Coming Changes to Are We There Yet?

To all the readers and writers out there in the blog-o-sphere, I've been exploring options for revamping Are We There Yet? Why I write is important in the design I choose for this blog, so I hired a graphics design artist who has been phenomenal in working with me to help improve upon my theme as well as reveal a little about me in the process.

I sought a professional because the current signature graphic of my name is lame and amateurish, but hey, I'm no graphics designer. And yes, the pen would indicate writing at some level, but really? You would think I could have come up with something a little more suited to a theme of making progress.

Writing is instrumental in revealing the soul of an author, and as such, my soul should be splattered across the header of this blog, not some flamboyant scribbling from a ballpoint pen which screams "pink ego." Besides, I don't write with a pen, I type on a keyboard! But, Diane, you're being a bit hard on yourself.

I'll just slap myself with a wet noodle. Soon I will be unveiling a fresh look and feel. With the new blog design, I will share a short piece of fiction to accompany the launch. I hope you will enjoy both, the graphic and the story. See you soon!

When was the last time you felt the need to revamp your little writing nook out here in the blog-o-sphere, and how drastic a change did you make?



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Google Store Addition - My New App

My first app!

So I haven't posted anything in over a week. Blasphemous, I know! I've been busy at work and so much is going on these days I feel like I can't accomplish anything. Changes at work and a little side action (if you know what I mean). That means I'm learning new stuff! Get your minds out of the gutter.

Much of my evenings has been dedicated to learning how to use the tools needed to build mobile apps. I started out making changes for an organization and once I updated theirs successfully, the bug hit me. I needed an app to compile all my art and social outlets together. What writer wouldn't want something like that, huh? Their own portfolio portal! Was that redundant?

Every evening at exactly 7:00, I would shimmy up to my iMac and plug away at my design. It's not the bestest and greatest I'm sure, but it's MINE. Kind of like the draft manuscript that you just finished. You know the feeling, you just have to publish it right away, it's just that awesome. Shameless to say, I did just that.

So, only my blog readers know about this link and I only have an Android version published. I have an iPhone distribution ready, but haven't had a successful upload into the Apple Store just yet. Coming soon.

A peek at my fashion web template

Be kind. Please use the app and give me feedback. Even if you only download it to test it out and never use it again. I'm sure to improve. If it totally sucks, I need to know this too! Just as if in a writing critique group, let me have it. I will update and make it better, I promise.

Notables, as in Diane Carlisle notable projects. I take checks. No seriously, it's FREE! But if you want a website, I have to charge for that. I'm completely affordable. The app has a "get a quote" form.

P.S. I'm willing to hire a graphics artist to redo my header on the app. Any takers? I know it sucks. Use my app contact form and shoot me an estimate.



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More Things To Do In Photoshop

I've been having too much fun with my Photoshop classes. The reality is, I have to complete this course in 30 days because that's how long I get to keep the CS6 Photoshop free trial version. I'm taking notes, plenty of notes! Here's my latest transformation. I hope you like it.

I had to add a background texture, change her hair color and dress color, and I had to put a bit of glow on her skin to make her even more beeeautiful!

The picture below is the result of merging two photos and adding contrast to give it some cinematic lighting effects. 

The next class, which I started today, is CS6 Dreamweaver. It's a pretty easy application to learn if you've had the opportunity to work with CSS, HTML and Photoshop. If I hadn't taken Photoshop first, I would be lost in this class. I'll admit, I'm a coder first, a designer second. This is tedious work, so unless you're serious about learning the features, you may find yourself giving up on it. But don't!

With each lesson, things get easier and easier. Just like with anything new you learn, it is going to take practice. Three hours into Dreamweaver, I was ready to call it quits. Then my inner critic said, "Right, quit because real developers write java and client/server functionality. Are you going to let a few pixels and property settings kick your ass?" You see where this is going, right?

Well, I continued on with my lessons, and I have to say I'm glad I didn't give up. Tim is going to buy me the full Adobe CS6 when I'm done.

My next gift to myself...

Beautiful, isn't she?

My First Photoshop Projects

We've been doing a lot of traveling lately, so I thought I'd share some of what I've been doing on my Christmas break. These are images I created in my online Photoshop class. Tim purchased the course for me as a Christmas gift.

I've always enjoyed working with photography and digital images, even though I don't get an opportunity to do so as much anymore. I'm more involved in my writing these days, so this bit of distraction has been a lot of fun.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed creating them. Remember though, I'm a newbie and have never used Photoshop in my life, so when I tell you this class is easy, I would know. You can register for any number of courses. They are all video based. What better way to teach than to show, right?

This is what I created in my first lesson. The lesson provides instruction on how to create shapes and move things around. I used a few different layers to create this image. The background was provided, I didn't do that part. This is a bit embarrassing to look at. It's like the equivalent of writing program code which prints out "hello world".

The second lesson on changing eye color was a little tricky, but this is where you start to duplicate some instructions and things start to sink in. I think I want to change my eyes to red! Mwahahaha.

I had to concentrate a little more in this third lesson, because more Photoshop features were introduced. The videos are perfect for this sort of learning, because if the video gets ahead of you, you can rewind it!

Transfixing a tattoo on a person was the easiest project so far. Doesn't it look real?

This project had me working with textures. I had no idea you could do these things in Photoshop. I'm so excited about learning Photoshop right now.

This project was a bit weird, but fun. My husband asked me why I created a winged elephant standing in nuclear waste. Okay, it wasn't my idea to put these elements together. It was part of the course materials.

Anyway, this has been part one in sharing my Photoshop projects with you. I'm looking forward to sharing more!