Make and Design with 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 se...

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 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...

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. 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 ho...

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. Meli...

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 thoug...

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...

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 whe...

On today’s episode of Make and Design, Carina continues her series of periodic book reviews by sharing four books that helped her to become more intentional.   The first book on her list is “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. Find out how this book helped Carina to become more self-aware about the steps that she took in falling into a particular routine and how that helped her to level up her habits....

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 impact...

On today’s episode of the Make and Design Podcast, Carina tells the story of how she trained for her first half-marathon. Adding the consistency and focus of training for a half-marathon shifted her identity from “someone who runs sometimes” to “runner.” When you do something every day, slowly and surely you begin to identify as a person who does that thing. Listen in to hear how this mindset can...

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...

Today’s Make and Design features three HUGE tips for taking your design work to the next level. Find out how Tip #1 helped Carina to create residual design income so that she is free to focus on bigger projects. In Tip #2, Carina goes through various ways you might use to find a design mentor. Finally, in Tip #3, we learn how to use our existing work as a gauge for improving and leveling up.    __...

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 factor...

On today’s episode of the Make and Design Podcast, Carina explores the three questions that we should ask ourselves as designers every single day. She shares valuable insights into how she approaches a huge list of things to do and uses these three questions to give priority to the most important projects. Question number one has to do with whether a project makes sense financially. Question numbe...

On today’s episode of the Make and Design Podcast, Riley Blake fabric designer and quilter Amanda Neiderhauser stops by to give us all the details on her latest fabric line, Mod Meow! She and Carina also laugh about how they met for the first time (spoiler alert: there was 80s music and dancing involved). Amanda shares a bit of her inspiration as she describes her bengal cat, Mufasa. Amanda’s line...

On today’s episode of Make and Design, Carina shares some of the books that she’s read over the last year or so that have been tremendously helpful to her.  These are some books that helped her change her mind about time.   “168 Hours: You Have More Time than You Think” by Laura Vanderkam. Listen in to find out how this book gave Carina a sense that she has more time than she thought.   “When” by...

Carina is joined by her sister and Etsy guru SuiKim Friedmann on today’s episode of the Make and Design Podcast. Carina and Kim get real about the struggles of parenting while running a business during the busy summer months while kids are out of school. Kim took the advice from her last visit to the podcast and freed up some additional time by hiring someone to help her with her workflow. Carina...

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...

On today’s episode of the Make and Design Podcast, Carina comments on the seasonal ebbs and flows when it comes to revenue in the design industry. She gives some tips on how to set up your annual calendar as a designer and how to get the most out of your planning season (hint: it’s great to give yourself a “planning season” during a time of year when you’re less busy with other work). Listen in fo...

On today’s episode of the Make and Design Podcast, Carina looks at a BIG word: Commitment. She analyses what it takes to be a person who says what they say they’re going to do and how that relates to integrity. We all have different levels of commitment depending on the thing we’re committing to. Carina talks about some things she learned from the book “When” by Daniel H. Pink. How often do we let...

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 gre...

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 a...

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 lear...

1_7:8:2021 Episode 1 Hello!   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 tel...