Rachael's Handmade Designs

Hello all and thanks for stopping by to check out the blog! I'm so happy to be back and be sharing some new posts with you. Its been a while, so lets get started. Like most women, I love handbags! Here is a neo vintage piece that I acquired last March for my April/May trip to Hawaii. I packed this handbag all over two separate islands! It was a good thing, too because it has plenty of room and after my major shopping hauls I needed all the room I could get! The bag incudes red leather with matching extending strap, and black and white gingham sides and matching bow. The gold tone hardware round out this great piece - love the details!! It's manufactured by Madison for and I found this beauty at my local GoodWill. I paid $15 for this brand new handbag (still had the wrapping and everything!) that really was a life-saver during the two-week trip. The bag is rather large so it can double as a small briefcase or computer bag as well. In my case, I didn't bother with the ...

Lately I've been playing with some new stencils I got while on a trip to Portland. I absolutely love The Crafters Workshop stencils because they are always coming out with the latest designs and are so contemporary and current. I also live for that feeling when you lift the stencil after sponging or pouncing your chosen colors and the paper reveals pretty, colorful and attractive designs - it's like magic! I had a lot of fun making this new card! The stencil I used was the chevron 6x6 one by Balzer Designs, from The Crafter's Workshop. I designed this card in an analogous color scheme and if you're like me, you'll just love how it turned out! I added some sparkly bling after stamping the dancing girls, just for fun. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. This greeting is available for purchase in  my Etsy shop ! Thanks for tuning in!

Welcome Back! I created this card the other day for Valentines. Its probably my favorite design for Valentine's Day because, if you're like me, we don't like a lot of frilly crap on our Valentines.   Simple and clean! Three little buttons paired with divine twine - so cute! I hope you like it! Cheers, 

This happy little card has just been freshly listed in the shop! This card was so much fun to create! I think rainy-themed cards or Seattle-themed cards have been my favorite to create with lately. They're so much you can do with them, and I keep adding to my rubber stamp collection with rain-accessories, so that works out well for me I guess! :) This card features a new stamp I just purchased to work with the umbrella I paired it with and my other rainy/Seattle-themed stamps. I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I added some liquid applique to the top of the umbrella to create a wet look! What do you think?

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!

Good Morning!  Its a bright, clear and crisp fall morning here in Seattle, so I thought it was rather appropriate to list this Autumn Greetings handmade card I stamped out the other night. I love this card because of the colours used. After all, that's one of the best things about fall, right? I stamped out the leaves in creamy red and orange and added some small brown leaves around a farm cart full of seasonal foods.  This card was a lot of fun to make and not my typical type of creation.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Hello and Happy Happy Saturday! I'm so excited about this week's challenge - its so much FUN! This week's challenge is the Avengers or Superheros. I haven't seen The Avengers, so I chose to run with the Superhero theme, which is great because its the perfect theme for a masculine card. So you can see I'm pretty excited to share this new card with you!  And so, without further ado, here's what I created! I hope you enjoy this masculine superhero handmade card! Please leave me a comment and don't forget to follow this blog! :) Cheers! Xo 

Welcome Back! Today's post is a handmade tag created using Kenny K's Happy Hour image, a vintage polka dot background stamp and some custom hand-dyed crinkle ribbon. I used my copics to color the image and slightly around the outside of the image.   I layered and blended the color.   I then used my copics to dye the crinkle ribbon, crumpled it, sprayed it with blender solution to create a waterbled look and hit it with the heat gun, crinkling it as I heated it.  I then used my Tim Holtz Distress stains to cover my tag with red, hit it with the heat gun and stamped in white with my vintage polka dots rubber stamp.   After, I cut out my martini girl and glued her down.   Simple and fun, a great little accent to a page, card or gift!   Cheers! This project was entered in: Think Pink @ Ladybug Crafts http://ladybugscraftsinkchallengeblog.blogspot.ca/2013/02/think-pink-lci.html

I created this card from Graphic 45 Papers because I adore the vintage and steampunk themes. This isn't full-on steampunky, but I think its enough of a vintage feeling that you get the idea and the vibe.     This friendship greeting sold today and my customer mentioned that it is somewhat reminiscent of a steampunk-themed wedding she produced the floral arrangements for. I was pleased, since that was the feeling I was going for! Michelle also mentioned that in her arrangements for the wedding that she used a lot of feathers, peacocks and otherwise, a deep deep red and a crisp white with cogs and gears. So I think this was pretty right on for what I was aiming for! What do you think of this card? I loved making it! I adore Graphic 45. I should use more of their papers. I've only ever used their pieces for making cards. Does anyone out there in bloggerland use Graphic 45 for anything else? Scrap projects or dimensional projects? Wha...

Welcome Back and thanks for stopping by! Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the vivid colors, the cool, crisp air, and of course my favorite holiday, All Hallow's Eve. That being said, I've created this project for a little inspiration for our great Autumn Challenge going on at Visible Image Stamps! Visible Image has some FAB and very generous prizes for the winners for the Autumn Challenge ! There will be THREE separate winners, so what are you waiting for?! Give it a go!! For this greeting card, I used Corset  and Grunge Flourish . The corset is colored with copic markers to accent, and I've added grommets and ribbon to echo the lacing on the corset.  To add some warmth, I used my Tim Holtz felt-topped blending tool and went around the sides of the second layer to blend. I then popped the entire second layer off the base of the card to help create depth. So! I hope you enjoyed this creation! Your mis...

Hi All, Thanks for taking the time to join me today. I'm here to share with you a custom created card for Vixen Day Spa and Boutique here in Seattle. The foxy ladies at Vixen are planning some great windows for mid-winter blah's and they're going to feature my cards! How exciting! So, here's one card I've created for a little island lift in the dead of winter! All of my images used have been colored with Copic Markers and distressed with Tim Holtz distress inks.  Isn't this card super cute? I can't wait to get ahold of the Tiki set and have a go! :) Thanks for stopping by! Bombshell Stamps Hawaiian Girl Core'dinations 12''x12'' Tim Holtz Distress Cardstock Falsetto/Cap 2398 Opaline Half Pearl Embelishment InLinkz.com

Hello All, Here's a tutorial for you so that you can incorporate your images into you projects in a new way! You Will Need: A plastic element of some sort (I'm using TH fragments with the tag hanging bit) A permanent black ink (I'm using Memories) Your favorite Bombshell Stamps image (I'm using one of the swallows from  Love & Luck ) Glossy Accents by Ranger Alcohol-based markers (I'm using Copics.) A heat tool Your favorite accent paper Scissors Emery board Thread or cord or a jump ring, if you wish Start out with a clean plastic surface of your element. Stamp your image. Heat dry with your heat tool. (Be wary of melting the plastic!) Whip out your copics! I'm using B34; R08; and YR04 to color my swallow. Have fun coloring! Layer colors if you like for more opacity. I have chosen to add B24 to my bird to add more depth. I found that with Copics on these fragment bits, particularly with the lighter colors, ...