Rachael's Handmade Designs

Welcome back to the BEST place to find your handmade Seattle greeting cards. I'm happy to share with you one of my favorite handmade card projects of late.  :) I ended up giving this greeting card to my boyfriend. Just this morning he said to me after noticing this blog post up on the computer, "hey, it's my card! That's my favorite card I've ever received." Which kind of made my heart melt, not gonna lie.  I created this greeting card using the marker to rubber and masking techniques. I created this greeting card with four different stamps. I purchased the couple stamp from Dolce Impressions  here in Seattle. First, I started with planning out the greeting card sketch and layout. I find it easier to start a greeting card with a sketch because it offers inspiration and cohesive style to the project.  I knew that I wanted to create a stamped card featuring ink in layers, not necessarily layers of paper, and this marker to rubber technique, so takin...

Welcome back and thanks for stopping by. I'm so happy that you did because I'm looking forward to sharing my Seattle handmade cards and projects with you - seriously, you've come to the best place to find Seattle's BEST handmade greeting cards. I've been watching a lot of Bob Ross lately, and although not a rubber stamper, Bob has a point: there really are not any mistakes in art. Maybe that's why so many people enjoy creating? Usually you can work something out of an unforseen outcome, and if you're lucky it turns out even better than planned. I feel that as long as you learn from your shortcomings, they are not failures (in life and art). This is a new stamp that I purchased recently from a good friend of mine who owns an art store here in Seattle . It's a set of a couple in the rain and comes with some other stamps as well. I used the marker to to rubber technique (I will show you exactly what I did in a later post) and masked the image off aft...

Life is Short - Play with Your Dog! How cute is this image from JessicaLynnOriginal Stamps?! I love animals - every animal! I created this card using the   Jessicalynnoriginal Akc Dog: Shih Tzu Clear Stamps Set . Its great for us dog lovers and you get eight different images in the set so there’s quite a bit of versatility! This set is also quite unique. I personally have not seen any other place to get Shih Tzu rubber stamps.  I created this card with an embossed watercolor background.  By stamping three varying sizes of circle die cuts, I was able to use my copic markers to create shading, color and depth. I double-stamped the sentiment - once in green and once in black - and popped it up with dimensional for more added depth. Really a fun card! These stamps really capture the happy little personality of the Shih Tzu. So cute and fun! I hope you check it out! 

When I was little and I would go spend the day with my grandma, I remember getting into her filing cabinet. She kept scratch paper for me to draw on, but she also had a well-stocked box of greeting cards in that cabinet and her desk. All sorts, with beautiful pictures of flowers on a table, pictures of paintings and picturesque sunset.  So when she gave me the gift of beautiful pink stationary with a matching pen one year for Christmas, I fell in love with correspondence. Carrying on Her Tradition Today, I carry on her tradition (obviously - I design and create cards!) and always keep one of those plastic folding files in my desk. My folder has tabs with pockets on the inside and I’ve labeled each tab with the type of greeting card that pocket contains: Thinking of You, Love, Birthday, Anniversary, Get Well, Sympathy, etc. I fill those pockets with all of my different style of greeting cards. A Little Trick A great little trick to save time (and constantly running to t...

Hello! I've been taking a little break from my cards lately in favor of creating in my art journal, but I found a new technique to use with my spray inks, so I had a play and decided to use the result on a card. The new technique is a cling wrap technique! Spray your inks onto cling wrap making sure to have a bit of wrinkle in it, then flip it over onto paper, press and let dry 45 minutes. This technique will not work if you do not let it dry for the appropriate amount of time. Lift off, and voila! Doesn't have to be perfect, that's the fun. I grunged up the sides of my background, matted it in silver and added my new 'just because' sentiment, threw on some gold embossing powder and embossed with a heat gun. How pretty with the pink and blue/purple! I even got had the chance to use a cute little Some Odd Girl image Kite Flyin' Mae (which I've been hording forEVER and am delighted to use!!!) I just love...

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!

One of my favorite smells is Autumn in the Pacific Northwest. Its unlike any smell I've smelled before! Its by far my favorite time of year, and not just because of fall, but because I love Halloween and Day of the Dead. So, I created this cute Acorn and Pinecone fall card with lovely designer papers to commemorate the beautiful fall colours. I can see this card living on someone's mantel or table all season long, can't you? Its available now in the shop. I hope you like it as much as I do. Cheers!