{scraps of jacki's life}

francois

Don't wait to make your son a great man - make him a great boy.  ~Author Unknown

 

this is still one of my favourite layouts. when francois was about 11 years old, his father and i took him fishing. it is not easy to see, but one of the photos shows evidence of the fact that he caught 2 fish at the same time! what a proud moment! the bottom left tag can open, and there is journaling inside. the word 'fishing' was stamped on cardstock with bleach. the edges of the page i dry-brushed with paint. the fab-scraps rub-on on one of the tags reads "give a boy a fish, and you can feed him for a day. teach a boy to fish, and you can get rid of him for a weekend".

now francois is 21 years old. he went back to university this week. his classes start next week. he is doing his honors in economics this year.  in a while i will have graduation photos to scrap, as he is getting his degree soon. his father would have been so proud! he lives on the campus in student village. these are like flats on the campus. great, everything is in walking distance. only senior students stay there. he was home for almost 3 months, so i am missing him like crazy! {{sob!}} but, the contents of my fridge and grocery cupboard are staying constant now, and the laundry basket is no longer overflowing...

Son, you outgrew my lap, but never my heart.  ~Author Unknown

i am always looking out for quotes to put on my blog. last week i read something like: 'if you are not happy with what you've got, you won't be happy with what you get'. when i read it, i did not take much notice. but, it has been popping into my mind all the time. it really is something to think about. in this day and age, in this consumerist, disposable society, we always seem to want more, newer, better, faster, more expensive. maybe we should stop and think for a moment, and be happy with what we've got!

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

SA’S INTERNATIONAL SCRAPBOOK CONVENTION - 13 & 14 SEPTEMBER 2008

here is some info about the convention.

Bookings for the 2008 September SA International Scrapbook Convention at Sandton Convention Centre are well under way. Many have taken advantage of our Early Bird Gift booking offer!  If you would still like to take advantage of this opportunity of receiving a Making Memories Desktop Organiser, just book and pay in full before 31 January. Our theme this year is a Fairytale Affair. This doesn’t mean that the layouts will be designed around feminine pages, but rather around the event ambience. More exciting news this year is that we have confirmed the following International Celebrities with Stacy Julian lined up to give an additional keynote address at the Gala Crop Evening. The 2008 SA International Scrapbook Convention celebrities are as follows: • Stacy Julian: USA, ‘Big Picture Scrapbooking’ • Kah-Mei Smith: Canada, Fontwerks • Gail Pearce-Watne: USA, Making Memories • Lance and Tasha Anderson: USA, Rusty Pickle • Jenni Bowlin: USA, Jenni Bowlin Studio • Celine Navarro: France, Rouge de Garance • Rachael Scholz: Australia, Various                    ...with the eighth celebrity to be announced shortly. Included in this year’s convention price of R2250.00 are all eight master classes, tea on arrival, mid-morning and mid-afternoon teas with a snack, a finger-fork lunch on both days, sponsor hamper and Sandton Convention Centre parking vouchers for both days. Menu examples for the Saturday and Sunday lunches will be on the website for your perusal.

The GALA CROP EVENING will be held on the Saturday evening. Stacy Julian is our keynote speaker with our South African teachers giving you ideas, techniques and products. This event is limited to 300 delegates and it is essential to pre-book your place. Forms will be on the website to download from
12 February 2008.

THE SEARCH FOR THE SA'S TOP SCRAPBOOKER FOR 2008 IS ON!
SA International Scrapbook Convention will be giving talented scrapbookers an opportunity to showcase their work and win fabulous prizes. There will be FOUR categories and FOUR winners with a lucky draw for an overseas trip to a CKU event. The winners will be published in a special 16 page edition in the Time and About Magazine. The winners will be announced at the Gala Crop Evening. So, settle down to some serious scrapbooking and take part in the 2008 SA International Scrapbook Convention Talent Search.

Heidi Swapp will be coming to South Africa on 3 May 2008 for our first "Out of Town" event at Spier Wine Estate, Stellenbosch, Cape Town. This one day event will consist of four classes and loads of shopping opportunity. The classes will be filled with fun, excitement, product and sponsors hampers. Our two local talents are Adri Swart who won the Fashion Accessories Paper Craft Competition in 2006 and Louise Eichner. Accommodation packages are available for those delegates who would like to stay at Spier for the Friday and/or Saturday evening. A Cape Town Talent Search will take place on 3 May 2008.
For more information and to download your Cape Town Convention Booking Form, log onto our website, www.scrapbookex.co.za and click on ‘Other Events’.

we were a large group from the shop last year, and it was really a fun event. most of those girls are going again this year. let's see if we can get a nice group together again.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

carla

If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child.  ~Linda Sunshine

this is the layout i made of my sister, carla. she is my baby sister, 7 years younger than i. paula and andre are in between. carla lives in australia, so we all miss her terribly! she is a gypsey, and travels the world. she has dreadlocks and peircings. she has tons of style and an artistic soul. she is sweet and gentle and wise and beautiful! {{hugs}} now that i have scrapped her, and see the layout in the shop every day, i miss her even more! i love you, sis!

i used colormates deep mostly mauve, bazzill pale gold, black cardstock, 7 gypsies requiem paper, bazzill blossoms, chipboard alphas, buttons and tapemeasure from my stash, and sisters stickers and the tag are from 7gypsies. i stamped on the flowers. i used dimensional glaze on the alphas.

if you scroll down a bit, you will see the card i made from the left-overs of this page. i made the card before i packed my stuff away.

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double.  ~Toni Morrison

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

count our blessings

i visited donna downey's blog today, followed a link, and stumbled into something so scary and wonderful and inspiring and saddening. i just have to share this.

read the story of teagan here. this family was happy and normal the one minute, and devastated the next. i warn you, it will bring tears to your eyes! so, wait until you have a quiet time to read it. but whatever you do, don't miss it!

then, experience the growth, and strength, and daily struggle and sadness that jody, her mother, experiences. and then join me in counting our blessings!

reading all this reminded me of a poem that brought me much comfort in the dark days after ronnie's death. it is by Mary Hathaway

So i shall feel the waves:

"when you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. when you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. when you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up, the flame will not consume you" Isiah 43:2

So i shall feel the waves

and hear the storm,

the waters will sometimes cover me,

the currents will pull at my feet,

i shall be afraid for my life,

but -

i shall not drown.

So i shall feel the heat,

i shall be scorched,

i shall be burned,

and despair of my life,

but -

the flames will not consume me.

YOU do not promise a life

full of frothy joy,

YOU promise LIFE -

in all it's fullness,

with it's pain and suffering

as well as it's love and joy.

YOU are real, LORD,

YOU are true, LORD,

and I rest in YOUR word

in my despair and confusion

in the sure knowledge

that i shall come through.

this woman's poetry is awesome.

and then i want to end with this that i wrote in 2005, almost 3 years after ronnie's death:

what i have learned:

1. THINGS happen.

2. BAD THINGS happen to good people.

3. almost all people can survive BAD THINGS, even when the think they can't.

4. many people can lean and grow and flourish and be happy after BAD THINGS, in spite of BAD THINGS, or even because of BAD THINGS.

5. you see things in perspective: when little, every day THINGS happen, you are grateful that it's not BAD THINGS, and you deal with it.

6. i know now that i can deal with BAD THINGS. it is terrible and difficult and painful, but it is survivable.

7. i hope that if BAD THINGS ever happen to this good person again, i can deal with it as positively as before.

8. you never have to deal with BAD THINGS alone. every good person has many people beside her to pray and comfort and help shovel all the BAD THINGS.

9. you cannot choose what happens to you. but you can choose how you react to what happens to you. you can CHOOSE to grow and learn and be happy.

10. all things in life are possible and bearable and positive, through GOD, who gives us strength.

to all the jody's out there: i can imagine (a little) how you are hurting, but i cannot change those feelings; i can speak the words, but i cannot comfort you; i can hug you, but i cannot fill the emptiness. but i can pray for you, and HE can.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

check this out, heidi swapp!

this is an amazing gift idea:

this interesting idea is from jowilna nolte, from imagine magazine. it appears in the january issue. she made the card/keyring on the right from the plastic packaging on the left. it is the bubble pack from heidi swapp chipboard circles, but you could use any packaging.

she opened the plastic and took out the cardboard backing and used that as a template. you could use any paper or a photo. if you are going to put something inside that can move around, as she did with the sweets, you may want to laminate the inside paper.

she stamped on the inside of the plastic with stazon ink. you can embellish as you wish, and then put a keyring through the hole.

is this clever, or what? is this 'out of the box' thinking, or thinking about the box?

imagine magazine is a new scrapbooking magazine on the south african market. it is doing very well. jowilna is the editor.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

valentine's card again

i while ago i mentioned that i had found a cardmaking website. they post a sketch, and then every day they show an example of how you can make a card with it.

this is my take on it.

i used black cardstock, deep mostly mauve colormates, bazzill metallics in pale gold, and a bazzill blossom. i stamped on the flower, and the stem of the flower. i used dimensional glaze on the stem. the gold paper is raised with foam tape. the ribbon and pearly button are from my stash. everything i used was scraps or from my stash.

i noticed once again that a photo does not do any justice to the real thing...

i once read that when you have finished your layout, before you pack up, you should use your scraps and make some cards. you can store them in a (scrapped, of course) tin or box until you need them.

i am new at cardmaking. annette and ineke got me started. but i find it a nice way to be creative if you only have a little time. it is also something you could do in front of the tv. and for us scrappers, it should cost us next to nothing, and save us a fortune in the long run.

come on, make some cards. you might be surprised at how you enjoy it!

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

this post was linked to by: card posistioning systems

valentine's card

I don't understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine's Day.  When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon.  ~Author Unknown

yesterday annette showed some cards on her blog, and she challenged her readers to make at least a valentine's card this year. so last night i got to work...

it was quick and easy! i thought i would challenge my readers too to make a valentine's card. make a card using your scraps. email it to me or drop it off at the shop before 14 feb. between 14 and 28 feb my shoppers will be able to judge them. i will announce the winner on 29 feb. the prize is a hug from me, or some product that has been on the shelf for more than 6 months and doesn't sell... tee hee...

ok, i don't know about a prize. but i will post the winner on the blog. come on, it's just for fun!

i am also scrapping a layout of my baby sis - carla - who lives in australia. and now i'm reeeaally missing her! it's nearly finished. and speaking of sisters, my other sister, paula, visited my blog too! hi sis! she even left 2 comments! i couldn't believe it. as far as i know, she can't even send an email... hi to janine too. you see, you can still visit us, even if you are so far away in seattle.

my power has just gone off. thank you for laptop batteries and wireless internet.

i got my inkstained little fingers on something delicious that heidi swapp would get a kick out of. i just have to post it. working on it. thanks, jowilna!

if ronnie hadn't died, then tomorrow would have been my 22nd wedding anniversary. wow, that's ages!

ok, off to do some work.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

our family

You don't choose your family.  They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.  ~Desmond Tutu

this layout i scraplifted from a layout i saw on annette's blog, posted january 16, 08, under the title of 'jen wilson sale'.

the photos are of my family. i used colormates, pattern paper from K&Co, 7Gypsies and Making Memories. the metal flowers i bought loose ages ago, and the brads are cha ching brads from bazzill. i used a stamp to make the stems. the hearts are of cardstock, with Making Memories heart tag rims.

see how you can take an idea, and make it your own. and scraplifting is ok, as long as you give credit to the one you got the idea from. thank you, annette!

Family:  A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space.  ~Evan Esar

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

deep philosophies

today, as i went to the car to go to work, i saw this mushroom

it reminded me of that saying that says something in the line of "women are like mushrooms. the deeper the shit, the more they grow".

as i looked up, i saw these sunflowers growing in our rubbish heap

that reminded me of the saying "bloom where you are planted".

so you see, visual reminders! today i am reeeally deep! deep as a longdrop...

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

taxes

things here are still a little hectic. i have been working very hard to get everything ready so i can e-file my tax return before the 31 january deadline. i earn a few little incomes from a few places, and get no IRP(5), so it is not quite so simple. you need a degree to do it! it is taking up quite a lot of my time, and i'm getting less sleep in the process. but, the advantage is that i'm catching up on filing, organizing and admin. a great load off my shoulders...

last night i worked on that till 10pm, and after that i started scrapping a page, to relieve some of the the stress. i find that if i go to bed straight after doing stuff like that it takes me ages to fall asleep. so i might as well scrap! then at least i have something to show for my time. i went to bed at 2am. but my page is almost finished. i should be able to post it tomorrow.

in the meantime, i will share an email that i really enjoyed. i'm sure you'll love it too.

Mum and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, 'I'm tired, and it's getting late. I think I'll go to bed'.

She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day's lunches. Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning.

She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button. She picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry.

She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair. She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.

Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.

Dad called out, 'I thought you were going to bed.' 'I'm on my way,' she said.

She put some water into the dog's dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked and the patio light was on. She looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps and TV's, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.

In her own room, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.

About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular. 'I'm going to bed.'

And he did...without another thought.

Anything extraordinary here? Wonder why women live longer...?

CAUSE WE ARE MADE FOR THE LONG HAUL..... and we can't die sooner, we still have things to do!!!!

Hope you enjoyed it. NOW GO TO BED!

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

loadshedding

darn! in south africa we have this lovely new invention called loadshedding. when there is not enough power, some areas simply get switched off for about 2,5 to 4 hours. then you get a turn again, and another area gets switched off. wonderful!

in the last week we have had lots and lots of power outages, at my house we had no power monday, tuesday and wednesday morning, and in the shop we were off thursday evening and this morning, both times in the middle of a class. now i can still run a shop without power in a way, but spare a thought for the restaurants and food places, hairdressers, and many other businesses. unfortunately i cannot use my computer during these times, and when the power is on, my internet service provider seems to do some load shedding of their own, as it is almost impossible to work online. and, of course, after last week's constant rain, and this week's powerlessness, the washing and ironing is getting way behind...

the point of this whole tirade, is to explain why i'm such a bad blogger this week. when the power is on, i have so much work to catch up with, that blogging gets left behind.

hope things will get better soon.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

vegetables again

in general, my children refuse to eat anything that hasn't danced on television. Erma Brombeck.

you know how sometimes you scrap a page, and the whole process, from beginning to end, is just a pleasure? it doesn't happen that often, but i just love how this one came out!

i used treasures and colormates cardstock, and the patterned paper, rub ons and embellishments are from karen forster. the flowers are from prima.

the wooden letters i bought loose at a shop, and painted with heidi swapp paint. i used a white gel pen to make the stitch effect. i love the little rub on snails!

on the little tag with the vegetables on it, tucked behind the photo,  i will write the story, as on the blog entry of early january. anyone interested in reading it, can pull it out.

as always, the photos don't do justice to the real thing. but this page will be one of my favourites for quite some time!

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

Scrapbooking Trends

Blessed are the children of scrapbookers, for they shall inherit the scrapbooks.  ~Author Unknown

i am no expert. but i do read all the magazines i sell, local and international. and i read up to 10 blogs regularly. and i visit the websites of the bigger brand names of scrapping supplies. so, i thought i would tell you what the scrapping trends are, according to me.

• bling is still in. glitter, metallic, jewels, pearl, shine. you name it, it is in. enjoy it and have fun with it now, 'cause bling never stays in for ever.
• buttons are big. all sorts of buttons, all over. so dig out grandma's button tin, and play! there are buttons for sale, but the old, vintage ones are better. you can mix and match, they don't all have to look the same.
• paint, drawing, doodling. take out your old art kit, and play. discover your inner artist, and let her out.
• journaling. this will always be in, so stop groaning, and just do it! south africans tend to finish a page and then look for a place to journal, but you should plan a space for it from the start. whether it be long stories and letters, or short notes with just the facts, typed on the computer or (ideally) handwritten, journaling will always be important! for some people, their scrap albums are actually a cross between a photo album and a diary - a photo journal. if you hate your handwriting, improve it or build a bridge and get over it, the best thing you can give your loved ones is a illustrated storybook of their lives. lets make more journaling one of our commitments for 2008.
• leaving photos un-mounted. i still battle with this one. when i page through magazines, i miss the mounts behind the photos. i think this gives photos more definition, and makes them stand out. but, we could go towards narrower mounts, and only one. also, i don't seem to see much inking anymore. i think the point here is to do more pages in less time. so cutting down on the amount of work per page, means i can do more, more often.
• less is more. fewer photos per page, often only one. fewer embellishments. less fussy. i think this also relates to the time-saving issue.
• ribbons and flowers are still in, thank goodness. i don't know how i'll scrap without them. the same with chipboard alphabets, although the letters are smaller. the titles are also smaller, more integrated in the layout.
• paper with scollops, jagged edges, holed edges, etc. they add interest, without adding effort. you could use your punches and scissors, i suppose, to create the same effect.
• generic pattern paper. theme based paper is soooo last season, doll. i still get lots of girls who want tooth fairy or potty training paper, and if i do have it, they don't like the colour, and do i have it in purple? the problem is that you cannot satisfy everybody in this regard. so they gave up trying. while there is still a lot of themed paper out there, the trend seems to be that you use dots, stripes, distressed, generic paper, and make it fit your photos. and since the layering of different pattern papers is the trend, it doesn't really matter anyway.
• less structure, less formal, less symmetrical, less measuring, fewer rules. more free expression. it is your page. YOU do what YOU want. i saw at the convention that south african girls still want to know exactly how wide, and exactly how far from the left, and now i made a mistake, i did it 2,5cm instead of 2cm. the american teachers tried to tell everybody that it does not matter, you do it your way, but this still leaves many of us feeling insecure, as though our own taste and style somehow is not good enough. relax, and do it the way YOU like it! you are the one who has to look at it. it has to reflect YOU.

i'm not one of those people who believes that if it is from america, or overseas, it must be better. i don't believe in following trends too closely. i just like to know the rules and the fashions, and then chose to do what i like. and there are a lot of great south african products out there, use them!

do you agree or disagree? have you noticed anything else? let me know!

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

wilna's class

What the world really needs is more love and less paper work.  ~Pearl Bailey

unless that paper work is scrapping that love, of course...

this is so exciting! i joined wilna's online valentine's class. quite awesome! i'm doing a class, and the teacher is in canada. how's that for technology? if you want to know more, go here. the cost is about R120. this is only the class fee, you have to buy your own stuff. if you would like to join me, let me know, i will help you register. or i will let you know how i progress, and maybe you could join me next time.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

friends

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.  It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.  We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.  ~Albert Schweitzer

i have been getting lots of visits from Dhahran, Ash Sharqiyah. so, welcome to all of you! i hope you find something you can use here. and thank you to my dear friend elsa, who has been my 'ambassador' there. we have known each other for 23 years. i hope you are nice to her!

also, congrats to one of my favourite bloggers and scrappers, annette, who was featured on who's who of scrapbooking on saturday and sunday, and who is becoming quite the celebrity. her name is popping up in more and more places...

i found another great scrapbooking website. check out pagemaps for layout ideas.

remember, if you are going to the scrapbooking convention in september, you may as well book and pay before end january, and get the early-bird gift. you can pay on the budget facility of your credit card, and have it paid off before then. check out their site for more details, also about the cape town convention in may.

thank you for all your visits, and thank you to elsa, ineke, retha, rene, liza, mathilda and annette for your comments and/or emails.

A good friend is cheaper than therapy.  ~Author Unknown

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

7 gypsies

have to tell you something amusing:

the fun ladies from 7 gypsies (my favourite products) were in south africa last year for a range of classes.

in december, when i stocked up on some 7 gypsies stuff, i bought some paper. when i got to the shop and started to load it on the system, i saw that there was paper called 'bokburg' (i think they mean boksburg), and 'benoni'.

the orange dotty paper is 'bokburg', and the stripey paper at the top is 'benoni'! how cool is that?

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

'grow' again

There's nothing to match curling up with a good book when there's a repair job to be done around the house.  ~Joe Ryan

the same can be said about scrapbooking. the more other things i have to do, the more i enjoy scrapping!

here is the page i scrapped of my word for 2008. the writing on the right is a printout of my blog entry on 2 january, where i wrote about my reasons for choosing the word 'grow'.

i have been scrapping quite a lot these last few weeks. i am into the simple, understated at the moment. also, i have been standing while i scrap, i find i faff less then. the above page is of photos taken at my brother's wedding.

back to school tomorrow. good luck to the mommies with 'firsts'. remember to take lots of photos!

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

hello

I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.  ~Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

thank you for all your wonderful, positive comments! ineke, rene, liza and retha, you have blessed me with a smile today!

i hope you are all thinking of a word for 2008. now, the next challenge is to scrap the word. i have already done so, and will upload the photo tomorrow.

janine, if you see this, please let us know how you are doing. you won't believe how much we are all thinking about you. almost every day someone wonders out loud how you are doing. janine is a client who moved to seattle, USA last week. we are missing you, doll...

something one of you said, was that you were turning 40 this year. retha, i won't tell everyone it was you. i won't give your age away... this reminded me of when i was turning 30.

turning 40 was relatively easy. but turning 30 was a challenge for me. not because of the age-thing. but i had this feeling of disappointment. is this what we have worked for all our lives? all the school, the manners, the preparing. stef bos has a song called 'is dit nu later?' he askes if all that 'one day, later' is this. is this it? i felt like jack nicholson running through the doctor's rooms, asking 'what if this is as good as it gets?' in that movie. i read somewhere that in your 29th year it is the first time since the day of your birth, that all the planets are aligned the same way again. this is supposed to bring some emotional turmoil. well, planets or not, i had a difficult time then.

now, 11 years later, i am happy to say that things get better. i am certainly happier, more content, more confident, more assertive, more at peace within myself and more fulfilled than ever. and fatter, and poorer, and working harder. but that is a different matter.

who knows, maybe turning 50 will be difficult again. i hope not!

love, jacki

ps. how do you like the new image?

SCRAPPIN TIMES

word/mantra/theme for 2008

in my last post i wrote about chosing a word or theme or mantra for 2008.

if you would like to choose one for yourself, you may want to visit ali edwards' blog, and read her thoughts about this. also click on the word 'comments', and read what the readers of her blog have to say about their words for 2008.

then, if you have chosen your word, let me know by clicking on 'comments' below this post, and telling me what you have decided, and why.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

GROW!

If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers.  ~Edgar W. Howe

so, it's all over again! all the planning, shopping, cooking, preparing, fighting, cleaning... now it's checking the kid's school kit, getting ready for back-to-school. sean is going to grade 6, and francois is starting his honors in economics.

i see on lots of the blogs i read, that many of the american girls like to have themes for the year. so, i'm not really a new year's resolution person, but i liked the idea of a theme. i gave it some thought. first i thought of 'create'. i know it's not really original, but i do want to make 2008 a year of creating more. i like wilna's idea of 'simplify/amplify', where she wants to simplify her life, and amplify what's important to her. i sure need more simplification. donna's theme for 2007 was 'inspire'. i think it is quite a honor if people were to see me as inspiring, so i'd like to make that a mission.

but, i have settled on 'grow!' it can be growth in so many ways:

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

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 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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

well, this is some mouthful. for someone who thought she had no new year's resolutions, i did waffle on quite a bit... and see, no mention anywhere of any diet, exercise, cleaner house or harder work! what are your resolutions/themes/thoughts? i really want to know.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES