Just things that I think are beautiful!
Hey you! Did you know that starting last week, I’m uploading a fabric related video EVERY week on Thursdays to my Youtube Channel. You can subscribe by just clicking on THIS LINK.
Last week, I showed you guys how to put together my Eek Boo Shriek 18 inch doll panel. This week I’m introducing you to the rest of the line. Take a look!
XOXO- Carina
My new fabric line has started shipping, and I’ve gotten requests for the downloadable instructions (with illustrations) for the new 18 inch doll panel. So here it is!
DOWNLOAD THE 18 INCH WITCH DOLL PANEL
I also decided to make a video of this one because I wanted to walk you through how I make this panel. I hope you enjoy! Make sure and subscribe to my youtube channel for more great sewing projects!
Happy sewing!
Carina
Sometimes I forget to tell you about projects I’m doing or have loved that are amazing! So here’s a ROUND UP of some favorite SPRINGTIME projects that you can get from my Silhouette Shop.
1. Accordion Number Album Design ID #75919 https://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/view-shape/75919
2. 3 Stacked Skinny Square Boxes Design ID #76544 https://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/view-shape/76544
3. Butterfly Perched on a Flower Pillowbox Design ID #76289 https://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/view-shape/76289
4. Layered tulip gift card Tag Design ID #77394 https://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/view-shape/77394
5. 4 x6 Window Photo Pocket Album Design ID #77713 https://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/view-shape/77713
Hope you have some fun with these! I also have a fun bonus for you! Use coupon code SPRINGTIME30 for 30% off diecuts from my shop through May 1st!
XOXO- Carina
I’m so excited to show you these amazing Embroidery Folded Cards I’m releasing with MiniLou this week! Links will be added to this post once the cards are up on Silhouette (You can find the Carina Gardner Store here and the MiniLou store here).
I have a great video showing you how I straight stitch, knot my thread, end the floss, and make a french knot! Check it out below!
I hope you have a chance to check out all of these designs! There are so many cool ways to work with these designs and they are AMAZING for kid projects!
Happy Crafting!
Carina
This week my Silhouette release continues with 2.25 in. x 3.25 in. cards. I’m really loving this size! This week the cards are “layered.” I cover a lot of different themes—wedding, baby, spring to name a few. These Layered Cards are the same size as my Accordion Shadow Box Cards that were released last week. Because of this, I also have envelopes that match up to these cards.
I also have two videos below that will help you make these cards and envelopes. Please subscribe to the youtube channel if you are interested in these tutorials. Many times I am putting up these videos the week before the products are released so you can see what is coming out (your very own sneak peek!)
If you get one of each (layered card or accordion card + an envelope), you will find that it’s a very nice tight fit. Don’t use pop dots because the card will not fit. I may have an envelope come out that allows for a thicker card (tell me on instagram @carinagardnerpapercrafts if you want something like that!).
Happy Crafting!
Carina
This week is the last one I’ll be releasing Valentine’s so I’m going out with a bang! I also decided to double dip. These pencil cards are not only my final Valentine’s release but are also Felicity’s class gifts. She’s going to write on each of them, and I’m sure we’ll add a few quotes like “I’m write for you.”
You can find them in my Silhouette shop here.
TIP 1: When you are putting these together, I recommend putting your pencil through the slits FIRST and then gluing your pieces into place (see photo below).
There are several designs were two or more papers have slits that match up. Use the slits as your guides. Place the pencil through the slits first and then pull open the edges of the top paper to glue it into place.
TIP 2: I LOVE pop dots with these designs! And glitter. And stamping ink on the edges. I kept them all simple on purpose. So you can jazz them up or use them as a kid activity.
TIP 3: Add a printable. Simply use whatever word processing software you use and write up a cute phrase in a cute font. Print, cut and attach to these Valentine’s cards!
And in case you missed it (haha), I’ve been releasing Valentine’s for the last month. In fact, we have been releasing Valentine’s for both CGInc. and MiniLou for the past several weeks. You can check both shops here:
Carina Gardner Silhouette Shop
Happy crafting!
Carina
I’m SO excited about the new village I designed this year for Christmas! It’s called Santa’s Glitter Village and you can download all of it from my Silhouette shop! You can add it to any pieces you have from my original Christmas Village or build these separately! There is even a cool download showing you how I made the snowy centerpiece the either village is made on. You can use that for this village too!
This year it is all about GLITTER! I have a great tutorial for you on how you can put together below. I do NOT have individual tutorials on these houses because many of them are made THE SAME. The tutorial I have below is for the Sugar Plum Fairy’s House and most of the buildings are built in this way. There are also extra instructions below for pieces I thought you might like a little extra help with. So scroll on down to see if there is something there that will help you!
This year, the Santa Glitter Village includes: Santa’s Cottage, Candy Cane Place, a Chapel, Elf Dwelling, Reindeer Stables, Santa’s Tower, Snow Bird House, Sugar Plum Fairy’s House, Tiny Mistletoe House, and the Winter House. Many of these come with openings at the bottom for an electric tea light (or two). The smaller houses do not because a tea light would not fit:).
You can find ALL my tutorials on my main Silhouette landing page here: https://carinagardner.com/silhouette/. I noticed that when I went back to look at previous projects in the Silhouette store, that some of the links are broken. That landing page is your end all for ALL of my tutorials. You can also watch many tutorials I have filmed on my YOUTUBE channel.
I hope you have a wonderful time building Santa’s Glitter Village! Every piece is unique and sweet! I think I’m placing mine on my piano this year.
Happy crafting!
XOXO-Carina
Supplies
-Glitter (we used fine glitter, but you could use more course glitter)
-Mod Podge (we used gloss, but you could use any kind)
-foam brush
-1 piece of copy paper
-SVG card cutouts
Instructions
Note: These instructions work for all of the houses in Santa’s Glitter Village. At the end of the tutorial there are instructions on how to put a few of the more intricate pieces together.
1. Cut out all SVGs provided in the file.
2. Before putting the house together, decide which pieces you want to glitter. I did mine on the green scallop pieces of roof, peppermint swirls, and snow.
3. Once you have all of the glitter pieces and supplies, take a piece of copy paper and fold it in half (this makes it easier to put the extra glitter back in the jar later). This paper will be your working surface to catch the extra glitter and Mod Podge.
4. Next, take your foam brush and dip it in Mod Podge. Cover any area you want glittered with a thin layer of Mod Podge. Put the copy paper underneath to contain any Mod Podge and glitter that goes over the edge.
5. After the whole piece is covered in Mod Podge, take the glitter and sprinkle it over the area the Mod Podge covers. Be very generous with the glitter so it covers everything. Remember, you will be able to put the extra back in the container so make sure everything is covered well.
6. To make sure the glitter to stays in place better, use your finger to tap the glitter lightly. This make sure more glitter adheres to the Mod Podge.
7. Wait for the Mod Podge to dry a few minutes, and tap off the excess glitter.
Tip: If you are worried about the glitter transferring too much, you can put another layer of Mod Podge on top. If you use gloss Mod Podge, the glitter wont lose it’s sparkle.
8. Once you’re done with the glitter, fold the copy paper with the glitter on the inside and pour the excess back into the container.
9. You’re done with the glitter, now onto how to put together the rest of the house!
10. To put the house together, first, take the facades and glue all of the embellishments to them.
11. Next, glue the facades to the side and front pieces.
12. Then, glue the tabs of the back and side pieces to the tabs of the bottom. It should form a “T” shape.
13. To make the house 3D, hot glue the tab on the side of the front piece to the side piece. Do this for all of the tabs until you have a house shape.
14. After the house is done, gather your roof pieces. Hot glue the scallop pieces to the roof piece. Make sure you overlap each scallop piece and switch off between colors as you glue. It’s best to estimate your spacing before your start glueing so the scallop pieces cover the roof evenly.
14. Next, add the long scallop piece to the side of the roof by glueing it on the underside of the roof.
15. Then add the roof by glueing one side, making sure it’s centered and the top creased is lined up.
16. The last thing to add is the chimney! Take the chimney piece and fold it into a box shape. Then, glue the tabs on the angled side to the roof.
Now you have the most adorable Fairy House for your Glitter Christmas Village!
Here’s a few more instructions on some of the parts that are specific to each piece.
Chimney on Santa’s Cottage:
Front Door piece on Chapel:
Reindeer Stables:
Hello! Kelly here from Finding Time To Create. I absolutely love making paper crafts with my Silhouette CAMEO, so I jumped at the chance to use Carina’s fun Halloween designs this season.
I used designs both from this year’s tiny Halloween village set, and from last year’s Halloween haunted village set. It was fun to mix and match the two sets.
[photo: Halloween Village – Finding Time To Create]
I wanted these to catch your attention in the dark, so I made a couple of the houses with materials that would really pop when it’s dark.
I used vellum as my base for the spider house, which has an opening in the bottom for a battery-operated tea light. That spider on the door looks pretty creepy, don’t you think?
[photo: Spider house night – Finding Time To Create]
On the tiny village haunted house, I backed the windows with glow-in-the-dark sticker paper. It really makes those windows pop! (This house was my kids’ favorite.)
[photo: Glow in the dark sticker paper and glitter heat transfer accents – Finding Time To Create]
[photo: Tiny village haunted house – night – Finding Time To Create]
Glitter makes every paper craft better, so I also used glitter paper for some of the rooftops, and glitter heat transfer for the spider web and some window frames.
[photo: Spider house day – Finding Time To Create]
You may also notice I cut all the ghosts from vellum, and added a few cats from the cat house throughout the set.
This was such a fun project to make! Thanks for letting me share it with you!
More pictures:
Halloween haunted village – Spooky cemetery and Tiny Halloween village – Haunted tree
[photo: Cemetery – Finding Time To Create]
[photo: Bitty bat house – Finding Time To Create]
Halloween haunted village – Cat house
[photo: Cat house – Finding Time To Create]
Halloween haunted village – Ghost mansion
[photo: Haunted mansion – Finding Time To Create]
Tiny Halloween village – Lil graveyard
A huge thank you to Kelly for being on my blog and showing us how she put together her Halloween village! It turned out beautiful!
XOXO-Carina
These adorable box card were released in my Silhouette shop this week! They are so fun to give and receive. You can write an note on them or give them with a present. They fold flat and fit in an A2 envelope so you can mail them easily. They’re pretty simple to put together, and so fun to give! Below is the tutorial for how to put them together.
There are several designs hitting the store for these so be sure to always search MiniLou and box cards!
Instructions for putting together Foldable Box Cards
1. Cut out all SVGs provided in the file. Glue on all the accessories to the box as indicated in the photo.
2. Then, to make the core body of the box, fold the box together, and glue the tab on the inside and fold the flaps down.
3. Next, Take the inserts and fold them into a “Z” shape. Fold one tab backwards and one tab forward.
4. To attach the inserts, use a glue stick for the tabs and place it in the box without sticking the tabs to the sides. When you are gluing the tabs, make sure to keep it in the “Z” shape, so each tab has glue on the opposite sides of each other.
5. When you have the insert where you want it, fold the box flat so the tabs attach. Make sure the top and bottom line up as you do this.
6. Next, glue the second tab on the same way.
7. Add any embellishments, and you’ve got an adorable card to put in the mail!
Happy Crafting!
Carina
This week I released these fun BOO marquee letters on Silhouette! They take some time to put together, but are so worth it! They are similar to my original marquee letters, but have more decorative element to make them fun for Halloween. Click here if you want a tutorial on how to put the letter part together. You can see how to put together the festive Halloween pieces below. Happy crafting!
1.Cut out all SVGS. We did the letters in black, and the other pieces in fun Halloween scrapbook paper.
2. For instructions on putting the letter together, click here.
3. Once your black letter piece is put together, pop dot the back of the flat letter piece and place it in the letter.
4. After the flat letter piece is placed in the letter. Add the skinnier, flat letter pieces to the letter using pop dots.
5. Once the letter part is done, add the fringe to the outside. Before you start glueing, make sure you know where the fringe pieces fit. Then hot glue down the center to attach it to the outside of the letter. Make sure not to glue the fringe to the letter because you want to be able to bend it up.
6. After all of the fringe pieces are glued down, bend the fringe pieces up.
That’s all there is to making the BOO marquee letters! Hope you have a much fun making Halloween decorations as I have!
I know it’s early September but Halloween is around the corner and I know I’m gearing up for some serious decorating. I’m releasing a Tiny Halloween Village, this week on Silhouette. I think you will love it, especially if you did last year’s Halloween Village. Yes, All the pieces in the new set WORK WITH the Halloween village from last year! So mix and match!
This set (as the name suggests) is a little smaller. Why you ask? Because it all fits neatly on 8.5 in. x 11 in. paper! Yep! No sizing down for the Silhouette Portrait users! Hooray!
I have a new video with the tutorial of how to put together each of these new Tiny Halloween pieces here!
Today is the start of our wonderful BlogHop with Riley Blake Designs for my new collection Posy Garden! I can’t wait for you to see all the amazing goodness that is about to be unveiled over the next two weeks! It’s going to be awesome!
Along with that! My new (and first!) eBook called Simply Modern Patchwork Quilts goes on presale today! Eeek! I’m so excited! It will release on August 15th in the Kindle Store on Amazon. I’ll add links here as soon as the presale goes live! I know we are doing a HEFTY discount for the presale so keep your eyes open for it!
***NOTE: It’s on PRESALE NOW! Go to Amazon to purchase it here. The presale price is $4.99. which is 50% off the regular price of $9.99 through AUGUST 15th when it becomes available! That’s less than 50 cents per pattern! Make sure and grab it during the presale period!
There are also four contributing pattern designers to the book including Amy Webb, Amanda Neiderhauser, Christine Cook, and Angie Tackett! These ladies did a fabulous job and I can’t wait for you to see what they have done!
As for the Bloghop, here is the list you are going to want to visit everyday! Come back to this post to link over to these ladies blogs!
I’ll also be reposting their projects over the next two weeks on instagram if you want to follow over there.
Okay, here’s the amazing line up!
Monday, August 1st: My Sewing Haven with Carla Peicheff
Tuesday, August 2nd Happy Little Cottage with Debbie Homick
Tuesday, August 2nd The Family Hearth with Bridgette McNay
Wednesday, August 3rd Fort Worth Fabric Studio with Lindsey Weight
Wednesday, August 3rd Happy Quilting Melissa with Melissa Corry
Thursday, August 4th Pretty By Hand with Kristyne Czepuryk
Thursday, August 4th Out of the Blue with Sondra Davison
Friday, August 5th Samelia’s Mom with Anorina Morris
Friday, August 5th Free Time Frolics with Adrienne Woods
Monday, August 8th Flamingo Toes with Bev McCullough
Monday, August 8th Silly Mama Quilts with Brooke Sellmann
Tuesday, August 9th Snickerdoodle Stew with Jessica Stewart
Tuesday, August 9th A Little Patchwork with Ange Hamilton
Wednesday, August 10th Ameroonie Designs with Amy Chappell
Thursday, August 11th One Little Pooh with Tina
Thursday, August 11th Jedi Craft Girl with Amanda Neiderhauser
Friday, August 12th Stitching Revival with Christine Cook
I’m so excited to see all their amazing projects! It’s going to keep myself from sewing all week!
Carina
Psst! If you are in Utah, make sure to come visit me at Elaine’s Quilt shop this weekend on August 6th! I’m teaching a free class in the morning and the Clean Star Quilt in the afternoon. My glamper will also be there to tour all day!
I’m still decompressing a bit from market. In fact, when we finished and pulled the entire double booth down, I looked through my photos on my phone and realized that I had been so busy, I hardly took ANY pictures. WHHHAAAT? Whoops.
In the end, you’ll have to visit the hastag #carinaglamps on instagram to see all the going ons that happened in my booth over the course of the three glorious days at Quilt Market 2016 in Salt Lake City.
First off, a story. My glamper was suppose to go in before all the pipe and drape went up in the convention center.
Ya. They forgot about me. When I called the Tuesday before set up, they realized their mistake. So I pulled it in at 8am Wednesday before everyone else came to set up (important since we didn’t want to drive over anyone else and their booths). One of the dock workers pulled it into the Salt Palace for me since exhibitors were technically not allowed in yet. All good.
A bit later, a DIFFERENT dock worker came and asked me if I wanted the door facing out. I’m not sure what the expression on my face was, but I can tell you I was extremely puzzled and confused. I think I mumbled a, “Um, yes? I mean, I want people to actually go INTO it.” Apparently, they had pulled the glamper in BACKWARDS with the door facing the inside of the booth (as in, no one would be able to actually get into it). I believe I heard the dock worker mumble something along the lines of, “I told those idiots that.” as he ran in to the scene of the crime.
Needless to say, they fixed it. I’m not sure how well my booth would have gone over if no one was able to actually go into it to see all the pretty Posy Garden fabric (heehee!).
Because I didn’t leave my booth much, I only have highlights for you. Maybe the biggest highlight (for me) was that the booth won the Creativity Award. I was SO honored! I hadn’t thought about booth awards and I felt grateful to get one. (Photos below: Left—Creativity Booth Award; Right: Baby Coco visits the glamper)
(Photo below: Left—I spent a lot of time on the chalkboards for this booth; Right—First day of the show.)
Most of my double booth was taken up by the glamper (which is about 10′ Wide and 17′ in Length), but we also had a fun section of MiniLou at the front and a section in the back for patterns and block of the month. And that darling sign above (the white one with my logo on it) was made by my sister who has a darling etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SKWoodDesigns. She also made the MiniLou one below. (Photos below: Left—this was taken by @emmalinebags; Right—MiniLou).
I wish I could take credit for all the wonderful sewing in the glamper, but I can’t. I had some fabulous sewers put together many of the projects in the booth. A big thank you to @stitchingrevival Christine Cook, @quiltstorymeg Megan, @mystitchstory Angie Tackett, @amylouwhosews Amy Webb, @farmwifejournal Cherilyn Dunn, @diaryofaquilter Amy Smart 20.2, @jedicraftgirl Amanda Neiderhauser and @happylittlecottage1 Debbie Homick. They made wonderful minis for the glamper.
(Photos below: Left—Amy Smart shows off her mini; Right—Flying Geese Pillow and Garden Patch Quilt I made using my Posy Garden fabric).
(Photos below: Amanda Niederhauser and her mini; Christine Cook and her mini).
Last but not least, my mom came into town and helped with my kids, sewing, and cleaning to get me ready for market. She sewed all the curtains, cushions, and gulp, the piping for all the pillows. Did I mention I HATE doing the piping. Ya, she saved me!
(Photos below: Left—Minilou was all the rage at market!; Right—My mom and me at the Chinese bash we threw after market.—That’s my I-am-happy-it-is-all-over-with smile-wink, wink.).
It was so fun to catch up with new and old friends. The photos below include Heather Spurlock who works at Elaine’s Quilt Shop (BTW the glamper will be there with classes in August! Stay tuned!) and Deanna Hartvigsen who used to be with Mormon Handicraft but has since retired. Deanna is a dear friend and recently has gone through several rounds of chemotherapy. I couldn’t have been more glad to see her!
The photo to the left is of MOST of the Riley Blake designers. A few of the designers were missing in this shot.
The other photo is of Josh and I dressed up for the Riley Blake 80’s party. Anybody want to guess at Josh’s movie reference?
Any that’s the wrap up! It’s always such a treat to be part of the Riley Blake team and I can’t wait for Posy Garden to hit a store near you! Hopefully, I’ll have the swatch book up for it soon!
XOXO, Carina
I’m still recovering from Quilt Market and I’m hoping to have photos up by Thursday! We had a great show and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. For now, I’ve added my shadow box to the Mini Episodes! We have been making so many gorgeous little videos of the new Carina Gardner and MiniLou products coming out in our Bundle Shop and in the Silhouette shops. You’ll see them premier on instagram so check it all out there!
XOXO-Carina
Looking back, I’m not sure I even did a blogpost on the Audrey Sewing Collection that premiered in the shop last month. It’s my first knit collection and includes 4 patterns for Misses and 4 patterns for Girls/Teens. The whole collection makes me pretty happy…easy-to-sew, easy-to-wear clothing.
So here’s my first hack with the collection. First of all, I’m a big fan of a summer dress or tunic (hence those lengths throughout the collection). Second, I’m a huge fan of a Maxi! For those of you who have already bought the sewing patterns, you can see that making a maxi seemed out of the question. There are already SO many pieces for you to tape together to make your pattern.
So here’s your hack. Simply add 28 inches of length to the front and back tunic pieces at the bottom. I’d also purchase an extra yard of fabric. Easy right? I don’t get all crazy about straight lines, ect. You just need the length. Longer is always better since you can hem it down.
The fabric you see pictured is Riley Blake’s new ikat knit in navy. I’ve made the short versions of this pattern before but never the maxi and it took me about an hour and a half to make. I used the Misses Style 3 Pattern and used a gold zipper I got from my local craft store.
We took these pictures near one of my favorite restaurants in Las Vegas (we were there for a toy show for my kids company MiniLou) called Eat. It’s a brunch place and the eggs benedict on the weekends is to die for. Or the cinnamon biscuits. Or the egg truffle sandwich. Or the…well, you get the picture.
You can check out the video where I show you how to put together the Style 3 zipper (It’s easier than it looks!) although I did manage to break 4 stretch needles on the zipper because I wasn’t careful about where I was going.
I like using a stretch interfacing when making this. It holds the zipper and fabric together nicely.
And that’s it! I plan on making this with several of the other Riley Blake knits. Comfortable summer clothing, here I come!
XOXO, Carina