Episode 25 All Things Silhouette with Terri Johnson

Posted on by Carina Gardner

On today’s episode of Make + Design, Carina is joined by Terri Johnson, an event planner who runs one of the biggest Silhouette events, “All Things Silhouette.”  Terri tells us about how she got started as a crafter. It began when she was young in sewing classes but really kicked into high gear when she had children of her own and wanted to sew clothing for them. Her passion led to working as a seamstress at a sewing store. This led to her ownership of her own sewing store for many years. 

Several years ago, she discovered that Silhouette machines can be used to create fabric appliqués and her expertise in the Silhouette space took off from there. Based on the demos they were doing in her sewing shop, they began selling Silhouette machines like crazy to the point that Silhouette’s Vice President of Sales came to visit her to find out how her methods were so effective. Eventually her work with Silhouette education and retreats led her to close her sewing shop to focus full time on Silhouette. Terri walks us through what it was like to plan and host her first-even Silhouette conference and that it was a bit like Field of Dreams, “if you build it they will come.” Carina points out that Terri has been really great at seeing an opportunity that aligns with her passions and then turning that opportunity into something memorable for the wider community. For Terri, the key to the success of her events is the quality of the educators that they bring to the conference. 

Terri walks through some of the challenges that her conferences have faced during the pandemic and tells us the ways they have continued to be successful with a pivot to an online-only model. Many people actually prefer the virtual event! As Terri looks to the future, she is in the process of deciding whether to do live events again (it sounds like she’ll do one live event and one virtual event!).

Terri tells us about some of her courses and programs, including a curriculum that allows someone to become a certified Silhouette instructor. She also has a monthly club for Silhouette projects called the “All Things Silhouette Club.”

Terri can be found at http://www.terrijohnsoncreates.com. 


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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

Terri Johnson is a seamstress, Silhouette expert, business owner, and cancer survivor. She is passionate about helping people unlock their creative potential with their Silhouette machines. You can find more information about Terri’s conferences, courses, and licensing products at her website, http://terrijohnsoncreates.com. 

Episode 24 What is Holding You Back

Posted on by Carina Gardner

On today’s episode of Make + Design, Carina analyzes the kinds of things that can hold us back. It is very natural for us to hold on to things that hold us back.

First, are we able to identify what’s holding us back? Second, can we identify why that thing holds us back? Carina runs us through the categories of excuses and mental blocks that can hold us back. 

One of them is limiting beliefs. Based on past experience and incorrect assumptions, we can create beliefs that keep us back from achieving. Ask yourself what kinds of limiting beliefs do you have? In the midst of this analysis, Carina debunks the old belief that “you should only post on Instagram on Fridays.” 

Another thing that can hold us back, Carina tells us, is comparison. We can achieve much more when we stop comparing ourselves to others. One way to avoid comparison is to learn to celebrate the successes of those around us. If we’re celebrating, we’re too busy to feel bad about a negative comparison.

The last category of things that hold us back is timing. Sometimes we can be our own best salesperson and talk ourselves into something that isn’t the correct next step. Timing is very important!

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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

Episode 23 The One Word That Will Transform Your Daily Life

Posted on by Carina Gardner

On today’s episode of the Make + Design Podcast, Carina tells us about the one little word that will change your life. The word is ACTION. Carina tells us how taking action helps her gain clarity, get unstuck, and build momentum when it comes to starting (or completing!) a project.


Carina also walks us through some of the ways that she takes action to propel her forward. The first way she likes to take action is step-by-step action, meaning that she visualizes each step along the way to complete a project. The second kind of action Carina takes is strategic action. Strategic action starts with visualizing the end goal and then being very mindful about prioritizing the tasks that will lead to it. 

As an example on how to take ACTION, Carina walks through the step-by-step process of becoming a designer. She gives three or four examples of what a good first step looks like and then talks through what would come next. The important thing is to TAKE ACTION and commit to that action. She also walks us through a non-design example: planning a typical summer day with kids in the house. 

Listen in to hear the biggest way that taking ACTION will transform your daily life. 

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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

Episode 22 A Little About Color

Posted on by Carina Gardner

On today’s episode of Make + Design, Carina talks to us about color. Carina tells us what her university courses on color were like and about how hands-on a color class is with mixing and analyzing different colors of paint.

H

Listen in to hear Carina’s thoughts on the 2021 Pantone Colors of the Year and how they relate to the Pandemic. Pantone’s description of the colors is a great case study on how to approach color and infuse your designs with meaning. Find the full description at www.pantone.com. 

After that introduction to the power of color, Carina breaks down the considerations she kept in mind when selecting colors for a summertime photoshoot. She compares how she might choose colors for a summertime project compared to an autumn project. She ends by giving advice on how to approach a project with limited color choices and how that affects the design work itself.

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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

Episode 21 From Painting to Calligraphy with Melissa Esplin

Posted on 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 20 What Those Negative Thoughts Are Doing to Your Creativity

Posted on by Carina Gardner

On today’s episode of Make + Design, Carina takes a look at negative thoughts and negative self talk. In a world where we’re constantly trying to dial our creativity up, freeing ourselves from negative thoughts and self talk can lift a huge burden. Carina talks about the difference between people who get over negativity by diving into a work project and people who are immobilized by negative thoughts.

Carina tends to bulldoze through negative thoughts and knows that her work isn’t as good if she doesn’t first clear out the negative thoughts before creating. She shares some of her healing journey from post-traumatic stress disorder and how therapy helped her to overcome the negativity that had constantly plagued her when she was younger. Carina also shares her tips for dealing with people in our lives who might be negative or say negative things to us. She also talks about the positive things that come from surrounding yourself with positive people who encourage you to reach your potential. Another source of negative thoughts for Carina comes when she has a lack of clarity. Reaching decisions quickly has been a great way for her to overcome negativity. In cases where she makes the wrong decision, she talks about what can be lost as the result of a bad decision and how the learning that comes from mistakes can make the mistake less of a total disaster than it might have been.

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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

 

Episode 19 Free Motion Quilting with Dara Tomasson

Posted on by Carina Gardner

On today’s episode of the Make and Design Podcast, Carina is joined by Dara Tomasson, a resident of beautiful Vancouver Island and professional long-arm quilter. Dara is also an author and has a new book called “Doodle School” about how to free-motion quilt.

Dara also talks about her passion for working as a life coach for quilters. She helps them to lose weight and build confidence. Find out how Dara’s “tall-girl problems” led her into sewing, quilting, and, eventually, long-arm quilting. Dara gives her recommendations and ideas on different kinds of long-arm quilts. Dara and Carina explore the ways that long-arm quilting is a unique art form. You’ll want to check out the YouTube video on this one as well so that you can see Dana’s beautiful quilting. Towards the end of the conversation, Dara tells us about her new life-coaching business and how she got into it. She expresses so much joy in talking about how she helps women lose weight and helps them fulfill their dreams.

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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

Dara Tomasson is a life-coach,  professional long-arm quilter, and author. Dara can be found on Instagram at daratomasson. 

Episode 18 Seven Creativity Starter Ideas

Posted on 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:

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

Episode 14 Paper Crafting with Kelly Wayment

Posted on 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:

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

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

Posted on 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!