In 2003, she self-released her album Lullaby for Worriers as Thimble Circus, featuring contributions from a number of Elephant Six musicians including Jeff Mangum, Scott Spillane of The Gerbils, and Peter Erchick of Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't.
Carnes is also responsible for the artwork for Neutral Milk Hotel's United Kingdom release of On Avery Island. Her artwork has also been on the cover of the Atlanta band the Jody Grind's first record cover, One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure. She also has done record cover lettering for Sweet Relief II, Songs of Vic Chesnutt, The Gravity of the Situation / as well as a full color insert illustration. Carnes also has an illustration inside Victoria Williams, Musings of a Creekdipper album. Her art has appeared in many city galleries and/ or shows in the United States, including Atlanta, Asheville, New York, Austin.
She has works of art hanging many homes in her hometown of Athens, Georgia as well as many other towns and cities in the United States. Her art is also owned by many in Europe.