{scraps of jacki's life}

5 minute chocolate cake

here we are. the post that is going to get me a recipe book deal....

or not.

this is a recipe for a 5-minute chocolate cake. i found it some time ago on dizzy dee's blog. i have made it a few times when the sweet cravings struck in the middle of the night. while i'm scrapping.

it is not the best chocolate cake in the world. it is not the most nutritional chocolate cake in the world. but is is quick, it uses ingredients that you have in your cupboard, and it is easy, and fast, and makes a big single serving or two smallish servings. it is great for those sweet cravings that hit at the most inconvenient times.

so: if you want organic, balanced, low GI, featherlight, go find jamie oliver. if you want quick and nasty, easy and convenient, then hey, you are in the right place! welcome friend!

and, these photos are not professional (it's hard to tell, i know). the food was not glazed with olive oil, and sprayed with hairspray, and backlit, and airbrushed. in fact, the photos are out of focus, as the photographer's camera batteries were flat. and she was tired. and in a huge hurry to get to the chocolate cake. she has been fired. she was not worth the money she was paid for the photoshoot.

the point of this long and rambling disclaimer is this: i don't want to be bombarded with critical comments. you get what you pay for. and you are paying nothing.

1 tablespoon=15ml. i don't know what that is in american.

take a large coffee mug. in it measure 4 tablespoons cake flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, and 2 tablespoons cocoa (not hot chocolate powder).

add 1 egg, and mix with a spoon.

 

here is the oil i used. sunflower oil.

i see a lot of you shudder. what you put in yours is up to you.

 

add 3 tablespoons milk and 3 tablespoons oil.

 

mix well. oh, these photos are just brilliant...

 

put the mug in the microwave. i put it on a plate, because as soon as i turn my back, everything always boils over in my microwave. i'm sure yours is better behaved. i used a mug that says 'coffee'. i don't have one that says 'chocolate cake'. maybe i should look for one that says 'hot chocolate'.

 

i'm sure jamie oliver's mug would have matched the saucer. microwave for 3 minutes at full power. (1000 watt. whatever that means).

 

mine came out still a little moist on the top, as you can see from this high-quality photo. that's fine. 'a little moist' is almost always better than 'a little dry'. doncha think?

 

turn it out on a plate.

 

i like to cover it in whipped cream. the texture is a little less 'cake' and a little more 'pudding'. eat it straight away, hot and fresh.

 

you see how dedicated i am to this blog? i ate the whole thing. just to test it properly for you...

the other advantage of this recipe is that there is no evidence left afterwards. no baking pans. no mixers. and no empty cake-tin. nobody can prove that i am a greedy piggy. i can pick at my salad leaves in public, and declare that i have no idea why i'm not losing weight. nobody will ever know. it will remain our secret.

 

here is the note i scribbled the recipe on. it will be worth millions some day.

in my dreams.

ps. for a 'real', serious recipe, see these brownies on cathy's blog.

 

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

cards

 

the 'shiny' butterflies are made from transparency, and embossed.

i wanted to make some cards today, as examples for a kids card-making class that i want to do next week, while the schools are on holiday. so, as always when i need card-making inspiration, i went to card positioning systems.

the sketch for this week looks like this:

 

for 3 of the 6 cards i made, i used this sketch, for 2 of them i flipped it over. it is hard to see, but i used the cuttlebug to do embossing. on the photo above, the left of the white card and the top of the black card have embossed flowers. i used little pearls as the hearts of the flowers. everything is embossed, a border on each card, all the paper squares, and all the butterflies.

 

the red card on the right, the bottom butterfly on the left, is made from transparency.

i could have done so much more to these cards, but i wanted to keep them low-budget, so the kids could do more cards for their money. besides, kids really want to do their own thing, they don't need me to give them any more that just a start.

i used 3 sheets of cardstock that mix-and-match. i cut them across 20cm (8') down, so i had 2 pieces, one 20x30cm (8'x12'), and one 10x30cm (4'x12'). then i cut them both in half, so i had 2x 20x15cm (8'x6') and 2x 10x15cm (4'x6'). the bigger pieces i folded in half, to make 2 cards, 6 in total, and the smaller pieces i used for the decorations of the cards.

to make 6 cards i used: 3x sheets of cardstock, 30x pearls, 2x flowers, 2x scraps of pattern paper, 1x A4 sheet of transparency. i used the cuttlebug to emboss everywhere.

you can read more about making those butterflies here.

 

these cards were featured on card positioning systems.

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

guest post on scrapscene

i did a guest post on scrapscene about the convention. you can see it here.

fishes

you can feed the little fishes by clicking anywhere in the tank.

cute? i found them here. eilandkind had them on her b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. blog.

and even more convention..

remember when jodi won the RAK that i had on the post about my first blog-birthday?  you can see what i did with her photos here.

i got cathy's photos from the RAK she won, and will have some fun with hers too in the next few days.

here are some photos of the convention that were a little more about ME. the others were all about the teachers, and the classes, and the projects. it was so great to meet lots of my blog-friends, most of them for the first time. it felt like i had known them for ages! now when i read their blogs, it means so much more, because i know who these girls are.

this is stefanie, one of my bloggy-friends. she blogs here, and on journalingjunkie.

 

and this is sophia allison, blog-mate from durban.

 

here is rachael scholz, my new australian cyber-friend.

 

cathy and i. she was a fellow volunteer.

these are some of the girls from my shop who went:

 

ineke, rachael scholz, diana, rose, and behind deneile and cheryl.

 

one totally exhausted volunteer leaning on her friend and roommate diana.

i made my little mini-book from kelly white's class yesterday.

the great thing about the shop is that although i am open on public holidays (yesterday was heritage day in south africa), i have to 'work' very hard by scrapping all day with friends...

i know that all the posts on my blog are always very serious, but i am working on a very deep one for later this week. i'm hoping it will land me a recipe book deal.

 

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

is it time to panic yet?

not only was our president thabo mbeki fired/recalled/resigned on saturday, but now 11 !! 11 of our cabinet minsters and deputies have resigned, amongst others our minister of finance. and inflation figures show that the economy is still struggling.

these are scary times...

we can only pray for our country!

love, jacki

convention layouts: margie romney-aslett

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

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

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

 

the journaling says:

hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,

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

but only one MOTHER the wide world over.

george connor, found on quotegarden.

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

 

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

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

 

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

single pages...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

love, jacki

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

more convention...

here are some more moments from the south african scrapbook convention.

jennifer straus from around the block in action.

 

it's hard to tell, but that is stacy julian doing her thing.

 

stacy in action. we had problems with the computer and the audio/visual display in our class all weekend, and ours was her first class. you can read what she writes about it here. sorry, stacy!

 

kyle and rob, kah-mei's husband, try to get the computer going, without much success. 

 

for some it all just got a little too much!

 

kah-mei smith demonstrates some technical points. 

 

stacy julian, celine navarro, jennifer straus, mallory, cyndee, margie romney-aslett, kelly white, kah-mei smith, jenni bowlin and rachael scholz.

 

getting messy in celine's class.

  

celine navarro demonstrating something.

 

margie romney-aslett tried to convince us to like making memories...

some of the participants in the dress-up competition.

 

some more dressed-up girls.

i have one more convention post coming up. i'll do that in a few days. you can also see more with cathy, sophia, jacqui, stefanie, stacy julian, margie romney-aslett. and i'm sure more will blog on the convention as the days go by.

what will i blog about when the convention is done? bookkeeping? laundry? any suggestions?

 

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

convention layouts..

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

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

   

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

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

 

this is from jenni bowlin's class.

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

just for fun...

Your Blog Should Be Yellow

You're a cheerful, upbeat blogger who tends to make everyone laugh. You are a great storyteller, and the first to post the latest funny link. You're also friendly and welcoming to everyone who comments on your blog.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

i found this link on cathy's blog. do you agree?

i got my google reader to 0 unread posts. Probably for the first time since i started using it! it just shows you how dedicated i am.... now, if i could just be as dedicated in other areas of life. like work.

i'm so excited, i'm even posting a 2nd time today, something i almost never do. just to clutter up your google reader. ha!

i also have my inbox down to 38 emails, 6 unread. wow! now, if all of you would stop emailing me, commenting on my blog, or posting blogposts of your own, so i can sit back and look at the neatness, and maybe get some scrapping done...

no? well, it was worth a try! i'm going to lie down. i'm exhausted.

 

jacki janse van rensburg, and all that...

carla

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

love, jacki

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

after the convention...

i'm back from the convention. it was exhausting, and so much fun! i have tons of photos to edit, emails to answer, and 153 unread blogposts in my google reader. so, i am here, and working, even if i seem quiet. and i am reading all your blogs, but there is no time for comments. i will catch up, i promise!

yesterday i was exhaused, and over-stimulated, and had pain all over. so i spent the day scrapping. i finished jenni bowlin's LO, and 1,5 of rach's. it was wonderful!

i was one of the volunteers, who work very hard at the convention. we are the people who pack the packs, carry all the boxes, help you at registration, and make sure everything in your class goes smoothly.

i have lots of photos and stories. i will post them over the next few days.

here are some of the volunteers:

 

 

friday night meeting the teachers. on this photo you can see jenni bowlin, celine navarro and rachael scholz.

 

here are celine, glenda and stacy.

 

and kah-mei, jenni, kelly and margie.

 

 

i see that quite a few people have already posted about the convention, also some of the teachers.

 

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

we have a winner!

i'm back from the convention, and exhaused, over-stimulated, and way behind with work. it was great!

but first things first: thanks for all your great comments on my blog-birthday. and the winner of the RAK, as detemined by random.org...

 

....is jodi dolbel!

Hi Jacki
How exciting that your blog in one year old!!! And so totally agree about the just as much work but stink less than a baby!! Too funny!!
My friend Brenda Schmitt recommend i visit you and enjoy your writing!!
You ahve a wonderful way with words.. I shall pop you into my blog now and read you more often... Expecially considering that all these people are "noticing" you now, unbrushed teeth, spiky legs and all!!!
Id love a photoshoped photo of me too.. gotta say, thats a damn brilliant idea for a RAK!!!
Jodi

Posted by: Jodi Dolbel | Wednesday, 10 September 2008 at 02:38 AM

thanks jodi. if you email me 3/5 photos of yourself, head and shoulders shots, without sunglasses, i will do some editing for you.

and to the rest of you, thanks for your comments.

 

edited to add: jodi is very excited! you can see what she wrote on her blog about it here.

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

heritage..

more butterflies...

 
this time liza made this layout with them. she used heritage photos. she inked the edges of the butterflies. you can also ink the raised/embossed areas of the butterfly, to make it more pronounced. the butterflies are made and embossed with a cuttlebug.

 

she also used little pearls that are flat on the one side.

september is heritage month in south africa, with 24 september being heritage day, a public holiday.

 

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

scrapscene guest post..

i did a guest post for scrapscene about the convention. you can check it out here.

makeover...

she will probably kill me for this, because i didn't ask her permission. but since she posted the 'before' pic on her blog herself, and since she is probably shopping up a storm in dubai as this very moment, i thought she would never find out. so all of you, please shhh.... 

this is rachael scholz. she is one of the teachers for the convention this weekend. i used this photo of her (top, left) that she had on her blog, to show you what the 'makeover' looks like that you can win by leaving a comment in the post labelled 'blogging' before monday.

   

 

 

is this 'makeover' something you would like me to do for you? would you pay me for it? if so, how much do you think it's worth? i'm asking, because i am thinking of offering this service. the beauty of it is that you could be anywhere in the world, with email and a paypal account, it can all be done. tell me what you think. i will also use the photos of one volunteer, and make a tutorial that you could follow for free, if you have photoshop. please tell me your thoughts on the subject. also tell me if you agree/disagree with photoshopping photos.

one of my clients said that if i could make her look like a 21 year old again, she would pay me thousands...

it is very hot here in johannesburg at the moment. we are having a heatwave, and temperatures are over 31' C. not unusual in january, but it is still spring!

 

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

blogging..

word art: shabby princess, ronna penner, aperfetday, part of the express yourself kit

when she wrote her first blogpost on 14 september 2007, she was excited and nervous at the same time. wow, now she was a 'blogger'. to the long list of titles behind her name, like cleaner, nagger, moaner, spender, she could now also add blogger.

nobody took any notice.

at first, she had to drag each reader to the blog individually. she had to grab unsuspecting family members and clients, sit them down in front of the computer, and only give them coffee after they read the blog. if they would leave a comment, they could have a biscuit.

nobody took any notice.

she told herself: *sniff* fine! if nobody reads this blog, it's their loss... *sniff*.... and i don't need any comments... *sniff*...

nobody took any notice.

she kept at it. she kept reading blogs, and commenting, and blogging herself. one day she saw that someone had commented! it was wilna furstenburg, no less! she almost fainted from hyperventilating...

nobody took any notice.

but slowly the hits came. she was excited when 10 people read her blog on one day. she was thrilled when she got 1000 hits in total, even though it took a whole 6 months to get there. she blogged about the six-month mark. she was happy when people she knew would say to her "i read your blog". she was in awe when she got 17 comments on one post. she was elated when she was typepad's featured blog. she was shocked that one of her photoshop tutorials got 575 hits from photoshop-pack alone.

someone was noticing...

and now this blog is celebrating it's first birthday. and she cannot believe how it has grown. her mind still boggles to think that so many people pop in on a daily basis, to see what she is doing. she really isn't that interesting, after all.. she doesn't have a life... she loves that every one of her posts gets comments now. she loves that people that she admires, and who's blogs and work and writing she loves, also pop in, and leave comments. she is surprised when strangers tell her they read her blog. i mean, where do they come from? she is happy that she has made so many good new friends from all over the world, who visit her, even if she blogs in bed with unbrushed teeth and unshaved legs..

she knows that this blog is still a tiny little baby, and demands more time and attention than a 'real' baby - but stinks less. but she hopes that it will grow. she knows that her readers hope it will mature, but she doubts it. she knows that her son hopes that she will start using capital letters, but she doubts it.

someone was noticing.

and she was oh, so very grateful!

 

Chipboard word: gift, Ronna Penner, Refresh kit, ScrapGirls

i wanted to do a RAK (random act of kindness) to celebrate the blog's first birthday, but postage is so very, very expensive. so, i came up with something different. from now until monday 15 september, if you leave a comment on this post, i will enter you in a draw. the winner will be able to email me 3/5 photos of herself, and i will do some photoshopping. i will do one subtle photo, so you look rested but still you, one seriously edited photo, to use on facebook to make all the old boyfriends and classmates jealous because you will have no wrinkles, scars or blemishes, and one 'artistic' one, for fun.

obviously, if you are naturally gorgeous, or can photoshop yourself, you may still comment, but you could tell me you don't need the prize.

also, if you are very brave, you can still email me some pics of yourself. i need some to use on my blog for a tutorial. but, remember, lots of people will be seeing your 'before' photos. (and don't send me photos of your husband's ex...)

 

you can read more about this blog's highlights and statistics here.

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

cuttlebug

if you live in south africa, and are wanting to buy a cuttlebug, just email me, and i'll give you a quote.

butterflies

 

as you can see, my current obsession with butterflies has not yet abated... i made this box according to the instructions i posted here. and just fixed the butterflies on using those brads. you will be seeing more of those butterflies in days to come, as we are all scrapping them. i am even scrapping my blog-post about the butterflies! (blogging about scrapping and then scrapping about blogging, i could keep myself busy forever...)

and more butterflies here.

 

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

lessons...

last week was the anniversary of my cousin's and my grandfather's deaths.

on 31 august 2002, 6 years ago, my cousin michael had a heart attack at age 35, and died in his home, leaving his wife and 3 kids, the youngest was only 6 weeks old! he died on his mother's birthday. i think i would never want to celebrate my birthday again...

on 28 august 2001, 7 years ago, my grandfather died. he was well on his way to his 91st birthday. many years before, some months after my grandmother had died, he had gone to holland to visit friends and to travel. there he met with a woman who, along with her husband, had been friends with my grandparents when they were young. there is even a photograph of the two couples together. both she and my grandfather had lost their partners. they fell in love, and got married. she was 57 and he was 75. their marriage lasted 18 years, 2 years longer than mine, and i was 19 when i got married.

after their marriage, they lived in holland for 6 months every year, in her house, driving her car, celebrating her birthday, and seeing her children. and the other 6 months of each year they lived here, living in his house, driving his car, celebrating his birthday and seeing his children. year-round summer. an ideal situation...

after his 90th birthday, they left for holland again, but while they were there, he got ill. they flew back, and he spent some weeks here, weak but lucid, until he died peacefully in his own bed, his wife by his side.

my mom phoned me to tell me he had died. she told me he was in his bed, and peaceful, and that i could come to see him. i went to fetch francois (who was 15 at the time) from school, and went to his house. i told francois to wait in the lounge, but he followed me to the room.

when i saw my grandfather lying there, less than an hour after his death, i could immediately see that it was no longer him. i could see that it was just his earthly vessel, and that his body in the bed was just that, his body. that that was 'him' was no longer there.

for as long as i can remember, i was terrified of finding a dead body. i had a phobia about it. i had nightmares about it. if we walked somewhere in the bush, i would have that fear in the back of my mind, much like people who are afraid of snakes feel. so, seeing my grandfather there, was very good for me. it showed me that a dead body was nothing to fear.

it was also GOD's way of preparing me for what was to come. 6 months later, my husband ronnie died in an aeroplane crash. my experience with my grandfather, made dealing with some of the aspects of ronnie's death easier. ronnie had died in a horrible crash, and the aeroplane had burned. what was left of his body was burned and mutilated. they had to use dental records to identify him and his 2 colleagues/friends who were in the plane with him.

we know that ronnie and his 2 friends died upon impact. the slamming of the plane on the ground was what killed them instantly. what happened after, did not happen to him. it happened to his earthly vessel. he was no longer there. that what made him him, did not feel the pain.

and in the days after, when his body lay in the mortuary, i never felt that 'he' was there. one often hears of people who say that their loved ones are cold, or uncomfortable, or unhappy. but i never felt that. i knew that 'he' was no longer there. my grandfather had shown me that in his death.

GOD works in wonderful ways. HE uses so many things to teach us for the future. things happen to us, that sometimes years later mean something. we may not see the significance now, we may not ever. but, out of today's happenings may come tomorrow's comfort. the hardship of now may be the preparation for the future.

my grandfather meant a lot to me in his life. he taught me so much. and even in his death, he taught me something that would probably be the most important lesson for me ever.

and to prove that every winter is always followed by spring...

 

 

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

wilna furstenburg

 

wilna furstenburg is hosting an online class. i have joined her class before, and i assure you that she is very creative, she is an attentive and helpful teacher, and she gives brilliant value for money. you can find more info here, and on her blog.

if you are in need of inspiration, don't hesitate to join her! 

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

potential..

or - name that photo...

last week i asked you to name this photo. you can go to this post, and have a giggle at the suggestions. thanks for the smiles you gave me. and also have a look at the very funny comments on the butterfly post.

i also got 2 more blog awards. thanks cathy. you can read about this reward here. the other one i will get to some other time.

i got a little behind with my emails and my blog reading. i'm trying to catch up. bear with me. i am reading all your blogs, just commenting a little less than normal. i had a medical problem - the man had a dislocated shoulder, and spent an evening in the emergency room before being admitted in hospital, and being 'fixed' in theatre the next morning. and i'm having home computer problems. it seems that my little laptop is reaching the end of it's life, and a new one is not really an option...

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

spring fever...

something really weird happened in the shop today.

a whole swarm of paper butterflies just flew in the door.

and just in time for spring too.

they settled everywhere.

*get a room, butterflies...* you'll have to excuse some of those butterflies, but it is spring, after all...

 

some even flew out the door with toothpicks in their ass under their wings, and settled into the potted plants of all the other tenants in the center.

bizarre...

nobody knew where they came from...

it was a beautiful sight!

the butterflies were cut and embossed with the butterfly cuttlebug template

see some cards with these butterflies here, a layout with them here and here and here, and a gift box with them here. then i scrapped this blogpost, and blogged about scrapping the blogpost... whew!

and more butterflies here.

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

this post was featured on scrapscene and on scrapbookeronline and scrappertalk and gingerblue on 7 november 08. a mention of this post on two peas' messageboard caused a huge and unexpected spike in traffic. thanks!