Rachael's Handmade Designs

Hi All, Just a short post today. I made a treasury of things that I love on Etsy! My first treasury, wahoo! Some of the items are already sold, but I don't mind, I still love the pieces and I thought you would enjoy seeing them as well. Xo

Hello to All of You! I'm sitting here with Sophie (my cat - Sophie-Mittens Snagglepaw - cuz she gets stuck on everything!) and we're both excited to show you all of the thrilling new things that are happening in my shop right now! I've been so inspired this last week and over the weekend! I have so much to show you all! It has been snowy in Seattle for the last few days. Methinks that this is partly the reason for my creativity spark lately. You see, I do not drive in the snow! Ha ha, there's nothing like forced creativity! (You cannot leave the house! It is cold and miserable and you cannot drive in this. You *will* sit down and make a card!) He he. Anyways, here is what I sat down to design on Wednsday night of last week. This adorable hand-stamped and personalized card is one-of-a-kind; there's nothing like it in my shop, and I haven't I seen this stamp used anywhere else (yet!) It has been quite a popular card with everyone I have shown it to, and I even ...

Hi All, Well, it's Friday and you know what that means! Links and promos! First, let me state that on the 30th I'm going to be hosting a FREE GIVE AWAY CONTEST right here. More information will be posted on the 30th and the contest will be open for a week. Cute FREE PRIZES?! Who can resist?! Bombshell Bettie is having a Black Friday Sale  on her blog. Check it out for way cute vintage findings and goods. Totally hip, stylish and cool. I'm not big on challenges, but I know a lot of stampers are.  Smeared and Smudged is hosting a Kenny K Challenge here: click me!  Might be a good way to gain inspiration! Bombshell Stamps are still having their "Follow Me Contest": Click Here That's all for today's links and promotions. I hope you all had a safe and happy Thanksgiving...And now it's on to Christmas! Don't forget to follow this blog! Fan me on FB  for insider deals, coupons and news. Heart my store on Etsy  for the latest! Cheers, Xo

Hi All and Welcome Back! Happy Thanksgiving! Seattle is still snow covered and bitter cold! I hope you are all staying warm and enjoying time with your family. There are a number of things that I have been working on in the studio - some of which haven't even been listed in my shop yet! Anyways, here we go! Above is a photo of my styled hair. I have been using hair combs lately and decided to add this clip for decoration. I offer these white Orchid clips in my etsy shop in singles and three packs. The three packs are very limited, so if you love them, heart them and cart them! They won't last long! Violet three pack - $9 Etsy *** Also available in singles in white and violet, These Orchid Clips are the result of my obsession with the pin up culture. I've been creating vintage hairstyles in my personal life and I needed something that was pin up oriented but that wasn't going to be a costly endeavor. I've kept one of each of these orchid clips for mysel...

Hi All, Well if you are not a stamper, you may not be famliar with Bombshell Stamps. I am, and so I'm pretty familiar with the company and their products - which I am an avid fan and actively support! They're having an awesome contest right now promoting their new stamps. Check it out and I'm sure you will enjoy their products!!  Bombshell Stamps Contest Cheers! Xo

Welcome Back! Today's post is reflecting on handmade custom orders. I do a very limited number of contract-for-sale custom orders - usually if I'm doing them, it's personal so it's just a gift for a family member. But in this instance my customer (and friend) is a long-time buddy, and her man is away fishing. Usually it's difficult to make cards for men, but in this instance I got immediate ideas and have finally had the chance to sit down and *really* create something that I absolutely loved. I'd even love to receive this card! This card has a little story, too. Often times in my personal life I get inspired to create things for people I meet or know. I was inspired by someone that I met to create a pirate card, one of which never came to be. I kept the map that I created and put it away in a ziplock bag for a later use. When my friend requested a custom card, I knew that the map would be a great addition and layer to a water-themed card for her beau! Th...

Welcome Back, All! I have resolved to being more creative! Instead of going long stretches of not creating anything, I have been doing one thing creative per day. Here's what I've made over the weekend.   I had loads of fun making these cards! These were the first times I had used any of these stamps before and I'm really pleased with how they turned out! What do you all think?

Hi All, Well, for a minute there, I thought I lost my mojo! I was feeling pretty desperate when it came to designing a card, but I was able to sit down and design two lovelies. I started the first one about three months ago. I knew I wanted to design something round the '50's theme because I love the background car paper and this little '50's poodle skirt girl. So I cut the card, stamped the girl and the oval die cut, dry embossed it and set it aside. I wanted to do something with it, but it wasn't sure what exactly it wanted to be. I'm so glad it turned out the way it did! So cute! Probably the card that's taken me the longest. Ever. (This one was posted on my etsy but has sold already.)  The second card I made was also using a stamp with copic markers. I'd say that the idea for this card took me a few hours because I wanted it to be something more than what *it* wanted to be. I think it's the simplicity and color-play that really makes this c...

Hello All, This weekend has been incredibly busy! Winding down from my day job on the weekend? Yeah, no. Not so much! :) But it's good too, because I'm one of the lucky ones who still has a job right now. So I count my blessings and am happy to go into work, even if I may have had other plans, you know? But anyways, that being said, I'm surprised I have been able to work on my shop as  much as I have over the weekend. I've been working on listings, taking photographs, and updating my blog. (I forgot to do my homework! YIKES! Thank God my teacher got the flu!!) I also had a sale, which was a nice little bonus. Packaged it up and it goes out tomorrow morning. :-) Over the weekend I've also been doing some research on how to boost sales. I signed up for a new site, which I'll blog about in a separate post in a few days (gotta give it a whirl first!). I'm pretty happy with how most of my recent photos have turned out. I even integrated stone an greenery i...

Hi Everyone! A beautiful new color-rich necklace is available via my etsy site. I call it my Ocean Rose Necklace. Inspiration for this necklace came straight from nature. I love the way that turqoise pops with pink and champaign colors in Hawaii. The turqoise being the ocean and the reds and champaigns in tropical flowers. So I wanted to design a necklace that would relect my love of tropical floral. I integrated the colors in this necklace using Swarovski Crystals in different cuts, antiqued chain and resin I absolutely love the way this idea turned out - it went from pencil and paper to actual textiles and being a wearable form of art!

Hi All, Well this is my first shop posting since my shop was reinstated. I'm still thinking about starting my own website, but honestly I don't think that I could sustain enough traffic to make it worth my while...Right now, that is. Hopefully that will change! Here's the latest listing available: front back If you're interested to see how I made these, there's a video posted earlier in this blog via my youtube. I offer these simple clips each for $3 + shipping, or a three pack for $8, plus shipping. These are also available in lavender.