UPDATES FROM CARINA

Pregnancy Photos

4 Comments / Family /

I can’t believe that these photos were taken only 5 short weeks ago. I’m so happy I pushed us up into the mountains two days before I had Charlie to capture that large belly.

I’m putting this out into the universe because I’m curious about recovery time for other mommys who have had C-Sections. How long before you feel like you have recovered? This time around I have a continuing pain on one side of the incision, and I’m wondering if this is normal. Any of you had this experience?

As we are all in babyland, I still have no real routine. Blogging is sporadic, working occurs in the middle of the night (the only time there is a quiet moment), the house is a wreak, and I feel pretty successful if I have managed to make dinner…so basically, things are pretty normal around here!

Here are some of the good stuff happening in the studio theses days:

+ I got strike-offs for my line Remember (coming January 2013) for Riley Blake. You are going to love! (Check the instagram feed in the sidebar to see a sneak peek!)

+ We are finalizing our Winter CHA line up at Carta Bella. We also will be showing our Valentine’s line soon!

+ There is a video that has yet to be edited on the High Tea Soirée Dress for CGTV. Hoping I will be able to get it up soon! If you need some Halloween inspiration, click on the link and watch Lindsay and I in costume!

+ I am gearing up to start teaching Art of Digital Design 2 again. I plan on starting the class mid-January 2013 with it going on sale in November. I haven’t taught it since 2011 so I’m excited to run it again!

+ We are continuing our $1 Sale at JessicaSprague.com on Wednesdays! New releases are on Mondays!

XOXO—Carina

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He’s Here!

5 Comments / Family /

If you follow on instagram (@carinagardner), you’ve already seen a bit of the boy, but here is the official blog announcement:). Charles Thomas Gardner will be called Charlie and is currently adored by all 4 other members of his family. Rosy (the cat) may be the only one who feels that his presence has been less than special (she may have realized she is a second class citizen after all).

I’m recovering and Charlie is healthy (and very snuggly!). We are trying to find a routine, and I’ll admit that the balance is going to be pretty difficult to find.

But we’re already back to work (Susan has been pulling some long shifts!) and I’m trying to snuggle, attend to business, and design all at once (which BTW means that many emails go out with all lowercase letters…I don’t always have a hand available to hold down the shift key).

Either way, I’m going to do my best to enjoy this very short period where this little one is, well, little.

From a happy and sleepy mommy,

Carina

 

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Remembering

4 Comments / UPDATES FROM CARINA /

Last night Josh and I pulled out the old video camera and watched my daughters’ first few hours of life. I’ll admit…I cried…a lot. It was one of those moments where your life is put into perspective and all you can do is feel grateful for what you have been given.

Seeing that miracle made the coming of the new baby that much more real. It also reminded me how special and amazing my two darlings are and how they’ve changed my life.

Past that, I was struck by how fast things change. Not only do I have an eight year old (!!!), but I can’t imagine anyone using that video camera anymore, can you (see above!)? Seriously, I had to dust the thing off when I pulled it out. In the video, Josh tells the nurse that we have to use a phone card to call long distance from the hospital (we lived in Minnesota at the time). What the? Was that really only 8 years ago? We weren’t allowed to use cell phones in the hospital and the cell phones looked well…um, ancient?

Despite the change in technology, some things don’t change. Like the way I feel when I watch my little newborn babes or the three-year old (who is now eight) tweaking her daddy’s nose. I’m grateful that we were smart enough to take all that video—and in the last couple of years—taking so many photos.

When I helped launch Carta Bella, I didn’t know that the unintended consequence of designing and art directing meant I would also be scrapbooking. I like to make sure our designs work. That means I personally print, cut, and glue most of the projects seen in the marketing materials at Carta Bella. The result is my own personal scrapbook getting built…slowly but surely. (PS the photo above is from our October release…consider it a sneak peek since I have been scrapping with it all weekend).

So as I finish up deadlines for production for October (trying to get ahead so I can take time off with baby!), I’ve specifically pulled out photos of my girls that make me happy. Lucky me for getting to work and play at the same time! My heart is full for all the blessings I have.

I hope you also get a chance to walk down memory lane soon and/or make some amazing memories in the upcoming future. I’m looking forward to doing both.

XOXO—Carina

PS: Do any of you know of a great service that converts all your old videos into digital format? I’m starting to see the necessity of this soon…

 

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Nesting

2 Comments / Fabric, Family, Paris and Company Fabric Line, Riley Blake, Sewing /

I begrudgingly decided it was time to get a new computer. Besides running really slow, it turns out my love for the 17″ MacBook Pro is outdated. So I settled on a 15″ that I was assured will make me faster. With baby boy on the way, I knew all the “down time” I currently spend just letting things “run” needed to end. So my “old” Mac and “new” Mac both went to the doctor for a data transfer this weekend.

It’s been a long time since I didn’t have access to a computer. Maybe too long…because I managed to do some much needed nesting over the weekend. I have a major list of things that will absolutely NOT happen before this child arrives in a couple of weeks, but I also have a minor list that (hopefully!), I will on get done.

One of these “to dos” was to get curtains up in my kitchen. I made these ruffle curtains out of the Paris and Company fabric that I designed for Riley Blake (released out this last April (2012)). They are fun and pretty girly (Josh is dealing pretty well with this), and match the light blue chairs I painted for the breakfast nook.

I also managed to spend a good deal of my time catching up with the Olympics and Pinterest. My obsession for white colonial-style houses and lots of bright colors is evident.

In the coming weeks, I may be a little busy with our new adventure which may result in fewer blog posts. But my obsession with Instagram (follow carinagardner) should keep those of you who want to see the Carta Bella-Riley Blake-Jessica Sprague.com-Sewing Pattern-More Licensing(Yikes!)-Gardner Family-adventures in the loop.

XOXO- Carina

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Summer CHA Tradeshow Booth Video (Episode 3)

2 Comments / Carta Bella Paper, DIE CUT PROJECTS (SILHOUETTE & CRICUT), Scrapbooking, UPDATES FROM CARINA /

I wasn’t sure if it was going to work, but I tried to create a video of us putting up the tradeshow booth. Before I had ever participated in having a booth, I always wondered what the process was. Sooooo…here’s a time lapsed video of the two days we put together the Carta Bella booth. It’s two days squished into 3 minutes. It’s so fun, and I hope you enjoy my commentary!

Enjoy! Carina

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Summer CHA 2012 Review

1 Comment / Carta Bella Paper, Scrapbooking, UPDATES FROM CARINA, Video /

Hello! I’m back from Summer CHA in Chicago and I’ve spent the last 24 hours downloading a heck-of-a-lotta videos and photos! You can see more photos (if you don’t think you’ll get enough here) on the Carta Bella blog.

Many of you will recognize the booth as my Quilt Market booth. It was fun to see it filled with paper this time around. It’s also fun to compare that baby belly after two months of baking (only a month left!).

Here Lindsay and I pose on Day 1 of set up. I hardly had to lift a box because everyone was so concerned (I think they just didn’t want to deliver a baby).

Set up was also fun because it was a Carta Bella and Echo Park team effort. It was nice to have that many hands putting together the two booths. Check out Andrea (CHA Coordinator for Echo Park and Carta Bella) putting up the Carta Bella sign (below) and Lindsay bolting together the walls.

 

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There were a lot of darling projects in the booth! This advent calendar was made by Deena Rutter who also designed Merry & Bright for Carta Bella (ships September 2012).

I made this Beautiful Moments lamp below. I HIGHLY recommend having a silhouette machine for this project. It turned out darling but took a lot of time to put together.

Samantha Walker put together this fabulous display of silhouette pieces using her Paris Girl Collection.

So many darling cards made by the design team!

Here are my All Hallow’s Eve bottles that you will see in the upcoming Halloween video Lindsay and I do. It should be posted sometime next week. Any guesses on what we dress up as?

I made this banner using the Alphabet Junction Collection by Melanie Ritchie.

Here’s Miss Melanie herself with her first collection! Love the Vanna White pose!

Me and my belly.

Shimelle (from 2Peas in a Bucket), with Melanie and myself. Too bad we aren’t having fun.

Here’s dinner with Lori Whitlock (designer for Echo Park) and Andrea (CHA Coordinator for EP and CB). Matt (THE sticker guy and serious foodie) chose this awesome place. The food was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. If you go to Chicago, it’s worth getting the beef tenderloin (and all the desserts) http://www.carnivalechicago.com/.

Look at the amazing light fixture! (Which also accounts for the bad photo lighting).

Well, there it is! A few photos from CHA and a little of what we were up to. I’ll admit, I was happy to get back home to my own bed. I’m at the most uncomfortable stage of this pregnancy, and it was nice to snuggle into bed last night. Josh and my girls are in Sun Valley at the Bar Convention (therefore making it possible to get all my blogging in before they come home). They should be showing up tonight so I will have my little darlings to snuggle.

Be back in a second with our tradeshow booth video!

—Carina

 

 

 

 

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Fourth of July 2012

Family, Stuff I Love /

We ditched our usual Fourth of July traditions to hang out at home. I’m going a little slower these days and a middle-of-the-week holiday seemed like a good excuse to stay at home, enjoy the neighborhood breakfast, and family BBQ.

Breakfast date + Dinner date = Lunchtime nap.

Other than napping, Siri and Felicity helped me make peach ice cream and shuck corn. Sounds rather summer-y, right?

We also decorated bikes to be in the two minute neighborhood bike parade. Crepe paper and my fringe scissors were a cheap way to get by (Yes, the bike below is NOT one of my kids’).

Hope you had a fab holiday too!

—Carina

 

 

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New Lines

Carta Bella Paper, Family, Scrapbooking /

Today I have been getting production files ready, getting ready for CHA, and a lot of other general fun stuff for Carta Bella. I also announced two new lines for Carta Bella. Go check out my blogpost for that reveal here.

In the midst of getting the new lines ready, I managed to take the girls to the park for a couple of hours. They have been asking since April to play in the creek (it was too cold then and I wouldn’t let them dip their toes in). So today was an indulgence.

To be honest, my only goal this summer is to get out for a couple of hours a day so that the girls and I can relish in our last summer of freedom (ironic because of my current working schedule). Either way, it’s our last summer of “big girls only” and I want them (and me) to really cherish it.

The girls playing in the creek today reminded me of growing up in Tennessee. It seemed like we used to play in creeks a lot and explore the woods behind our backyard. Oh, and catch fireflies at night. I tried to explain that to the girls the other night, and they asked when they would get to catch fireflies. I had to explain to them that we didn’t have fireflies to catch in Utah. It made me a little sad.

It also reminded me to lug my camera around a lot more this summer. First because I need to make sure the girls have photos of what we did this summer. And second, because I have an awful lot of scrapbooking papers to use up!

So here’s to fireflies and rambling! Hope you are enjoying your summer too!

Carina

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A Day Away

Family, Giveaways /

I am currently packing for our trip to Quilt Market and am running around (perhaps not like a chicken with it’s head cut off, but it’s close) completely nervous I’m going to forget something (as evidence of the lengthy schedule I’ve handed out to several family members). I’m only a day away, and I know the moment I get to Kansas City, I WILL have forgotten something, and it’s going to be just fine. But until then, I will worry.

I didn’t hop on here to tell you about my worry-habits or even to show off how cute my big girl is becoming (an indulgence on my part), but to tell you that there is a happy bundle of fabric being given away at Carta Bella. Expect a little from Samantha, Deena, and myself. It’s the final day of prizes going on at the blog and facebook since our launch a couple of weeks ago (my, how time flys!). Hope you get a chance to win it! I believe there will be another giveaway towards to the end of the month so you might as well join now!

Will be in soon to tell you all about QM!

Carina

 

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Quick Trip Down to Christensen Wholesale

1 Comment / Fabric, Paris and Company Fabric Line, Riley Blake, Stuff I Love /

I made a quick run down to Christensen Wholesale’s new warehouse last Friday and I had the wits about me to remember my camera! The new warehouse is really great. I love walking in and seeing this (Dainty Blossoms™):

And this (Paris and Company™):

Something about all those bolts of fabric just makes me happy!

I went down to pick up my bolts of Paris and Company™. The line turned out so fun! Thought I would drop by to show you the goodness before I get back to work. Lots of good things happening and only a couple more weeks before the reveal…

Hints and hints,

Carina

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Easter Brunch

1 Comment / Family /

This morning we got the family together for a little Easter egg hunt and brunch. I was grateful for the beautiful weather and how excited all the cousins were to get together. It definitely makes me feel like spring is officially here despite the snow we had yesterday.

It’s a lovely end to the girls’ spring break.

Happy Easter!

Carina

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Weekends and Blueberry Crumb Cake

1 Comment / Cooking, Family, UPDATES FROM CARINA /

I always look forward to the weekend—I work a little less, have Josh around, and get around to cooking more. A couple of weekends ago, I started making the Barefoot Contessa’s Blueberry Crumb Cake. It’s totally divine, light, and could be breakfast or dessert (a major plus). A new cake is baking as I type so that when I get done with this post, I’ll be digging into a little bit of sweet.

This weekend, we finished setting up the tradeshow booth for Quilt Market. Sure, it’s a month and a half away, but this is my first time and I wanted to be sure to get it write. You can check out a couple of the instagram pictures on my sidebar or on my facebook page. Yes, I know that doesn’t give you the full picture of what we are up to, but I’m taking lots of pictures now and we’ll show off closer to the show.

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With the tradeshow coming up, you can bet I’ll be in full swing sewing soon with my new line Songbird due out in June. Of course in the meantime, I’m still sewing up some lovely stuff for Paris and Company (out this April!). The lines are totally different, which makes deciding how I want to use them that much more fun!

And there’s the oven timer going off! Hope you are having a lovely weekend too! —Carina

 

 

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Obsessions

2 Comments / Cooking, Family /

I can almost hear Julie Roberts saying, “Benedict!” in Runaway Bride. I’ve been making these nearly everyday for a couple of weeks. I think you can safely call that an obsession.

I always order the traditional eggs benedict at our family’s favorite neighborhood diner The Blue Plate. Instead of hitting it up everyday for a week, I ran to the grocery store and picked up all the ingredients. I know that I personally have been scared of poaching eggs in the past. The real trick is PLENTY of vinegar in boiling water.  I’ve sometimes underdone the amount of vinegar and the egg goes everywhere. Stack the toasted English muffin, a slice of Canadian bacon, a slice of tomato, and the poached egg. Finally, I drizzle some not so homemade hollandaise sauce on top (I am lazy and just buy the premade packet. Add butter and milk, and it’s finished in a couple of minutes!).

I have plenty of other obsessions but this one is at the top of the list right now.

It’s been a delicious couple of weeks! Happy eating to you too! —Carina

 

 

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Instagram and Other Such Things

Family, Interviews /

I took the plunge last week and put the Instagram App on my iPhone. I’ll admit that I was a little terrified of using it so it took me a few days to pull it out and really try it. But after taking a couple of pictures, linking it up to my Facebook page (and I love that you can choose which photos get posted), messing around with all the cool filters, and checking out everyone else’s photos—well, I think I’m addicted.

If you want to check out my Instagram feed, you can subscribe to my user handle carinagardner. I also found that SnapWidget is the most user-friendly blog widget (see on my sidebar).

in.to.it.

I think I am digging Instagram because it’s like a mini blog post. I get to see what everyone is up to in a single image. I (personally) prefer a picture to a tweet. It says so much more about what you are up to, how you live, and what your life is all about.

To narrator the photo above—That is a picture of the Spring 2012 Issue of Where Women Create Magazine. The photo has me looking pretty tan/sunburned in the middle of winter. I can ASSURE you, that I’m amazingly pasty white. Not in a good way. In my dreams I would look even a smidgeon that tan. If you get a chance to snag this fabulous magazine, you can find this pic in the Riley Blake Studio section.

And the photo to the left is of my Siri-girl sewing together a quilt. I have a new appreciation and love for 5 1/2 inch pre cut blocks. They are the best for little rugrats to create with. Both the girls sewed mini quilts while I cut bias for my new quilt. Yesterday was the first day I really saw the value of having two sewing machines in the studio. It was nice to not have to volley for my Bernina since Siri was all ready to go on her Singer.

Happy photo taking to you too!—Carina

 

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Utah Business Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40

3 Comments / Interviews, UPDATES FROM CARINA /

I’m still a little in shock that I made this year’s Top 40 Under 40—that is Utah Business Magazine’s top 40 executives under the age of 40. It’s an absolute honor, and I’m excited to meet everyone on the list at the end of the month.

If you want to read the short bit about me, you can read it here.

And while I am feeling very happy for what we have accomplished in the short four years I have been in the crafting/fabric industries, I’m just as excited for all the things to come. We have so many exciting things coming up during the next 6 months and I’m on the edge of my seat to share (soon!).

The crazy thing is looking back at how I started out (with a little digital scrapbooking shop in January 2008 while still teaching at the University of Minnesota) and my transition into scrapbooking papers, fabric, online teaching, workshops, licensing, and (the biggest leap of faith) manufacturing and designing sewing patterns. It has been an amazing four years for my family and myself.

When I talk about hard work in the article, I really mean it. It makes me grateful that the attitude of hard work instilled in my home. My father grew up on a farm and was the 8th child in a family of 9 children. He was the first to go to college. And my mother is an immigrant from Malaysia who took a scholarship to England to go to college.

I remember the stories they told me of how they started out…the first five years of my life that I don’t remember. From that to where I am now seems like such a fairytale that I will admit that I believe (as cheesy as it sounds) in American dream. I feel like I am living it.

I couldn’t feel more humble or lucky than I do right now.

Well, I got a lot more personal there than I was intending, which is always a little difficult for me because that comes with a feeling of vulnerability. But I wouldn’t be who am today without all the back story. Nor would I want to try to be a better parent, creative, business owner, or wife if it wasn’t for these kinds of reflections.

Thanks for following my work and being involved with everything I and my team have tried to do. I hope that we can continue to bring happiness to your lives through crafting, sewing, and creativity.

XOXO-Carina

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Quilted Pillows Using Dainty Blossoms

CRAFTS, Dainty Blossoms Fabric Line, Fabric, Family /

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Cutting Corner, you are really missing out. It’s a blog sponsored by Riley Blake Designs with all sorts of free tutorials and patterns. I just found this darling pillow tutorial using my Dainty Blossoms™ fabric line and had to share.

I myself have yet to make it down to the warehouse to pick up my bolts of this new line. I know that it is currently being shipped to stores. Have you seen it yet?

I know I’ve been a bit MIA this January, but ’tis the season for sickness. My family can’t seem to get healthy. So much has gone to the wayside as Flissa has been fighting a week-long fever that also involves strep. We’ve never seen anything this bad and ended up in the ER one night with her. Turns out she is just a kid that can run high fevers (107 degrees!—ya, we were freaked out.). Hoping that everyone starts feeling better before I head out to CHA this weekend…and here’s to hoping I don’t catch anything either!

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First of the Year

4 Comments / FABRIC & QUILTING, Family, Sewing Patterns /

It’s a couple of weeks into the New Year and it feels as if the busy from Christmas never really ended. I’m hankering to slow down, and with my little sis in town and my own health a little down, I’m planning to get a little more rest over the weekend.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that we had a much needed makeover here at the .com. I’m sighing with relief that it is mostly finished although there are still a couple of formatting things that are bugging me. But for the most part, the site is making me happy, it’s easier than ever to find stuff, and it absolutely feels like a fresh new year!

So here’s what we’ve been up to:

– Siri turned 8 (Just writing the number made me feel my age!). The pic to the left is her with all her wild-woman hair. That little face makes my heart smile! I haven’t even pulled all the pics off my camera to show you the party we threw. Soon…

– I’ve been preparing for Designer Workshop like mad! I’ve been happy that we have an even portion of seasoned designers with new designers. It’s going to be awesome!

– We have been shipping the new sewing patterns for a week now. If I thought that we had a lot of patterns before, well, I’ve probably reached my sewing pattern limit at the moment as my basement is currently overflowing. My very good husband got all of those patterns in and organized—no small task.

– I’ve had comments on whether I’ll be spilling the beans of my secret paper project at CHA. The sad answer is no. I will be attending CHA though for a couple of short days. And really, there are only a few months left before I will be opening up about my goings ons. I think you will enjoy! It’s taken me a long time to figure out my path in paper, and I’m excited to be able to open up in a few short months about what I will be doing.

– I have a new mentoring program available at JessicaSprague.com. It’s call Designer’s One-on-One Workshop. I thought it would be the next best step for those who are seeking to work more on their fabric, paper, marketing, and digital scrapbooking designs. It’s also a great intermediary step between Art of Digital Design 2 and whatever else I may decide to teach.

Hope your New Year was full of fun new resolutions and plenty of happiness!

Carina

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Kitchen Before and Afters

8 Comments / Stuff I Love /

I’m always amazed at the changes brought on by a coat of paint. You can check out the before post here.

Talk about a huge change, right? I’ve been basking in the airiness of my little kitchen. The cabinets were done in a white lacquer (which meant a lot of spraying as well as all being fully cut off from the kitchen). It took about 2 days for a handy crew to come in and do it.

The last cosmetic change is to have the counter tops removed and changed out. I’m thinking of having them done in a slab of absolute black granite. Right now this surface is red-dyed concrete…and no matter how faddish it is, it does not keep up well. Acid from lemons and limes soak into it and the seams create cracks that water can drip through.

Ya. It has to go.

It will take me a couple of months, but I plan to getting around to this sooner (rather than later:).

And then there’s the issue of a curtain. I believe some fun fabric is in order. Pictures to come!

Cheers—Carina

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Fauktail Party Recipes

2 Comments / Cooking, Holiday Projects, UPDATES FROM CARINA /

fauk  tail /fok-teyl/ noun 1. a faux-mock-cocktail party;
2. a festive event where non-alcoholic beverages and appetizers are served to adult friends as they mix-&-mingle in their christmas best; 3. involves dressing up in your favorite faux-mock-cocktail clothing for general hob-nobbing and chit chat; 4. a cocktail that does not require taxi service at the end of the night.

And yes, I threw my made-up-name party this last weekend. Good friends, sugary drinks, and lots of food…it makes a girl happy! We tried to invite folks that we have been friends with in different walks of life—friends from Minnesota who had also relocated to Utah, roommates from our undergraduate days at BYU, and people we work with. It was a wonderful group and it made me pretty happy to see friends that I haven’t seen for over 5 years!

It was a great way to kick off the holidays and I find myself wanting to throw another one!

If you want to throw a non-alcoholic but adult-like event, here are my biased rules for getting it done—1. Don’t have your cabinets laquered a day before the party (your house will be very cold from airing it out); 2. Buy all your food and flowers from Costco (It’s one trip and all the appetizers are easy to make); 3. Spend most of your time shopping for cute glasses (the part I enjoyed the most!); 4. Designate someone to take pictures (what you are seeing here is about all I got!); and 5. Once the first couple walks in, let it all go (as in I hadn’t finished cleaning my daughters’ bedroom and I knew people were going to walk through it. I got over it.).

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Want to throw your own fauktail party? Here are my recipes…but be warned, I made these up and the quantities are simply estimates of how I made them. They are all super (may I add dooper?) delicious. Feel free to add or subtract from these faux-mock-cocktails. Most make about 3/4ths of a pitcher (about 4-6 glasses depending on the size of the glass).

TROPICAL FIZZ (inspired by Planter’s Punch)

2 1/2 cups orange juice

2 1/2 cups sprite (or ginger ale)

1 1/2 cups pineapple juice

2 cups of orange sherbet (you can also substitute pineapple sherbet)

1/2 cup of sweetened lime juice

garnish with 2-3 cubes of fresh pineapple on a skewer

Blend all the ingredients together and garnish with the pineapple skewer.

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TOMMY COLLINS SLUSHIE (inspired by Tom Collins)

1 package of slightly melted Edy’s Lemonade Fruit Bars (Use all 6 Popsicles in the box)

4 cups of Minute Maid Lemonade

2 1/2 cups of Ginger Ale

1/2 cup of Wildberry Martini Mixer

Raspberries (dropped at the bottom of the glass)

Blend all the ingredients together. Drop a few raspberries at the bottom of a glass. Pour in the blended drinks.

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3 cups of Martinelli

3 cups of Ginger Ale

1/4 to 1/2 cup of Sweetened Lime Juice

Granny Apple wedge

Stir together the ingredients and garnish with a Granny Apple wedge on a martini glass.

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CARINA’S SHIRLY TEMPLE (obviously, my take on this recipe..because I didn’t feel like mixing sprite and gingerale:)

4 to 5 cups of sprite

1/2 cup of Maraschino cherry syrup

2 Maraschino cherries on a pick or 1 Maraschino cherry with it’s stem dropped in the bottom.

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My fifth drink was just a number of different bubblies from Costco and the supermarket that was garnished simply with a strawberry on the rim of a wine glass. That gave guests another option and freed me up to make more of the other drinks.

At the end of the day, “fancying up” a fauktail is all about the garnish or some salt/sugar to the rim of a party glass. Messing around with recipes just made it alot more fun for this hostess.

Hope you get to make a fauxtail for yourself soon!

Cheers! Carina

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Pinfeathers Fabric and Sweetwater Frames Giveaway

44 Comments / Fabric, Family, Giveaways, Holiday Projects /

Monday morning after a long weekend of fun (tomorrow I’ll post about it). But for now, I wanted to help you win some more fabric and a lovely frame from Sweet Water Frames.

On the giveaway table today is a full fat quarter set of Pinfeathers Peacock Blue fabrics (9 fabrics in all) and Sweet Water Frame’s 3×3 Rasley Ornament in Green apple (shown below). All you have to do is leave a comment on this thread to be entered to win BOTH of these.

I believe I have talked about Sweetwater Frames here before. Last week I finally ordered our family pictures for the custom 24″ x 36″ frame I purchased from them. It looks amazing over my antique piano (See my frame below). I purchased the Powell in antique white, but I’m so in love with the black frames, I can see myself coming back for more!

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That green apple is ADORABLE isn’t it? And my frame isn’t bad either:). Btw, because I know you are going to ask, the family portrait was taken by my lovely assistant Susan.

So leave a comment to get the green frame and some Pinfeathers!

XOXO-Carina

PS. This giveaway ends on Sunday, December 18th!

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Renovations

1 Comment / UPDATES FROM CARINA /

My house has been under going some happy (but chaotic) changes. I got the wallpaper for my studio in the mail yesterday and put it up today (custom made by Great Wall Custom Coverings). All I could say was, “wow!” when I unrolled it. The print is from my fabulous Songbird line (coming out in June for Riley Blake).

Not only is my studio getting a makeover, but it was (finally) time to get my kitchen painted. I’ve been meaning to get the cabinets done for, gulp, 2 years now.

The cabinets are getting lacquered a cool white.

I’m doing the happy dance!

And I’ll be sure to show you the makeover and new curtains when they are done.

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For now you are stuck with the before photos.

Oh ya, and there is no way that cement counter top is hanging around, but I’m going to make myself wait a couple of months to put new countertops in.

Back to work…more photos later!

Hugs-Carina

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Me and Bertoia

2 Comments / UPDATES FROM CARINA /

Despite all the holiday madness, I am giving myself some time to do a few things I want to do (emphisas on “I”). One of those things is renovating my studio (It’s almost there!) and buying myself something I’ve been drooling over eying for about 10 years now.

And that would be a Bertoia chair. I’m a bit intrigued with Mr. Bertoia himself and his affiliations with those Eames folks and any other number of other mid-century modern designers. Almost makes me want to take a semester at Cranbrook (I said almost!). What an era!

So I purchased said vintage Bertoia chair as an early birthday present to myself at a dealer called the Green Ant (cue Siri—”If it’s call the Green Ant, why aren’t the letters green?”).

It’s the perfect addition to the studio since it visually doesn’t take up much space, but is still comfy in front of the sewing machine tables.

It was the perfect gift to celebrate my day of birth and I now see the beauty of giving yourself a gift for your birthday. I might have to make it a yearly thing…

Better photos to come! We are working on getting up some fab wallpaper from my Songbird fabric line (not due out until June 2012). The wallpaper was printed by Great Wall Custom Coverings and I’m on pins and needles to see it!

By the way, the picture up above is simply because i heart pink Christmas trees, and I had to show off one of the many fabulous photos from our Christmas card photoshoot (photo taken by Susan Haglund).

Pushing ahead to December…

XOXO-Carina

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Winners for Dress Up

1 Comment / UPDATES FROM CARINA /

I’m a little behind from this sleepy, turkey-feasting holiday, but here are the winners for the two Dress Up Fat Quarter Stacks by Random.org: #3 & #5

Gwen Windham says:

My favorite Thanksgiving food is my Mom’s dressing! I love it SO much and have tried to replicate it, but can’t ever get it “just right”… I think it’s because nothing compares to food that is lovingly made for you by your Mom… Thank you for this wonderful giveaway– LOVE it!!! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!!

Kimberlee says:

Roasted sweet potatoes with cinnamon pecan crunch, a recipe by Mccormick is a holiday staple in our family. The orange & cranberry touches make the house smell heavenly!

Simply email me at carina@carinagardner.com with your address and off I will send them!

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Winners of Baby Safari and Giveaway for Dress Up Fabric

17 Comments / Fabric, Family, Free Digital Downloads-Freebies-Free Digital Printables, Giveaways, Sewing, Stuff I Love /

Thank you to everyone who entered the Baby Safari Giveaway! Reading what everyone was doing this holiday season was so inspiring and touched my heart! I had a horrible time deciding, and I implore you to continue to enter the giveaways during this month since I wanted so badly to give every one of you a fat quarter set!

Here are the winners from the blog:

Rosemary says:

This is THE BEST pumpkin pie I’ve ever tasted. It’s the one my family requests to have for Thanksgiving from now on. Happy Baking :) {Pumpkin Praline Pie Recipe in the comments! I might have to give this one a try! Thanks for sharing Rosemary!}

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April says:

This holiday we are trying to have a homemade Christmas. One of my daughters is helping me make quilts for almost everyone . . . a big project. It is hard to find things to make for men so we are really thinking hard on that one. We have a new baby in the family so I thought your fabrics would be fun to do something with. Have a great holiday and thank you for sharing your creativity with us and all your fun ideas and art work.

That’s a big project April! Men’s fabrics are so DIFFICULT (Believe me as I have been trying to work on a fabric line for “big boys.”) Hopefully, these fabrics help a bit with the “little boys” in your life!

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Vanessa B says:

A few years ago we started a new family tradition in the spirit of giving and the holidays that each one of us would do at least 1 good deed and then speak about it during Christmas Dinner…so Im looking forward to the holiday meal and hearing what each has done out of the kindness of their hearts for someone they know or a complete stranger. Turns out my family is very kind, even to strangers :-) I would luv to win these fabrics, Thanks for the chance!

Vanessa, your family tradition melts my heart! Oh, if we all could just be a little kinder during the hoildays (and throughout the year!). What a sweet tradition!

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Martine says:

Hopefully ithis year it will be a fertile Christmas…Just before Christmas our IVF program will end, maybe next year there will be a small family under the tree!

Martine, I’m wishing you the best of luck in this!!!

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Here are the winners from the Facebook Page:

Jasa Clos  says:

We will just be enjoying having Jake home this year, he was in Iraq for Christmas last year and opened gifts over skype. I have a new little neighbor that sure would enjoy a new quilt and the fabrics are just great.

Bless your heart! So happy for you will have Jake back and I hope you enjoy the fabrics!

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Gemma Robillard says

Beautiful – what a nice giveaway!! I would love to give these to my mom since she’s a new quilter and making gorgeous quilts. Hey, that’s a nice Christmas gift! ;).

How sweet are you? I hope you both get to enjoy them!

Winners: Please email me at carina@carinagardner.com with your address and we will have these sent out ASAP!

Thank you again for all of your comments—for sharing how you plan to slow down, your recipes (Meg, I WILL be trying to make that apple crisp!), how you are going to cuddle with the ones you love, travel, and play in the snow! (We are also enjoying the recent downfall here in SLC.)

It was so hard to decide on who to choose for this last giveaway, that the rest of the upcoming freebies will be chosen by the random number generator:). lol. Less pressure on me! Just keep those wonderful, inspiring comments rolling!

This week I’m giving away two FULL sets of Dress Up—yep, that is 11 juicy fat quarter fabrics in each set! This giveaway will end on Friday. (That would be Nov. 25, Black Friday, Sale Day, National Standing-in-Line Day, Left-Over Turkey Day, and any other name you can give it..)

Tell me your favorite Thanksgiving Food in the comments below to be entered!

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Delicious Fabric

2 Comments / Fabric, Sewing, Stuff I Love /

I’m a sucker for fabric all lined up, ironed, and folded pretty (who isn’t?). So I took this picture of some freshly cut fabric my lovely new intern cut up for me to send to my mother. My mom, who is an amazing seamstress and quilter, is (thankfully) testing my next quilt design for our January newsletter. Doesn’t it look pretty all ready to be sent off and happily quilted? Lucky fabric.

And now I’m going to drop a hint. Next week begins a really wonderful, really giving kind of thing on this blog. You are going to want to watch for that post…

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Sweetwater Frames

3 Comments / Stuff I Love /

It’s the time of year when I scramble to make sure our family Christmas card photo is taken. I’ve been organized on just about everything…but actually getting the photo. Susan (yes, Susan does our family photos:) and I had tentatively scheduled a fall photo, but I kept pushing it back since we were fighting some major deadlines in the studio.

Here’s how excited I have been about our family photos this year. I already bought this AMAZING frame all the way back in September to hang over my ever-so-popular antique piano. I custom order my frame from Sweetwater Frames at Swiss Days in Midway, Utah for the sole purpose of trying to put a family photo in my living room.

The frame is hung…

with nothing in it.

Sigh.

We are now thinking about a snowy family photo. I just hope that Siri and Flissa agree.

The frames are really just as amazing in real life as they look in these photos. I bought  a 24″ x 36″ antique white Powell frame. I promise to show you should we ever get around to that photography shoot!

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Hybrid Project Submissions Now Open!

Digital Scrapbooking, Scrapbooking, UPDATES FROM CARINA /

We’ve had such a tremendous response to the hybrid section of the Quarterly Newsletter that I have decided to open it up to anyone who would like to submit projects they have done using my fabric, digital, or paper. This is very exciting for me since I love seeing everyone’s creativity!

Our first deadline is for Issue No. 6 Dec 2011-Jan 2012, which we expect to release mid-January. Submission Forms are due by December 15, 2011. Please download the form and look over the project guidelines. You can also check out previous hybrid projects done by the Creative Team in Issue No. 5.

Deadlines for future issues will be published on the Newsletter Page (as well as the download forms).

We’d love to publish your fabulous fabric, paper, and digital work so submit!

Hugs! Carina

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Red Blanky

2 Comments / Fabric, Family /

I’ve been working in an amazing mess, but finally the shelving is up so I am no longer walking on fabric. And yes, that sewing machine is sitting in it’s new spot, but no, I cannot show you anything else because the mess around that one spot is in-cred-i-ble. Seriously.

Plus we’re only in phase one of the studio makeover so everything else now gets to come down (one mess at a time!).

So the picture at the top of this post it really to highlight the project I have been working on. I have a new favorite website— Spoonflower. It’s a site that lets you uploaded your own custom designs to be turned into fabric. It has saved my life since Siri wanted me to “recreate” her red blanky.

I’ve mentioned Siri’s red blanky before here. Last year, red blanky was so ragged and beaten (partially because it was my red blanky first before it got passed on to Siri) that my mom cut it up and placed it into a quilt so Siri would still be able to snuggle it.

Apparently, good intentions have turned against me. Siri has been pretty weepy since we “preserved” red blanky.

She can’t understand why I won’t just have one of my manufacturers make me some new red blanky fabric, but as you can see, this is not the, um, prettiest fabric in the world. Okay, I’ll say it—it’s downright hideous. But I love it and she loves it, so forget pretty.

I scanned in the old fabric (now in quilt blocks) and reworked the pattern in Photoshop to make it repeat. I sent it off to Spoonflower and whola! New red blanky! The top photo is the new blanky and you can check it against the “before” photo there with Siri five years ago.

Not a bad match—even if I do say so myself.

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Studio Renovation Continued

6 Comments / UPDATES FROM CARINA /

The shelves are up, and I finally have my second Low-Boy Farmhouse Dresser. Josh had to drive to St. George to pick it up (a very nice guy, isn’t he?). I still have a mile to go with support shelving and, well, the other 3 walls of the room.

So here’s a question—I have an outlet behind one of the dressers and I use it as my main plug. Because of this, it pushes the entire dresser out an inch or so. I only have one other outle,t and I would prefer not to use it (because it means running a cord along 3/4th of the room). Anybody know of a three-pronged plug that doesn’t make a piece of furniture push out too much? Right now I’m using the Ikea plug set (that I bought so long ago that I’m not seeing it on the site).

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Studio Update

4 Comments / UPDATES FROM CARINA /

I’ve been slowly adding things to my studio, moving things around, and generally dealing with the space.  I contemplated moving Josh and me into the studio space and moving the studio into the master bedroom (Josh nixed this idea. I can’t imagine why.). We’ve considered finishing the basement and making the family room my work space (I nixed this idea because I don’t have great access to the kids and light).

So that has led me to try to think creatively about how I can get better use out of what I already have (and it saves me the trouble of having to call a electrician to move my red chandelier, which I can’t live without). Which has led me to this. Messy. Studio. That I am currently sitting in the middle of. Writing this blog post.

Updates on the progress soon. Lucky for me, my bright turquoise desk makes the mess not feel so bad.

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Issue No. 5 of the Newsletter—Spraguefest and Tutorials

3 Comments / Fabric, Free Digital Downloads-Freebies-Free Digital Printables, Jessica Sprague, Scrapbooking, Sewing Patterns, Stuff I Love, Tutorials /

Wheww! Here it is! Our fifth issue of the newsletter. This thing just gets bigger and bigger! This one is 39 pages long with a huge section on Spraguefest, an introduction to Susan, a quilt pattern, a coupon code for Designer Workshop, and tutorials galore!

Be sure and check out the calendar at the end…it’s a sneak peek into the “big stuff” coming up the next few months here in the studio.

Here’s you link to Newsletter Issue No. 5:

https://carinagardner.com/newsletter/carina-gardner-newsletter-issue-no-5/

Enjoy!

Carina

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John Denver

10 Comments / Family /

I’m allowing myself a personal moment. I can do that on my blog, right? Yesterday at the library I happened across a John Denver CD. I haven’t listened to John Denver in an age, but it always reminds me of the huge music book we had sitting on our old player piano growing up.

So today, while cutting vegetables for stirfry, I popped in the CD and turned it to Annie’s Song. It’s like all the memories from my childhood came to the forefront—the memories that I had somehow stifled in the past years. The happy memories of childhood. Running in from school and getting a snack at the kitchen island from my mom. Learning how to cook with my mom (and hating all the cutting). My mom in the kitchen making bread while I practiced the piano in the dining room.

Before I knew it was crying over the chopped carrots. The irony that I was making stirfry wasn’t lost on me (my mother is Chinese). Turns out… Annie’s Song reminds me of my mom.

And it’s a bit unfortunate, but I don’t have the kind of relationship with my mother that allows me to just call her up and tell her I love her. Let’s just say, it’s complicated. Which probably had me crying even harder.

I hope to goodness that my daughters will be able to call me whenever they want to tell me how much they love me. (Ya. That probably made the sobbing even worse).

Well, if you ever read this, Mom, I love you.

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Exciting New Upcoming Events!

2 Comments / Design Lessons, Digital Scrapbooking, Scrapbooking, Stuff I Love, Tutorials, Workshops /

There are two spectacular events that I plan on attending in the coming months. The first is Spraguefest!
This is an annual event hosted by Jessica Sprague to further build (the already awesome) community. I know there are going to be a lot of awesome people at this event, and I’m pretty excited to attend! I’m teaching a class on color (it’s going to be messy!).

Spraguefest is October 7-10, 2011 and there is a registration fee of $80 for classes and materials. I know there are going to be goodie bags (yum) and some fantastic teachers! This year we are in Las Vegas and  I’m sure that whatever happens in Vegas will stay in Vegas. That means a lot of late night craziness.  Oh alright, maybe some daytime craziness as well (I might have done a little dance in the street last year).

The second event is my brand new Paper and Digital Designer Workshop! Think elegant girls-trip-meets-intense-design-school. Yep, it’s going to be that kind of weekend!

We’ll be in Salt Lake City working on your paper and digital designer skills (and possibly your shopping skills, manicure skills, nunchuck skills…).  It’s going to be a super intense experience that will help you explore your creativity! We are staying at the Little America Hotel , who will also be catering nearly the entire event. The Little America is well known for being a luxurious Four Diamond Hotel and their menus and decor are impressive! Get ready for a glammed-up girls weekend that will also define your design career!

Registration for this event is capped at 20 people and is first-come, first serve.

Check out our workshops page to learn more and register!

I hope to be able to hang out with you at one or both of these events!

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Favorites

3 Comments / Fabric, Sewing, Sewing Patterns, Stuff I Love /

Here are some of my favorites taken from the photoshoot with Susan that didn’t make it into the newsletter. I hope you enjoy too!

Getting ready—I was pleased when Susan walked into my house and said it wasn’t as bad as she expected it to be! (We fixed that only moments later).

Years of girls’ camp practice and having three younger sisters finally pays off!

This one just warms my heart.

Secrets, secrets…

Hmmm, could Felicity have jumped into this photo at the last minute to give us a cheesy smile? Yes. Yes, she did.

Someone thinks she is SO funny.

Obviously, bribery is in order. (You can’t see it, but I’m wearing a ring pop to stick in her mouth between photos).

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Bribery is apparently not working.

Okay, it’s obvious we are going to need to focus on someone else willing model. Meet Sophie. One of next door neighbor’s daughters. She was a perfect angel on this shoot. I MIGHT have started making her dress two hours before the shoot. Ya, it was that kind of day.

This is Paige, Susan’s daughter. I don’t think we got a bad shot out of her.

Speaking of the devil—here’s Susan herself.

My other child (much more willing, but not by much) to let us take pictures.

There’s that ring pop!

I adore this one!

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