If you read this blog regularly, many of you know I bought my first house just last October. And while it was in wonderful condition and the previous owners did a lot to my darling 1944 brick bungalow, I find myself completely overwhelmed by everything I need to do to get it looking the way I want it.

I’m sure you can relate.

I’ve had a chandelier in a box just sitting in the living room for a month now. Everyday I tell myself I AM going to paint the hallway ceiling and that I’m going to get organized with my displays. And the list goes on and on.

Why the rush to finish up the inside (or at least part of it?). Because spring is on it’s way of course! And I plan on spending every moment ordering up lots of bulbs, plants, a playset, and recovering a couch in outdoor fabric to get my backyard in top notch condition (I’ll take lots of pictures)!

Does anyone else feel overwhelmed when spring hits? If you have tips and tricks for how you get organized, I’d love to hear them! For the most part, I just try to relax and it enjoy the process (because it really is so wonderful to finish a little project and see how beautiful it turned out). But then again, I wouldn’t be the least bit sad if I had a Samantha nose twitch to get it all done at once!

This may be a rather odd post after I leave you a download for canister labels, but it is late and after watching a movie about blogging, I find myself wanting to share. Sorry to bore you and sorry for no free download.

Josh is working late tonight which meant I got to watch Julie and Julia all by myself. When it comes to anything sentimental, I really like watching by myself anyway. Maybe it’s because I like to cry loud. And maybe it’s because I like to cry.

So anyway, here’s a post for all the other foodies out there! If you haven’t seen it, the photography of Paris in the 1940s-1950s is absolutely gorgeous! The food looks lovely, and I loved the story of a woman turning 30 and finding herself through cooking.

So much for an early bedtime. Good night!

I got into a bit of an organizing mood today and hacked at my kitchen. Part of the mood was due to these new air-tight canisters I bought. These happy tiffany- blue tops made me want to really get things in order. I then made these labels (perfectly neutral, of course, if you’d like to download and use them).

I’m sure the organizing bug has hit me because spring is nearing (although you wouldn’t know it from the little snow storm we had just minutes ago). I’ve been digging through my girls’ clothing (and my own), putting away the winter wear and breaking out the shorts (not to actually wear…just to ogle over and force spring’s hand). I even broke out the Madsen yesterday and huffed and puffed my way to Siri’s school (and back again). I’m clearly not in shape for spring.

Here’s the canister free download for those of you with the spring cleaning bug too.

Just dropping in for a quick hello! Sorry blog, just been so busy! The very best kind of busy. I’ve been working on Pinfeathers for Design House Digital (expect to see elements to the collection this week!). I’ve got a lovely new line coming out in paper with My Mind’s Eye coming out for Spring Release (think chic:)). I’ve also been working on a fabulous collaborative collection with Crystal Wilkerson which is bound to hit Design House Digital and Jessical Sprague this week. I’ve also made time for the FABULOUS weather we have been having here in Utah (bring on spring!). My neighbors may not say it is fabulous, but since we moved from Minnesota 2 years ago this is, well, pretty amazing! The girls and I have spent a bit of time outdoors and I’m hoping to break out my light blue Madsen Cycle this week to pick Siri up from school. I might have also stayed up extra late last night watching The Bachelor with friends (which always means staying up late!). Ahhh, some guilty pleasures simply cannot be given up!

Hope you are all doing well and that spring is coming to you too!

Here’s a easy 7 minute tutorial if you want to see how to use any of the quick albums. My quick pages and albums can be found at Design House Digital. This tutorial shows you how to drag and drop photos on pre-made quickpages, how to size and crop photos, and shows you some general use instructions for using albums. The video is 7 minutes long and is demonstrated in Photoshop CS3. If you are interested in the products used in this tutorial, the links are here:

The Ultimate Album-Mocha

Distressed Collection-Pastels

I hope this tutorial helps you so that you can make pages quickly when you are in a pinch! Want to watch it bigger? Go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3VGn8Jlxow

I went to Quilting Class Day 2 yesterday.  I’m finishing my quilting homework today. I am impressed with the simple tricks I’ve learned. Most importantly is I’m figuring out I don’t know ANYTHING about my old college sewing machine. Don’t you hate it when you think you’ve just been zipping along jut fine, to suddenly find out you’ve been doing it wrong all along?

Seeing the seamless sewing of my classmates has also inflamed my desire for a Benina. My most favorite easy trick I’ve learned? To sew a bit of junk fabric before starting in on my actual sewing. I’ve loved how well this has worked (less start-up screw ups). I’m also really loving the teacher at Elaine’s Quilting Block. She is a quilting purest. I’m into that! I love people who are passionate about what they do! Especially when it comes to creativity.

Friday’s my last day of quilting class and I’ll let you know how many seams I’ve picked out…

I took the first day of a quilting class today at Elaine’s Quilting Block here in Salt Lake. Yes, a new beginning for me to really learn the techniques of quilting correctly. I quilted with my mother as a girl, but wasn’t feeling very confident on making one on my own. So I bought new supplies and with my old college sewing machine am cutting, pressing, and sewing away. I figure if I am going to design quilting fabric, I might as well learn how to quilt correctly!

Speaking of, Coquette is currently on sale  from Northcott, and I just found out that Love Nest will be on sale in August and hit quilting stores January 2011. I hope to be posting samples of that line soon enough.

I also wanted to let you know that tomorrow’s $1 item at Design House Digital is going to be from me:). Check out these birdie brushes:

Can I also report that it is the loveliest thing to be home with my kids? Siri and I went on her field trip to the Clark Planetarium on Friday with her kindergarten class. The girls and I have made a lot of craft projects and I’m just feeling a lot less stressed out about things in general. And I’ve been able to work on several designs that were only half way finished! That has been a real joy.

If you haven’t checked out the $1 Sale going at DHD, you are missing out! There are some fabulous things that are only $1 for the month of February. They will all go off sale to their original prices on March 1st. My very cool, super neutral Grungy Grid Papers are over there for $1 (normally $3.99). I’ll also have several things coming out a couple times a week so check it out (here’s the link to all the $1 items).

It’s also release day and I’ve got a new goodie to make my life easier: The Ultimate Album. It’s currently sold in two colors (blue and mocha) and have matching mask sets. I’m a mom who knows something about crazy busy and I made for myself some super simple layouts to reach for to scrap with when things are just too busy. For me, I’d rather get those photos into books (I can see myself doing a lot of back tracking with these albums…like all of 2008 and 2009!) so I have them then continue to leave them on the computer where no one can see them.

Today, I’m going to be finishing up decluttering my house and making cards for my upcoming Annual Chinese New Year Party. Oh, and hopefully get that red chandelier hung in my studio (the photo is of my office desk that I painted to turquoise and distressed over the weekend). The studio also got a rearrangement so that my kids can now easily scooter into the studio without hitting anything from the hall.

If you haven’t heard about it yet, I thought I’d better tell you about it! Design House Digital is having $1 Days for the entire month of February. That means new products everyday that premier for $1. All of the products will go back to regular price on March 1st. So go check it out!

Bear with me as I take a moment to get a little personal. Today something wonderful happened to me. Something I have been waiting to happen for a long time. Today, I went into my day job as an Communications and Event Director and walked out as a freelance designer. I have been transitioning for the last several months in the job so I could design full-time from home.

And now, I can concentrate on other work: being a mommy, being a wife, and being a designer. I have managed to stretch myself too far these last few months, and now I have a chance to concentrate on the people and work I love the most.

What does this mean? More designs and projects from me, of course! I’ve been loving my new digital home with Jen Allyson at Design House Digital. Things are rocking along for my two new fabric lines, Coquette and Love Nest. I’ve got a lot of fun sewing projects waiting for me to get going on. We’ll also be opening a Carina Gardner™ Shop sometime this summer with limited supplies of the new fabric lines. I’m also planning some new classes for Jessica Sprague’s site. It’s a new year, and an exciting new time! I hope you join me as things get swinging around here! Check back for more giveaways, more releases, and well, just a whole lot more!

(BTW, the photos are from a modge podge project I did at a church activity with my Love Nest Glitter papers. I picked up the hearts from the Wood Connection in Salt Lake City. )

I’m going to spend my weekend getting my studio cleaned up, hanging that chandelier (I hope…this one’s on you, Josh), and painting. A perfect way to get things underway for my new life.