WHAT A MESS!!!

Hello. I wasn't going to blog today but I thought maybe I should since I probably won't be doing it very often from now on and I also wanted to give you an update on my new project. I have started reorganizing my home. Sort of like spring cleaning and decorating. I've taken out 3 garbage bags full of junk! And I'm still not close to being done! How in the world did I get my home full of all this garbage? I am moving my youngest upstairs with my daughter and I'm turning his current room into my office/photography/art/craft room. My tiny studio! I've been throwing things away, rearranging, cleaning out the closets, gosh, so many things at once! I tend to do that a lot. I get all these ideas and I just want to tackle them all at once and I want them finished all in a day-which-it's NOT happening! At least not when it comes to redecorating your home! I got some great ideas though. Since money has been tight around this house I'm planning to refurnish and spray paint some stuff I had up in a storage closet. Things that I hadn't seen in years 'till yesterday. I'm so excited. I have a little bit of vintage stuff and probably planning to pay the thrift store a visit soon. I'm sure I'll find other things to add to the art room! I'm also starting to paint tomorrow, alone, since hubby has to work (again!). I'm not waiting for him anymore. I'm doing it by myself. Tired of waiting for people to help me.
Then I'm moving my way up, room by room until the entire house is painted. My house consists of 4 1/2 bedrooms, living room, dinning room, kitchen, bathroom, basement (which is the laundry room, and where the kids play, watch tv, play games, etc... in other words is the messiest room in the house!). I don't know if I could wait until we paint some of these rooms before we get to my craft room.... I can't wait to see it all put together! I think I'll skip some rooms and go for mine next after I'm done with the kitchen (wink), hehehe.
Here's a small tour of the chaos that's going on in these two rooms:

This is the attic. My daughter's room and soon to be my son's room. I'm standing in my son's side of the room facing towards my daughter's side of the room.

My son's soon to be space. We need to get him a bed also. He's still using a small one, crib size. The sewing machine is moving in my craft room, even if I don't know how to sew yet.


Here I'm on the opposite side of the room facing my son's small soon to be room. (My son was watching Toy Story and fell asleep in my daughter's bed. lol.)

This is my daughter's side of the room. This small desk, which I love, is finding a new space in my art room. I will be painting it along with the chair.

Another corner of my daughter's side.

Ok. And this. My friends, is my future all-in-one room. Of course the furniture is moving upstairs to the attic. It's my son's furniture. Omigosh, I'm so excited!

Another view of the mess! lol.

Another corner of the room. The baby paper border has to go! Lol.

I feel like I'm moving to another house! That's how crazy it's in this house. Maybe I'll show you some before and after pictures of the kitchen this weekend. If you want to see a few more detailed pictures go here.

In other note, I haven't done any layouts, or journaling or anything artsy for that matter for like 2 days now. I have to try to fit it into the chaos somehow. Is going to be hard for me because I can't function when I'm in the middle of this mess. I like to work in a clean, organized space. I feel like scrapping. I feel like drawing, painting! But right now I have to finish making room for my son's new space and my new art room (sigh)! Can't wait! Thanks for reading. Enjoy your weekend!

What's new?

Nothing much really! I spend this long weekend at home with my DH and kiddos. We usually go to see the fireworks but this year we decided to stay home except for my daughter which she went out with my niece to their friends party/barbecue/fireworks (all in one). On Saturday we went to the Natural History museum with the boys. They had a blast! They were very excited about the dinosaurs most of all.






After that we decided to stop by the Library. I got some great craft books which I've been meaning to get. I don't usually do crafts, but I have been getting into these "crafty" moods lately. I 'm willing to give anything a try so I got some craft books. I think I'm going to start with felt. I have tons of felt from when I used to do daycare which were stored in the basement. Last week I brought them upstairs just so that I can see what colors I had and get them organized. Anyhow, I spend my weekend creating this mini book. My first one ever! Let me tell you that these are so much fun to do! Sorry about the pictures again... bad camera, low lighting, etc...





A pastor was giving a class about the four types of temperaments the other day and I had also read a couple of books about the different types of temperaments (Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic, and Melancholic). Analyzing them I came to the conclusion that my type of temperament is Melancholic, I would say that 90% is Melancholic and the other 10% has a little of the other three. Anyway, I did this mini book about the good things about this type of temperament and a few "not so good" things that I have which come with the package of having this type of temperament, lol. I mostly wanted to focus on the good things and not so much on the bad...lol. You can see more pictures here. The book still needs more journaling, embellishments and a last photo for the "Persistent" page.

I got so many things I want to do before starting next school semester. Like painting my kitchen, living room, basement, and my son's bedroom. I also need to redecorate my kitchen after it gets painted. Today I will be stopping by HomeDepot to get the paint and hopefully start sometime this week with the kitchen. Okay guys thanks for reading. Have a nice day.

Happy Independence Day!

Have a safe and fun 4th of July!

Click on the image to see it bigger.

What is Creativity?

In simple terms we can say that it is having ideas or thoughts differently presented. Creativity is gathering or picturing a thought (or an emotion) and allowing it to be expressed in many forms. Creativity is how our inner selves and mind envisions an idea or concept. It is the act of making something either with an existing idea or a completely new idea. Through creativity, an individual can freely interpret and express new things and old differently. It is rearranging things we know and making them look as new. It is also visualizing this idea in certain ways different from the common everyday things. Creativity can be described in many ways but, the final result is very simple—originality!

I believe that through art God has allowed us to see the inner beauty of many things....things that are not visible to the eye but, with the soul and spirit....a gift given to humankind! I believe that through art God reveals His Spirit to us! I love it!

I've been reading The Creative Call and trying to do the exercises that the author suggests daily. I'm only up to exercise 3, but I'm feeling refreshed and renewed through this book's insights. I have also been writing daily on my day book (suggested by the author), writing every single thought and ideas that crosses my mind. I am trying to keep up with every single thing she suggests because I believe that I have talents that have been hidden for so many years and I want to become the artist, the person God wants me to be. I really recommend this book if you are believer in God's purposes for your life. Whatever your call may be, musician, writer, painter, photographer, designer, sculpture, dancer, whatever your talents may be...., this book can help you set a foundation so that you can become the person you were intended to be from the get-go.

Art journal doodles: last night I was trying to organize myself with the challenges I want to be part of.

Another layout that was waiting since last month to be done. Sorry about the images' quality. Shot in low lighting.

And lastly, photos of corners of my home! Thanks for stopping by.

The CatWalk!

What a wonderful surprise when my scrap sis/online friend Julie told me that one of my layouts was chosen today for the catwalk on SisScrapInStyle. I didn't even know about this election they have going on every Tuesday! I feel so happy, they really made my day! Wow! Thanks Jo-Ann for choosing my Layout, (sigh.....deep breath).

New subject: I am now on a mission, a new project, a new challenge. Scrap Your Day Project with Shimelle! Basically it consists of taking photographs all through the day on the 25th of each month and then making a scrapbook layout out of it, following a few guidelines.You can read all about it here. I hope I'm not too late to prepare my pages today. I'll manage to do them today, I think, I hope! lol.

That's it for today, I can't write too much because I have some scrapping to do! Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!

This Weekend...

Saturday I went to my niece's T-ball practice and my son also wanted to join T-Ball and fortunately, they had room for him so he'll be starting T-Ball practice this coming week. He's excited about that!


Nothing much besides going to the park with my son and my niece's T-Ball practice happened on Saturday so I got scrapping later in the afternoon.

I had this piece of lace at home that I cut up into squares and decided to try out a piece on this page.





I'm beginning to try out many things and beginning to see things such as, tickets, price tags, paper and candy wrappings, jar wrappers, cereal boxes and just about anything in a new way. I'm starting to see unusual, odd stuff, and sometimes garbage in useful, recycled ways for my journals and scraps. I feel I'm developing an eye for these odd things and when I see these either in the floor, supermarkets, stores, I wonder how I could use them in my next pages!


Anyways, yesterday was my birthday! It didn't start out very nice but as the day progressed I began feeling much better. And it had nothing to do with me turning older, seriously... I thought my kids and hubby had forgotten about it but later that evening they had a surprise cake for me when I got home from church. I don't know what it is about me but I've always felt a little melancholic when is my birthday. And I promise it has nothing to do with me turning older. For me, each year is a year of new promises, new dreams and hopes. A new year to develop in a personal level, to reflect and to grow wiser. A new day to be happy and thankful for all the blessings and wonderful things that have come along with the years.

Yes, there's also many not so great things that come to us every year like, heart breaks, discouragements, tears, fears, but there's also many wonderful things in our lives to be thankful for and happy about. The joy of life, the opportunities we get everyday to grow, become better human beings, to live, to be inspired, to be free, to love, to be loved, to dream big and to remember that our life is a journey and many wonderful things awaits for us in the future!
I feel great and honestly I don't feel this old! lol... I have a young spirit. Somehow I'm always with the younger crowd not intentionally, though, lol, my daughter hates that! lol! You know? Turning 35 is not that bad, it actually feels good!

One last thing I would like to share with you guys is that I will be opening a photo blog very soon. I will be blogging only my photography there. I'm just waiting to get my camera. I'm getting so desperate now! Really! I want my camera so bad.... but can't afford it yet. Soon though, I hope! He he he. I have so many ideas in mind already. I can't wait to get to them. But anyway, going back to the photo blog, I'll keep you posted on that later on. Just wanted to give you a heads up. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read!

Nothing Much...

Nothing much going on around here today, other than a chilly day, it sort of feels like an autumn day when you look outside. Weird temperature! Anyways, so I've been home doing nothing much other than sitting in front of this glowing screen reading some blogs, tutorials, and playing around with photoshop. There's some great tutorial here. Go check them out.

Original Photo

With Cross Processing Technique:

and then a texture on top of that!

Here's a really sweet layout I did last night. Every time I look at these photos I just smile. I love seeing the love these two have for each other! I never knew the maternal side of my daughter was so strong. She's going to be a great loving mom one day!


The journaling says: When I heard my mom was going to have another baby I wasn't very thrilled about. I really don't like babies that much. When he was born it was okay, I guess...but as time passed by I realized what a blessing my baby brother was. Now, I think I love him more than anything in this world. I'll do anything for him. He even bosses me around and I really don't care... I'll do anything for my baby brother! We watch movies together, we sleep together, we eat together, we play together and we act silly together! I love my baby brother, I want to adopt him, too. I think I have enough experience now, and I don't care if he bosses me around or I become his slave! I love him and that's all it counts!

Okay my peeps, have a nice day (or whatever is left of it)!

Humid, hot and sticky...that's the weather right now! I can't wait to go to Splash Zone on Wednesday. Summer has finally kicked in. On Monday we might be going to the zoo also. Oh yeah, and my oldest daughter, my princess, is turning 16! Sweet 16!

She is such a nice kid. I'm blessed to have her as my daughter, really, I am! She's not a typical rebel teen-ager, she's actually very obedient, respectful and homey. She loves being at home. I usually always have to tell her to go out with friends or to hang out with kids her age but, she's just not that type of a person. As long as she has her t.v and her little brother next to her, she's fine! Lol... I gotta love her!

Here's an old journal page I had forgotten to upload. I'm not very pleased with it and that's just because I had something else in mind when I started with this page but this is what my hands turned it around to be somehow. I guess is OKAY, lol.


Today I worked on these two layouts. I still think digital is way much easier right now. This was fun to do but since I don't have enough tools to work with it just makes it a little harder for me to come up with great, top layouts. But keeping memories and having fun is what's this is all about anyways, right?



Just wanted to stop by also to wish all the male parents a wonderful Father's Day tomorrow. You guys are the best! Have a nice weekend everybody!

Workshop

Tri-C co-sponsored with Adobe and AIGA a Dreamweaver workshop this morning and I wasn't too sure if I was going to go or not when two of my professors send me the email but last night I decided that maybe this could be an opportunity for me to learn about Dreamweaver since I'll be taking a class on it in the fall. And I must confess I along with Al, my HTML teacher, weren't too impressed by it. Really. It was a nice introduction to the program at least for me since I don't know anything about it, but I did find myself daydreaming the second half of the workshop. I had to tell my mind to come back to earth a few times! I really don't know what it was but, I didn't find it that interesting like I was expecting. I think my fall class is probably going to be much more interesting. Maybe is the fact that I learn by doing and trying things out and I'd rather listen and then do, or maybe the guy was a little boring! Lol! Who knows...

Moving on with photography, last night I spend quite a deal with a few of my black and white prints. I took photos of them, uploaded them to the MAC, then edited them in photoshop a bit to make them look like the real thing as possible and then uploaded them onto my flickr account. I hope you have the time to go and check them out. Of course nothing is better than the real thing but, at least you get a bit of them. Go check'em out if you have any time and please leave me any comments with your opinions and/or feedback. Thanks, that's all for now enjoy your day!



Here's Jazmine and Dariel having fun with Bob and Larry paper masks I found in a box while cleaning the attic yesterday. These were for Dariel's first birthday. For his One year birthday party the theme was "Veggie Tales". I just can't believe I had saved these and other things as well like the cups, plates, balloons and other things. I also found a box full of his baby clothes. Brand new, hardly used infant clothes! Only if you're a mom you can identify with that feeling, I even found myself smelling his clothing (which by the way, still smelled like my baby boy) and reliving those unforgettable moments! Now he's five. Am I getting old or what? Or maybe I want another baby? NOT!!! Is funny because Jazmine tells me I should have another baby but the thought just scares me a little. Maybe when I'm done with school and other plans we have get accomplished, then maybe.... I'll think about it then. Let's just leave it at that. Hehehe.

Have a wonderful evening my faithful readers, lol

Private Screening

Okay so yesterday I went to the private screening website to check out if they had already posted this year's work and they had. The problem was I only saw my photograph but did not see my animation. So apparently I found out that they had changed the title of my animation! Not only that, but I realized that they misspelled my first name! I just wondered, who in the world did the editing on this page? They just changed the title to what they thought was better than mine? Luckily, the new name is titled "The Apology" which I think fits the animation but, my name being misspelled is not acceptable! Lol, I mean really... Two big mistakes like that shows they are not being careful when editing information and made me wonder if they did the same to other students. Anyways, here's the link. Click on the "media" tab and then look for the "The Apology". The photograph I submitted doesn't look as good as the actual print which by the way was directly manipulated in the dark room. I had to scan the negatives and tweak it here and there in photoshop. I think the real print is way much better. I'm thinking of taking an actual picture of it and the other black and white photos I have in my portfolio and post some up soon. To view my photograph go to the photography tab and the year 2008, click on the 4th thumbnail. Sorry, don't mean to give so many specifics but there's no direct link to my work. Go check it out! Thanks and 'till later!

Fly Away
by Diana Cornielle Copyrighted 2008

Busy, Fun Day

Today has been a busy one. This morning I spend a few hours with my youngest at his "Fun Day" in school. It's usually done every year. The kids spend the day outside with their parents and teachers painting, playing, dancing, playing games and much more. Here's a couple of pictures I managed to take of him. He doesn't like for me take him any pictures, which for me is a real challenge. As a matter of fact, none of my kids like me to photograph them! Great! As a photographer this is very stressful. I hope they appreciate it later in their adulthood years!

Later, after spending the morning and some of the afternoon outside with my little one, I went to school to enroll him for kindergarten. The first time when I went I realized I had left his birth certificate at home so I had to go back to get it and back to the school to complete the enrollment and fill out the paper work. I can't believe he's already going to "big kid school". I sometimes miss my little baby boy.. :( They grow really fast, it seems like he was two the other day...Now he's a "big kid".

When I came back I saw there was a package on my front porch. A box with these goodies. I had placed an order of some art materials I needed for my art journal. After watching Kira's wonderful supply list video I decided I needed few things I still didn't have so I found these at Blick's Art Materials The prices they had weren't bad and they had great deals. Didn't spend much this time. Thanks Kira! I can't wait to start using these.

In a bit I'm off to church so with that said, I'll leave you all. Thanks for peeking!