it till it is as light or as dark as you want it to be. i chose 60%, so it is a little softer. this is what you would have, if you used a photo of carli:

 

oh dear, these photos are downright embarrassing. i blush. so sorry!

actually, i did it on purpose, to show you that i am no expert in photoshop. no self-respecting photoshop expert would EVER let photos like this appear anywhere. only blonds would ever try...

now, i want to show you how to change the color of the frame. but i don't know how to do it myself yet. so, you do some work again, while i go see if i can figure it out...

{she leaves, and fiddles on computer...}

ok, i managed to change the color, but i am convinced that i did it the hard way, so i am not even going to tell you. but, if you want to try, right click on the small picture of the frame in 'layers', and duplicate the layer. then you can experiment with the frame, and if you don't like it, right click on the small photo again, and 'delete layer'.

when you are happy with what you did, right click on the small photo in 'layers', and 'flatten layers'. this will combine all the layers, giving you one. then, you can either close the editor without saving anything, thus losing all your work (some experimental work deserves to be lost...), or click on 'file', 'save as' and make a title that you will be able to find. and voila!  

 

so i just spent half a day writing this tutorial. and, i get to call it 'work'. ha ha! did you like it? i tried to make it as detailed as possible, so that even if you have never worked in photoshop before, you should be able to follow this. please tell me if it works, or if you battled. did i inspire you to try? or did i put you off for ever? should i shut up, and call it a day? yes, i should...

you can also read my other photoshop tutorials: how to create a softened photo and how to make eyes 'pop'.

you can find other photoshop, papercraft and scrapbooking tutorials here.

 
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop

this post was linked to by: scrapscene and photoshop pack, paxton prints

great-grandmother

 

isn't this beautiful?

liza made this single page. the photo is of her great-grandmother. she used colormates cardstock, rose-petal vellum from worldwin papers, a strip of paper for the swirl from creative imaginations, scallop circle paper from making memories' animal crackers range, and the background paper is from my mind's eye. the flowers we sell loose, and are from different companies. she put the page together in about an hour, and she used a plate from the kitchen for the circle of vellum. inking around the edges when you hand-cut a circle, softens the edges, so you don't see if it is a little uneven.

there is nothing difficult about this page, it is just the combination of colours and papers that make it so striking. you cannot see this on this photo, but she wrote by hand on the red cardstock the name of the beautiful woman from days gone by. what a nice tribute!

just out of interest, i did some photoshopping on the photo of this layout. the original photo as i got it from the camera looks like this:

















photoshop is my friend....

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

swim star

 

i did this layout a week or 2 ago. it is of ronnie and francois in a swimming pool. on the middle photo on the left, you can also see my brother, andre, and sister, carla. the baby in the photo is francois, who is almost 22 years old now...

there is really nothing difficult about this layout, the colours and fun patterned paper are really what make it. i used chipboard stars and the chipboard alphas are from wilpro. the cardstock is from colormates and treasures, the rub-ons are from urban lily. the patterned paper is stuck down so well, that i cannot see who it is from.


 

this is for cornelia, who had a bit of a scare last week, and is still traumatised after her first mammogram. thankfully, it all turned out well!

 
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbooking shop

family times

 

i scrapped this page this week. it was inspired by a page by my amazingly talented and inspiring friend melani at paper crazy. those photos are of my family, and were taken more than 30 years ago.



with the rainy, cold and cloudy weather we have been having, i have to take the photos of the layouts with the flash, so sorry for the reflection. here are some close ups:

 

the flap that says 'eternity... etc' opens up. there are tags behind it.



the little booklets with the striped paper also open up.

as usual, the photos do not do justice to the real thing...

 
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES

a good weekend, and thank you chantal

this weekend i was feeling flu-ish and a little blue, so i spent saturday and sunday at home, pottering around in the house, sleeping, reading and watching tv. it was just what i needed!

then, yesterday - monday 21 april, was my dear friend chantal's birthday, and she took me to a scrapbooking traders day presented by wilpro in pretoria. we spent the day scrapbooking. we got 3 projects, and i finished this one:

 

thanks colette, for the nice day and inspiration!

 

chantal is a wonderful, warm friend. she is a caring, sharing and giving person, generous to a fault! she has been a blessing to me since i met her. she is always spoiling others. she just needs to learn to receive as well as she gives..

chantal also has a scrapbooking shop, so it is always such a pleasure to be able to talk to her, complain about things, share trade tips, help each other out, pass on information about stock and suppliers, etc. she is indeed a true friend!

i had a wonderful time. thanks for being such a good friend!

 
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES

tutorial - edit your photos before you print them - without photoshop

today i want to give you a few reasons why you should edit your photos before you print them. or post them on your blog. or email them to the grannies.

almost every day, clients come into the shop with their photos to choose paper. so, i get to see lots of different photos all the time. and i can not understand why people do not take a little extra time and effort to edit those photos before they print them.

this photo of the shop i took in the late afternoon, and there were long shadows. here i just used the 'enhance' button, and voila! see the improvement. it still isn't the best photo, but it is an improvement on the one i took.

the improved photo in this case is the top one, and the bottom one is the original.


 














i use kodak's photo editing software, that comes free with the camera. you can also download it from their website. please tell me if you have a problem with downloading this, i haven't tried it myself. it is not as complicated as photoshop. and it is free, so there is no excuse... it crops, enhances, and can change your photos to black and white, and sepia. you can use any other photo imaging software, there are a few around. of course, if you do use photoshop, you can do so much more. this is just for those of us who do not have photoshop, and according to me, this is the minimum editing you have to do before you print.

















this photo i took of the 'travel' mini book that i posted about recently. i took this photo without the flash. using the 'enhance' button, i got this.



i really just clicked on the button. nothing else.

in south africa, if you go to the kodak photo shop, you can do all these edits on their machines. you just insert your disk, and follow the prompts. this means that you do not have to have the software on your computer, or even have to have access to a computer. and it is very user friendly.

when working on the machines, you can also edit the photos so you get 2-9 photos on one jumbo size. this means that you get photos that are smaller, from half a jumbo to very small ones. this is very useful when you have lots of photos of the same theme, you can scrap them all on one page together.

in these photos of sean, i changed it to black and white, and then cropped.

 

the cropping function is the one i use the most. i crop out all the distracting background.



then you can really play around. the only way to get comfortable and confident with the process is to play with it. if you save a separate copy of your original pic, then there is no reason not to experiment. at the machines in the shop, the edits are not saved on your disk, so if you do not like the results of your edits, you can just start over.

  

you can also take all those older photos that you have, that have lots of background and just the little person in the middle, scan them, and crop them. then re-print them in jumbo size. now the person is nice and full size in the photo.

i found a website called picnik, where you can do all sorts of edits. it is easy to use, you don't have to download anything, and it's free. you can also play, without worrying that you will 'damage' your original.

oooh, i just loooove photos of myself...

 

and this is what happens if you go mad on their site and click on everything, and play around. it aint perfect, but hey, it was my first attempt! great fun! i even whitened my teeth, and removed blemishes. now, if i could just find a way to do that to the 'real' me every morning.

 

for the amount of money and time you spend on your scrap page, surely spending some extra money and time on printing better photos to use on that page makes sense?

taking better photos in the first place, is of course also very important. for that i have to refer you to annette scholtz, as she is the photography and photoshop expert.

do you edit your photos? what software do you use? tell me.

you can find more photoshop, papercrafting and scrapbooking tutorials here.


 
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES

this post was linked to by: scrapscene

outrageous party, scrapbooking convention 1 may 2008

in the beginning of every year, i sit with the old and the new diaries, and transfer birthday and anniversary dates. in 2002 it was no different. i sat with the old diary, and started to copy all the important info into the new diary. but, for some reason - i cannot remember why, i was interrupted, and did not finish this task.

the last entry in my diary for 2002 read 'saskia'. saskia is my cousin. i had written down her birthday on the 19th of april. from the 20th of april there were no further entries. ronnie died on 19 april. how wierd is that? my life as i knew it changed on 19 april, and the pages of the diary of my life were suddenly blank...

 

usually during this 'ronnie-week', i scrap a page or 2 with photos of him. so yesterday i scrapped this page of ronnie and i, and tito and desire going to an 'outrageous' party in 1998. i used a becky sketch i found in the april issue of creating keepsakes magazine.

i have been wanting to scrap with 'white space' for quite a while now, but before i know it, i have filled the whole page. so, i used this sketch to 'force' me to leave some areas open. i really enjoyed this page, and i think i will use this sketch again soon.

i got this email from the scrapbooking convention:
We are so excited! We have just received the Heidi Swapp kits ... you are going to blown away with the projects they have lined up for you. Heidi will be debuting her mirror album which is packed with chandeliers, mirrors, ribbon and loads of bits and pieces. Janet's class is a 12x12 album and you will complete 4 pages and decorate the outside of the album with the world traveler line. Log onto the website, www.scrapbookex.co.za for more information and class requirements.
This is a day of spoiling, pampering and enjoyment!
See you at either Summer Place on 1 May or at Spier on 3 May!

Take care,
The SA Scrapbook Convention Team

 
ps. if you are very observant, you might have noticed some subtle changes to the look of my blog. typepad is planning lots of improvements. i'm part of their beta-team, which means i have been testing the improvements for a week or 2. there are a few glitches, which is why people like me test it first, but it is going to be great! also, if you are on facebook, and are a blogger, look out for the 'blog-it' feature which is just being launched. i'm sure you will love it!

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES

travel mini book - theresa mariuzzi

 

one of our clients, theresa mariuzzi, made this chipboard travel mini book. she documented her trip to italy in 2003. the word 'travel' is spelled out in the chipboard. she decorated each page with ribbons and fibers, buttons and flowers.

 

some of her photos flap up or open up, to show extra photos or journaling. she also added business cards and pamphlets of the hotels she stayed in.
 
 

the mini book is held together with 3 large rings, which makes it easy to turn the pages, even if it gets a little 'fat'.

 

this is her first attempt at a mini book, but she did a brilliant job! she still needs to fill in dates and place names and little notes before it is complete.

 

can you imagine how amazing this little book would be on her coffee table? she did justice to her wonderful trip.

 

the chipboard book is made by enmarc. they make books in english and afrikaans, with all sorts of words.


jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES

this post was linked to by: scrapscene

scrapbooking tutorial - how to make a shakerbox

  
stephanie, one of our clients, attended a class by liza recently, and she made the round shakerbox we use in these photos.

you can put anything in a shakerbox, but, as you can tell from the name, it will move around inside the 'box'. so, use beads, small embellishments, sand, coins, keys. i even used my son's baby teeth!

  

a shakerbox can have any shape. stephanie made a round one. you need a base - it will be visible so use something that goes with your theme, a piece of transparency, and something for the top 'frame'. also, you need some foamcore or foamtape to raise the top part. ink, paint and distress as you want. you can tie a ribbon around the top frame.

cut the foamcore, if you are using this, in the desired shape. this lifts the 2 layers, creating a 'pocket' between them. ink too, if desired.

 
turn the top 'frame' upside down. place the transparency down over it. stick it down properly. remember when sticking a shakerbox together, do not leave any gaps at all, as the contents of the box can slip through the gap. if you are making a box to contain fine beads and sand, be extra careful to stick every little millimetre down.

using the foam tape or foamcore, stick this to the upside down frame, hiding it behind the frame so you cannot see it from above through the transparency. trim till neat. remember, the transparency comes between the frame and the foam.

place the base down, arrange the contents on top, and place the raised frame over it. don't stick yet. check that it is raised enough for the contents to move around freely inside. if it is too low, add more foam, if it fits, ink the sides of the foam to make it blend into your colour scheme, and stick it down properly, once again checking that there are no gaps.

pick up the box, and shake it about, checking that nothing slips out. then use it where you want it.

remember, you are making the whole shakerbox seperately first, before you stick it onto your layout. if something goes wrong, you can re-do it, until you are happy. so relax and experiment!

 
the 'scrappin times' shakerbox was made by liza. she used a sizzex machine to cut out the letters from cardstock, and then used the negative to make the shakerbox.

if you are unsure of anything, contact me, and i will gladly help you.

you can find another example of a shakerbox here. and here.

you can find other scrapbooking, papercraft and photoshop tutorials here.

 
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES

this post was linked to by: scrapscene

scrapbooking tutorial - how to ink/distress the edges of your paper

this is my 99th post!

today i'm posting my first mini-tutorial. people who come to workshops in my shop, know how to do this, but there are many people who read this blog, who don't have access to workshops. so, this one is for you!

you can use any ink. we like to use fluid chalk, from colorbox, but it really doesn't matter. ink stays wetter for longer than fluid chalk, so if you are going to emboss, or do some technique, then maybe you should use ink. but for the purposes of inking the edges of paper as shown today, it doesn't matter which you use.

i like to hold the paper still, and move the ink pad. to create a narrow, more subtle, sharper edge, you hold the ink pad almost up straight against the edge of the paper, as shown. we use this when we want a subtle effect, or if there is a large contrast between the colour of the ink and the paper, or if you are new at this and a little nervous. you can see on the photo what the result is.

if you want the inking/distressing to be more visible, you change the angle of the ink pad, so that it is flatter against the paper. you make smudges that go deeper into the paper, as shown.

you can also rub the ink pad over the surface of the paper, to distress it. this makes it look older and rougher.

 
the whole idea is to experiment with it. take a scrap of paper, and play around. if you want to buy just one ink to start off with, i suggest you get a brown one, as this goes with any colour scheme. you can also use the little ink pads on your stamps, by rubbing the ink over the stamp pad to cover it with the ink.

why do we ink the edges? it creates interest, it creates contrast, it softens the edges, it hides rough or less that straight edges, it gives it an aged look. most of us who ink, ink the edges of almost everything. just take a look at the layouts i have posted in the past, and you will see.

you could also scrunch the paper up in a ball, and pat the paper all over with the ink pad. open up and scrunch again, and ink again. repeat until you get the desired effect. then flatten the paper out, and use. you could iron it first, to get it flatter, if you wish.
 
remember that you should store your all your inks and chalks upside-down, as gravity draws the ink to the surface of the pad, where you need it to be. if you have lots of inks in your kit, you could wet your finger with the ink, and 'stamp' the bottom of the ink pad with it. then you can see the colours at a glance, without having to turn them all over. maybe the ink manufacturers should redesign the packaging so that they are stored upside down automatically?

tell me if you ink, and if you use ink in interesting ways. also tell me if you learned something, or if you would like me to show you anything else.

you can read other scrapbooking, papercraft and photoshop tutorials here.

love, jacki

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES

this post was linked to by: scrapscene, scraprio

family, liza, diana, champagne roadshow

this little book was made by liza for her classes. it is really beautiful! she used a chipboard 'bookworm' made by enmarc, a south african scrapbook product manufacturer. inside she has tags and photos.

diana is one of my clients. she made this layout:

it is so colorful. not the colours she usually scraps in. she did this layout in a class by antoinette.

i have been suffering from 'scrapper's block'. i have done almost no scrapbooking in the last few weeks.i scrap in the evenings and early morning hours, and i have been too tired lately. but, i have a challenge to do for time & about magazine, so i suppose i need to get out of this slump.

GOD sent me a blessing yesterday in the form of melani. thanks doll for the surprise! i loved it! a also found the email address of an old friend, and gave her the address of this blog, so annemarie, if you are reading this - haai my ou maaki! ek dink so dikwels aan jou. and nicky's friend, louise i think, hello. i hear you read here often. please introduce yourself in the comments.

i have heard lots and lots of praise for the champagne roadshow. ineke, cheryl, liza, nicky, louise, gail and chantelle had a wonderful time. congrats to all who arranged it! i hear that south african scrapbooking events are of incredibly high standards, and all the international teachers are always very impressed. leah fung and aubrey harns, the girls loved it! thank you! liza, gail, ineke and cheryl spent saturday afternoon in the shop, working on their 'homework'. here are some photos that i got from ineke:

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES

time and about magazine

time & about magazine has just increased their quality and credibility. why? because they published one of my layouts, that's why! you see, i've been published once, and it has already gone to my head...

this is really exciting!

 

the man hates to be photographed. and he is never really that interested in my scrapbooking. on saturday, we went to the hobby expo, and while we were there i popped it to time & about's stand, to pick up my shop's issues of this magazine. and when i showed him this page, he winced. but, on the way home, i asked him to stop off at the shop so i could put the magazines on the shelf for monday. he asked me to please take one home, so he could show sean. and on sunday, when his dad came for tea, he showed him. o, so now that it's published you are interested... his only regret is that he is not the centerfold!

here is a closer look at what appeared in time & about magazine, issue #7:

 

 

i converted these photos to black and white, and printed them on textured paper to create a canvas look. did i mention how much i love this amazing guy?

now, please pop in to the shop, and get this excellent magazine, before my mother and his mother buy them all...

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES

mini book - friends

this is a wonderful chipboard book from enmarc - a great south african company. they make a great veriety of products. linda made up this book called 'friends'.

later this week, i will give you a sneak peek of the beautiful 'family' book liza made for her classes coming up, also from enmarc.

melani from paper crazy made a stunning mini book from scratch. take a look, it's beautiful, and inspiring and easy.

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES

antoinette, and blogging

behind the scenes on blogs, or on the blog itself, as you see in my left column, toward the bottom, you have a place where you can check the 'stats' of the blog. this tells us how many people visited this blog, and where they came from. what i mean is that it tells me the 'referring address'. so, if you typed in www.scrappintimes.typepad.com, you came from there, and if you found me by clicking a link on another website or blog that has a link to me, it gives me that website's address. don't worry, it doesn't tell me who you are... so, quite often, it tells me the hit came from 'google'. if i click on where it says 'google', it takes me to that screen, and shows me what that person 'googled'. this can be very interesting.

of the 6 hits i got from google in the past 24 hours, there was 'scrappin times', 'artist trading cards', 'allie hoopes own handwriting', and here is the weirdest for today: 'modge podge'. i checked, my blog was the 121st mention, on page 13! wow, what are the odds of that person finding me? once, i got a hit from 'post-christmas blues'. as i am quite a 'googler' myself, i find this info fascinating. it was very important that you know this. why? sommer. cause it's interesting to me, that's why!

the layout below was done by antoinette. she is one of the workshop teachers in the shop. i apologize for the quality of the photo.

i have told you about the following people before, but today i want to remind you to visit the following websites and blogs:

wilna furstenburg, especially read about 'a card for lois'.

jody ferlaak is inspiring and easy to read.

clean your screen. trust me, you need this! i hope you can get this link to work, because when i checked it now, it doesn't work. it worked before, i promise!

if you are a south african scrapper, read about the south african scrapbook convention.

if you are, or want to be a card maker, visit card positioning systems.

the march sketch is out on page maps.

and, last but certainly not least for today, you just have to visit the incredibly entertaining pioneer woman. oh, i wish i could write like her!

how are you today? please tell me.

paula

Sisters are different flowers from the same garden.  ~Author Unknown

this is my sister, paula. she doesn't live far, about 20 minutes drive away, but we don't see each other as much as we would like, because of our busy lives.

this is a very nice photo of her. i made this layout as an entry in a contest, at ittybittyscrapshack. alas, i fell out, but it is a very nice website to visit to look at some great, high quality layouts.

there were rules to this challenge. it had to be a single page layout. this is quite difficult for me, as i almost only do double pages. the we had to use the following: 2x patterned papers, 1x cardstock, buttons, alphabet letters and handwritten journaling. that's it. no inking, no stamping, no paint, no flowers, no ribbon, nothing else! i found this very difficult! but you must see what some of the people did. wow! click on 'round 1 entries' to see. i used daisy d's paper, colormates, and thickers letters. and old buttons.

liza decided yesterday to move the shop around. drastically! this was quite some work, but i must say, it looks good. very different, which is a good thing. everything looks new. there is even a corner for a gallery. this is besides the gallery we already have in the toilet... thanks liza and linda for your great ideas and hard work. it makes a nice change!

love, jacki

SCRAPPINTIMES / scrappintimes

valentine's day

We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.  ~Author Unknown

these are the cards in my shop. most were made by my clients. thank you ineke, linda, liza, laetitia, deneile. this was so much fun, and a good challenge.

check out this website: sketch this. it is similar to card posistioning systems in that you get a sketch, and then you do the layout.  also similar is pagemaps.

check out this idea at paper crazy. it is for painting chipboard letters.

i entered a layout in a contest, i'll show you later.

it has been a week since i posted a chatty post. i'm not sure if you are relieved or if you are missing it. tell me what you think.

i hope you had a romantic/fun valentine's day. the restaurant upstairs from the shop is packed tonight! and the fish and chippa sold 21kgs of take away prawns. tell me how you celebrated.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES