Finally! A Freebie!!

Well, well...what do we have here? A freebie! Finally!!!

Yes, I finally got my act together, joined 4shared, and prepared at least one thing to share with all of you. I don't know what took me so long! Here's the preview of what you're getting:

Download here.

If you use these papers, please e-mail me at triplegoddess1@gmail.com because I'd love to see them! Also, please leave me a comment here. If I'm going to continue desigining, I'll need the encouragement. Plus, if there's something wrong with my work, I need to know so I don't continue to make the same mistakes and so I can fix what's wrong. THanks!

I almost have the alphabet/numbers/symbols ready for download too. Maybe tomorrow? Let's hope. I changed them a little from my original sneak peek (see older posts). I'm currently working on patterned papers, but I'm a long way off on those so it will be quite a while bfore you see that freebie!

I hope you all enjoy the download!

Taking TIme To Design and The Meaning Behind The Name

2 things I want to talk about today: taking (and making) the time to design and the meaning behind my designing names. Oh yeah...and reveal what my first series of kits is all about!

First of all, how do all those fabulous designers find time to actually DO the designing??? I just can't figure it out. Of course, I still have no idea how to do half the things I want to, and since I'm just starting it takes me twice as long to make something, but it's still taking me forever to get things done! I have to wait until my son is in bed (hubby goes to bed at the same time because he gets up at 3am for work) and after I've done all my chores and showered and all that, so it only leaves me about 1.5 hours (sometimes 2 if I stay up until 11pm) to participate in challenges, work on pages for Emerson's baby album, and design! There just aren't wnough hours during the day.

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I was recently asked how I came up with the name for my designs--Green Elephant Designs by Nicolina. Well, it's fairly simple. I wanted something other than my name (Designs by Nicole Birdeau-Rabalais just didn't have the right ring to it), so I took my favorite color--green--my favorite animal--elephant--and the name my paternal grandmother called me by quite often as a young girl--Nicolina. And there you have it!

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Finally, the BIG reveal. (OK...not so big since I have barely scratched the surface on it! lol) I have a plan for the kits I want to create.

I don't know if any of you have seen my blinkie or read the little description beneath my blog title, but I love a world where reality and fantasy overlap. A world where gods and godesses walk the earth, where fairies flit from grove to grove, where mermaids swim the oceans, and dragons fly through the skies. A world where witches cause havoc, where monsters hide in unlikely places, where giants becomefriends and where mythical creatures cause mischief.

My first series of kits, my first collection I guess you'd say, is going to be called "The Goddess Within Collection" and each kit in the collection will feature a different goddess from a different culture. I have the basic ideas in my head for at least 5 kits. SInce I can't really scrap an entire goddess (much too complex!), each kit will focus on some aspect of that goddess.

For example, the kit I'm starting out with, and the ones I've provided previews for, is Hera from Greek mythology. Remember how I said I hoped the colors of my solid papers reminded some of you of a peacock? Well, that's because the peacock is one of Hera's sacred animals. So the kit will feature the colors of the peacock, some peaock images and peacock inspired patterns, and gold accents because Hera was a queen.

Look for my first freebie for this kit tomorrow! It will be the solid papers!

Recruiting

I love recruiting newbies into digital scrapbooking. I always send my new pages to friends and family after I post them into my gallery (see link below), and I recently had a friend write and tell me she wanted to start digi scrapping! I immediately sent her a message with all ym favorite did sites, advised her on which ones had the best freebies to help her get started until she could build up an inventory of products, and a list of some of the blogs out there that I visit pretty regularly. I'm so excited to think I might have a scrapping buddy close by! It would be great to get together and scrap.

Now, if only we could find a way to afford a laptop and a Wacom tablet for me, I'd be set! Where did I put my Santa list???....

I Love Digital Freebies!

Have I told you all how much I loooooove www.digitalfreebies.com? I love that site! Maybe it's because it's one of the first digital scrapbooking site I visited and joined, maybe it's the awesome products in the boutique, maybe it's the fabulous designers or the wonderful members, but it feels like "home." If you haven't been there yet...you have to stop and visit. And, while you're there, check out my gallery. make sure to check out some of the other galleries as well. There are some really amazing layouts in there!

Extra love goes out to Digital Freebies today because I was one of the winners in their "Why I Scrap" contest!I received 2nd place in the 12x12 category and Grand Prize in the Hybrid category! Hooray for me!

Look What I Did!!

OK...so I'm not so good at this blog thing. I get busy, I forget to log in and write. I also, you'll notice, fail to share any freebies. But enough of my shortcomings. Let me show you what I did tonight:

This was inspired by a layout that gavins mom (Tiffany) did at Digital Freebies. I had never thought about doing an animated layout before, but it's pretty cool, huh? Check out Tiffany's LO here. Thanks for the inspiration!!

[Credits for the kit I used go to Knetfeder's Kits "Recycling the Rainbow", which you can see here. The font for the title is Painty Paint, which can be found on dafont.com]

Not bad for my first try, if I do say so myself!! I'd love to hear what you all think, so please leave a comment!

Hope you'll all leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Self-Proclaimed Procrastinator

For years I've been trying to figure out just what exactly my problem is with putting things off! Am I lazy? Do I foolishly believe that I have all the time in the world? Am I the world's most forgetful 32-yr-old? The answer is a respounding yes. Yes to all 3 questions. So what do I do with my time...the time I'm supposed to be spending designing, doing the monthly finances, planning next week's menu (which I really never HAVE actually done.I always SAY I will and I really do intend to do it...someday!), catching up on my son's journal (I am now closing in on 7 months behind on it!), and completing his baby album? Well, no one really knows for sure what I do with that time. I have a sneaky suspicion that I spend a great deal of it surfing the web and completing layouts for challenges. While I love to do the challenges and receive the posting prizes, I really do need to focus more on other things--chores, hobbies, family. My husband is getting fed up with all the time I spend on the computer. I keep telling him that once I get this designing thing off the ground and going, he'll be glad I'm spending so much time on it. Just wait until that extra cash comes rolling in! Ha ha...OK maybe "rolling" is not the term to use, but it really would be nice to make a little extra on something I spend so much time doing anyway!

With all that said, I'm close to getting a few more patterned papers and a couple elements ready. Since I'm pretty much caught up with the challenges, I should be able to post previews by next weekend! Unless, of course, I get caught up in another project!

First Set of Patterned Papers

So, I'm sure you've noticed that I failed to get anything ready to share as freebies. Are you surprised? Because I'm not. But it's actually not because I've been procrastinating; it's because I've been incredibly busy. First of all, Digital Scrapbooking Day!! There were WAY too many fun challenges and awesome sales to worry about anything else! And I've been focusing a lot on playing with my son lately and I've put in a few extra hours at work, as well. I did mange, however, to produce some patterned papers for my kit. Now, I don't know if I'll offer ALL of these if I ever get a chance to start selling my kits, but I wanted to try all sorts of colors so I had plenty to choose from once I get around to assembling my final pieces. Here's the preview:

Once again, I'm going to promise you that I will at least think about preparing all these items for freebies. LOL Sooner or later, you know it's gonna get done!

Solid Papers

Well, I've finally settled (I think) on a color scheme for my first digital kit, and I've created some solid papers to get me going. Here's the preview:

I hope the colors remind some of you (at least one of you!??) of a peacock. They're not supposed to be just like a peacock...just reminiscent of one. Did I succeed in that? I hope so!

I'm still not giving away too much about the future completed kit because who knows? it might change as I go along. But now you know it's loosely based on the colors of a peacock. I still have the patterned papers to ponder and the elements to worry over. I think for my first kit, I might have to do real simple elements. Either that or I'll have to finally break down and purchase some Commercial Use products and templates. I'm stubborn, though! I want to do it all on my own!!

Please leave me some comments and let me know whether or not I'm still on the right track here. I think this weekend, in honor of Digital Scrapbooking Day tomorrow, I'll finally get these papers and the alpha ready for a zip file that I can then share with all of you. So check back soon to see if I've really done what I said or if I'm still procrastinating!! lol