ABC Book Template

April 21, 2010 by carina 2 Comments

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I’ve been working on this new hybrid ABC Book for a couple of days now. It’s a little present for my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day…shhhhh! Don’t tell! She even gave me a little time to work on it while she hauled my kids to the aquarium for a little “grammy” time yesterday. I had to share because I made this little book from MeadowLark™ and my new ABC Templates that will be out tomorrow at DHD. The mini illustrations are so sweet! Think Mother’s Day (or in my case, Grandma’s Day). The bonus? It’s pretty easy to make.

dhd_carinagardner_abc_sqPREV The templates all fit on a 4 in x 4 in photo (I get 4″x6″ photos printed at Costco and leave the extra space blank). All I did was take my “ABC photos” and dropped the templates on top (the digital kit comes with both white and black versions-52 files in all).

Once they are printed, you only have the fun part left! This little book is 5 in. x 5 in. You could make your book any size though. When I make my photos 4″ x 6″, I tend to make a 5 in” x 7 in” book. I was loving the black and white papers because it made the photos really pop. I added red ink to all the paper edges as an accent and some fun MME rub on letters to the cover (the other elements on the cover come from the MeadowLark™ die cut accessory sheets). Oh ya, and my favorite way to get things bound? A quick trip to OfficeMax to let them spiral bind it for me. I’m okay with the hand off on this part of it!

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It’s a Project Day

April 15, 2010 by carina 2 Comments

Ahhhhh! I love a good project day! I’m off the computer designing for a day (after finishing up my new collection Daisy Jane™ for DHD last night) and getting paint on my face! I found a steal of a deal at Tai Pan the other day, and it’s been waiting for me to give it a fresh coat of paint. Of course, Felicity helped as only a toddler can (that’s her little hand painting in the photo!). I’m also hoping to get out those new MeadowLark™ papers to work on a little project. That’s this afternoon (with the girls…they love a good art project as much as I do).

elephant front Speaking of projects, I have to show off these amazing projects by one of DHD‘s new Hybrid Decorators: Jane Beljo (click on her name to see more). These cards use the Baby Mine kit (proceeds go to a good cause—see the post below!). You can see her helpful hints for making her cards at Design House Digital (her first post is here).

Oh ya, and I’ve been meaning to give a little shout out to Hi Mountain Drug Store in Kamas, Utah. Our little family stopped by to see DHD’s Digi guru Gennifer Bursett on our way back from a spring break vacation last week. It’s no wonder that the burger joint there has won so many awards! I inhaled that delectable philly burger with the refreshing limeade in a ridiculous amount of time. Yes, my mouth is salivating just thinking of it. Gen, watch out…I may be back sooner than you’d like!

Okay, backing away from the computer now :).

Valentine’s Day Card for Kids-Free Download

January 22, 2010 by carina 4 Comments

valentinesdaycard2010_cg I’m a sucker for Valentine’s Day. And while we are still three weeks away, I’ve got some great little projects put together for this very pink holiday. If you haven’t picked it up yet, the Love Nest glitter book is available at Hobby Lobby, and I’ll be doing a few projects with those papers and my new Affectionate papers at Design House Digital.

First up, getting my daughter’s Valentine’s Day Cards together. And you can download them too! These sweet little cards ar 3″ x 4″ and I’ve even already assembled them onto a 8.5″ x 11″ sizes paper for you. So all you have to do is print! I’ve made the boxes “chubby” for my kindergartner’s fat letters. We’ll cut them out and let her write on them in advanced.

You can also check out my Valentine’s Day Kiddie cards from 2009 (also a free download!) if you want lots of different cards (and birdies:). Those cards are also set up on a 8.5″ x 11″ paper so all you have to do is cut! Easy-peasy!

Craft Project-How to Make an Easy Octopus Costume

January 14, 2010 by carina 1 Comment

carinagardner_blog1 Yes, my daughter wanted me to make her an octopus costume for her birthday. So how could I refuse? I kept it simple by buying a t-shirt (with the gems already on it) and women’s long socks. Add some filling, a t-shirt transfer kit and my sewing machine and I was set. The only problem? Once I made one for my oldest daughter, I had to make a second one for my youngest daughter. Thankfully, it’s project that can be done in a couple of hours.

Here’s the basic idea. Take a t-shirt and iron-on one of my adorable octopus stickers. Or skip this step entirely. Then stuff 6 women’s socks with filling and sew them to the ends of the t-shirt. Grab a beanie hat (add a flower for fun) and put on a pair of shorts and a final pair of socks (so there are 8 legs in all). Instant octopus!

Want the full instructions and photos? Just download this pdf with my instructions for creating this easy craft project!

Easy T-shirt Project-How to go from Digital Product to Iron-On

January 14, 2010 by carina 1 Comment

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Creating great projects from digital products is easy! For example, my daughter’s birthday party was last week and we did an underwater theme. So my gifts to all the little guests were mermaid shirts with matching hair color for each girl. My daughter wanted to be an octopus, so I simply ironed-on an octopus illustration I made onto the simple costume I created for her (to see how to make the octopus costume, please visit the octopus costume post).

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So here’s how I created this cute little gift idea.

blog2 1. I bought a package of Dark T-shirt transfers and a few t-shirts in blue and dark pink. I picked them all up at Target but many places would have these goods.

2. Choose an illustration from your favorite digital kit…stickers work best because they are png (no background). I used my Tiny Mermaid line for this project.

3. Print your illustration onto your Transfer Sheet (follow the instructions from the back of tha package.). I just used my inkjet printer at home and bought inkjet transfers. If you want to maximize space, create a 8.5″ x 11″ document in Photoshop and place several stickers to cut out.

4. Cut out your printed transfer VERY CAREFULLY. Because it is on a dark T-shirt, you will want to cut out all the white and get as close to the edge of your design. For example, on the octopus sticker, I had to cut out a couple of the legs seperately because they were seperate from the body and I didn’t want white to show up between the legs.

4. Follow you transfer paper instructions to iron on the design to the t-shirt. For mine, I laid down a pillow case on a hard surface and laid a sheet of paper (provided by the iron-on packet I bought) down over the t-shirt and ironed for 1-2 minutes.

And that’s it! I great project that my children adore and made Siri’s party special.

Neighbor Gift Tags-Free Download

December 18, 2009 by carina 3 Comments

I just finished up my neighbor gifts—easy-to-make chocolate dipped pretzel rods. The girls helped me and we managed to make quite the mess. All you need to do to make this gift is melt carmel candies, dip pretzel rods in the “goop,” let them cool, and then dip them in chocolate. We also dipped ours in sprinkles and crushed Oreos for the fun of it. Tonight we will be delivering them.

To make them even more special, I bought cellophane bags that were 4 inch x 9 inch and stapled on this bag topper. I like them because they are generic enough that you could shrink them down as place cards or anything else that had to do with Christmas.

Instructions:

1. Download the 8.5 x 11 jpg (below) of the neighbor gift tag. The size is 4 inches x 4.25 inchs.

2.Personalize by adding your family name (we added the GARDNERS) with a san serif font like Arial or Helvetica (I am using Abell Condensed) OR leave the area blank and move on to step 3. To personalize, you will need to use some kind of editing software like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. ng_cg

3. Print to fit cellaphane bag or shrink for other use.

4. Add a hand written message to the back or sign your family’s name to the front.

5. Fold in half (so the dimensions are 2 inches x 4.25 inchs and staple to the top of your bags.

6. Deliver holiday cheer!

Happy Holidays! Download the NEIGHBOR GIFT TAG here!

Paint a Tree In Your Kid’s Bedroom-Free Download

November 11, 2009 by carina 14 Comments

I’ve been a busy girl. I’ve been working on my little girl’s bedroom since moving into our new house last month. It has been so satisfying to finally be able to paint! While I don’t feel like it is fully finished, I still thought I’d share what I’ve done with you. And, if you are interested in making your own tree, I’ve provided the stencils I made for myself here for you.

The pdf shown here includes simple instructions and patterns for the flowers and leaves. Making your own tree won’t be hard as long as you have a little time. The process for making the tree takes about 3 days, not because it really takes that long, but because the parts of the tree have to dry before you can start a new color.

Here’s a helpful hint to create stencils: I used my Silhouette to cut these out. You could also cut them out by hand using an x-acto knife and still get the same effect.

Download the pdf stencils.

Want to see the rest of the room? First, I have to show you the BEFORE photo. The budget was tight so we decided to have the floors refinished a dark color, repainted everything, and replace the splinter-inducing pine trim as our “big budget” fixes.

And here’s the after. My favorite thing is probably the floors. Having them this dark really makes the light pink pop.

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Sharing a Bit of Halloween with You

November 3, 2009 by carina 3 Comments

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Just thought I’d share a little photo montage of our family’s halloween with you! Tinkerbell and the Fab Witch had a wonderful halloween and I hope you did too!

Dress Design for Shabby Apple dresses

October 27, 2009 by carina 35 Comments

I saw this contest and as I’ve started designing for our first fabric photo shoot, I decided, “What the hey!?” So here’s my entry to the Shabby Apple Dress Contest.

Boooonnnuusss (That is me singing it. Unfortunately you can’t get the full effect via blog.): I’m using fabrics from my new line CoquetteTM for Northcott. It hasn’t hit shops yet so this is a first peek at 3 of the fabrics in the line. This simple-straightforward dress is 50s retro meets modern girl. A little bit of June Cleaver (a flirty flowing skirt). A little bit contemporary (the chic, updated snug “on-the-neck” collar). A whole lot of feminine (an empire waistline and little puffed sleeves with piping)! It’s simple, sweet, and oh so preppy to be sure.

I can see myself racing around on errands or picking up the kids at school in this little sweet thing or just hanging around the house. Throw on a cardigan and take it to work! I’m showcasing 3 different color/fabric ideas here and I’d love to see which you like best. I have my favorite but it’s a secret! Even if these don’t make the contest, there’s a good chance you’ll see these come Coquette’sTM release. Enjoy!

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Have a favorite? Tell me! Read more

Spider’s Web Papers – Batty Wreath

October 23, 2009 by carina 20 Comments

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IMG_7715_sm Halloween is just a week away and I finally have finished my Spider’s Web Bat Wreath. I used my paper version (produced by My Mind’s Eye), but you can also pick it up digitally. I picked up this wreath from Michaels. These twig wreaths are relatively inexpensive ($4, I believe). I then had my silhouette machine cut out these bats for me. I few hot glue gun sticks later, and I was in business!

My kids are going to be a witch and a pumpkin this year (if I can convince her). We are in a new neighborhood, and I excited for the kids to trick-or-treat in this super kid-friendly street.

Hope you have a happy halloween!!!!!

Printing a Digital Book

September 23, 2009 by carina

I finally did it! I printed my very first digital scrapbook. I remember when I use to explain digital scrapbooking to people, they’d say, “Digital?…does that mean you just look at them on the computer?” And I’d have to tell them you could but the point is to have it printed and have a BOOK. I mean, it is called scrapBOOKing even if there is the word “digital” in front of it.

So after not quite 2 years as a digital designer, here I am with my very first book. I kept it really cohesive by only using certain colors and elements. I stuck to the Sproutlets papers & accessories, the Imprints collection, and the PhotoCuts collection. I was COMPLETELY impressed with the quality of the book (even the hard bound outside looked AMAZING). I had it printed at My Pic Tales. I’ll be sure to be doing a lot of printing with them in the future. I need to do a few books for Christmas and senidng out for books through these guys was a snap!

I got the book just in time for DSE, Digital Scrapbooking Experience! If you haven’t registered for Tips and Tricks in Illustrator, but are attending the event, you can register at the door. I’m also gearing up for Digit Alley on Thursday night. We’ll be doing a fun make-and-take at my table. I’ve been busily having my lovely silhouette cut out little flowers for me. Another surprise? Jen Allyson will be showing up to help me with the class and the make-and-take table!

If Things Couldn’t Be Busier

September 20, 2009 by carina 3 Comments

IMG_7091_sm You’ll notice a little update on the blog and studio site. Specifically, check out the background pattern which will be printed in fabric (Coquette)in two color schemes (plum and moss) in 4 fabrics total (unfortuately not in the background color I have here). Pull the Internet browser out for a good look at this pretty paisley pattern. I also tried to update my nav system on this blog, but unfortuately, my php skills are terrible, and I’m going to need a bit of help on this one.

This week we are closing on our house. No, we haven’t really packed, and yes, I’m swamped with other things. Thankfully, the house isn’t far away and there will be some work done on the house during the first two weeks. So it will be a slow move where we spend as much time as possible messing up TWO houses.

The best part about the new house for me? Finally, a decent studio space! I just found a fabulous conference table at an antique store just waiting to be painted white. And the project pile keeps growing…

For now, I’m dusting off my old syllabi in honor of the Digital Scrapbooking Experience class that I am teaching on Thursday. Also putting together some fabulous make-and-takes for that evening’s Digit Alley. I’m pretty excited to see all you digi scrappers! Updates on this event soon!

When It’s A Birthday

September 19, 2009 by carina 1 Comment

With my fantastic silhouette machine from quickutz, I made these darling die cut happy birthday cards that you can pick up at 2peas. I made them originally for my two brothers-in-law that share a common birthday. These boy-happy papers are from my Bella Bella line. Super easy to make with the files in this folder!

So what have I been up to? I’ve been a busy bee as I have been working on a new fabric collection. It’s been going well, and I’m hoping to be able to wrap it up by the middle of next week. I know, you are asking yourself, “But I haven’t even seen a first line.” Sneak peeks coming very soon! I promise! It’s amazing how long the time line on a fabric line is, but I’m so excited to get those bolts of fabric into my hands to show it all off to you! Patience…

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The Blog Hop

September 11, 2009 by carina

If you haven’t stopped by the blogs on this Project Mania blog hop, you’re missing out! And if you want to participate, you are definitely welcome to join us by sending me your link at info@carinagardner.com and you will added to the list. I recently got around to seeing what these ladies are up to, and there is some wonderful stuff happening (even if it is just getting around to updating our blogs…check out Brought to You By the Letter B).

You’ll definitely want to check out The Project Girl’s Blog. Jen has just done a revamp on her blog along with a couple of fantastic projects and free downloads. My favorite thing she has recently created is a chicken wire frame to hang things up! For about one second, I thought about copying her and doing this project too…but then I gave myself a reality check and will get back to the projects I have at hand (aka moving).

You should also stop by Live Laugh Love Scrapbook to get some inspiration from her digital layouts, Lori shows off a BEAUTIFUL quilt she has been making on her blog Life’s Little Moments, Naomi has been gearing up and redecorating her family room on her blog Naomi’s Space, and you’ll get a nice little giggle out of the signs that Mean Mom Digital Designs has been posting!

recipecardbox And what am I going to be posting the rest of this month? I can’t wait to show off my first 12″ x 12″ digital album that I just sent off to print at MyPicTales. I should be getting it any day now! I’m also pretty excited to keep getting organized (yesterday I decluttered my bathroom and got it “move ready”). I am in desperate need to print and laminate the thousands of recipes I have been stuffing into my acrylic recipe box (it currently doesn’t look so nice and organized). And truly, the biggest project of all is when we make this move, and I will be painting this house and putting in my very own studio (my first one!), which I can’t wait to share with you! So, my Project Mania will continue long after September with all new decorating and holiday projects coming up!

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The Only Constant is Change

September 10, 2009 by carina 2 Comments

It is a season of change at our house. Our oldest daughter started Kindergarten, Josh started a new job a couple of months ago, I recently signed a fabric contract, and we are buying our very first home. It’s a wonderful time, but difficult to say the least. Labor Day Weekend and this week has been particularly hectic as I have been working on a paper and fabric line (collection number 3!) and convention season is upon me (my day job as an event director). And with the move coming up, I’ve been busy getting rid of the old and getting organized.

So I’m packing. And I don’t have much to show for it with the exception of these cute tags I made for the girl’s toys. Right now the girls have a playroom, which isn’t going to be the case in our new home. We have all the toys organized and in an Expedit Ikea Shelf which will go into their bedroom at the new house.

You’ll notice that I added a bit of artwork to these tags because with little ones cleaning up is easier if there are pictures. So I added words for the adults and pictures for the kids. I am hoping this means that it will be easier to tidy up.

I’ll tell you my little trick when I don’t have time…but you’re not allowed to tell anyone that I don’t hand cut and laminate all my projects myself! heehee…My main trick, is that I have the email to Office Max’s Copy Max. Yes, and you can get your Office Max’s email too.

I simply email the pdf/jpg files and tell them what I need done. These are 4″ x 6″ cards that they printed on color paper, cut out, and had laminated. I just picked them up, punched holes, and attached with ribbon.

Be sure and take advantage of the blog hop! I’ll be sure and give you highlights of the sites this weekend! Click on the Project Mania banner up top to see the list of people participating!

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