Playhouse to Clubhouse

We got a Costco playset in April, which has kept my kids outside most of the summer. I had this idea that I was going to make it more of a “clubhouse” by making curtains for it.

Fast forward to yesterday (aka 4 months later). I picked up Amanda’s red polka dot laminate at Riley Blake’s warehouse. I was so excited that I stayed up late into the night to pound grommets into the curtains (much harder than I anticipated). I’m hoping the laminate holds up okay outside. I’ll probably pull the curtains down before winter and bring them inside for a good washing.

I might have given in and decided it was time to just buy a drill (instead of borrowing the neighbor’s) to install the curtain rods. Maybe I was tired of digging in someone else’s garage. Or maybe I decided that a girl just needs a drill of her own. The three of us headed to Home Depot this afternoon to get some hardware for installing the Tacksam Curtain rod sets from Ikea ($3.99 a rod).

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Now Siri can sell in her “shop” better than ever. Although she has informed me that they will still be making potions down there (but now they can close the curtains so that the non-witches will not steal the recipes).

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It’s Been A Week

I think it’s been a week at least since I have blogged. I’m too lazy to go back and check the front page to see how long it has been. Or too tired. Which is ironic since my kids got a sleepover with cousins last night and are getting a sleepover with grandma tonight all for the sake of work. How I can be so tired seems ridiculous given that I’m getting so much help at the moment!

Mostly, I have been working on Art of Digital Design 2. While the class has been fully written and all the images drawn, it’s the videos that have been time consuming. And while students don’t make the exact paper set I make in class (the class is technique and theory based), I couldn’t help but show you what I’ve been up to. For those of you taking the class, get excited! (Or I’ll just get excited for you since I know what you will be up to!)

I’m going to keep plugging away at these videos!

In fabric news, I’m told that my three new lines are on route. My quarterly newsletter hasn’t gone out because we have been holding out for those lines! So June-July won’t get to you until August.

That’s the way we are rollin’ these days.

And by the way, WHERE is summer going? August is a couple of days away and I can feel myself going into shock. Hoping I can squeeze in a couple of visits to the pool and zoo this coming month.

Hugs-Carina

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Typography

I’ve been knee-deep in writing Art of Digital Design II. That means wading through my library of typography books. Trying to pick out the essentials for a single lesson (when I usually teach an entire semester) is certainly a challenge.

In the midst of writing last night, I popped over to my friend Melissa Esplin’s blog and noticed that she had an awesome post on type. It’s very fun! She also references this post on type from Goodlookcookbook. Type-nerdiness! It warms my heart!

Here’s my addition to their lists—my personal favorites that I wish I saw more of!

Mrs. Eaves

Affair

Beton Light

Rockwell Condensed

Univers

Taffy

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Summertime Fun

Some of the things we have been up to:

The day before Fourth of July at Grandma Mary’s for dinner and sparklers

Bike parade and backyard birthday party

All braided up for a hike up to Silver Lake

This manly guy wearing a pink backpack.

And the adventure to get out of the canyon (we saw three moose in total on the way out!)

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Carina Gardner Sewing Pattern Giveaway at the Boutique Cafe

At Quilt Market this last May I had the opportunity to visit with Daria at the Boutique Café. She has the interview up and a giveaway of one my sewing patterns. You’ll notice I make a big announcement about where my fabric is going at the end of the interview (did you catch it?). We will officially announce and show you some yummy samples of the new fabric line in our next newsletter.

Speaking of sewing patterns, I’m in the middle of finishing up two more patterns! I hope to have them finished up by the end of the month (waiting on my Pinfeathers, Dress Up, and Baby Safari to arrive to finish them up!). I can’t wait to show you! So back to the sewing machine for me!

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Le Petite Paperie Digital Scrapbooking Collection

Today is the debut of my July collection Le Petite Paperie at Jessica Sprague.com. I feel like this is a line that sort of takes me back to my roots—super sophisticated, super grungy, and easy-to-work with.

(Layout by Susan Haglund)

I’m excited for you to see this collection revealed every week the rest of this month! Check out the release sale of 25% off on Mondays. Enjoy!

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Art of Digital Design 2

I’m so excited to finally announce my new class for 2011! Art of Digital Design 2 is my online advanced course on digital scrapbooking design. It starts August 22nd and runs 5 weeks.

I’m so excited to get to teach an advanced course like this at JessicaSprague.com. This is not a class for the faint-of-heart because we design like MAD and I cram as much as I possibly can into these 5 weeks. You know, like vocabulary, rules to design by, design concepts, critiques, smart financial ways to build designs, marketing strategies, making the transition to paper and fabric, dealing with taxes, making your workflow faster, and all of my personal tips for designing in the digi world.

For me, this class is the merging of practical know-how and design theory. Once you leave this class you should be able to TALK and THINK like a designer. One of the things I find in the design world is that even really amazing designers who haven’t had training don’t have the vocabulary to discuss or market their designs.

This class is instructor led with 5 assignments (1 a week) and 5 critiques (verbal and written). I’ve been asked when this class will be offered again, and the answer is, I simply don’t know. I doubt we would run the class in 2012, but I think we would run the class again in 2013. I know that seems like a big break, but we have a lot of crazy, wonderful things planned for 2012 (yes, I know it is still only 2011, but we are working that far in advance these days).

If you want to read more about this class, please check it out here. The class syllabus will be available to registered students on August 1st.

Hugs! Carina

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Pinterest-My New Favorite Site

I am new to Pinterest, but I’m already a big fan. Why do I love it? It’s like a virtual board for lots of great inspiration. Instead of spending all my time tearing out pages from my magazines, I can simply “pin” up my favorite inspirational pictures. The best part? It keeps track of the link so I can go back and remember where I got the idea.

It’s also the most gorgeous, visually-fun experience. I find myself meandering on friend’s boards and checking out all the goodies that others have found.

Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before (either that or I am sorely behind the times). Feel free to “pin” with me by following me here.

Hugs!Carina

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Pulled Back

Last week I went to a party and decided that I might as well try throwing my hair up.

Confession: I hate doing my own hair. I purposely have long hair so I can pull it into a ponytail everyday if I need to. I love doing Siri and Felicity’s hair (when they let me which isn’t very often).

This took five minutes and while it’s maybe not the most sleek updo, it worked for me. Just start halfway down your hair with a loose french braid. As you get a few braids down just start twisting it and tucking it underneath (super scientific, I know). I used 5 or 6 large bobby pins and I was done.

I hope everyone enjoyed ths Bloghop this last weekend! It was fun to see all the other designer’s goodies and all the fun stuff they made! I was adoring all the fun hybrid projects (I’m a sucker for those) by the CT team!

Now, I’m looking forward to 4th of July. I think we will be heading to Huntsville, UT again for our smalltown firework show. We took up the tradition after moving to Utah and missing our Stillwater, MN Fourth of July.

Do you have any great plans for this weekend or the 4th?

Hugs! Carina

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This is the 10th Stop on the Jessica Sprague Bloghop Freebie!

Thanks for making it to my stop on the Jessica Sprague Birthday Party Bloghop! Just click on the image below to get your freebie for me that coordinates with all the other designers at JS!

If you have stopped here first, you can find the beginning of this blog hop at Jessica’s blog.

Be sure and check out the awesome sale going on including 35% off all the digi shops and 20% off the classes.

Once you’ve gotten your freebie here, move on to STOP #11.

THIS FREEBIE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. THIS WILL BE IN THE JS SHOP JULY 11, 2011.

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June Salt Lake City Shop Hop

If you are in the Salt Lake area, you should check out the Wasatch Front Shop Hop going on this weekend. Fourteen shops (listed below) are participating and it’s a total blast!  I had a chance to drop by Mormon Handicraft over by Fort Union Blvd. on Wednesday to check out their display of my sewing patterns. Thought I’d take a moment to share some quick photos I took!

It makes me so happy!:)

All the shops participating have their shops decorated with the theme “The Greatest Quilt I Ever Read.” Here are the shops participating the Wasatch Front Shop Hop:

American Quilting (Orem), Mormon Handicraft (Midvale), Sew Sweet (Tooele), Broadbents (Lehi), Pin Needles (West Jordan), Stitching Corner (Orem), Corn Wagon Quilt Co. (Springville), Piper’s Quilts and Comforts (Salt Lake City), Thimbles and Threads (Draper), Elaine’s Quilt Block (Cottonwood Heights), Quilter’s Haven (Bountiful), Village Dry Goods (Brigham City), Quilts Etc. (Sandy), and Whimsy Cottage (Holladay).

I believe the shop hop runs from June 15th-18th. Hope you get a chance to drop by one of these wonderful shops!

XOXO-Carina

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Huge Jessica Sprague Sale!

JessicaSprague.com is FOUR! To celebrate, they’re throwing a HUGE Birthday Bash & Summer Sale. From June 13-26, you can save 20% off of every self-paced class (think Illustrator, hehe), and 35% off of ALL digital products. In addition, grab all 27 episodes of Jessica’s amazing Photoshop Friday tutorials for just $1 each before they’re retired on June 26! As part of the celebration, starting on June 24, you can participate in an incredible 47-person blog hop (including a great freebie from me!), picking up a sweet digital freebie at each stop! Best of all, on June 26 Jessica will be making a special announcement of a brand new class coming up in July. We only put our site on sale two times a year, so don’t miss out on this GREAT savings opportunity! For all the info on the Summer Sale, Photoshop Fridays, blog hop, and the new class, just click here!

Off to finish off my new pattern! Be in next week with my freebie!

Hugs! Carina

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A Little More Conversation

I never get to post on my blog as much as I’d like to. That’s sad, because there are always so many fun things humming along in the studio! Sooooo, my amazing assistant Susan and I decided it might be fun for you to check out some of our projects in process. We’ll both be posting, but when I’m all tied up, she’ll be able to give you some of 411.

Check out her blog at http://onesquirrelonawire.blogspot.com/. She’s a photographer, which makes her site all the more fun! (This one is of my pushing Siri on our neighbor’s tree swing).

Enjoy!

Carina

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A Bit Ruffled

…in the best way possible of course! Susan says I get bonus points for the pom poms on top (They are kind of hard to see on the top of the lamp in these photos).

This lamp shade is a breeze to make. I think I got the shade from IKEA (a couple of years ago) and the lamp from a consignment shop. It takes two 5″ x 43″ strips of fabrics to make each ruffle (I have 5 ruffles here using my Love Nest™ fabrics). Hot glue ruffles, pom poms, and a ribbon on top and you are done. How easy was that? Into my girl’s room it goes!

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