If You Want To Know…

…the chat last night was so much fun! Super crazy, but a blast! My kids decided to get up for it, my power went out and my computer had to restart, so I spent the entire hour completely behind! lol. Thank you for attending and we hope you liked the free kit we gave out! We also did a fun questionnaire about Jen and myself. If you want to see the questionnaire (answers are in the post), want to relive the madness, or see what it was all about go here.

carinagardner_2ps_petalpatchprevAnd because of the chat along with my three day interlude between vacations, I haven’t had a chance to even mention the kits that came out yesterday! The first one, Petal Patch, is a super-yummy, vintagey-modern digital kit! (Think 1950s kitchen apron). This kit is SUPER sweet…completely sugar-coated…lol. You’ll have to go to the dentist afterwards!

carinagardner_2ps_sproutletsalbumprevThe second, I must admit, I created really for myself. I love the Sproutlets kit…I mean, really, really love it and am planning on doing a few different books with it. So I started the first 10 page album set, which you can now buy at 2peas. Not all the previews are shown unless you go and look in the shop, but here’s my first page with it:

carinascarinagardner_2ps_sproutletsalbum_1Clean and distressed all at once! Siri is pretty adorable in these photographs too. lol.Once I get these pages into a book, I’ll be sure and photograph it and post it (of course, what else?).

Here’s a look at what my cool collection’s team has done with the Petal Patch kit (eye candy!).

petalpatch_collectionsteam

From the Collections Team , from top-left: Jenny, Katherine, Katherine, Lori, Susan, and Yam. Beautiful work ladies!

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

Free Download During Chat Tonight!

carinaandjen_2ps_pinklemonadefreebieprevAs a fun gift to everyone who joins the chat, Jen and I have put together this darling little freebie! You will need to post in the chat tonight and we’ll send you a peamail with the link which will only be downloadable during the chat. Be sure and drop by and get it! Visit us in the CHA Summer Forum at 10pm CST.

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

CHA Summer 2009

img_5517_2CHA is in Florida and I won’t be going. In fact, I’ll be headed the opposite direction in a couple of days for a vacation with my family. So, to celebrate CHA, Jen and I are doing a little chat on 2peas today. Come join us in the CHA Summer Forum at 2peas for scoops on what Jen and I are up to, giveaways, and more! Meet us over there 8pm 10pm CST.

BTW, just added a new header to the studio front page and I’ll hopefully have a chance in the next couple of weeks to get together some great halloween projects with my new line The Spider’s Web.

See you at the chat!

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

Just Another Monday

img_56411

img_5683It’s just another Monday and my family is still recovering from a weekend at Bear Lake. We’re also recovering from a lingering virus that managed to take captive the last two members of our family this weekend (Felicity and myself). I managed to get over my fever and aches after a day, but Felicity has had a raging fever for several days. I just took her to the doctor today and the virus has managed to give her a double ear infection. Great. And just 3 days away from our vacation to Disneyland.

img_5714

Well, the good part is that there is amoxicillian running through her now. And I’ll have her sucking on her pacifier on the airplane to help with the pressure.

A quick report on Bear Lake: my very cool mother-in-law brought all sorts of goodies and games for the kids (the parents were all very grateful). One thing she did was leave a little note on the door for the kids to treasure hunt for some frogs. Fantastic idea, huh? The kids had a blast looking for them.

img_5728 Be sure and join Jen and me for our Chat tomorrow at 2peas. 8pm CST in the Digital Scrapbooking Forum CHA Summer Forum! Be sure and drop by as Jen and I will be giving away some of our newest stuff.

chat4

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

Fabric, CHA, AND a Chat

6a01053647c676970c0115709fa84b970cYes, this is it. The big news! I recently signed a fabric deal and you will be able to find my designs in fabric in early 2010! Unfortunately, I have to be very vague about the release because we haven’t even begun first rounds of strike-offs (I will be sure to keep you updated!)! It’s been my busiest summer yet with putting together my first fabric collection and lots of new scrapbooking stuff coming out from My Minds Eye! Next week is CHA and you’ll get to see my Spider’s Web Line which is a sophisticated take on Halloween! I can’t wait to show you how I use them for halloween decorating projects and more!

I also wanted to give you a heads up that Jen and I will be hosting a chat in the 2peas forums (in the digital scrapbooking forum) on Tuesday, July 28th at 8pm CST. It will lots of fun! chat4You are welcome to quiz us about digital scrapbooking or paper scrapbooking (and anything else you may like:). Jen and I are also both doing giveaways throughout the chat! It will be fun that you don’t want to miss!

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

My Cauliflower Soup: Yummy Summer Soup Recipe

My newest kit came out yesterday at 2peas, Sproutlets! The Collections Team have put together some fantastic layouts for this kit so go check them out here.

img_53371

I wanted to share my Cauliflower Soup recipe. It’s really good…packed with vitamins and a bit of fat. I love using fresh herbs in this. It makes the whole thing really fresh! This is really yummy in the fall for an evening treat.

Carina’s Cauliflower Soup

1 head of cauliflower

1 pint of half and half OR cream

4 cups of chicken broth

1/2 cup of chopped onion

3 cloves of chopped garlic

olive oil

2 Springs of Rosemary

2 Springs of Thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan Cheese

Bacon (optional)

img_5343What gives this soup all it’s flavor is roasted cauliflower. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. On a baking pan hand toss the cauliflower head (roughly chopped), olive oil (drizzled over it), salt, pepper, and 2 springs of rosemary. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Be sure and move around the cauliflower half way. You’ll get a nice brown color. on the edges. While the cauliflower is in the oven, saute 2 tbs of olive oil, garlic, and onion in a large pot for about 5 minutes. Add the thyme (chopped). Pull the cauliflower out of the oven and add to the pot. Saute all together for another 5 minutes.

img_5339Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. I sometimes like to let it sit and simmer at this point for about 20-30 minutes so the cauliflower gets soft. Sometimes I’ll let it sit longer or short though depending on when I started the pot. Add the half and half (or for a creamier soup use cream). Take portions of the soup and blend in a blender or a hand mixer until you get a smooth consistancy.

Let the soup simmer for as long as you want. Add a sprig of thyme, a little parmasian, and even some bacon bits to the top before serving. Yum, yum!

img_5357

Photos are Copyright of Carina Gardner

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

It’s Another Thursday…

I’ve been meaning to post this link for some time now, but have managed to forget with all the craziness (and loveliness) in my life! The winner of the PhotoCuts Giveaway on my blog posted some layouts using the Overlays on her blog called http://paperscissorsandglue.blogspot.com. You can check out she uses the overlays there:). The whole blog is very scrap-a-rific with tons of digital and paper layouts.

This will very likely be my last post of the week. I’m getting my 2peas submissions in today and getting ready for a lovely weekend in Park City with my husband. It’s been a long time since it was just the two of us and I’m pretty excited about the break. I know I’ll have tons of things to post next week. I have big announcement to make, pictures from the weekend, and an awesome post I’ve been working on that you won’t want to miss!

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

PhotoCuts Layouts—The Collection Team Does It Again!

photocutslayouts

My fabulous Collection Team has done it again! These layouts feature two of the newest PhotoCuts products that came out last week and this week. This popular collection has more kits coming out this month along with a few special items. For example, tomorrow starts the Christmas in July special at 2peas! You’ll find a couple of holiday paper packs from me.

carinagardner_2ps_sproutletsprevI’m also excited for you to check out my new kit Sproutlets (which now has a preview!) which will hit 2peas in a week. It’s jam packed with all kinds of goodies! The papers are darling and the elements are yummy! Katherine even already sent me this darling layout from the kit. I’m pretty excited to use this kit in my own scrapbooking!

katherine_growing-up-400x4001This easily could be the most “layout heavy” post I’ve ever had! I hope it inspires you in your own digital and paper scrapbooking!

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

Sproutlets

sproutletsMy Friday is feeling a lot like a Saturday:). Working on some designs today—specifically finishing a mega kit I’m working on called Sproutlets…It’s like 6 kits or more wrapped into one big kit! After I’m finsihed submitting this to 2peas today, I’ll be all set for a fun-filled, laid back 4th of July weekend! I have dinner with my bestfriend Jen tonight who is in town from San Fransico (always a treat!). Our favorite hang out is the Cheesecake Factory (the avacado rolls have some kind of addicting drug in them). Tomorrow, we’ll be heading to Toole for a BBQ with my in-laws. But most of the time, well, I’ll just be chilling with my little girls and having a slow weekend—just the way I like it! Hoep you have a Happy 4th of July!

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

Layouts of the Garden Vignette Collection

jenny_feb-09-gardner-villageWell, it was a rainy weekend for us in Salt Lake. Once again, we had to postpone going camping, which really turned out to be okay as I had a big design submission to deal with, a work pool party, errands, errands, and more errands, and a Father’s Day dinner to boot (my in-laws included). So it was a full (but as always) a fabulous weekend (because it was a weekend:)).

So here it is Monday, and I’m dragging. I finished the design submission and will have it FedExed off by this afternoon. I’m always happy when the initial first designs are finished.

loriweb400_sweetbabygirlAnd, I probably wouldn’t have even blogged today, but I felt like it would have been an incredible injustice to my team to not post these FABULOUS layouts they made last week of the new Garden Vignettes collection. You’ll be able to buy it at 2peas tomorrow. There are 9 digi kits total with 5 element packs and 4 paper packs. All the papers are yummy and distressed as are the elements. IN FACT, the giveaway ends early tomorrow morning, so get your name in quick here.

Here’s who made these gorgeous layyam_sweetness400carinaouts. The first one is by Jenny, second, by Lori, third, by Yam, fourth, by Susan, and fifth by Katherine. These ladies really know how to make a layout! I am completely inspired by these and will probably be getting together my own mini album with the Garden Vignettes collection of my family’s last vaca or outing.

Hope you are having a more fast pace Monday than me and I’ll be sure and post tomorrows winner of the giveaway!

susan_mothersdaygv-copy

katherine_my-garden-carina

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

Introducing the New Collections Team!

I had an outpouring of applications for the Collections Team call I posted a couple of weeks ago. It was such a hard decision but I knew I could only take on 5 more people. I think you’ll agree that the talent here is outstanding! I was blown away by these ladies! To introduce them, they each submitted a cg layout  (if you want to know about the products they used here, ask in the comments below! These products can all be found in my digi scrap shop at 2peas.). And here they are:

Katherine

This layout has been removed for publication! You will just have to see it when it is publish:)

Lori

web400_weddingkiss_lori

Jenny

oct-08-5-months_jenny

Yam

the-family-men250_yam

Susan

rexsmile_susan

gardebvignettes_logoBeautiful work, ladies! You can see why I’m so excited to have them on the team! They will be doing layouts for their first collection, Garden Vignettes in a week. I’m excited for you to see the collection and their beautiful layouts! There will be a give away starting on Thursday for this collection, so be sure and check back for a sneak peek and a chance to win!

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

My New ACMoore Paper Pads! Bella Bella and Paris and Co.

img_4663My new AC Moore paper pads have arrived! They are exclusively at ACMoore (I don’t think they have hit the stores yet). There are two pads: Bella Bella (which includes many of the original Bella Bella line papers) and Paris and Co. (also found digitally at 2peas). Here’s a card I made this afternoon using the papers (alpha rubons from the Laundry Line and Crochet flower from Bohemia).

I’m always amazed at the mess one grown woman can make to create a simple card like this (granted, both of my girls helped with the mess, but most of it was mine). It’s positively amazing!

img_4650 img_46401

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

Giveaway Winner for PhotoCuts and Collections Team Call

Hooray! It’s Tuesday morning and as promised I have the giveaway winner along with some other news. I do this the old fashion way so I was up this morning cutting out the paper and writing out names. lol. And the winner of the blog giveaway for photocuts is:

img_44631

siriandherflower1Just email me at carina@diginirvana.com and I will try to get a hold of you as well and we’ll arrange for you getting your free product! You can find all the new PhotoCuts Collection digi kits at twopeas here. Here’s a layout I did using a mask from the new collection and a paper from a collection that hasn’t been released yet called Garden Vignettes! Look for it in a few weeks. Here’s a peek:

More business to attend to! I am finally opening up a new creative team call for a collections team! Yes, this is big news as I haven’t done a call for a long time. My wonderful publications team has been amazing (you guys rock!) and I’ve decided that I need a second team to take care more of the layouts for this blog and for new collections. You’ll love my darling CT Manager Theresa and you’ll get a collections team blinkie to boot:). What does it involve? Read this:

collectionsteamcall

So how does it work? You will receive 1-2 kits per collection along with some started kits to give you some “goods” to get going. The collection team will know about collections that will be released and will have a week or so to put together a layout to be posted at 2peas, etc. It will be no more than 4 layouts a month with the average being about 2-3 layouts a month. We are a friendly group at the studio:).

Oh, and speaking of blinkies, grab this one for your everyday wear:

and keep an eye out for the publications team and the collections team wear:

Here’s the html for the fan blinkie for you to copy:

<a href=”http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/digital-kits/carina-gardner/” target=”_blank”><img class=”alignleft” style=”margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;” src=”http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee297/diginirvana/fan_carinagardner.gif” alt=”” width=”150″ height=”50″ /></a>

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores

PhotoCuts Giveaway!

My new line Photocuts hits 2peas on Tuesday, but I thought to introduce the line, I would do a giveaway! So here’s a peek at the first four digi kits of the line:

firstfourrelease_carinagardner So what do you need to do in order to win one of these great photo-enhancing kits? All you need to do is comment on this thread which one of these kits you would REALLY like to have. Easy-peasy!

Top-Left : Filmstrip Frames

Top-Right : Taped Off Frames

Bottom-Left : Masks

Bottom-Right : Overlays

I’ll announce the winner of this blog giveaway on Tuesday morning!

And, if you want another try at winning one of these, I’m doing a seperate drawing on the 2peas blog. So go over there and enter too! Good luck!

Also be sure to check out the new PhotoCuts digi kits during the next several weeks of 2peas releases as there will be plenty more!

Silhouette Design Store JOANN Stores