{scraps of jacki's life}

domestic bliss...

this is a typical winter's evening in our house. see the roaring fire in the background? ok, not so typical. usually we are out of wood. the men lying around, and the dirty dishes and the general messiness, now that is typical. the only thing missing, is a few cats and dogs. usually, the man has a cat lying on his chest. we have 4 cats, 3 dogs, 9 sheep, and a large assortment of ducks, guinea fowl, turkeys, and other birds. ah yes, domestic bliss...

on wilna's blog she has a link to this awesome layout. i think is is fabulous too. so i thought i would share it with you. also, i am linking it here, so that i can find it myself if i want to look at it again...

did you see how sexy donna downey is? she lost weight, and looks great. no more skinny poses for her...

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

best friends forever...

i have quite a few friends. friends for a reason - such as my scrapbooking friends, and my blogging friends. friends for a season -  those friends that you have for a while, and then outgrow them. and then i have these friends:

we have been friends for a very long time. i think more than 15 years. the group has changed a little. some members have moved away, like marlene and annemarie, who are still sorely missed. some have joined us later. a few years ago, we decided we were going to have a photoshoot. we planned every detail. we got dressed up. we assembled props, and we hired a photographer. and we have not regretted it, ever. the memories we have of this day, and of each other, are priceless!

as a group we have been through so much. there are 9 girls on this photo. but we have been through 3 divorces, and some close calls, 3 deaths of husbands, and a few serious illnesses, 2 re-marriages, and one who is living in sin. a few bankruptcies and some close-calls. our kids have been through problems at school, therapies, troubled teens, depression, weddings, rehab, moving overseas. some of the girls in these photos are grannies already, and some could have been a long time ago. soon, we will sit together in the sitting room of the old-age home, and laugh and share 'remember when's.

for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, we have been together. these are the girls i would phone in the middle of the night in a crisis. these are the girls who stood by me when ronnie died. these are the girls who would still love me, no matter what i looked like, and no matter what i did. these are the girls who forgive tactlessness and hurtful remarks. these are best friends forever.

to theunise, anne, charlotte, hettie, antoinette, annemarie, marlene and una i want to say thank you for being such wonderful friends! thank you for the fun, and the laughs, and for sharing the tears. thank you for caring and for being there. thank you for being you, and for the contribution you make to my life. thank you for letting me be a member of your wonderful little group. the day we took these photos is still one of the highlights of my life...

and to annemarie, it was so nice to see you again. it was like you were never gone.

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

what a weekend in blogland! well, for me, anyway...

wow! it has been an amazing few days for this blog! after being featured blog on typepad, and having my photoshop tutorial linked on scrapscene, and 4 other websites, some of which i had never heard of, and one of which is swedish and i could not understand what they said, i have had huge traffic to this blog. from thursday evening to monday morning, SA time, i have had over 500 visitors to this blog.

amatomu has a 'compare blogs' feature, where you can enter the URL of any of their member blogs, and it shows you how you compare to theirs. i used so close, a blog i read almost daily, written by tertia, a south african girl. and on her worst day she still gets hundreds more hits than i got on friday, my best day ever. a little while ago i exchanged emails with maryam in marrakesh after linking to her on my blog a week or so ago, and she mentioned that she gets 'a few thousand' hits every day.

so, it's all relative, i suppose. but for me, it was a wonderful weekend. i loved all the comments and emails. i loved checking in from time to time, and seeing how the stats had jumped. i loved the response. THANK YOU!

i got a very sweet email from lori. then i visited her blog. she is new to blogging, but she has all the potential to become a good blog. pop in to cottage art studio, and tell her i sent ya.

there are 2 kinds of traffic to this blog. one lot comes here through a link at a photoshop website. those people pop in, read the tutorial, and leave. they don't comment. they don't linger. they don't read anything else. then there are the people who come here to visit me. they read all over. they comment. some are my real-life friends and customers. some become email-buddies. so, which visitors are important? which should i focus on? the one-time visitors provide lots of hits. they link to me in their websites. they add to my technorati authority and increase ratings at places like amatomu, where your rating depends on your traffic, the 'feet' on a daily basis. but the 'regulars' who visit, and stay, and comment, and email, and come again, they make this blog more personal. they make it all worth the extra effort. the answer is that both are important. if only traffic counted, i could have a blog with lots of photoshop tutorials. they seem to draw the crowds. but it would feel faceless, empty. like a big supermarket. traffic, turnover, feet. they add credibility. but, that is not why i started blogging in the first place. i sometime ask myself if no one read this blog, would i still do it? the answer is yes. i have kept diaries before that no one else read. so, although blog hits are fun, it still is about writing, processing, thinking. and about the personal interaction. the intimate conversation. about you and me. you, who comes here often. you who comment. you who care. thanks to you. you make this fun.

love, jacki

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

dear diary...

today is the big day. today is the day we take our relationship to the next level...

he asked me weeks ago. i was surprised, stunned, excited, flattered, i had not seen it coming. and i said 'yes'! breathlessly.

he set the date for 24 july. 'but that is still weeks from now', i sighed. 'don't worry', he smiled. 'time goes by so fast, the day will be here before you know it'. besides, he knew he still had lots of work to do. he had to visit me often, reading me, getting to know me. so when he introduced me to his friends on the big day, he would have beautiful, flattering and intimate things to say about me.

in the weeks after this, i felt the doubts creeping in. 'why me?', i asked. there are so very many others so much more worthy. so many better, bigger and more beautiful than i. so many funnier, more intelligent, better company. so many that earn money and that are leaders in their fields, and that are famous, well liked and very popular. 'why me?' i am still not sure why, but i am very happy! and so i started to work on improving myself. i made some changes. some were dramatic, a whole new look. because first impressions are very important. some were more subtle. i tried to make myself more worthy, so i would make him proud. and his friends would (hopefully) see that he had made a good choice.

as is often the case with long distance relationships, i did not hear from him often. but, i did notice that he came to visit, he left his address in my visitor's log. as he had promised, time was flying by. and now, today is the big day. today is the day we take our relationship to the next level...

there will be no flowers, no music, no candles. but there will be witnesses - you. and there will be a shiny, pretty symbol of this day, a rare and coveted jewel that i would wear forever with pride, to remind myself of this very special occasion.

i cannot promise that we will be together till death do us part. i know it is not forever. but it is good for now. it works. it is fun. it make me happy. and so...

today is the big day. today is the day we take our relationship to the next level. today is the day i become a TYPEPAD FEATURED BLOG. today is a happy day...

love, jacki

ps. you are welcome to send large gifts, and money... and as with all great occasions, you are kindly requested to sign the visitors book. please? thank you!

 

and here is what he said:

scraps of jacki's life

scraps of jacki's life is actually three sites in one: it’s the name of a Scrapbooking Supplies Shop in Benoni, South Africa, the online life of owner Jacki Janse van Rensburg, and the name of her blog. As Jacki puts it, “scrapbooking is my hobby, my passion…and blogging is my compulsive obsession.” She melds all those interests in the pages of her site, and readers can follow her life, learn new skills, and applaud her talents in posts such as an online origami tutorial (with more tutorials to be found here), scrapbooking samples, and thoughts on life. And scrapbookers, you can get a look at your craft from a world away. Jacki’s site illustrates the capacity of blogs to connect a worldwide audience through interests and hobbies; links to South African bloggers and scappers, Arts and Crafts sites, and a peek at Jacki’s shop enliven this special online corner of the world.

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

scraps of jacki's life is actually three sites in one: it’s the name of a Scrapbooking Supplies Shop in Benoni, South Africa, the online life of owner Jacki Janse van Rensburg, and the name of her blog. As Jacki puts it, “scrapbooking is my hobby, my passion…and blogging is my compulsive obsession.” She melds all those interests in the pages of her site, and readers can follow her life, learn new skills, and applaud her talents in posts such as an online origami tutorial (with more tutorials to be found here), scrapbooking samples, and thoughts on life. And scrapbookers, you can get a look at your craft from a world away. Jacki’s site illustrates the capacity of blogs to connect a worldwide audience through interests and hobbies; links to South African bloggers and scappers, Arts and Crafts sites, and a peek at Jacki’s shop enliven this special online corner of the world.

photoshop tutorial - how to make eyes 'pop'

i have lots of admin to do, so i thought it would be the perfect time to write another tutorial... anything to avoid 'work'.

this time i will show you how to make eyes 'pop' in photoshop. it makes eyes look bright and beautiful and lively. it puts a twinkle in your eyes, if you will... i use photoshop elements 6, but this will work in any photoshop. this follows directly on the tutorial on how to create a softened or dreamy-looking photo. i started using this extra step after i wrote that tutorial, but it is really great if you use it in conjunction with those steps. you can use it on it's own too.

the warning label was a digital freebie by valerie randall at scrapgirls.

first this disclaimer: all tricks seen on this page are done by trained professionals. please do not try this at home...  not! i am NOT a trained professional, i am not even a untrained professional. or a trained unprofessional. i am no expert, i just love playing with photoshop, and i am always looking for new ways to make my photos look better. ok? and you are welcome to try this at home. or at work. or in a coffee shop. or wherever. that is the whole point...

lets start where we ended with the first tutorial:

the festival vintage frame is from shabby princess.

they look identical at first glance, but look again at the eyes. see how the eyes 'pop' in the right hand photo? i will show you how to do this.

open your photo in photoshop, and do basic edits. you can follow the steps as described in the tutorial on how to create a softened photo, but this is optional. i did. now, right-click on the little thumb-nail of your photo on the right side of your screen, and 'create duplicate layer'. when it asks you for a name, call it 'eyes' or something that will make it easier for you to know what you did where.

with the 'eyes' layer selected, use your lasso tool, as shown by the pink arrow, and draw a shape around the whole eye. don't worry too much about how precise it is. when you have the 'marching ants' around the eye area, it is automatically selected.

{on the top menu bar, click on 'select', as shown by the green arrow. on the drop-down menu select 'modify', as shown by the red arrow, and then 'expand' as shown by the yellow arrow. in the menu box, fill in 'expand by 2 pixels'. this makes your selected area a little bigger.} this whole step is optional, if you are happy with how you selected the area.

now click on 'enhance' in the top menu bar, and then on 'auto sharpen'. only the selected area will sharpen, in this case the eye. you could click on 'auto sharpen' more than once, if you want, you can decide when the result is what you want. the point is that it is subtle and natural, you don't want your loved one to look high or feverish... if you sharpened too many times, you can click on 'edit' and the 'undo adjust sharpness', and it will undo that step. just play around until you are happy. remember to do the other eye as well (duh). just repeat the steps.

if, at any stage you want to start over, click on 'edit' and 'revert', and it will take you back to your original photo, or 'delete layer' to delete whatever you did on this layer.

this is anika. my sister paula's daughter. here she is in a pensive mood...

the frame is a floral frame by michelle coleman that you can download here.

and here is carla, my 'baby' sis:

and after the eyes trick:

the frame is the festival scalloped frame from shabby princess.

you see, subtle. yet interesting. please let me know if you like this?

you can see my other photoshop, scrapbooking and papercrafting tutorials here.

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

this post got linked to: paxton prints, photoshop-pack (on 8 november 08 this post has had 1211 hits from here alone!), image insider, 2x del.ico.us, bild och foto, scrapscene, capturedinthemomentphotography

marge simpson

You Are Marge Simpson

You're a devoted family member who loves unconditionally. Sometimes, though, you dream about living a wild secret life! You will be remembered for: your good cooking and evading the police Your life philosophy: "You should listen to your heart, and not the voices in your head."

The Simpsons Personality Test

 

i did this test today, and this is the result. do the test, and find out which simpson you are. you absolutely need to know...

 

my blog is driving me crazy today! i'm writing a tutorial, but it just doesn't seem to want to co-operate! as soon as i can get somewhere, i'll post it. technology - don't you just love to hate it?

 

 

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

tutorial - fold an origami box using scrapbook paper

today i will show you step by step how to fold an origami box with your scrapbooking paper. you do not need any glue! it is easier than it looks. i found it in the december 07 issue of creating keepsakes magazine, and i have folded it countless times since then.

you need 2 sheets of paper. THEY HAVE TO BE SQUARE. they can be any size, but for the purposes of this demo, i will use 1 sheet of 'pattern' paper for the lid - 30cmx30cm or 12'x12'. use paper that goes with your theme.

the second sheet of paper, for the bottom, has to be a little smaller. i made mine 29cmx29cm or 11.5'x11.5'.

  put your paper 'nice' side down. fold it in half horizontally.

open it back up, turn the paper 90 degrees, and fold in half again. open up again. you will have a folded cross in the middle as shown.

fold the corners inwards to the middle of the paper. leave them folded in.

 

leaving the corners folded in, fold the left side and then the right side into the middle. 

folding each side in, open out again, turn the paper 90 degrees, and repeat, until all 4 sides have been folded in.

open 2 corners diagonal to each other, and leave 2 folded in. point the one open corner toward you. lift the 2 sides of the box upwards as shown.

holding the 2 edges up, use your 2 forefingers and coax the corner folds inwards. this will pull the third edge upwards. 

you might have to fiddle a little, sometimes it takes a little trial and error to get it to work. just be patient. fold the top corner into the box.

fold in the last edge the same way.

using the slightly smaller matching paper, fold another box the same way for the bottom. the smaller box will the fit neatly inside the lid.

now you can decorate the box as you like.

wendy lent me her hands in these photos. she does beauty therapy, but she is actually a very talented box-folding assistant.

you can see how i folded several different sized boxes at christmas time here.  and you can see another example here.

if for whatever reason you do not understand these instructions, please email me, or leave a comment, and i will email you back.

also let me know if it did work, and email me photos of what you did with your box!

find more papercrafting, scrapbooking and photoshop tutorials here.

 

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

this post was linked to by: scrapscene

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

statistics and highlights of this blog - THANK YOU!

this post is to keep record of all sorts of blog statistics and highlights. it is easy for me to find them if i keep them all in one place. it is to remind me of how far i have come, and where i'm going.  i will be adding to this post as new statistics become available.

it is also to thank all of you who read this blog, for your inspiration, and patience, and persistence, and friendship, and your comments. so many suckers for punishment in one place...

14 september 2007 - first post ever

18 september 2007 - my first comment, and from wilna furstenburg, no less!

september 2007 - sitemeter records 72 hits for the month of september

17 october 2008 - donna downey leaves a comment on this post

october 2007 - sitemeter records 186 hits for the month of october

november 2007 - sitemeter records 214 hits for the month of november

december 2007 - sitemeter records 107 hits for the month of december

14 september 2007 to 31 december 2007 - 579 hits for 2007

january 2008 - sitemeter records 24 hits for the month of january

2 february 2008 - card posistioning systems links to this card

february 2008 - sitemeter records 72 hits for the month of february

14 september 2007 to end february 2008 - 675 total hits

march 2008 - time and about magazine issue#7 features a layout of mine. read about it here

2 march 2008 - card posistioning systems links to this card

5 march 2008 - kwebbel links to me after i posted on having a computer font made from your own handwriting

13 march 2008 - launch neocounter on my blog, starts with 0 visitors from 0 countries. neocounter only counts the first time a person visits the blog, return visits are not included. (hence 'neo'counter)

15 march 2008 - card posistioning systems links to this card

21 march 2008 - scrapscene features my post about the easter egg hunt

21 march 2008 - most hits on one day - 103 hits

28 march 2008 - card posistioning systems featured this card

march 2008 - sitemeter records 667 hits for the month of march, and also passes the 1000 total hits some time in the middle of the month.

12 april 2008 - scrapscene features my post about theresa mariuzzi's travel mini-book

12 april 2008 - neocounter records 540 visitors from 23 countries

13 april 2008 - most hits on one day - 183 hits. followed by 166 hits on 14 april.

13 april 2008 - scrapscene features my post on making a shakerbox and my inking tutorial

15 april 2008 - the inking tutorial was featured on scraprio

16 april 2008 - stampin when i can links me on her newly discovered bloggers feature

april 2008 - sitemeter records 967 hits for the month of april

4 may 2008 - scrapscene features my post on how to edit photos without photoshop

24 may 2008 - scrapscene features my post on how to download and use a frame with photoshop

may 2008 - sitemeter records 739 hits for the month of may

13 june 2008 - photoshop-pack features my posts how to download and use a frame with photoshop, and how to create a softened photo in photoshop

19 june 2008 - technorati gives my blog an authority of 7, ranking it 797 172. not very high, i know!

19 june 2008 - 133 posts and 179 comments

19 june 2008 - the post with the most comments is wow, what an honor! 7 comments

20 june 2008 - neocounter records 2357 visitors from 60 countries. i cannot even name 60 countries...

22 june 2008 - scrapscene features my post on how to create a softened photo in photoshop

24 june 2008 - kwebbel from germany awarded me a brillante webblog award

28 june 2008 - no 301 of the top 500 blogs on amatomu, a south african blog directory. i have been lower (higher? better!), but this site keeps no records of this, which shows how keeping record here makes sense

june 2008 - sitemeter records 861 hits for the month of june

1 july - francois's birthday

2 july - sean's birthday

3 july 2008 - sitemeter passes 4000 hits since the beginning of this blog!

3 july 2008 - my mentor, wilna furstenburg, links to me on her blog, saying "love that girl"

july 2008 - time and about magazine issue #8 featured a layout i made for a challenge. read about it here

10 july 2008 - community walk featured scrappintimes shop on their world map, their first in africa

15 july 2008 - technorati gives my blog an authority of 10, ranking it 658509. it's improving!

24 july 2008 - sitemeter records a total of 4570 hits, neocounter records 3385 hits from 66 countries

24 july 2008 - photoshop-pack features my post photoshop tutorial - how to make eyes 'pop'

24 july 2008 - typepad features my blog on their featured blogs list on their home page. supposedly it is their second featured blog from south africa, and the second scrapbooking blog, after donna downey was featured here

24 july 2008 - my photoshop tutorial  - how to put a twinkle in their eyes gets linked at paxton prints, bild och foto and at imaging insider, del.icio.us

25 july 2008 - most hits ever on one day according to typepad's stats - 252

27 july 2008 - my tutorial - fold a origami box from one sheet of scrapbook paper gets featured on scrapscene. sitemeter passes 5000 hits

30 july 2008 - neocounter measures 4128 visitors from 76 countries, sitemeter is at 5331 and amatomu gets to no 167 of the top 500 SA blogs. technorati authority is 13, ranking 533 657

july 2008 - sitemeter records 1559 hits for the month of july

14 august 2008 - my tutorial how to make eyes pop was featured on scrapscene

15 august 2008 - the tutorial on creative cropping was featured on paxton prints and photoshop-pack

24 august 2008 - card positioning systems linked to these cards

25 august 2008 - i posted about celine navarro and the convention, and celine posted about me

25 august 2008 - tracy and michelle and cathy nominated me for the 'i love your blog' award

28 august 2008 - i posted about rachael scholtz and the convention, and rach posted about me

28 august 2008 - scrapscene featured the post about creative cropping

august 2008 - sitemeter records 2660 hits for the month of august

3 september 2008 - neocounter measures 7268 visitors from 99 countries, sitemeter is at 8366, technorati authority is 16, ranking 429 900

8 september 2008 - scrapscene featured my butterflies post

8 september 2008 - most hits on one day according to typepad's stats: 363

9 september 2008 - blog post about this blog's first birthday, and a RAK

10 september 2008 - i did a guest post for scrapscene about the convention

19 september 2008 - passed the 10 000 visitors mark, and celebrated with a RAK

26 september 2008 - i did another guest post on scrapscene about the convention

27 september 2008 - card positioning systems linked to these cards, and scrapscene did a thank-you recap of all the guest posts here

28 september 2008 - a mention of the butterfly post on the messageboard at two peas got me an unexpected and huge spike in traffic

september 2008 - sitemeter records 3206 hits for the month of september

1 october 2008 - neocounter measures 10 387 visitors from 104 countries, sitemeter is at 11 380, technorati authority is 17, ranking 409 737

31 october 2008 - neocounter measures 13 065 visitors from 109 countries, sitemeter is at 13 901, technorati authority is 16, ranking 408 010, amotomu ranking is 266 today

october 2008 - sitemeter records 2597 hits for the month of october

11 november 2008 - my christmas cards were featured on scrapscene. they also got a link from scrappin' mojo

november 08 - sitemeter records 2681 hits for november

24 december 2008 - SCRAPPIN TIMES shop was featured on scrapscene here

31 december 2008 - neocounter measures 18 704 hits from 123 countries, sitemeter is at 19 182, amatomu ranking is at 232, having dipped to below 200 around christmas. 18 603 total hits for 2008. 774 comments and 253 posts

december 2008 - sitemeter records 2590 hits for december

13 january 2008 - sitemeter passes 20 000 hits!

january 2009 - sitemeter records 2169 hits for january

february 2009 - sitemeter records 2264 hits for february

6 march 2009 - sitemeter is at 24 119, neocounter measures 24 106 hits from 132 countries. amatomu ranking is 309. 962 comments, and 281 posts

12 march 2009 - 1000 comments!

17 march 2009 - sitemeter measures 25 000 hits!

march 2009 - sitemeter measures 2339 hits for march, total 25 972, neocounter 26 169 hits from 134 countries

july 2009 - sitemeter measures 1706 hits for july

august 2009 - sitemeter measures 1651 hits for august

september 2009 - sitemeter measures 1680 hits for september

october 2009 - sitemeter measures 1681 hits for october

november 2009 - sitemeter measures 1903 hits for november

december 2009 - sitemeter measures 1461 hits for december

january 2010 - sitemeter measures 1248 hits for january

february 2010 - sitemeter measures 1441 hits for february

march 2010 - sitemeter measures 1646 hits for march

april 2010 - sitemeter measures 1419 hits for april

may 2010 - sitemeter measures 1204 hits for may

june 2010 - sitemeter measures 976 hits for june

july 2010 - sitemeter gets 50 000 total hits!

what i used for the banner: paper: greek manuscript, grunge frame from jessica sprague, stitches from anna aspnes 'something springy' from shutterfly, flower and tag label from shappy princess promise collection.

carla and simon

i used jessica sprague's grunge frame, and rhonna farrer's travel heart overlay from 2peas.

carla, my baby sis, is a gypsy. she travels the world, never staying anywhere for long. she lives in a hammock on the beach in india, works in youth hostels, journeys by bus through nepal, teaches children in sri lanka. whenever we ask her when she is going to settle down, she says she is not yet ready. she lives out of a backpack, and owns little more than she can carry with her. in fact, when francois was going to university, we bought him crockery, cutlery, kitchen utensels, towels, bedding, a fridge and a microwave, and he remarked that he at 18 owned more stuff than his aunt, carla.

then she went to australia, to travel there. and she met someone. simon. and the rolling stone seems to have come to a stop. suddenly, she seems to be settling down. my parents went to visit here there a few weeks ago, and they came back with stories and photos about her life there. and on the photos i can see she has stuff. she has a little home. none of us had met simon before, but my parents like him. they are happy with the life she seems to be making there.

so there is this new guy in the family. we don't know him. but, if he is good enough for carla, he is fine by me. i just wish they weren't so far away. i wish they were here for family birthays, and for family get togethers. i wish theo and mike could have a beer with him. i wish he could play with the kids, and gripe about the in-laws. we know nothing about him. i don't even know how old he is. it is quite sad that this man who is so important to carla, is a stranger to us. we don't know him, but we miss him, as we miss her all the time.

carla and simon, please come to visit. we would like to meet this guy, and we would like to get to know him...

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

it happened to me..

human beings were designed with this 'it cannot happen to me' shield. you know, when you hear of other's misfortune, you sympathize deeply, but somewhere deep inside your subconscious you believe that 'it cannot happen to me'.

we need this feeling. it is our built-in shield. without it, we would go mad. can you imagine what our lives would be like if we did not have this mechanism. it is what keeps us sane. (well, kinda).

when something does happen to us, me, however, then i lose that feeling. that is why a relatively small break-in or a robbery or an accident can be so traumatic. it is not the physical stuff that i lose. it is that shield, that comfort that i lose. now, i will never be able to tell myself that 'it cannot happen to me', because it did! this leaves me vulnerable, raw and exposed to the worry that constantly nags, that little voice that keeps whispering 'it can happen to me. it did happen to me. now, what if it happens again...'

i am not a worrier by nature. i do not live in fear as many south africans do. i am careful and responsible, but i do not constantly fret about an attack, or robbery or hijack. i am surprised every time people ask me if i am not afraid alone in my shop. and believe me, i get asked this almost every day. people ask me if i am not afraid driving home at night after dark, especially on a thursday evening when we leave the shop after a workshop at after 11pm. i suppose that if i asked those people, it would come out that they have experienced a robbery or hijack themselves.

ronnie's mother is terrified of snakes. i know a lot of people are, but she is worse. she would never walk in nature or relax in a game park or on a farm, as she is constantly worries about snakes. she talks about it all the time. but, she was bitten by a snake as a child, and almost died as a result.

i was reading a novel by jonathan kellerman a week or so ago, and in it he described it so well. i cannot find the passage to quote it verbatim, but it talked about the thin, cold snake of fear that had been slithering inside his stomach for a while. and then, in the story, the thin snake suddenly rears it's head and bares it's fangs and hisses in his face. what a chillingly accurate description! do you know what he means? have you felt that thin, cold snake in your belly too? tell me, i'd like to know.

it happened to me that my husband died. in a plane crash. one normal, sunny friday morning in april 2002. just like that, it happened to me. and on that day i didn't just lose a husband, but i also lost my shield.

if the man is just a little later in coming home than expected, then the reasonable, unruffled, non-worrier in me becomes frantic. suddenly, i am filled with fear. the voices inside me start whispering. they say 'it can happen to me. it did happen to me. what if it happens to me again...'.

last week the man was in hospital for a few hours for some tests. and we had to wait a few days for the results. in this time, no matter how hard i tried to ignore it, that thin, cold snake slithered around in my belly. those voices whispered 'it can happen to me. it has happened to me. what if it happens to me again...'normally i refuse to worry about the worst, as i reason that if the worst happens there is plenty of time to worry then, and if the worst doesn't happen, i have wasted a lot of time and energy worrying unnecessarily. but this last week, i constantly felt that snake. and every time i did, i prayed to GOD to let this cup pass the man, and me, and to take those awful thoughts away.

thankfully i can say that HE has been true, and that the diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, although uncomfortable, is treatable and not too serious. this time i beat that snake. and i thank GOD for this. and next time i feel him slithering in my belly, i will tell him again how powerful my GOD is. and if the worst were to come to pass, than i know that GOD will be there for me, as HE always is. and while i know my psycologial shield will probably always fail me, GOD will shield me, better than i ever can.

 

francois sometimes takes my camera, and snaps away, and when he is finished he puts my camera back. then, when i download my photos i find lots of surprise photos. he took these photos on his birthday of my siblings' kids.

the two guys in this photo are eduard - my brother andre's son, and tian - my sister paula's son. how's this for cooperation...

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

thanks wilna, other thursday thoughts, and keep playing...

that's my story, and i'm stickin to it!

i have so much to say today:

• i opened my blog today, and as usual first checked my stats. these tell me how many of you visit me each day, and where you came from. i saw i got hits from wilna. so i popped over to her place to see what was going on... i have been *blessed* by her. she has always been a blog/scrap/spiritual mentor to me, and she linked me on her blog today! thanks wilna, you mean so much to me!
• i'm blogging in bed. i have the morning off, and instead of rushing off, as usual, to run a million errands, i thought i would get back in bed with a cup of coffee and the laptop, and do some catching up with emails and blogs. it is winter here, and rather chilly, so bed is the best place to be! tell me where you are reading this, i'd love to know!
• thanks for all your birthday wishes for my 2 kids.
• today is my parents' 43rd wedding anniversary.
• happy birthday, laetitia! she used to be a regular scrapper...
• tuesday (the 1st) was also the 2nd anniversary of me being a shop owner/business woman! what a roller coaster ride...
• please, please, please take a moment to comment, and tell me who's blog you love, and visit often for your inspiration. this is for the brillante weblog award that i need to pass on, and i need your nominations. thanks to all of you who have already nominated someone. i will finalize it early next week.
• if you are coming to my workshop saturday afternoon, look at the layout here.
• if you are daring, why not try out for the memory makers masters scrapbooking competition?
• i should did! pass the 4000 hits mark today. this is hits since i started this blog a few months ago. i am so, so, so thrilled! this blog is unbelievably rewarding to me.

jowilna from imagine magazine emailed me the following. i thought it was beautiful:

The Concert
When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. To her horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.' At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, 'Don't quit . . . keep playing.' Then, leaning over , Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child, and he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed what could have been a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was so mesmerized that they couldn't recall what else the great master played. Only the classic, 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.'

Perhaps that's the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren't always graceful flowing music. However, with the hand of the Master, our life's work can truly be beautiful. The next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You may hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, 'Don't quit . . . Keep playing.' May you feel His arms around you and know that His hands are there, helping you turn your feeble attempts into true masterpieces. Remember, God doesn't seem to call the equipped, rather, He equips the 'called.' Life is more accurately measured by the lives you touch than by the things you acquire. May God bless you and be with you always! and remember,
<> 'Don't quit . . . Keep playing.' <>

love, jacki

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

happy birthday sean!

this is sean. he is 12 years old today. he is a sunshine in my life. he is chatty and cheerful. i am proud of him too. happy birthday sean. i hope you have a great day. he is visiting his mom for the holidays.

happy birthday francois!

 

this is francois. he is 22 years old today. he is my pride and joy. happy birthday, son! i hope you have a great day, and a blessed year.