i had 3 creative projects on the go at the same time.
the girls who regularly come to the wednesday morning scrapbooking class, wanted to go to a mosaicing class. and since i have wanted to try it for ages, i tagged along. this is my first project, and i loved it.
i also stained this tray. it is the same tea tray i have blogged about before here and here. and i have mentioned this layout i made of this photo of me when i was 18 years old here.
and finally, i scrap-lifted this layout from chantal. these photos of my mom were taken at the photoshoot by amelia.
all in all a very creative week!
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa
last year on spring day i posted this on my blog. it quickly turned out to be one of the most popular posts on my blog ever.
this year i cannot do anything to top it. and since it still makes me happy, and many of you have not seen it, so i thought i would repeat it. recycling? regifting? or just plain lazy?...
just so you know, i live in the southern hemisphere, and 1 september is a celebration of spring day.
i thought i would post a few links today. as i have mentioned before, a post like this is really just for myself, so i can find these links again when i need them. but you are welcome to enjoy them too. they are really good!
normally i collect links like these in a draft post over a period of time, and when there are a few i publish the post. that explains that some links you may have seen already, and sometimes it has a little disjointed feel to it.
there have been more articles in the newspaper about the death of ronnie. the air traffic controller has been exonerated of all charges against him. i do not completely agree with the verdict, but i accept it, as it makes no difference to my life whatsoever. the articles are here and here.
there is a cool - and free - photoshop tutorial by cathy zielske here. a really easy trick to create a frame and word art on a photo! you can also find a video tutorial on how to make a photo grid by cathy zielske on ali edwards' blog. you don't have to be a scrapbooker for this, but you do have to have photoshop. and photos.
get inspired by these stunningly creative business cards here. they are really memorable, which is the whole point of a business card.
i'm not sure if this slideshow will work, please let me know? but, here is the slideshow i made for my father's 70th birthday last month. i don't know how to make the file smaller. this is my first attempt at linking to a file like this one. please note that there are some awful eighties hairstyles in there, do not choke on your coffee... my father's name is Jan Bakker.
some of my little butterflies that started here and became world famous, appeared here on toni's blog. she used some i sent to her in australia after she won them in a RAK in a project.
i have been reading jody's blog nitty gritty for more than a year now, and always enjoy it. but this post here is heart-rending and brought tears to my eyes. it is where she tells what happened the day they were in an accident, and their daughter died.
you can find some great free beautiful computer fonts here.
see awesome sand-art that washes away here. so much work, and it only lasts a few hours!
look at some beautiful digital scrapbook pages printed on canvas on wilna furstenburg's blog. i cannot get the link to the specific post to work, so go to the post dated thursday 30th july 2009.
and, please pop in to see this video on how to make a cute mixed media tag, by the very creative donna downey. i had lots of fun trying it myself, and here is what i came up with. i made cards from them.
i love stumbling across a new blog. and i love this blog, by the woman who runs cosmo magazine in south africa, vanessa raphaely.
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa
after an extended absence, i have found my scrapbooking mojo.
it is too soon to tell if it was temporary, or if it is back to stay..
as you see, i used a transparent butterfly, and some gauzy flowers. and stitching. as always there is stitching. the pattern paper is basic grey, and the cardstock is treasures and colormates.
the photos are of marni, you can see one of them here.
i thought i had forgotten how to scrap.
now, if only my blogging mojo could come back...
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapboook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa
today, my hit counter passed 20 000 hits, since i started this blog on 14 september 2007. wow! wow! wow!
first i would like to thank GOD, without HIM i would not be here. i would also like to thank you, who reads this. THANK YOU! then i would like to thank my parents, my man, and my kids at home. i would also like to thank my grade 11 computer-science teacher. thanks to my internet service provider, m-web, and my blog service provider, typepad, and my hit-stats provider, sitemeter. i would also like to thank...
ok, so i have been watching all the award ceremonies on tv, including the golden globe awards yesterday.
where was i?
oh yes. to celebrate, i will do a RAK.
so, if you comment on this blogpost between now and sunday 18 january, you will be entered in a random draw. and you can win.
there will be 3 winners. you can choose, i will either send you 30 butterflies, like these, and these, no matter where you live. or i will edit 3 of your photos for you, like i did here and here.
also, if you mention this giveaway on your blog, and leave a comment with a link to that post here in the comments, i will enter you in a seperate draw, where you can win butterflies AND a photo-edit.
so, click on the word 'comment' that appears under this, and every post, and send me some love! (you can read more about leaving a comment here).
this is a digital layout i scrapped of jomien. she is my friend's daughter. the photo was taken by rina. the paper and embellishments i used are from shabby princess. the border around the photo is from jessica sprague.
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa
they wanted understated. if she is a scrapbooker, she can add pages for her photos between the pages with the guest's comments.
i used the fruit of the Spirit as a theme, as mentioned in the Bible here:
Galatians 5:22: "22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,"
instead of table numbers, i put these little cards on the tables. the main table was 'love'.
at the entrance of the restaurant was an easel, with these cards on, with the guest list.
down the isle in the wine cellar - where the ceremony was held, and on the dance floor in the restaurant, i scattered 250 black, white and red butterflies.
congratulations, john and trish. may your life together be blessed!
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop. benoni, gauteng, south africa
i have been such a bad blogger lately. i have been distracted.
i have days in the shop where i get one visitor after the other - very nice, i appreciate it!, but then i get nothing else done. i have also been giving a quote for a wedding, to make place cards etc. a lot of work so i'm not sure whether i should hope i get the job, or not. i have to work so much harder at the moment to make less money, as is the case with almost everyone across the world at this time.
and it has been soooo hot these last days. we have been having lots of sticky days, and i wilt in the heat.
we got a new neighbor in the centre last week.
dominique opened a little organic shop.
she sells gorgeous soaps and lemonade and baby products.
it smells so wonderful in there. of sugar and spice and all things nice. lavender and spices and vanilla and wood.
she made these light fittings herself. if you look carefully, you will see a certain blogger's 'trademark' flying below one of the lights....
she even has a little organic menu. we were hoping for toasted cheese and tomato, but she says bread is bad for us...
welcome to the neighborhood, dominique! i hope you do well here.
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa
wednesday morning a girl came into the shop, and asked if i sell gift boxes. i said "no, but i can fold you one"...
within minutes i folded her one, using these instructions for folding an origami box. i used a smaller square of paper, 20cm x 20cm. the box was just the right size to hold a jewellery box, that was to hold 2 rings for an engagement. using a hat pin, i fastened a charm and a translucent butterfly to the box, and there we are!
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMEs scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa
so butterflies have accidentally become my 'thing'. my unintentional 'trademark'. all as a result of this post, that was unexpectedly linked to from all sorts of blogs from all over the world.
last week i found a link to me here. and she had a link that suddenly gave the butterflies a meaning.
In an effort to remember them, Holocaust Museum Houston is collecting
1.5 million handmade butterflies.
The butterflies will eventually comprise a breath-taking exhibition, currently scheduled for Spring 2012, for all to remember.
you can read more about it here. as a shop, we are going to participate, and make and send some butterflies.
i'm busy scrapping and catching up with my email and reading all your blogs.
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa
see these butterflies? they are getting ready to fly far, far away, across the atlantic ocean, all the way to the USA.
beth saw these butterflies in this post, and asked me to send her some. it took a while, because they had to first come out of their little eggs. but, they are ready, and will be leaving shortly. because they are young butterflies, and their wings are made of paper, they will be flying by airmail...
*edited to add: i mailed them this morning (sat), beth. they should board the plane on tuesday or wednesday, provided their passports are in order.i don't know when they will get to your house, they might take the scenic route. i hope they don't gat airsick on the way...*
i could not log on to the internet this morning, so i closed microsoft explorer, and gave firefox a try. my son francois has been nagging me for ages. so far, so good. which one do you use?
unfortunately, i will not be going to the scrappink event after all, as there was no space for me! ha! they are gonna miss me! *sigh*! i was so looking forward to sitting down and scrapping. oh well, next time maybe..
i have been designing a business card for myself, using my still new digital scrapbooking skills. i love how it came out!
now i have to find someone who will print them for me.
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa
i like to use scraps from my layouts so my cards 'match' my layouts, and these cards go with the butterfly layout i showed before. so, i scrapped the butterflies, then blogged about the butterflies, then scrapped the blogpost, then blogged about scrapping the blogpost. then i also made cards that 'match' the layout, and then blogged about the cards...
sorry. this just amuses me no end. just skip to the next bit while i sit and giggle here...
i would have used butterflies on the cards, but my cuttlebug butterfly template is worn out! it is so blunt, it won't cut through anymore. look, it did cut way over 1000 butterflies in 6 weeks, so i suppose it is ready to retire. i'll have to get a new one soon.
that is real sewing you see. i 'quilted' little blocks of scrap paper. i have even been so inspired by this sketch, that i'm using the 'quilting' effect on a layout too. it is not finished, but here is a sneak peek:
i also made some christmas cards using that sketch, but that is another post for another time.
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa
remember the fun little butterfly post i did recently? well, it was unexpectedly popular, so i printed the photos and the text, and scrapped the blogpost.
i put some of the butterflies i made that day on the layout. i just had fun with it.
so, i scrapped the butterflies, then i blogged about the butterflies, and then i scrapped the blogpost about the butterflies, and now i'm blogging about the scrapping of the blogging of the butterflies. (en die groen gras groei daar om) do you know what i mean? because i have confused myself! this circle could go on forever...
aren't you just so relieved that i managed to sort out my blogging issues? 'cause now i can write insightful blogposts like this for another year...
this layout was done by one of my clients, loren, in a workshop i presented recently. this layout was originally designed by liza. her version and mine can be seen here.
the couple in the photo are loren's grandparents. this layout is hauntingly beautiful, simple and soft and romantic. as usual, the photo does not do it justice.
i have to thank you for your sweet comments on my post yesterday. it's so nice to have you all popping in, and to know that if something were to happen to me, someone would notice. even if it took a whole week before anybody missed me... :-) thanks ineke, tracy, stefanie, cathy, loraine, jacqui, hayley and sophia. you are so sweet!
from end august i have been trying repeatedly, constantly, to pay my blog subscription fee. there was a problem with it, and my card details would not go through. it was the same account i used last year, just a new card with a new expiry date and security code. my bank told me that they saw the transaction, and approved it, they even gave me an authorization code so typepad could try to put it through manually. during a 6 week long constant conversation with them about it in my help ticket, typepad admitted that the problem was on their side, and they promised that they would not suspend my blog. but on tuesday they did. my blog was suspended as though i was a tardy payer!
eventually, in desperation and frustration, i borrowed someone's credit card, and paid using that. so, now my blog is re-instated. my happy relationship with typepad has not been re-instated though, i'm still soooo annoyed and grumpy!
if my payment had gone through the first time i tried, it would have cost me about R100 less, as the rand has weakened considerably in the last 2 months against the dollar. so, all in all, this experience has cost me a lot of money, even more time and aggravation, and has tainted my blogging experience. uggg!
enough ranting. i spent time investigating blogger and moving my blog to them, so i know more about that. and i used all this extra time to do lots of scrapping, and i made cool cards. i have photographed them, and have lots of material for new posts to come.
love, jacki
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa
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.
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.
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
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
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...)
