Episode 21 From Painting to Calligraphy with Melissa Esplin

August 4, 2021 by Carina Gardner

Carina is joined by artist and calligraphy expert Melissa Esplin on today’s episode of Make + Design. Melissa tells us about how she got into creative arts and how she tried to bridge the gap between fine art and graphic design as an undergrad and how that created tension between two halves of a department that simultaneously was jealous of and looked down on the other half of the department.

Melissa shares the hilarious story of her Senior project for her Bachelors of Fine Arts in which they almost didn’t give her the “Fine” in the degree because her final project was done in Illustrator instead of a more traditional medium like oil paint. Carina shares a “what price art” moment from when she was pregnant for the first time and painted in a way that concerned her doctor. What could that possibly mean? LOL.

Melissa walks through her post-college journey and how it led her to a love of calligraphy after she was inspired by a book she inherited that had belonged to her great-great grandfather. Melissa talks about how important it was for her as an artist to make ugly stuff in the beginning as she learned her craft and improved. She tells the journey of monetizing her art by taking a risk with starting her own calligraphy instruction site. Carina and Melissa dig into what it takes to run a successful online business and strategies for driving traffic to a website. They also talk about the importance of mental health and self care like exercise.

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Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY

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About Carina Gardner:

Carina Gardner is a fabric designer, paper designer, and design educator who is passionate about helping other designers fulfill their creative dreams by teaching them her strategies for making money as a designer. She has a Ph.D. in Design and taught design at the University of Minnesota before starting Carina Gardner, Inc.

Carina Gardner, Inc design brand has been featured in dish ware, holiday decor, sewing patterns, and more. Her exclusive Design Suite Program helps creatives make money designing as they learn to design. Her programs include Illustrator and Photoshop training, surface pattern design, paper design, Silhouette & Cricut file design, and running a design business. She started the Make and Design Podcast so that she could share inspiration, stories, and experiences about design and life with crafters and designers.

Find out more at https://www.carinagardner.com

Check out her most popular program, Design Bootcamp, here: http://www.carinagardnercourses.com/designbootcamp

About Today’s Guest

Melissa Esplin is a calligraphy expert and entrepreneur who has taught thousands of people to become calligraphy artists over the last decade. She holds a B.F.A. from Brigham Young University and is an avid cyclist.

Find Melissa on her site at https://www.calligraphy.org/ and on Instagram at melissapher.

Episode 18 Seven Creativity Starter Ideas

July 28, 2021 by Carina Gardner

Ever feel like you’re stuck in a rut creatively? On today’s Make and Design, Carina shares seven tips to help you get out of rut and boost your creativity.

Tip #1: Go somewhere new. Find out how Carina uses trips and changes of scenery to recharge her creativity.

Tip #2: Change your environment. Find out how this is different from the first tip. Hint: it has to do not with the micro level of where you are, like the room you’re in.

Tip #3: Take a break. Sometimes the best way to get clarity on how to finish a project is to take a break from it. The break might last an hour, a week, or even a year!

Tip #4: Take a shower/bath/dip in the hot tub. Showers are an amazing way to create an environment where you can cultivate your best creative ideas!

Tip #5: Take a nap. Not a two-hour nap. A 15 to 20 minute nap to help our mind declutter and feel refreshed.

Tip #6: Forced doodling. Listen in to find out what this is and how it gets the creativity flowing.

Tip #7: Go to a museum. Carina explains how the inspirational environment of a museum helps to unlock our own creativity.

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Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY

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About Carina Gardner:

Find out more at https://www.carinagardner.com

Check out her most popular program, Design Bootcamp, here: http://www.carinagardnercourses.com/designbootcamp

Episode 16 How To Find Your Art Style with Jeanie Dickinson

July 23, 2021 by Carina Gardner

On today’s episode of Make and Design, Carina is joined by artist and designer Jeanie Dickinson, who is also a member of Carina’s Design Suite. Jeanie takes us on a deep dive into her creative process and what she did to develop her very own style, including the moment when she realized that she had her own style. She shares with us how important it was for her to find a mentor and how that impacted and accelerated the development of her style.

Jeanie and Carina describe Jeanie’s style and Jeanie gives two great tips on how you can develop your own style. This one is worth checking out on the YouTube channel as well because Jeanie shows off some of her adorable, whimsical art. Find out how journaling has helped Jeanie practice more and refine her art style. Jeanie and carina also talk about how having a BIG WHY can keep you motivated as an artist. Jeanie finishes up by telling us about a couple of resources and classes that have helped her improve over the years.

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Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY

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About Carina Gardner:

Find out more at https://www.carinagardner.com

Check out her most popular program, Design Bootcamp, here: http://www.carinagardnercourses.com/designbootcamp

Episode 14 Paper Crafting with Kelly Wayment

July 19, 2021 by Carina Gardner

On today’s episode of Make and Design, Carina talks to crafting expert and instructor Kelly Wayment about her career. The ladies discuss Kelly’s trajectory from getting started in paper crafting as a hobbyist and how, over time, she developed the skills and following to become an industry expert.

Kelly also tells us about her excitement of discovering the first Silhouette machine back in 2008 and how this led to her love of 3D paper crafts. Listen in to hear a crafting trick that Carina didn’t even know about!

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Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY

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About Carina Gardner:

Find out more at https://www.carinagardner.com

Check out her most popular program, Design Bootcamp, here: http://www.carinagardnercourses.com/designbootcamp

About Today’s Guest

Kelly Wayment is a crafting instructor and has taught on sites like Craftsy, Michaels, and Silhouette.

Find Kelly at www.findingtimetocreate.com and on Instagram at kraftingkelly.

Episode 12 Our Philosophy for Getting Started with Social Media with My Sister Kim Friedmann

July 14, 2021 by Carina Gardner

Carina’s sister and Etsy guru SuiKim Friedmann joins the Make and Design Podcast today to discuss how to get started with social media. Carina starts by telling a “from the mouth of babes” story about advice her husband once received from a seven-year-old that applies perfectly to social media.

Kim and Carina discuss the pros and cons of various social media platforms and give advice on the factors that will help you choose which platform is best for you. Are you looking for community or a place to easily share information? Find out what will work and what may not when it comes to social!

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Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY
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**About Carina Gardner:**
Carina Gardner is a fabric designer, paper designer, and design educator who is passionate about helping other designers fulfill their creative dreams by teaching them her strategies for making money as a designer. She has a Ph.D. in Design and taught design at the University of Minnesota before starting Carina Gardner, Inc.

Carina Gardner, Inc design brand has been featured in dish ware, holiday decor, sewing patterns, and more. Her exclusive Design Suite Program helps creatives make money designing as they learn to design. Her programs include Illustrator and Photoshop training, surface pattern design, paper design, Silhouette & Cricut file design, and running a design business. She started the Make and Design Podcast so that she could share inspiration, stories, and experiences about design and life with crafters and designers.

Find out more at https://www.carinagardner.com
Check out her most popular program, Design Bootcamp, here: http://www.carinagardnercourses.com/designbootcam

About Today’s Guest

SuiKim Friedmann is an Etsy guru, coach, and blogger who shares her wisdom on how to build a dynamite Etsy shop at www.suikim.com and on Instagram at suikimfriedmann. Please note that Kim’s website has changed since this episode was originally recorded!

Episode 7 What Design Flows Looks Like For Me

July 8, 2021 by Carina Gardner

On today’s episode of the Make and Design Podcast, Carina talks about flow state and how she, as a designer gets into Flow. She talks about some of the ways that daily routines and habits help achieve Flow. She also gives us some tips on various areas where we can get into Flow and how leveling up your skills can help you get into flow more quickly. For Carina, there are some kinds of design work that she does where she can keep a TV show or movie on in the background. Listen in to hear what shows and movies she likes to have on in the background while she works! Some of her choices might surprise you!

Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY

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About Carina Gardner:

Find out more at https://www.carinagardner.com

Check out her most popular program, Design Bootcamp, here: http://www.carinagardnercourses.com/designbootcamp

Episode 4 Can You Tell If Your Work is Good, Better, or Best

July 8, 2021 by Carina Gardner

On today’s episode of the Make and Design Podcast, Carina examines when it makes sense for designers to do good work, when it makes sense to do better work, and when it makes sense to do your very best work (spoiler alert: it depends on the medium!). Carina also takes us on a trip down memory lane as she explains what it was like to design her very first fabric line way back in 2007. She gives great insight into how hard or how rewarding it is to learn new skills as a designer.

One of the keys to being able to distinguish between your “good” work, your “better” work, and your “best” work is to create *a lot* of design work. Only when you’ve put in the hours to create a large portfolio will you have the experience to know what’s good, better, or best. Carina’s shares three things to consider when you’re leveling up and learning to measure whether your design work is moving from good to better. Hear her tips on time, editing, and direction (as it relates to your original inspiration for a project) when it comes to your work.

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Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY

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About Carina Gardner:

Find out more at https://www.carinagardner.com

Check out her most popular program, Design Bootcamp, here: http://www.carinagardnercourses.com/designbootcamp

Episode 3 3 Ways to Trade Money for More Time with Co Host Kim Friedmann

July 8, 2021 by Carina Gardner

On today’s episode of the Make and Design Podcast, Carina is joined by her sister, Etsy guru SuiKim Friedmann. Together they talk about how to trade money for time. Carina’s first tip is to purchase a certain kind of item to help you streamline your processes and save a TON of time. Listen in to find out what it is! SuiKim shares the second tip that is geared towards investing in leveling up you and your skill level. At the six minute mark, she reveals what it is! Tip three is how to hire great employees to save you time. If you think about the things that can save you time in your business and then implement them, you’ll ultimately make more money!

Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY

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About Carina Gardner:

Find out more at https://www.carinagardner.com

Check out her most popular program, Design Bootcamp, here: http://www.carinagardnercourses.com/designbootcamp

Watch this episode as a video at https://www.makeanddesign.com/

About Today’s Guest

SuiKim Friedmann is an Etsy guru, coach, and blogger who shares her wisdom on how to build a dynamite Etsy shop at www.suikim.com. Please note that Kim’s website has changed since this episode was originally recorded!

Episode #2 Why Wanting is Different Than Belief

July 8, 2021 by Carina Gardner

On today’s episode of the Make and Design Podcast, Carina takes a deep dive into why just because you want something doesn’t really mean you BELIEVE you will be able to get it. Belief is powerful especially for makers and designers. Carina shares insights that she learned from the book “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth. She also gives insight into lessons she’s learned about belief while raising three very different children.

Carina shares two secrets that will help you move your *wants* into a mental place where you *believe* you will get what you want. Hint: they have to do with the people you spend time with and how you spend your time. When you implement these two secrets, your wants will become beliefs!

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Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY

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About Carina Gardner:

Find out more at https://www.carinagardner.com

Check out her most popular program, Design Bootcamp, here: http://www.carinagardnercourses.com/designbootcamp

Watch this episode as a video at https://www.makeanddesign.com/

Carina Gardner has a Ph.D. in Design and was the Creative Director of a scrapbooking company and paper goods business. She currently designs fabric and die cutting files while teaching other designers how to create meaningful design work while making a residual income online.

Find out more at http://www.carinagardner.com

Want to become a designer? Check out Carina’s next Design Bootcamp at http://www.carinagardnercourses.com/designbootcamp.

Episode #1 Hello!

July 8, 2021 by Carina Gardner

Welcome to the Make and Design Podcast!

Carina Gardner welcomes you to the very first episode of the Make and Design Podcast, a show about makers, designers, and working creatively. This is a quick intro to welcome you to the podcast! Carina tells us why the Make and Design Podcast is different from podcasts focused only on making new crafting projects. She also tells us why Make and Design is different from a podcast focused on business. Spoiler: Make and Design is a unique hybrid where the world of design meets advice on how you can become a commercially-successful designer with your own business.