COURSES Archives

Learn to Be A Designer: Illustrator Type on a Path Tutorial

Classes, COURSES, Tutorials, Video / carina

I send out links to my new tutorials and free pdfs to my Courses VIP Group! To join my VIP group for free, go here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY. I regularly RESEND files so be sure to sign up so that you are getting all my free tutorials!

TUTORIAL/LIVE VIDEO SCHEDULE

Tuesdays Silhouette Projects 10am MST
instagram @carinagardnerpapercrafts
facebook https://www.facebook.com/carina.gardner.designs/

Tuesdays MiniLou 10:30am MST
instagram @miniloukids
facebook https://www.facebook.com/miniloukids/

Wednesdays Learn to Design Videos
Youtube only

Thursdays Fabric Projects 10am MST
instagram @carinagardner
facebook https://www.facebook.com/carina.gardner.designs/

Learn to Be A Designer: Illustrator Type on a Path Tutorial Read More »

Learn to Be A Designer: Illustrator Equal Triangle Tutorial

COURSES, Tutorials, Video / carina

TUTORIAL/LIVE VIDEO SCHEDULE

Tuesdays Silhouette Projects 10am MST
instagram @carinagardnerpapercrafts
facebook https://www.facebook.com/carina.gardner.designs/

Tuesdays MiniLou 10:30am MST
instagram @miniloukids
facebook https://www.facebook.com/miniloukids/

Wednesdays Learn to Design Videos
Youtube only

Thursdays Fabric Projects 10am MST
instagram @carinagardner
facebook https://www.facebook.com/carina.gardner.designs/

Learn to Be A Designer: Illustrator Equal Triangle Tutorial Read More »

Illustrator Academy is Open for Registration

Classes / carina

quickly drew a design for a scrapbooking company? Or click-click-click design a birthday card for your daughter’s party? Or click-click-click drew artwork for a fabric design? And that was just the start…

Imagine how confident and proud you (and your family members) could be of your creative projects or moneymaking side hustle?

All it takes to become that confident designer is getting the education you need to make all those clicks become reality. That’s why I created Illustrator Academy.

Illustrator Academy is your gateway to THAT designer life. Drawing in Illustrator is the CORE skill you need to make your design dreams a reality.

I am finally opening up Illustrator Academy. Registration will end March 24. The best part? You have immediate access to the course once you register!

Learn more about this course here: https://www.carinagardnercourses.com/illustratoracademy

Illustrator Academy is Open for Registration Read More »

2020 Planner is Available for just $1

Planner / carina

You guys know I’m a crazy person when it comes to my planner. So here it is, my 2020 planner. So many of you asked me to make it available so I did…for $1.:) Here it is in the shop – https://carinagardnershop.myshopify.com/collections/planners/products/2020-planner-download.

The best part is you can download it anytime of the year and use it by quarter. So maybe you decide you hate your current planner and want to try this one? Build just a Quarter 2 Planner (that’s what I did for myself).

This video explaining it was done during my Silhouette Live Video (Live video times below).

Tuesdays Silhouette Projects 10am MST
instagram @carinagardnerpapercrafts
facebook https://www.facebook.com/carina.gardner.designs/

Tuesdays MiniLou 11am MST
instagram @miniloukids
facebook https://www.facebook.com/miniloukids/

Thursdays Fabric Projects 10am MST
instagram @carinagardner
facebook https://www.facebook.com/carina.gardner.designs/

2020 Planner is Available for just $1 Read More »

Silhouette Designer Master Class is Available NOW!

Classes / carina

I’m so excited about this new class where I’ll be spilling my secrets as a Silhouette Designer! Registration is NOW open and will be open until December 17th! This would make a great Christmas present to yourself or someone who has been dreaming of putting their designs into paper form! Visit the Silhouette Designer Master Class page to watch a video on what we will be doing and checking out ALL THE FUN things going on in this class!

XOXO,

Carina

Silhouette Designer Master Class is Available NOW! Read More »

My New Course Website is HERE!

Classes / carina

You may have noticed a refreshing change to my website. First of all, all new pictures and a cleaner designer. Second, I have added COURSES! I’m so excited about the new platform I am using for my courses!

I have a free class available (which I plan on always making available) called Introduction to Illustrator. It will help you see how the backend is set up and how easy it is to access courses. Go try it for free here.

Next up, registration is open for just 2 WEEKS for my new Silhouette Designer Master Class. I am SOOO excited to teach this class! All the info for it can be found here!

Hope to see you all there!

XOXO,

Carina

My New Course Website is HERE! Read More »

Eek Boo Shriek eBook Now Available!

1 Comment / Books, CRAFTS, Eek Boo Shriek, Fabric, Quilts, Riley Blake, Sewing, Sewing Patterns, Tutorials / carina

I’m thrilled, chilled, and hauntingly happy to announce my newest eBook Eek Boo Shriek™ is now available in PDF forma in my shop! It should be available on Amazon in the future but for now, enjoy 60% off the release in the next week!

This book features my recent fabric collection for Riley Blake Designs™ also named Eek Boo Shriek! You are going to love the 8 quilt blocks, stand quilts, triangle quilt, table runners, and mini quilt instructions in this book!

I LOVE all the projects in this book and I wanted to make sure and make it available for those of you who want to make in September and decorate in October! I know my house is going to get a spooky makeover in the coming months!

You can grab this fabulous book (normally $9.99) in my shop here.

(Psst, for this release I decided to also put Sweetly Stitched Quilts on sales so be sure to check that out as well!)

Happy Haunting!
Carina

Eek Boo Shriek eBook Now Available! Read More »

February & March Posy Garden Block of the Month

1 Comment / Carina Gardner TV, Classes, Posy Garden Fabric, Riley Blake, Sewing, Sewing Patterns, Tutorials / carina

I think I managed to forget to do a post on Block of the Month for February so I’m doing double duty today!

I’m a bit late, but March block of the month is finally up! We had some technically difficulties over the last few days with the website so I’m so happy everything seems to be resolved with our hosting company.

March’s video is a bit long but hopefully helps all of you beginners put together this video. If you can’t tell, I had fun making it (wink, wink). The downloads are all available in the shop for free (as per usual). I use Posy Garden fabric (with minky on the back for Felicity), but you can make it in any fabric you want. Felicity and I also tested a portion of the inside of this quilt with Primrose Garden (I’ll make sure to post a pic soon on Facebook).

Hope you have fun making it!!!!

XOXO- Carina

February 2017 BLOCK VIDEO

Grab the FEBRUARY DOWNLOAD here.

March 2017 BLOCK VIDEO

Grab the MARCH DOWNLOAD here.

February & March Posy Garden Block of the Month Read More »

Carina Gardner & Where Women Cook Magazine Article Spring 2017

Classes, Cooking, Glamper Renovation / carina

Last July, I prepared several recipes and met up with photographer Justin Hackworth and editor-in-chief of Where Women Cook Magazine Jo Packham to take photos in my 1968 Jet Airway.

It’s now March. When I received the copy of the magazine I was completely surprised to see my family on the front cover! Well, surprised is an understatement. Delighted and giddy describes it better! My mom was in town helping me sew my most recent book (Sweetly Stitched Quilts available in Kindle and PDF format), and she saw how excited I was. Actually, she might have seen me jump right out of my chair in my office, lol.

There are so many wonderful recipes in this issue! I’m excited to try them out. There are also some gorgeous photos. Because so many photos I loved from the shoot didn’t make it into the issue I thought I would share a few here. Also be sure to check out the hastag #carinaglamps on instagram for more glamper goodness.

If you want to see more of my glamper renovation, check it out here.

Utah wedding and portrait photography

wherewomencookmag_blogpost

This Peach Fizzy Drink didn’t make it into the magazine but is in my book.

Utah wedding and portrait photography

Get your issue of this magazine here or at your local craft or grocery store.

XOXO-Carina

Carina Gardner & Where Women Cook Magazine Article Spring 2017 Read More »

Posy Garden Blog Hop & PreSale of Simply Modern Patchwork Quilts

Books, Fabric, Posy Garden Fabric, Riley Blake, Sewing, Sewing Patterns, Stuff I Love, Tutorials / carina

Today is the start of our wonderful BlogHop with Riley Blake Designs for my new collection Posy Garden! I can’t wait for you to see all the amazing goodness that is about to be unveiled over the next two weeks! It’s going to be awesome!

Along with that! My new (and first!) eBook called Simply Modern Patchwork Quilts goes on presale today! Eeek! I’m so excited! It will release on August 15th in the Kindle Store on Amazon. I’ll add links here as soon as the presale goes live! I know we are doing a HEFTY discount for the presale so keep your eyes open for it!

***NOTE: It’s on PRESALE NOW! Go to Amazon to purchase it here. The presale price is $4.99. which is 50% off the regular price of $9.99 through AUGUST 15th when it becomes available! That’s less than 50 cents per pattern! Make sure and grab it during the presale period!

There are also four contributing pattern designers to the book including Amy Webb, Amanda Neiderhauser, Christine Cook, and Angie Tackett! These ladies did a fabulous job and I can’t wait for you to see what they have done!

As for the Bloghop, here is the list you are going to want to visit everyday! Come back to this post to link over to these ladies blogs!

I’ll also be reposting their projects over the next two weeks on instagram if you want to follow over there. 06_gardenpatchquilt

Okay, here’s the amazing line up!

Monday, August 1st: My Sewing Haven with Carla Peicheff

Tuesday, August 2nd Happy Little Cottage with Debbie Homick

Tuesday, August 2nd The Family Hearth with Bridgette McNay

Wednesday, August 3rd Fort Worth Fabric Studio with Lindsey Weight

Wednesday, August 3rd Happy Quilting Melissa with Melissa Corry

Thursday, August 4th Pretty By Hand with Kristyne Czepuryk

Thursday, August 4th Out of the Blue with Sondra Davison

Friday, August 5th Samelia’s Mom with Anorina Morris

Friday, August 5th Free Time Frolics with Adrienne Woods

Monday, August 8th Flamingo Toes with Bev McCullough

Monday, August 8th Silly Mama Quilts with Brooke Sellmann

Tuesday, August 9th Snickerdoodle Stew with Jessica Stewart

Tuesday, August 9th A Little Patchwork with Ange Hamilton

Wednesday, August 10th Ameroonie Designs with Amy Chappell

Thursday, August 11th One Little Pooh with Tina

Thursday, August 11th Jedi Craft Girl with Amanda Neiderhauser

Friday, August 12th Stitching Revival with Christine Cook

I’m so excited to see all their amazing projects! It’s going to keep myself from sewing all week!

Carina

Psst! If you are in Utah, make sure to come visit me at Elaine’s Quilt shop this weekend on August 6th! I’m teaching a free class in the morning and the Clean Star Quilt in the afternoon. My glamper will also be there to tour all day!

Posy Garden Blog Hop & PreSale of Simply Modern Patchwork Quilts Read More »

Offset Tool Tutorial in Illustrator

1 Comment / Classes, Illustrator, Tutorials / carina

I LOVE the Off Set Tool in Illustrator. It’s fast and easy to use. Best of all, it has so many applications for use. I like it when I am creating dielines for stickers or diecuts. I also adore it for anything that needs a bleed. It works like a charm for nested objects. Take a look and hopefully it will be useful to you as well!

Mini Episode 3: Offset Tool in Illustrator

Offset Tool Tutorial in Illustrator Read More »

Join Me for the Sew Simply Stitched Quilt Retreat in March 2016

1 Comment / Apricot and Persimmon Fabric, Classes, Fabric, Quilts, Riley Blake, Sewing / carina

Some day in the near future I’m going to give you guys a tour of my offices and maybe a day in my life. To come out with as many products as we do at CGInc and MiniLou, well, it means we make A LOT of stuff EVERYDAY. Case in point, yesterday I designed a MiniLou fabric line and today I am finishing up a Cartabella Halloween line. Seriously, the best part of my creative life. And it isn’t just me. It’s my entire team of doers. I’ll be sure to introduce them as well.

But because of my design schedule and the number of tradeshows I already attend, I am careful about the number of events I am willing to commit to. But when Sherie from Sew Simply Stitched asked if I would teach at their first annual Quilt Retreat, it was a resounding yes! I love teaching in my home state of Utah and LOVE meeting quilters in a retreat environment. I love getting to know other sewing pattern enthusiasts and just being able to HANG OUT with them! Are you coming? I hope to see you there.

For those of you who haven’t heard about it (registration for it only opened a couple of weeks ago), here’s some more info. The retreat is from March 17-19 at the Gracie Event Center in Roosevelt, Utah. I’m teaching two classes on making hexagon quilts and one on these fun sketchbook covers (photo above).

IMG_4880_carinagardner_hexagonclass_web

Here’s the details:

CLASS 1
Perfect Hexagons at any Size with a Straight Ruler
Fabric and pattern designer Carina Gardner shows you how to cut out the perfect hexagon from squares and a straight ruler! No need for fancy rulers or templates! She will demonstrate how to sew a Y seam with your hexagons so that you can build a beautiful baby quilt.

Supplies

4 packs of 5 inch precut squares (with at least 15 fabrics)
OR cut out fifty-nine 5 inch squares
Pencil
Rotary Blade and Mat
Straight Ruler

CLASS 2

Pieced Notebook Cover Class

Fabric and pattern designer Carina Gardner helps you sew together a beautiful pieced notebook cover for a gift or your own doodle book! She will demonstrate how to put all the pieces together and give you the dimensions for variations on the notebook cover! This cover coordinates with the Kathy’s Zentangle class notebook.

Choose one cover to make in class:

5.5 x 8.5 Sketchbook (aslo used in Zentangle Class)

Supplies

Button
Hair tie
Rotary Blade and Mat
Straight Ruler

For the Eight Pointed Star Cover:

Fabric scraps including a
3 in square for the center of the star
4 in x 9 in scrap for points of the star
1/3 yd white fabric
1/3 yd outside cover fabric (shown in the picture as the black fabric) OR one fat quarter

For Striped Cover:

1 Rolie Poly or several fabric scraps at least 24 inches in length
1/3 yd white fabric

I can promise you, it’s going to be a good time! I have a slew of raffle prizes we will be doing throughout my class, learning great techniques, listening to fun music, and getting to know each other. We are going to try really hard to finish an entire baby hexagon quilt during my 3 hour class.

You can register at the Sew Simply Website here: http://www.sewsimplystitched.com/events. For all you sewing enthusiasts, we also created a fun (private) facebook group if you want to join in here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/558135217677951/. You can share your projects and ask questions. We add tips, exclusive coupons, and sneak peeks of what’s ahead.

Happy Sewing! See you at the retreat!

Carina

Join Me for the Sew Simply Stitched Quilt Retreat in March 2016 Read More »

Introduction to Diecut Design Class Now Available!

1 Comment / Carina Gardner Online Shop, Classes, Illustrator, Silhouette / carina

I’m so excited to let you know about the release of a new class! It’s been a few months since I had time to create a class and this one is close to my heart. The name of the class is Introduction to Diecut Design and I teach you how to create a tag, envelope, shallow square box, and pillowbox with a flower. I walk you through how to create basic svgs so that you can then use your creativity to expand upon the designs I make with you.

There are four lessons, pdf notes, and you also get the svg files to help you compare against the ones you create. If you have a diecutting machine, this is a great way to get creative with your own designs.

I suggest Illustrator Basics 1 as a prerequisite for this course since all the svgs we create are in Illustrator.

You can check out the syllabus and course description here: Introduction to Diecut Design

AND this class went on sale for the rest of the week for 20% off! It will go off sale with the rest of the classes on February 1, 2015 so be sure to stock up now!

Introduction to Diecut Design Class Now Available! Read More »

Deseret Book Home Decor Clocks

Deseret Book / carina

Introducing my new home decor clocks for Deseret Book! I’m so excited that they arrives in time for the Christmas season! Each of them have their own unique look and can be used for any number of rooms!

The long map clock has 2 clocks on it with one that says “mission” and one that says “home” so you can see what time it is whereever your missionary is. The long gray clock features my Wiltshire Daisy fabric (coming out February 2015 to Quilt Shops) and says Families are Forever. The other two clocks can be used anywhere but specifically designed them with your teenage girls in mind (the black ad white one is a intricate butterfly swirl I drew and the gray is a tone-on-tone damask).

Click on the links below to see them in the Deseret Book store. Once they are gone, they are gone! —Carina

clock1

Deseret Book Home Decor Clocks Read More »

New Card Classes

Classes, Design Lessons, Illustrator / carina

I am so excited to offer two new classes in the shop! These are part of a new Design As You Go Class series, where I try to spend time with students actually making projects that they can use! The best part is that these classes are cheap ($25) and contain tons of new techniques and new approaches in Illustrator.

In Invitation Design, we make three cards: a birthday invite, baby shower invite, and spring party invitation. The best part about these invites is that they are customizable to your style and needs. I’ll be reworking the birthday party invite for Charlie’s upcoming birthday in August.

In Holiday Card Design, you can get a jump start on Christmas, Halloween, and Easter. Don’t pay for card designs! Instead make one that is uniquely yours! There is a bonus print lesson in this class, as I show you the website I use to upload my card designs.

Of course, there is a Release Sale on both of these classes! They are 20% off through Friday ($20). Take advantage while you can!

Happy Learning!

Carina

New Card Classes Read More »

Some Big Changes

1 Comment / Classes, Illustrator / carina

It’s been a busy holiday season this year. I’ve been determined to get all my Christmas decor up with time to enjoy it, find time to share some special things with my kids (i.e. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), and make them some things as well (I’ll show soon). In the midst of this, somehow my website decided it was revolting against the holidays. So for the last two weeks, I have been working with my programmers to wrangle anything that has gone awry.

The good news is that it helped me make some very important decisions. First is that all of the classes will be going SELF-PACED as of January 1, 2014. Yes! That means you will be able to get Fabric Design, Digital Design, and Paper Design anytime you want. Neat, huh?

To help the self-paced classes, a new forum is available to all self-paced class members. That way you have access to each other and to me. If you already have purchased a class, you already have access to this forum. Feel free to go in and take a look.

Illustrator Basics 2 will be no exception. It went up for registration today, but the class will be available self-paced on January 1, 2014. Be sure you go and check out the syllabus and take advantage of the 20% off on it for the END OF YEAR SALE while you can.

The final cool thing happening to the classes over the next two weeks is a transition of all of our videos to a new system that will be easier for your viewing pleasure. The new streaming video from the site will allow you to watch easily on your mobile devices as well as from your computer. I am hopeful this will resolve any problems we have had in the past trying to troubleshoot the classes and allows students more freedom. This platform will allow you to sneak in a 5 minute video on your phone while you are waiting to pick up kids from school, sitting in an airport, or even if you want to watch the videos on your mobile device as you work on Illustrator on your computer. The possibilities!

Hope you like all the upgrades around here!

Carina

Some Big Changes Read More »

Create and Make Class in the Carina Gardner Shop!

Carina Gardner Online Shop, Classes / carina

It’s up! My new Create & Make Class! This is a Self-Paced class that will be available on August 4, 2013. It is currently on pre-sale.

I’ve been thinking about doing a class like this some time now. It’s hands on, for everyone, and includes your kids. For me, when I can include my kids in my creative process, it feels so much more fulfilling. I loved the quality time I was able to spend with Siri just making these videos! Create and Make: Creating with Kids is exactly what it sounds like—an opportunity to sit down and do. We had a great time filming this class and made sure to make it user-friendly. That means step-by-step instructions, materials lists, and kid-friendly. Watch it with your kids and pause at each step as you work on projects with me!

There are Early Bird (before July 5th — $24.50) and Before the Bell (before August 4—$29.75) prices for this class. The normal price for this class is just $35. This is the first time we have offered Early Bird and Before the Bell pricing on a class because it is also the first time we have a coordinating kit available.

Kits include $120 worth of crafting supplies including scrapbooking kits, fabric, twine, lace and more! Kits are normally $84 but there is also Early Bird ($69.60) and Before the Bell ($74.40) pricing available too. There are a limited number of kits and

they will be mailed on a first-come, first-serve basis. We only ship these kits to the continential USA, but feel free to email us at customerservice@carinagardner.com, and we would love to get you a quote on an international shipping address.

You can also purchase each of the classes separately in the shop (check that out here). We also have extra sets of containers available for purchase outside of the kit. We have limited quantities on these as well. My favorite is the little set of containers we use for the Halloween Advent. We sell it in sets of 31 so you can use it for any month (think Christmas, Easter, or spring). They can be used for any “count-down” craft. We also wanted them to be available in case you wanted an extra set for a gift or for multiple projects.

Want to see more of what we are doing?

Watch the intro video:

Create and Make Class in the Carina Gardner Shop! Read More »

Fabric Design Begins Next Week!

1 Comment / Classes, Fabric, Illustrator, Interviews / carina

I’ve been working day and night to finish this new class. I even just updated the syllabus to give you even more details on what we are doing in this class. It is 20% off for this session (because of the Grand Opening sale), and I hope you take advantage so I can see you in class! I’m going to show you how I print fabric from home, create repeats for production, get sketches and painting vectorized, and a whole lot more. I just finished editing the videos with Creative Director Jina Barney, designer Amanda Herring, designer Shari Butler, and designer Deena Rutter. Believe me, it’s going to be fun!!!

I know in future sessions I plan on interviewing more designers. Those who take this first session will also get any interviews I do forever after since I plan on just adding them into the class as we do new sessions.

The best is that the Fabric Design class comes on the heels of Quilt Market. I’m heading out tomorrow and trying to wrap up my schoolhouse and make and takes. We are also taking all the audio and camera equipment to do a CGTV episode! Yes, I know it has been a long time, but whewww! It’s been busy!

Instagramming for QM begins NOW!

Cheers!

Carina

Fabric Design Begins Next Week! Read More »

Template Design Class Begins Next Monday!

Classes, Illustrator / carina

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. Thankfully, all the sewing patterns were sent to production last week, and I’m well on my way with finishing Carta Bella’s summer releases. By the way, did you see our beach line Beach Boardwalk and our new Giddy Up lines? Serious awesomeness, if I do say so myself.

The sewing patterns you will see in the shop around May 15th. We should have information for retailers and distributors on the site this coming week. Thank you to those that have already emailed and called in for these new patterns! If you are a retailer and need access to the wholesaler site, please email Susan at susan@carinagardner.com. I am so excited by the response and hyped to show them at Quilt Market! We will have five new patterns—3 doll patterns and 2 beginner sewer patterns. I plan on incorporating the beginner sewing patterns in the Mom and Me Crafting Co. Class that Siri (my nine-year old) and I are teaching this summer. It’s going to be so fun!

Speaking of classes, it’s the last week to register for Template Design! I’m thrilled to be teaching a class like this since it incorporates a number of different techniques that I have never taught online before. I’m especially excited to be showing you how I create interesting shapes like banners and brackets. It’s so useful whether you are just making invited for your kids or making a logo. (FYI, image to the right from my instagram feed this last weekend.)

Will pop in soon with some sneaky peekys!

Carina

Template Design Class Begins Next Monday! Read More »

Photoshoot Sneak Peek

6 Comments / Classes, Wallpaper / carina

It has been a crazy week. I’m still busy getting ready for the online shop opening. Thankfully, we finished all of the photoshoots for the new products (for now). The photo above is one of my favorite wallpapers coming out. You might recognize it from my Carta Bella Beautiful Moments line and my Remember Fabric line coming out this spring for Riley Blake. Felicity decided to try out the lipstick for our model and show her how to pose (photo above).

She also happily posed for her own shoot (left). Believe me, she is not always this willing.

Right now we are on track for opening shop in two weeks. Once it is confirmed, I will make sure and post a tentative course calendar so that you can plan to attend!

Speaking of classes, Art of Digital Design 2 ended today. It’s a little bittersweet. It’s my last class at JessicaSprague.com, but the start of something so exciting on my own site. I had such a great time with the students in this class. They worked so hard, and it really showed through in their forum critiques yesterday.

Other than the shop, I’ve started work on new patterns for Spring Quilt Market. Last year, I had so many plans for the sewing patterns that I never got to. Between the opening of Carta Bella Paper and having Mr. Charlie, I didn’t have time for much else. This year, I plan on releasing a whole lotta product mostly because I love it so much (dropping the x-acto knife and dusting off the sewing machine NOW). Seriously, I miss sewing, and I’m hopeful I’ll get to do a lot more of that in 2013.

(photo above: Can I admit that I hate being the subject of a photoshoot rather than the person putting it together? Silly moments happen.)

Other than the stuff happening in the office, Josh’s dad came home from a major heart surgery last week. He’s had an LVAD placed in his heart and will need 24/7 care for next 6-8 weeks. Much of the family has received training on how to help take care of him. It means a lot of overnights for Josh and other family members. It also means a lot of playing the single parent for the spouses. It’s been hard, but I’ll admit there have been some perks. There has been a lot of cousin time and even a couple of nights of straight-through sleep for me (when Josh has taken Charlie with him for an overnight to take care of his dad). Tangent: It’s been so long since my two girls were babies that I can’t remember when they started sleeping through the night. Charlie will be 6 months old next week, and I keep thinking he’s going to skip a nightime feeding…but so far no luck. Any advice on this?

(photo above: This is between photo shoots—A little snuggle with my babies before I get ready for the next set up!)

Happy Friday!

Carina

Photoshoot Sneak Peek Read More »

Retirement Sale at JessicaSprague.com—50% off Illustrator Classes

1 Comment / Classes, COURSES, Illustrator / carina

That’s right! I’m having a Big Ol’ Sale! Several of my classes are on sale for 50% off until Dec 31st, 2013. These classes are being retired to make way for a brand new curriculum I’ve developed for 2013. It’s going to include design and Illustrator driven courses. Just like any designer/instructor, I learn things all the time that make my life easier and I want to share them in these new courses. I’ll have more on this to come! For now, check out these self-paced classes that are 50% off:
Illustrator 101
Illustrator 102
Illustrator 201
Tips for Rockin’ Illustrator
ABC Inspiration

See all 50% off classes>

These classes will be only be available for purchase until Dec 31st, 2012.

I’m also teaching my last session of Art of Digital Design 2. It starts January 21st, 2013. These will not be an individual critique portion of the class taught…instead we will be participating in forum critiques along the way. Syllabi will be available for download on January 1st in preparation for the class. It’s 20% off since I will not be doing the individual critiques.

Retirement Sale at JessicaSprague.com—50% off Illustrator Classes Read More »

Tips for Rockin’ Illustrator—New Class Series

2 Comments / Classes, COURSES, DESIGN, Illustrator / carina

Today registration for my newest Illustrator class series opened up—Tips for Rockin’ Illustrator! I’m so excited for this course format because it is more technique-base, and I get to share many of the best and most useful ways for using Illustrator. Most of the techniques shown are new to the Illustrator series (as in NOT shown in Illustrator 101(beginning), 102(drawing), or 201(patterns)).

The brilliance of this series is that even people who have never touched Illustrator before will be able to do the lessons BUT advanced users of the program will STILL find the techniques helpful (and hopefully help create a faster workflow!)

The subscription price for all 20 episodes is $50 and the individual episodes will be just $2.99! It’s a steal-of-a-deal! And if you have any interest in Illustrator, you are going to want the entire series!

Check out the episode list:

1. Building dot and scallop brushes
2. Designing patterns using the Distort and Transform
3. Illustrating a bird silhouette using shapes
4. Designing a film strip photo frame
5. Using shapes and type to build a simple card
6. Creating a chore chart
7. Moving work between Illustrator and Photoshop
8. Manipulating type
9. Creating a calendar mask/template
10. Creating symbols
11. Using the scissors tool
12. Creating brushes from lines
13. Designing banner templates
14. Creating a perfectly spaced photo montage
15. Designing simple flowers from the pattern brush
16. Warping and twirling
17. Grouping vs. uniting objects
18. Illustrating a simple ladybug
19. Using clipping masks in Illustrator
20. Using the glyph tool

Each episode video is between 6 to 12 minutes long with detailed pdf notes. The hope is that you will be able to master the technique or project in less than an hour.

Also at JessicaSprague.com, my Designer’s One-on-One Workshop began today. This is basically a a mentoring program to help those who are venturing into the digital, paper, fabric, and marketing world clean up their portfolio and get some insights into what an art director wants to see in their work. It’s basically set up as two sessions—the first is a verbal critique and the second is a phone call.

I love personal interaction with my students and it’s one of the things I miss from university life…seeing people’s work and getting excited about all the bubbling creativity! It was nice to get a splash of that at Designer Workshop this year!

I hope you are having a fabulous Monday (despite it being Monday)!

XOXO-Carina

Tips for Rockin’ Illustrator—New Class Series Read More »

I am reading…

2 Comments / Book Reviews, Design Lessons, Stuff I Love / carina

Just My Type by Simon Garfield. It’s laugh out loud funny for those with a type-sense-of-humor!

I am reading… Read More »

ABC Class Starts Today!

ABC Class, Digital Scrapbooking, Scrapbooking, Sewing, Sewing Patterns / carina

Today we start our second session of my ABC Inspiration Class. It’s fun celebration of our everyday lives in the forum of a digital scrapbooking album. I’m pretty excited to see what this new class comes up with!

Today must be “ABC” day because I also have a set of ABC Templates up in my digital scrapbooking shop. It’s 25% off (as all my new products are on Monday). I mention the templates because I recommend seeing my original blog post on these templates, which has a couple of yummy photos of the book I made.

Today I’m shipping out more of my new sewing pattern line. You’ll be able to purchase this line from your favorite online retailers pretty soon. We are hoping to have the list up by the end of this week. You should also see them at your local quilt shop within the month. Hip Hip Hooray!

ABC Class Starts Today! Read More »

Initial Review of The Artist’s Way

4 Comments / Book Reviews, UPDATES FROM CARINA / carina

So today I got on an airplane to visit my friend Jen in San Francisco. While on the plane, I started reading the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, which is my book of the week. I first heard about this book three or four years ago in a graduate class taught by Marilyn DeLong, which was about untended consequences in design. So I knew the concepts that this book proposed before I sat down and read it…and I have even tried some of these concepts based on my knowledge. Unfortunately, none of them stuck. Now, having read the first 33 pages of the book, I know why. Julia Cameron lays out two things that you have to do to help unleash your inner creativity…morning pages and the artist date. I have tried both without much success….here is why: I was uncommitted. I did them because I knew about them, had them explained to me, but I was praying for a miracle. That these two concepts would simply fix my creativity. Now that I am actually reading the book, I am realizing that the only way to do these, is to read the book and be committed.

Some of the concepts she has thrown out, definitely hit home. I think that you will find that it does too if you read it. So I am proposing the following: I am going to finish reading the book and try the experiment of doing morning pages and the artist date and report of what happens with me on the blog! How does that sound? I hope being the guinea pig will convince me (and you) that there are new avenues of creativity to be found.

So what are morning pages and the artist date? I am a little hesitant to tell you because I’m afraid you’ll do what I did…do them and not really be committed. But here they are so I can talk about some of the things she says in the book. Morning pages are three pages of stream-of-conscious writing when you first wake up in the morning. This is NOT a journal. It is a forum for getting all the “gunk” out of your head to leave you open for the rest of the day. Julia Cameron has a number of other caveats about how to do the morning pages, but for the purpose of my review, I think this definition works (again, you should read the book to get everything Julia Cameron says). The second tool she proposes are artist dates. You are suppose to dedicate a block of time (1 or 2 hours) to take your self on a date and do something that you really want to do or that would nurture you. Now, I don’t know about you, but this is VERY hard for me. Sure, 1 or 2 hours should be easy to come by during the week…but somehow those hours are never there. When there are kids, jobs, and cleaning to do, when is there time to ever take time for yourself? The sad part is, we with everything going crazy in our lives, probably need to take ourselves on a date the most. Agreed? Julia Cameron makes the argument that if you where in a relationship that you wanted to save, you would go to therapy, find a mediator, and try to save it. Why wouldn’t you do the same for yourself (and your creativity)?

So, I will start morning pages (I’ll find a beautifully designed book to make it more motivating) and I’ll set a time next week to do the artist date. Julia Cameron suggests 12 weeks of this. She says she’s been doing it for a decade. It helped her be more creative, perhaps I just need to give it a go if I want the same result? Man, I am so commit-a-phobic! I’ll report on the rest of the book ASAP and let you know what happens. If anyone wants to do this with me (always more motivating), please feel free to comment on this post and I’ll keep updates on this project going so you can post as well.

Initial Review of The Artist’s Way Read More »