{scraps of jacki's life}

Making more cards

i really love the tag i found on tim holtz's website, and i featured it on this blog on 22 february. i scraplifted it, and made my version of it. then i wasn't sure what to do with it, so i made it into a card, according to card positioning systems, sketch #53. you can see on yesterday's post what the sketch looks like.

i used a scrap of colormates cardstock, that i inked by blending yellow, red and light brown. then i stamped with my writing stamp, and the postmark and key stamp in dark brown. i crumpled a strip of pattern paper a little, and stuck it down. i inked a wood heart, and used rub-ons (making memories flourishes) for the wings and the crown. the swirl is a chipboard flourish from making memories. the heart i distressed a little and i used dimensional glaze on the flourish and the heart. the ribbon and 'dream' embellishment came out of my stash. the brown circle was from brown cardstock, and i added it to make it comply with sketch #53. thank you, tim holtz, for the inspiration! his is still nicer...

next week my son is getting his degree. i cannot wait for the photos!   

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES / scrappintimes

making cards

this week's sketch on card positioning systems is this:

CPS #53

and this is what i did while i was watching the oscars:

the card on the right, the one for lois, is for wilna's request for a card for her friend lois, who is sick. you can also still participate, get more info from wilna's blog.

i used only scraps, as usual. to me that is part of the challenge. the left card is done with daisyd's patterned papers, treasures cardstock, a making memories rim and brad, and the flower is from prima. i sanded and the inked the edges of the patterned papers.

the right card is on deep blue cardstock from treasures, the flowers are from prima, and the brads are making memories, the circle is part of a chipboard flourish pack, also from making memories. the red check is from fab scraps, and i think the circles are from scrapbook walls (chatterbox).

i make the cards without sentiments on them. i store them in a tin. then, when i need them, i choose a card, and use rub-ons or stickers to make it a birthday or sympathy or thank you card. so, though they are still rather unadorned now, they will be a little more jazzed up when i give them. i write inside with a gold or silver or coloured gel pen. that's if i can bring myself to give them away...

i have some more things brewing in my life, will let you know later! amazing how creative i get when month-end is looming...

hope you are having a creative day!

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES / scrappintimes

this post was linked to by: card posistioning systems

surfing the web

if you have never heard of grungeboard, remember the word, as you will hear a lot of it! it is similar to chipboard, but stronger.

i found this gorgeous tag on tim holtz's website.

step by step instructions on how to make it can be found here. take a look, it's inspiring!

and if your screen is dirty - click here. really, give it a try!

and if you neeed a new blog to read, like we have nothing better to do with our time, meet the funny, talented, entertaining (drum roll) pioneer woman. her blog is mainly about photography and life on a ranch. you see, we need to learn about that. she also has another blog, about cooking. now that is something we really need to know! just reading the recipes is enough to make you put on weight. and she takes photos of every step. so even idiots like me can do it! wow, you really, really have to take a look.

i guess you could say today's blog is very educational. yesterday i found something awesome, and i'll show you next week, and give you the links. i promise, it is cool. and i'm trying it out for you, like some kind of consumer journalist, so you will know if it works. the things i do for you...

and i found a place where i found lots of cool pictures, like the coffee and birthday cake, and the beach. i downloaded lots! i am going to use all mine first, and then, if you ask nicely, i'll tell you where i got them. but i want to be the cool one for now... i said 'found' and 'cool' and 'lots' twice each in this paragraph. i think there is some rule against this.

ok, if you loved todays links - you will love them, you will - let me know. i searched the web for you. i read and linked and surfed and looked high and low. just for you! so, the very least you can do in return, is leave a bloody comment. is that so much to ask.... oh my, i think i just channeled that pioneer woman...

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES / scrappintimes

happy birthday janine

confucius says: birthdays are good for you. the more you have, the longer you live...

happy belated birthday janine! hope you had a great day!

love, jacki, and all the wednesday morning gals!

ode to coffee...

Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.  ~Author Unknown

Don't drink coffee in the morning.  It will keep you awake until noon.  ~Author Unknown

Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee.  ~Stephanie Piro

I don't have a problem with caffeine.  I have a problem without caffeine!  ~Author Unknown

C:\COFFEE.POT missing (A)bort (R)etry (F)all asleep?  ~Author Unknown

Given enough coffee, I could rule the world.  ~Author Unknown

In Seattle you haven't had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it's running.  ~Jeff Bezos

Man does not live by coffee alone.  Have a danish.  ~Author Unknown


Coffee, n.  break fluid.  ~Author Unknown

i went to quotegarden.com to find a cute coffee quote, and could not choose, so i used most of them. come to scrappintimes, and we'll give you a cup of coffee...

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES / scrappintimes

jomien

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.  ~Elisabeth Foley

Anne is my very dear friend, and has been for years. our children grew up as friends. she has lots of kids, i have 2. jomien is one of her daughters, she is the same age as francois. she is a gorgeous 22 year old student, with beautiful red hair and sympathetic eyes and the soul of an artist. i love, love, love this child. this girl often visited me and spent hours in my home, and in my car. {and in my heart}. she is the daughter i don't have.

i found these photos of her, and decided to scrap them. she was about 12 years old here.

besides the white treasures for the background, and the pink cardstock that i mounted the photos with, i used only scraps. everything was stuff in my stash. i cut the squares of paper, folded them in quarters, and inked the folds. then opened them up again and stuck them down.

this layout is a total scraplift. i found it in this brilliant and inspiring book - 'scrapbooks to cards'.

also, wilna has thrown out a plea, that you can read about on her blog. she wants lots and lots and lots of people from all over the world to make and mail her friend, lois, a card.

she says: I have a friend, Lois. She is 40 years old and have cancer. She is in pain and needs positive, uplifting people to remind her continually to live and that life is worth living. She has an amazing husband and four beautiful kids. The doctors are not giving her long to live, but I believe that God is the author of life. And I know you believe that too. If you want to be entered into this awesome draw (and if anyone want to contribute prizes, big or small, please email me) then this is what you are going to do: take 10 minutes of your time and create a card for Lois. A card that speaks of life and laughter, of fun and flowers. A word of encouragement, maybe your favorite scripture. Take a picture of it and upload it for all to see. Then you post it to her. I visit her every day and I will make a list of all the cards she gets and I will let her draw names out of a hat for winners. The deadline for all the cards to reach her in Canada is March 20th. So, if you want to play (and I hope every single person that reads this will) make her a card, and post it. THAT's how simple it will be. visit wilna's blog for more info. annette and ineke, how about it? we can make a card for an actual person for a change, instead of just making them for the sake of making them...

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES / scrappintimes

A daughter is a little girl who grows up to be a friend.  ~Author Unknown

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

the day after...

last night, on valentine's evening, we had a class. not all the regulars came, but the ones who did were faced by a choice: scrapping, or a date with the husband. scrapping won! i think there were a few relieved husbands, as they saved a fortune...

on this photo is diana, antoinette, tracy, stephanie and deneile.

the shop was filled by lots of helium filled balloons. the quality of the photos is bad because of the wine the batteries of the camera were low.

hope you had a romantic evening!

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES / 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

happy valentine's day!

Anyone can catch your eye, but it takes someone special to catch your heart.  ~Author Unknown

this is this week's sketch on card posistioning systems, and my version.

i used the scraps from the valentine's tag book i posted last week. the heart is from making memories, a tag rim that i stapled on the card. the word 'love' i glazed with dimensional glaze. i used a stamp for the bottom doodle.

i wish you all a great valentine's day tomorrow.

tomorrow i will take a photo of all our cards together and post it.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

A hundred hearts would be too few
To carry all my love for you.
~Author Unknown

antoinette's class

A hug is a handshake from the heart.  ~Author Unknown

here are some photos of thursday evening's class.

above are tracy and antoinette.

nicky is the one turning around.

diana is painting. she loves to paint.

in the left corner is annika.

if you follow blogs, here is a very funny one to read. it is cathy zielske. she has everybody in stitches all the time.

last week, in the post titled 'refective thursday', i mentioned kelly rae roberts, and how much i enjoy her blog. did you see she left a comment? yaaay!

this morning mike and i, and my mother and father went to a very nice new coffeeshop in benoni, tessa's, for breakfast, to celebrate carla's birthday. carla lives on the other side of the world, in australia! maybe next year we can take a laptop and webcam, and put her right there with us. the cool thing is that we wouldn't even have to pay for her breakfast this way...

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

notebook, and happy birthday carla!

There is still no cure for the common birthday.  ~John Glenn

it is my baby sister carla's birthday tomorrow, but as she lives way far away in melbourne, australia, her birthday has already started. happy birthday, sis! i hope you get spoiled today, and i wish you an incedible year!

below is a little notebook i made some months ago. it is a wonderfully cheap way of making a great gift, and you get to use your scraps. i prefer to use modge podge on my books, as it makes them more durable. books are meant to be handled, after all. the back spine is covered by gaffertape (7gypsies), to make it flexible, yet sturdy.

i entered in a scrapbooking competition at itty bitty scrap shack. now, for round 2, i have to scrap a single page, using only 1 sheet cardstock, 2 patterened papers, alphabet letters and handwritten journaling. that's it. no ribbons, no flowers, no inking/painting, nothing! what a challenge! i have started working on it, but boy, it is difficult! besides, i'm not used to scrapping a single page. just the challenge i needed... i'd better get back to work.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES 

reflective thursday

let's try this again...

iv'e been finding a lot of gems online today, so i thought i would share some of the e-nspiration with you today.

on kelly rae roberts's blog i found this great quote: "The greatest gift you can give to somebody is your own personal development. I used to say, 'If you will take care of me, I will take care of you.' Now I say, "I will take care of me for you, if you will take care of you for me." (Jim Rohn). kelly rae is one of my favourite blogs to visit. she is an awesome artist, but she also writes so beautifully. she manages to share so much of herself, puts her heart in it, and makes me want to reach out and hug her when i read her posts. she is an inspiration to me, i strive to be the kind of soulful blogger she is. she constantly tries to grow and be a better person, and her art and her blog are a part of that journey. and, even if you visit her blog just to see her art, you have already made a trip worthwhile.

jody is such an inspiring person! as i get to know more about her and her life, by reading some of her older blogposts, i see that GOD has blessed her by giving her the ability to find meaning and growth in even the most painful and terrible situations. and He has given her the ability to inspire countless people through her difficult journey. i love the way that she can show that although they miss teagan, and they are sad for wyndham, they are also happy, and blessed, and fulfilled. she has lived one of probably every person's worst nightmares, and she shows us that ordinary families can survive this - sometimes barely - through the strength that GOD gives us every day. i pray for them.

i'm saving this after each paragraph's edits now. it's slow, but at least i'm starting to get somewhere...

as most of you know, i lost my husband, ronnie, almost 6 years ago. 6 years is a long time, and i have made a good life, with a very wonderful man, since then. sometimes people get upset when they see me having moved on. they want to see more grieving. but, one can grieve and be happy at the same time. and just because they don't see the pain all the time, it doesn't mean it is not there. it is, and it makes the happiness all the better, because i know now how special that happiness is. i have learned to appreciate the small things. i know i have to cherish the moments, and i do, all the time!

mostly these days, i find myself often missing the now-things. i wonder what he would have thought about our son's life, what he would have been doing today, what success he would have achieved in his career, what he would have thought about my business venture, etc. the 'if-he-was-here-now' things. especially with francois' milestones. as he is getting his degree soon, i will be facing that empty spot in my heart once again. i know he would have been so proud of what his son is achieving, and the beautiful, intelligent, witty, deep thinking young man he is becoming. i miss the conversations we would have been having about all this. {{sigh}}

save...

on a lighter note: on 8 march you can join the champagne roadshow in johannesburg. tickets cost R1100. this is for a full day, 4 scrapbooking classes. leah fung is one of the teachers. it is going to be a must-attend day. just the products you receive alone are worth R2050! check out the details here. come on, book now, and then let me know when you have booked. you will regret it if you don't!

then, on wilna's blog, i found a link to this layout. isn't it a great idea? i'm gonna do that one soon!

speaking of wilna: iv'e finished my first valentines project. i really enjoyed it, and thought it alone was worth the +/- R119 i spent on the class fee. and there are 3 more projects to do! thanks doll, for all the hard work you put into making it totally worthwhile!

now i have to upload the photos again... let's hope...

that took ages! save...

oops! operation timed out. have to try again. frustration levels spiking, but determined to get this finished, so it's done!

because this book will be on dispaly in my shop for a while, i am not writing on the tags yet. it is meant to be a love letter. i did find 2 beautiful love poems here.

phew! almost finished...

thank you for your comments and emails. i have been getting lots of hits on my blog lately, and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and excited inside.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

aaargh! (insert swearwords here)

i have been working soooo long on today's blogpost! editing, adding photos, re-editing, adding links, re-editing, checking spelling, re-editing...

my internet connection is reeeally awful today. sooo slooow... and, when i try to save all my work, it times out, and loses all the last changes! (insert more swearwords here!) this has happened at least three times today. so, i have this post almost ready, but i have to redo some of the work, and reload some of the photos. very frustrating! (insert more swearwords here too!)

now i have to get ready to go to the shop. i will see if i can get it ready again, {{groans}}, and upload it this afternoon. wish me luck!

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

eduard sparrius, and the crying game

Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water.  ~Antoine Rivarol

i cry. i am one of those people who cry. about anything. when the couple run in slow motion across the beach in a cigarette advert, i cry. when someone else in the room cries, i cry. every friday night when i watch extreme home makeover, i cry. one year, toyota invited ronnie and myself to sun city. they had this huge do in the superbowl. there were dancers with lit torches, and music and smoke, and with great drama and fanfare they flipped the lightswitch, and launched a brand new toyota truck. the tears were streaming down my cheeks...

Tears are the safety valve of the heart when too much pressure is laid on it.  ~Albert Smith

shortly after ronnie died, i went on an antidepressant. this stopped me from crying. it was good, at the time. but when i was ready to go off the tablets, it was a relief to be able to cry again.

so, i cry. if you love me, you would accept that, right? when i am stressed, i cry a lot. i read somewhere that tears excrete some of the adrenaline in your system, and relieve some of the stress. unfortunately, mike hates it when i cry. he probably doesn't know how to deal with my tears. either that, or it's the fact that my face goes all red and blotchy and ugly that puts him off. he says he can't talk to me when i put on the waterworks. i can't talk without putting on the waterworks. so, you can see the problem? just when i need his support the most, just when i need a hug the most, he gets annoyed with me, and walks away. fortunately i get the hugs and support later.

What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul.  ~Jewish Proverb

what is the point of all this? how should i know? i just work here!

this week i have been extra blessed! besides the usual, daily blessings, we got 2 breaks that are answers to our prayers. so, lots of thankfulness in my heart at the moment. GOD does look after us. i am just too impatient..

here is a page i scrapped this weekend. eduard sparrius was my grandfather.

i used scenic route paper, 'laurel sail maker lane' and 'cape town devonport', and scenic route alphas. the tape measures are from 7 gypsies, and the tabs  from heidi swapp. i didn't do much else. no embellishments, or anything. the paper was so beautiful, that i felt it didn't need much else. the little girl in some of the photos is my mother. unfortunately, as today was a grey, cloudy day i had to use a flash, and it reflects in the photos, making them difficult to see.

these are the 'matching' cards i made with the scraps:

i have been working on my project from wilna's amazing valentines class. last night i was all unpacked and ready to work, when the power went off. the man thought i was insane when i scrapped by the light of the battery camping latern. even after the power came back on, i scrapped till 2am. the things we do for this craft... this project is not finished yet, but here is a sneak peek:

i'm tellin ya, it's going to be a great valentine's month, thanks to wilna!

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

home sweet home

Home is not where you live but where they understand you.  ~Christian Morgenstern

the above layout was created by liza. it is called 'home sweet home'. one of her regular workshop clients, sandra, saw something similar in a magazine, and asked her to make something for the workshop. liza came up with this. for the number 4 she photographed the number on a tile by her front door. to create this was a bit of a battle for liza. and now she doesn't really like this layout. yet, when it is displayed in the shop, almost all the clients remark on it. it seems to be one of her most popular workshops.

i also find that when a layout was a bit of a battle, and did not come easily, i don't seem to like the layout much. even when others compliment on it. do you also feel this way?

i have finished a layout and some cards. i should be able to upload them tomorrow.

also, i have been working on wilna's valentines project. it is going to be awesome!i am always quite able to express my feelings in writing. yet, when it comes to expressing feelings of love in writing, i simply can't find the words. so, doing these valentine's projects are quite a challenge for me in this regard. but i'm working on it.

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES

anika

You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing.  What!  Is it nothing to be happy?  Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long?  Never in his life will he be so busy again.  ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762

isn't this sooo adorable? these are my sister paula's kids. ok, theo, your kids too. anika, carli and tian. it was anika and tian's first day of grade 1! they go to different schools, anika is in a girls school. isn't the blazer cute? and check out the gap in the teeth!

the layout below is of anika. one weekend away we asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grow up. the title of the page is: 'anika, wat wil jy eendag word?' - anika, what do you want to be someday? she answered 'a butterfly!' at my cousin mariska's wedding anika and marni were the flowergirls, and they dressed up with the wings. so, i thought i would use those photos to show her what she would look like when her dream comes true.

this page is busy, and the title is difficult to read, and nothing is really straight or symmetrical, but i love it! i think it is because of anika's beauty and attitude, that really comes through. you go girl, you already are a gorgeous butterfly!

love, jacki

SCRAPPIN TIMES