Rachael's Handmade Designs

Welcome! Just a quick blog entry to let you know that Rachael's Handmade Designs will be at the Back Bar Flea Market (part of the Belltown Art Walk) on Friday, April 11th from 3-7pm  Located inside the Crocodile Back Bar in Belltown. All ages. Happy hour prices during the Artwalk (with ID.) So come right after work to enjoy a drink or two and see a room full of local artists, crafters, vintage merchants and representatives with unique, handmade, one-of-a-kind goodies and deals!  There will be music videos, a photo booth, and of course, yummy drinks! Can't wait to see you there!

You know when you're just messing around having fun and a happy accident comes of it? That's totally what happened with this card, and it's so cute I just can't stand it! A friend of mine ordered seven of them recently, so I created them, photographed packaged and shipped them. When I showed the photograph of the cards to one of my customers, she wanted seven too! I'm delighted that so many people like this card as its fun to make and brings a smile to my face. The robots come in boys and girls, but I don't know if they are available anymore. I purchased the set from The Paper Zone before it closed. (Side note, so SAD that my store is GONE!! I loved that store!) The robot is water colored. Too cute! What do you think? Leave me a comment below! Cheers!

POW! Colour, in your face! I loved creating this card. If you read my blog on a regular basis then you probably know that I'm getting into mixed media art. (Layers, layers, layers!! Gimmie more layers!) I applied mixed media art techniques to this card and I just love how it turned out! I also got to play with and color my new Stamper's Anonymous/Tim Holtz funky hand rubber stamp, which I adore. Seriously fun to color with Copics! I also lined an envelope to match with this card. What do you think? Do you like bright and colorful or do you like a more subdued, clean cut look in a handmade card? Everybody is different and I do have to say that my style definitely fluctuates. What is your favorite style? Leave a comment and let me know!

Welcome! Today's card is straight from the city. I found a new Space Needle stamp by Impress Stamps, paired it with a rain background also from Impress and matched that with the Big City Stamp Set from Mark's Finest Papers. After popping the little heart off the page from the Space Needle stamp, adding a sentiment and matting the entire image in grey, here you have the finished card! Its listed in my shop and available for purchase. I hope you like it as much as I do! Leave me a comment if you like it! :) Cheers!

New in the shop this evening is a fun card I created that I call A Murder of Crows, which is also the name of a documentary I saw a few years ago about crow research. COOL! They're funny little creatures and are amazing. I love them. Below is a card I created for my mother, who also is quite fond of crows. I hope these cards give you some idea of what you can do - they can be given any time and saved for decor for the next year.  What fun! Cheers!

Hello and Welcome once again! Thanks for dropping by! Today's blog post is covering what's going on in the shop. I have expanded my artistic reach into the world of mixed media and have acquired some gesso and spray inks. I've had a rather good play and these two cards are what I came up with! I'm offering two cards for the price of one. They measure 4x6 and are each provided with a crisp white envelope. Like any little piece of art, they are not perfect, but that's what makes them wonderful! Its a little difficult to tell, but the above card is blue and purple mixed spray ink.  And this one is kind of a relief blue tinted gesso of the same stencil. These little cards are great in person and they were so much fun to have a good play with! I can't wait to create more! I hope you enjoyed them! Have you worked with spray inks and/or gesso before? If you have, leave me a comment and tell me all about it! Cheers!

Hello and Welcome! Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Freshly listed in the shop today is the Biker Babe greeting! Isn't she hot?! Love the mix of blue and zebra and polka dots on this card! Layering adds depth. Sparkle adds fun. :) Sexy Biker Babe Greeting Measures 4x6 and blank inside! Great for any occasion. Super fun and appropriate for a man or woman. Perfect for the non-prude. :) Cheers!

Today's post is about life. I subscribe to a newsletter from a gal in Vancouver who runs Make It University, Jenna Herbut . She has recently shared some very personal things via newsletter and that inspired me to do the same. If you read my blog on a regular basis, you probably are aware that back in December I made the move to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada for work that I had lined up. I adore the city and I have made a lot of friends and met some wonderful people here. But the job did not pan out in June of this year and I have been looking for work in Saskatoon since. I have been nannying since then to make ends meet, going on endless interview after interview; rejection after rejection. (For someone who is used to being able to walk into an interview and be offered a job, this has been quite humbling!) Compounding this stress are several factors: 1) I am a qualified as a skilled worker, which is usually a good thing because my career requires experience or higher education.  ...

Hi All, A lot has been going on in my studio over the past week. I’ve been invited to participate in “Village Night Out”, in which a collection of shops open their doors and there is live music and sales and food, etc. It’s a nice atmosphere and I’ve done VNO before. It’s something I enjoy, so I’ve been preparing my stock for this event over the past week, mostly focusing on holiday cards and going through my items to make sure packaging and pricing is set. Since I didn't want to bore you with these details I didn't take any pictures for today's post. Heartbreaking, I know. ;) I’m planning on making several sets of tags (of which I will be sure to take pictures of) as well and putting on a store-wide sale. So that’s what’s going on! Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog and follow me on FB for special savings and coupons. FB Twitter: Tweet Till next time! Xo

Hi All, Ok, overall this show was a challenge. On the plus side, it was relatively inexpensive, it was close and in my area, there was a relatively alright turn out, and there was live music. On the negative side, it was poorly organized, it was poorly organized and it was poorly organized!! It took place on Friday/Saturday instead of either all Friday/Saturday/Sunday or just Saturday/Sunday; it had little to no turn-out on Friday (everyone was working); it was cool, overcast weather; I only had one sale on Friday; we were placed next to the irritating child's performers (one guy with a million whistles - joy!), and the kids - of course - were running amuck. Saturday, however, was somewhat better as far as sales went. I made 6-7 sales and made back my booth fee, however no profit. And it was raining. All. Day. Long. Magnolia SummerFest was O.K., but I have strong reservations about doing that particular fair again because of the lack of organization. I guess it's just th...

Hi All, I am proud to announce that Rachael's Handmade Designs will be hosting a booth at this year's Magnolia SummerFest in Seattle, Washington! I invite you to join us at the fair for hotdogs, a sno cone, music and of course, great shopping. Rachael's Handmade Designs will be debuting fab new designs just in time for the "Back to School" rush, as well as sharing some *awesome* deals on other great products! Don't forget! When you follow Rachael's Handmade Designs on facebook, you can collect your 10% off ! Follow  here !! The Magnolia Summerfest and Art Show has been a part of our community, in one form or another, for over 55 years. The parade has had a run of over 30 consecutive years. It's basically a community get together attended by many of the 20,000 + Magnolia residents, an many more from the surrounding communities. The festival includes: Juried Art Show Children's Art Show Affordable Art Fine Art Vendors Craft Vendors An Outdo...

If you're in Seattle today I'm having an event located at Magnolia's CoCoa & Cream Ice Cream Parlor, from 6-9pm. Please come by if you are able! The address is: 3210 1/2 W. McGraw Street, Seattle, WA 98199 See you there!

Hi All, I just wanted to let you know about my new upcoming show. I will be debuting new designs and enjoying ice cream while I do it! :P If you're in Seattle, stop by Cocoa and Cream in Magnolia on June 17 at 6pm. The show lasts through 9pm. You can view their web page here: http://www.cocoaandcream.net/ ~Rach

Hi All, Well, the street fair was fun! I was situated right next to a kettle corn guy who gave me free popcorn all weekend. :D I was right in front of a pakistani food joint, which would have been fine, but they insisted on blaring their (fucking) irritating music inconsiderately right in my booth. On the first day I had to ask them to turn it down 4 times because I couldn't hear my customers (or think)!!! And don't get me wrong, that music is fine for like, one or two songs, but playing it ALL day at high volume, the same cd over and over and over again...I wanted to take my wire cutters and snip the wires to their speakers. No I'm not joking. The weather was GREAT for the street fair, and I made my booth fee, plus extra to boot, which is more than a lot of vendors there could say, I'm sure. Financially speaking, I don't think it was worth my time. But if we're talking strictly about reaching possible future customers, my work being seen AND making some sal...