Busy times

Chopping the almonds, basting the goose, cleaning the bathrooms, trying to make myself look slightly presentable before the guests arrive....

I DO love Christmas, but, boy, there is a lot to do in a very short time. That is why I won't be able to post your last Advent freebie today after all. Tomorrow should be a lot more laid back and I'm almost sure to find time for you then.

Until then, let me bring you this lovely greeting downloaded today from The Graphics Fairy and wish you all a Very Merry Christmas.

Lots of Love & Best Christmas Wishes,

Talent....

In our line of work/hobby we are often using the words talent and talented, but do we actually know what they mean? My interpretation is in the lines of "having the ability to do something better than average". But lately I have had to re-think it. Yes, I do think there are a lot of talented people out there in digi-scrap world, but sometimes you meet people who are über-talented at what they do and impress you beyond believe; and then you realise that you'll have to make several levels of "Talented". I haven't yet defined these levels, but I have seen the works of someone who definitely belongs in the top level.

If you were with me back in March this year, you may remember Allison, the granddaughter of Sue from Grands9creations (if not - see the post here). Last week Sue posted work by her other granddaughter, Abby, and I was blown away! The girl is "only" a pre-teen, but is drawing like a Pro. I "stole" one of her drawings from Sue's site (sorry, Sue & Abby), but please go to Sue's site and see the rest. And then decide for yourself how to define talent.

Can you imagine what she will turn into?

Before you go, I have to say, that this post is NOT caused by the fact that Sue made a dedication to me today - for which I am eternally grateful - and NOT just because I promised to do so in my comment to her. It is simply because I think talent must be shared and promoted, and because I wanted you to have the WOW-experience too.

And while we are at this talented family - check out Sue's WordArt "In the Warmth of his Baby Hand", where she shows off her own drawing skills. And since the drawing shows the talented hand that made the drawing above, it sort of closes the circle. It really runs in the family!

I wish Abby (and Allison) the best of luck with their talents and creative life, and I thank Sue for today's dedication/award and for being my long-distance-friend in tears as well as laughter (fortunately, mostly laughter).

And no, you will not get any freebies in this post - sorry! But I hope to bring you one later today or tomorrow.

Nurture talent where ever you are!

Out of action for a while....

My current diet!

Just dropped in to let you all know that I will be gone for a while. Don't take it personal, it's just the many computer hours that are now sitting in my back and neck making me more dizzy than you could ever imagine. So I am not allowed more than 2 x ½ hour on line per day, and today I decided to spend some of it to let you know: "I'm still here, and I will be back - I just can't tell you when".

Lots of love,

 

Just a Heads Up!

I just wanted to let you know that I am still here and will be back very, very soon with lots of goodies for you.

I had decided not to make any Valentines stuff this year but then I stumbled upon this colour pallet from a Colour Challenge by WCC (Wishkeepers Creativity Collective) and I simply fell in love with both the picture and the colours. 

I have now spend the last few days playing around with the colours and the final results ended up looking very much like a Valentine Kit....

The kit is not extremely interesting but it's big - and it's free....

I will start posting it tomorrow and keep bits coming through next week, so please stay tuned so you don't miss any of it.

See you tomorrow!

Merry Christmas!

May your Christmas days be merry and bright....

10 years have gone by...

... yet it still seems like only yesterday!

I found this beautiful background made by AshenSorrow at DeviantArt and wanted to share it with you all today...

I know we are getting bombarded with 9/11 from all sides but no matter how used/abused it has become it is still something we need to remember. 

All my thoughts...

Not THAT busted...

You might have noticed one of the comments to my last post about me being "busted". Well, Anonynous, I'm not THAT busted. I did, however, make to bads:

• I forgot to put the Credits in the zip file.
• I mis-took the font for being free to use.

Now I'm wiser and want to let you know that Anonymous is absolutely right - The font I used for the "Versatile Alpha" IS made with Juan Casco's font "Sucker" and I had no intention to hide that or make it seem as if I had done it all (I'm not THAT good ;o))

When I got the font I downloaded it from DeviantArt and could not find any mention of TOU for the font, but as soon as I found out it was actually for Personal Use Only, I immediately contacted Juan to apologize and he gave me permission to let the alpha stay on the blog for anyone to download.

Furthermore, I will make him an appropriate donation and put up the "Credits" with the download link as soon as possible. So Thank You to Anonymous for making me aware of my mistakes - and an even bigger Thank You to Juan for letting me keep the alpha online.

If you are interested in getting the font for your own use you can find it at DaFont and many other places - and don't miss Juan's website, he is extremely talented.

Until next time... stay as cool as your local weather allows!

Good news, good news and bad(-ish) news

Good News #1: I have received another award!

Becky from Becky’s Creations thinks my blog rocks - how happy am I? Very Happy! As always I am deeply grateful for the compliment and a little humble as it comes from a designer with a great talent. Thanks A LOT Becky :ox

I will of course pay this award forward to 5 blogs I find “rocking”, but please have patience. As you will find out in a line or two I am very hung up at the moment.

Good News #2: I got a job!!!!!!
As of yesterday I am working again. It is “only” as a trainee, only for 4 weeks and it is unpaid, but after almost 3 years without a steady job it’s a start - and it’s great.

Bad(-ish) News:
Me working full time (+ freelance on the side) leaves me very little time for designing and that leaves you with very little freebies for the next 4 weeks. However, I will not leave you completely. A small freebie once in a while should be possible.

I hope you can share my happiness in spite of the consequences and that you will stay with me here on NbF.

See you soon(-ish)…

So much for a few days off!

As some of you may have noticed 4shared asks for a password when you try to download my files. I have NO idea why… I have not added passwords to any of my freebies and I have found out that it is only some of you who experience the problem. Therefore, I have contacted 4shared support to get it fixed but experience tells me that may take a while.

Until I find a solution (or another site to store my files) I want you to contact me by email if you are trying to download one of my files but are asked for a password. Tell me the name of the file or post and I will try to get it to you in another way.

I am very sorry for all the bother and promise to let you know when/if the problem gets solved.

PS - If any of you can recommend another storage site (it doesn’t have to be free) I will be happy to hear from you.

My best wishes

Today’s post offers no freebie. But it does offer something just as important…

On this day - the last of 2010 - I want to thank you all for you kindness, encouragements, help, comments and downloads in my first year in this digiscrap blog world. I can’t believe it’s been a year already - and I can’t believe it’s only been a year… You all made my many hours spend by the computer worth while. I can say without hesitation that I now have good friends all over the world.

So big thanks to all of you and

I wish the best for you and hope to “see” much more of you in 2011.

I’m so sorry…

… but time moved in another pace than me today and I did not get the last two alphas ready for upload. So instead I will pretend that tomorrow is Sunday as well and in that way I will not be late with your freebies. And who would say no to a week with two Sundays?

See you again tomorrow - I promise!

Links fixed

Just wanted to let you know that the link for the Starry Gold Alpha has been fixed now. Someone (or something) had deleted the file from the 4shared archive but I re-uploaded and it is now ready for download - I hope...

Update: The links to "A Little Bit Friday 22 part 1 & 2" are also fixed - damn that 4share!!!

...and the same goes for the "Christmas Charms" link....

I am sorry for the inconvenience and I thank those of you who made me aware of the problem.

See you soon,

Trine

I forgot...

This is to Chanelle who left me a comment on 12/11 (thank you for that :o) ) and to everyone else on the lookout for a nutcracker:

You might want to take a look here: http://blueridgemeadows.blogspot.com/2009/11/nutcracker-cu-freebie.html

See you soon!

Sorry!

I didn't have the time to finish my freebie for today. BUT...


...the reason I didn't is that it's going to be HUGE! So come back tomorrow for a real treat.


See you then.

Wow!

You know what? Now I REALLY get it. The reason why we are all doing this. Of course we do it because we like scrapping, and designing, and playing around in PSE or PSP. And of course we give it away for free because we want to share and make others happy. But there was one little detail I had NOT considered...

The feeling you get when you read the comments!

That is the nicest feeling ever. Talk about a confidence booster. I know that I have written in my “about NbF” that I did not need you to Leave some Love (and I still don’t) but gee it is nice when you disobey my orders. The realisation of the fact that not only are total strangers around the world downloading and using your creations – but THEY LIKE IT!!!! WOW!

One thing is absolutely certain: I will NEVER again download other people’s material without leaving a comment. Never, ever, ever. I promise. Cross my heart and hope to… well, ehh, no … but I DO promise.

And while I’m here: Because of my eager to get the blog started, I couldn’t wait for midnight and got the wrong opening date. I’m therefore a day ahead, and when I said I would be back with I Love NY Day 1 tomorrow, I actually meant Tuesday…

So see you Tuesday?