change is as good as a holiday!!!

Hi there

If you have come to my blog because you are trying to contact me, ALL my details have changed.

Landline : 021 706 4099
Mobile : 078 460 6084
Catalog : www.flickr.com/photos/jaccir

Hope to hear from you soon... and sorry for the inconvenience :-)

Autumn Range

We are so excited about our new scrapbooking range- The Autumn Range. This has already been sent out to our clients and the orders are rolling in. Yay!

Jacci has been busy with a couple of different projects including the Autumn Range, designs for Robben Island, designs for Blossom, DOT and for Kamersvol Geskenke.....all very exciting and divinely moreish.

Oh and how could I forget..........taaadaaaaa today is Jacci's birthday!
Happy Happy Birthday Jacci, may we all be blessed with your presence for many many more years.

Heck, just seen the time and I need to run, got to drop my daughter off at playschool and then head to Jacci's studio. Jacci won't be there initially, she's off to the hairdresser for some birthday tlc or could it end up being disaster. Perhaps I should get her family to text me before she arrives back at the studio to find out whether her hairdresser experience has been a success or disaster.........I am such a bad lair...wish her and I luck

Busy Week

Wow, what a week ........
Firstly the Boss went on an 'overseas' trip.....Some of us get all the perks!! To be fair, she is the designer and obviously when doing designs for Robben Island, she would need to see it. So she joined the masses of tourists and braved the choppy waters of the great Atlantic Ocean. I must say, I'm seriously wowed by the designs she has produced...Well done Boss Lady.

We also met with a lovely lady, called Lize from The Love Project. You have to do yourself a favour if you live in Cape Town and that is to go to her shop in Kloof Street. She not only has shop fulled with design gems but at incredibly affordable prices-have a look at her website to read about the wonderful reason behind her opening this special shop.

Jacci is also super excited about having met with Wanda from DOT in Stellenbosch. Wanda is also part of the Kamersvol Geskenke team. Check out this site and then head off in October with a full credit card in order to stock up for Christmas. Oh forget needing an occasion or event to spend.....go on and spoil yourself!

Jacci's designs will now also be available at the following distributors:
http://www.loveproject.co.za/
DOT, Blackhorse Centre, Stellenbosch.

Charm x

ps Hope you where surrounded by love yesterday

Valentines Day The Recession Loving Way!

Aaah today is the first day of February so only 13 more days and its Valentines Day.......
I'm not sure about you but since having our daughter, spending money on Valentines Cards and cute fluffy bears for my husband has certainly become a thing of the past. Money has to rather be spent on nappies or something else that growing babies/children seem to continuously need. Now with the recession still very much part of our lives, most folk I know are most definitely NOT going to be spending money on cards and incredibly expensive red roses...

Oh my goodness before this blog sounds all full of doom and recession gloom, let me throw in something cheerful.....

Jacci and I have decided to share the LOVE with you. Jacci has designed the most gorgeous Valentines stationery and in the spirit of Valentines Day, she is going to be giving away a set of digitally printed Valentines Day Cards to EVERYONE, yes everyone who leaves us a comment. In this comment we would like you to tell us how you are planning on spoiling your Valentine without spending a fortune. It is a simple as that. We look forward to reading your comments and I'm sure you are going to love your cards. You will be able print them and personalise them.

Hmm, I wonder if I leave a comment myself, if 'the boss' will let me have a set too!

We are going to see if we can master the camera tomorrow. Need to do a product photo shoot so that you will be able to see what the designs look like printed onto the stationery.

Charm x

1000 days, is 1000 days too much!

Please spare a thought for little Madeleine Mccann, 1000 days have passed since she went missing. Kate, her mother left this message on the website today.

Wednesday 27th January 2010

Today marks 1000 days since Madeleine was taken from us. It's hard to even say the number. We remember the first few days after Madeleine was taken, watching the clock and counting every hour. Now we've reached 1000 days.

It's difficult sometimes to understand how we've been able to keep going and survive without Madeleine, especially since nothing has changed since that terrifying first night. Madeleine is still missing. Sometimes it even feels ‘wrong' to be coping. And yet if we weren't, there would be no search and no campaign to find Madeleine and that just doesn't bear thinking about! We are very aware though that our ability to cope and keep going for Madeleine has been greatly augmented by the incredible support we have received from so many people and this should never be underestimated. We will always remember and be forever grateful for this help, support and kindness.

This evening we will be holding a fund-raising event in London - ‘Still Missing,Still Missed; An Evening for Madeleine'. We will be remembering Madeleine and other missing children throughout the world. We are hoping to raise a good amount of money to further the search for Madeleine but also to benefit the charities, Missing People and Missing Children Europe and the fantastic but often unrecognised work that they do on behalf of all missing children in the UK and Europe.

Also this evening, 1000 lanterns will be released into the night sky - an event which has been called ‘Look Up & Look Out for Madeleine'.They will be released from many different locations in the UK, Portugal and the USA. It is a symbolic way for our family, friends and supporters to show that we have not forgotten Madeleine and will never give up on her.

In addition to the above, Simon Armitage has very kindly(and courageously) written a poem for Madeleine to coincide with the 1000th day since her disappearance. It is called ‘The Beacon'. We think it is an incredible and really beautiful sonnet. It manages to convey so accurately and succinctly, both our darker moments and the reality of hope and possibility, aswell as including powerful and touching references to Madeleine. We hope it will be read by many.

One thousand days.

Madeleine is still missing and she needs to be found.

We will continue to turn every stone. We will never give upon Madeleine.

Thank you for your support and solidarity. Together we can bring Madeleine home.

1000 days is absolutely 1000 days too many, for Madeleine and especially her family. If you know something, or suspect someone who might know Madeleines whereabouts, please call the number on the +44 (0) 845 838 4699

New Kid On The (Design)Block

Hello faithful blog followers...........

Let me introduce myself......., I joined the JacciR Design team a month ago to add some admin to Jacci's life, well actually to take the administration out of her already busy life. For those who thought she had gotten 'ssshlllluuuuupd' into the design Bermuda triangle and was neglecting her blog, you where right! She was designing for Christmas and now for Valentines Day and for Autumn. We have some exciting things up our sleeves so stayed logged in for that.

Gosh, realised I still haven't introduced myself. My name is Charmain but just about everyone I know, calls me Charm (pronounced Sharm) I'm 35, married to a gorgeous Interior/exhibition Designer. After going to hell and back and many lost babies, we finally had a little girl, Madison who turned three this month. We lived in the UK for 7.5 years but returned to Cape Town 6months ago....We are loving being back. Who wouldn't with a view of Table Mountain from our home, sunshine, the seaside 15minutes away and friendly South African people. Most of my time is spent around Madison, taking her/fetching her from playschool four mornings a week and then the rest of the time is spent either at Jacci's studio or catching up with her via google chat.

I will be updating the blog once a week- Monday at the moment is the chosen day for this. We will be starting a Sweetie Jar. This will be our folder where all things inspirational and just gorgeously design divine will be placed for you to have a nosey around. If you have anything that you would like to share with us that you think may inspire Jacci to go into another design frenzy, then please feel free to share with us...(to be honest, it takes very little to give her an excuse to design)

I can't believe how long it has taken me to to type this. Its the first time I am blogging and the TV is on far too loud, my husband is talking to me about his design work and the laptop battery light is flashing red. Its Sunday night and I'm sure getting very close to my bed time. Will save this now and publish it and then probably write another one tomorrow to apologise for a very boring first time blog.

So thats all for now from the newest member of the JacciR Design Team (ps, there are actually only two of us in the team)
Charm x

A culinary adventure

Cooked Cannelloni with my daughter this week. As usual Jamie Oliver inspired our kitchen adventure, or should I say Jamie at Home, with Taste Magazine – I mean who can help but be inspired to culinary greatness watching him conjure up family delights straight from the garden?

Is that really his garden, I thought he lived in London?

But, I digress, so it was into our summer veg garden to pick and choose from the fresh and simply mouthwatering array that has evolved this summer. A couple of baby marrows, some tomatoes, a green pepper – the onions are finally ready, so in they go as well – and herbs to delight. Thyme, oregano and basil. We are of course making and Italian inspired dish. Looking out over the garden it is clear that Italy inspired the choice of veg this year!

Oh and not forgetting the eggs, the Bantams are laying again…

I’ll let you in on a secret, if you are out of Cannelloni tubes, make pancakes, and roll and fill them as you would the pasta tubes, works very well. Anyway, Emma has made the pancakes, I have sorted out the filling, it is to be chicken (not from the garden) with the baby marrows, and caramelized onion. Together we work on making the perfect tomato sauce, a taste of summer with the herbs. All to soon the dish is assembled, into the oven, baked until cheesy bubbling alerts us to the fact that it is ready.

What an adventure, what a meal. The only thing that we think would improve this dish would be to have a set of Le Creuset Caste Iron pots to cook in next time. So please pick us, pleased, please, please.

http://blog.yuppiechef.com/2009/10/26/julie-julia-do-you-have-what-it-takes/

Help to Find Madeleine Mccann

Click on this image to view in a wider format!

I have for the past 2.5 years followed, supported and prayed for the Mccann family after Madeleine disapeared from Praiz da Luz while the family where on holiday there. Today they asked for the help of the public, worldwide to spread this plea. They hope to touch the concience of someone who knows what happened to their daughter.

This computer generated image made available by Britain's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) shows how Madeleine McCann might look now, right, and with dark brown hair and tanned skin in case she has been living in north Africa, left. The images are taken from a one minute film by Ceop made available Tuesday Nov. 3, 2009. British police appealed today for internet users worldwide to spread the new video aimed at pricking the conscience of the key witnesses who know what happened to Madeleine McCann.
Ceop / AP Photo

Jim Gamble is head of the UK’s CEOP Centre and explains the rationale:
The person we are looking to reach is likely to be a partner, family member, friend or colleague of the person or people who were involved in Madeleine’s disappearance. It is also highly probable that they, or someone close to them, is using the internet to search for any updates that may suggest the police are getting closer to discovering the truth.

“Today we want to deliver a message to that person and we’re asking everyone who goes online to help us. We want the message to become so widespread that it becomes just one click from any Madeleine search as a constant reminder to that person that it is never too late to do the right thing – that it is never too late for that person to redeem themselves.

“So if you are a parent or carer, a student or member of the public who is a social networker, blogger or emailer, or if you run any type of online environment, big or small please look at the film today, link to it, share it with your friends and post it in the online communities you occupy. Do everything you can to spread it around the online world. We want to make it omnipresent so that the person we are trying to reach sees it and is prompted to do the right thing.”

PLEASE HELP - LETS GET THIS MESSAGE OUT TO AS MANY PEOPLE POSSIBLE

Useful links:

http://findmadeleine.com

http://ceop.police.uk/madeleine/madeleine.asp

It's a dogs life...

This week has seen me starting a new project, thought I'd give you a sneak preview. I'm digitally drawing these cuties. I can imagine them chasing my two dogs on the greenbelt! In fact I have always dreamed of owning a white labrador. We have, though, got a black rescue dog, the people at the kennels told me she was a labrador, she is nothing like a lab, she is neurotic, not ever still. She has only one saving grace, her shining personality. No matter what she does, you have to forgive that face, those adoring eyes looking at you saying "Oh no, have I done it AGAIN???"

I've been printed!

Don't you just love to get a post office slip in the post? Well my surprise was the printed samples from my first batch of scrap pages!!!! It never stops thrilling me when something of mine gets printed. This just made my day! I've been working with Tracy from Queen Of Hearts Design.

Watch this space, weve got many more designs to come!

Our scrap papers are distributed countrywide by Paper Explosion.

I'm Back...

Hullo there, I am back at last, my blog has been quiet 'cause I have been struggling this month. I have been overtaken by inertia, a symptom of the state I find my mind in.

The cause, no more just being able to design what I like, the jobs I think I will enjoy - oh no, this is not for me anymore... I have to push my design business to new areas.

New challenges.

I don't really do new!!!

I can design until the cows come home, but, sell myself.... this is the aaaarghhhhh that has been challenging me.

So Jacci, happy smile, no more procrastinating, get on that phone and be out there.

Oh, the drawing above is me, lipstick on, smile in place and ready to go.

Wish me luck!

Spring has sprung, the grass is rizzed...

Looks like spring is here, but is it here to stay? My front garden is ablaze with flowers, pink and yellow gazinias, salmon coloured watsonia flowers, white daisies, my fig has suddenly sprung to life with leaves and buds.

I will be gone next week, for a short stay in Pietermaritzburg, leaving the precious family in the capable hands of husband and treating myself to a holiday. Dear husband travels quite a lot with his business, he will be in Congo at the beginning of next week, feels quite cosmopolitan, crossing paths at the airport, very 'celeb' - a bit like the Beckhams! Without the handbags, OK - and the money... and the house in California.

So cheerio, see you in about 2 weeks, I'll post if I can figure out how to do it on my cell...

Scrapping away... and a very clever idea.

I've been so enjoying doing these scrapbook pages, I am loving the old, yet urban feel of these. They are going up onto my Etsy shop today. I have decided that the postage from South Africa makes posting anything completely overpriced - is it just me - or am I not looking in the right places? So I will be concentrating on digital designs for a while. My stationary is still post-able within South Africa though, so might keep it on for local shoppers.

Back in the days when I was a 'wet behind the ears' teen I spent many a day listening to Bread, Abba or Bananarama on my trusty old tape deck. Wham, the Police and good old Billy Joel too. Remember how one had to place the tape deck next to the radio to tape the latest hit?
Well have a look at this clever little bit of upcycling from a company called Contexture Design

These guys are recycling old cassette tapes and making them into iPod Nano cases, the nostalgia of tapes with the convenience of iPod! Now that's my kind of intelligent design!

Where do the weeks go?

It's nearly 10 days since I was last here, what a week. I have been working on some scrap page designs and seem to get very little done in the end - but I work all day, I need to brush up on my concentration skills!!! I am working with a designer from 'up north' Tracy of Queen of Hearts. It is great to be working with someone who can advise, comment and push one to try new things! Thanks Tracy.

I am busy trying to decide what to order for my stand at the Hermanus Botanical Society Flower Show at Fernkloof Nature Reserve. It runs for 4 days from the 17th September, I would love to see you all there!

This is the first event that I am attending with my illustrations, stationary, linens and soft furnishings. I am seriously lacking in know how, what to bring? How much to bring? Questions, Questions Questions!!!

Make it Monday... exept it was Tuesday!!!

I had such fun yesterday, sewing these mini bags, I have had them in mind for a while and have been saving fabric for ever. My husband will be glad to see it put to use when he comes back from Johannesburg on Saturday!

I particually like ShweShwe and other african prints. The pink one, has fabric from a dress my mother sewed in the 50's when she was dating my dad. They will be appearing on my Etsy shop later today.

Elk's prize is on it's way! I will be doing another giveaway soon - so keep an eye out... and please comment so I know you are out there, it was soooooo nice to have new people come to the blog with this giveaway! Great to feel that one is not talking to oneself!

And the winner is.....

Great excitement... my daughter drew my very first blog giveaway winner. And the winner in the "leave me a comment category" is Elk. Well done.
But that is not all... the second chance for winning was to send an email to your friends, copy me and get into the draw, Wanda Coustas from Urban Sprout won that one, thanks Wanda for spreading the word.

So Elk and Wanda I'll be in touch for your details. Well done and congratulations. I hope you enjoy the stationary collection.

To those who did not win this time, I am offering you a 15% discount on any items on my Etsy shop (excluding postage) I hope you will find something there that you like, and that the opportunity to shop with a discount will help to alleviate any disapointment!!!

Please remember to convo me if you order and mention that you won a runners up discount.

Christmas in July!

In designer world it's Christmas - in July... designing cards, wrap, and goodies to go out for the christmas season. I thought I'd give you a sneak preview of what I have be up to. As you can see I'm still loving the Shwe Shwe!

Enjoy.

Don't forget to go to the GIVEAWAY blog and enter, there is still 1 week left!

I'm on facebook... and twitter... and...

My friends will attest to the fact that I have always thought of this net presence thingy as complete geekery!

Ok so apologies to all geeks that I know, may I join the 'Geekgroup" now please? I am now on Twitter, Etsy, Facebook... (and blogger of course)

So, It's giveaway time. WIN ... 1x A5 50 page unlined jotter, 1x DL shaped 50 page unlined jotter and a set of 4 blamk cards with envelopes. All from my new Shwe Shwe inspired range of stationary.

In order to further expand this newbie geek's net presence I am proposing a giveaway. This will be a two fold operation. First opportunity is as follows, leave a comment right here and you will be in draw 1.

Opportunity 2 send an email to 5 friends, asking them to spread the word, and visit the blog, remember to CC me on combretum2 (at) gmail.com and I will enter you in draw 2. Just remember that each email needs to CC me as it goes out. I am hoping to have - say - 100 visits (and some new friends...) from this. Closing date 31 July, winner announced 3 August right here.

Winter, Rain and Painting

Cape Town has had it's fair share of summery winter days lately, well, that is well and truly past! It's winter, soaking rain - 60mls overnight - cold and grey. We've had friends for lunch, a fire, champagne and home made Roti's. Life couldn't be better. I thougfht I'd share a painting, I think I did it 2 years ago and it still pleases me each time I go to the kitchen. I love the colours and the fluidity of the leaves, you might have noticed I like to draw proteas.

Next week I'll be having a give away, so please come back and take part. Details to follow!

Kommetjie, Shwe Shwe loving and summery winters.

My favourite place in all the world, Kommetjie, Cape Town, never better than on a summery winters day! I love the round boulders, stacked by some nameless person into walking giants. The snaking path, wood over vegetation!

My new stationary has been uploaded on Etsy. It is so inspired by Africa, some of it Makoti Wax prints, Chaka prints all of it inspired by my love of the original Shwe Shwe prints. I chose one of my protea illustrations to go with it and hope you love them as much as I do!