Rachael's Handmade Designs

Hello All! Thanks for stopping by! If you're here for the Bombshell  Blog Hop, you're in the right place! If you've come from Jenn's blog - awesome. If not, go back and start at the beginning to make sure you seen everyone's awesome projects!! The hop theme is Black and White. I came up with this artful tag that was inspired by none other than Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles in Cabaret. I've altered Bombshell Angel to recreate Sally's outfit while performing Mein Herr. I hope you enjoyed this fun little art tag! Now check out what the other bombshells have come up with! Bombshell Blog:  http://bombshellstamps.blogspot.com/ Alison:  http://alisonsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/ Susie:  http://whiteribboncards.blogspot.co.uk Alex "Ms. October!":  http://www.paperandstring.blogspot.com/ Torrey:  http://left-field-studio.blogspot.com/ Kelli:  http://www.cajunstampingqueen.blogspot.com Kim:...

We all know how hard it can be to make the perfect card for the boyfriend, Dad, brother, brother-in-law or just about any guy in your life. Let's face it, it can be a real challenge to create that special greeting with just enough of a masculine touch that he feels comfortable receiving it as a gift! Well, fear not! Your prayers for a fun and masculine rubber stamp set have been answered! And the best part? There's more than one set to choose from! Visible Image Stamps has been creating hand-poured, high quality photopolymer stamps since 2004 and has a number of great masculine images to choose from. For this card I used the Heavy Metal set and the Handy Hints set. You can purchase these sets individually, or they are also available for a multibuy package, in which you receive Heavy Metal, Handy Hints and the Painted Wood set as well. I have embossed both the sentiment and the steel image to add texture to this otherwise rather plain card. I wanted to keep it...

Here are some photos of projects I've been working on tonight/this morning. My dad is the illustrator and I colored them. As I just got back from my Copic certification, I'm excited to practice the different techniques that I've learned!

Hi All, Just a quick note. You *need* to check out this new set by Visible Image called Movie Set . Its a little bit grunge and a little bit old Hollywood. I adore it. :) Cheers!

Its that time again. Back to work and you've got the whole long week ahead of you. BUT! There is a silver lining to a terrible horrible no good very bad Monday: Monday Muse at Bombshell Stamps!!! This week is the last Monday of the month. Pop over to the Bombshell Blog and see what our team has cooked up for you for a little inky bombshell inspiration!

Hello Bloggerland! Look who stopped by for a little visit! It's Totoro, from the movie My Neighbor Totoro! Totoro has been called many things, from "a giant furry thing" to "rabbit-like spirit". Basically, Totoro is the spirit of the forest. Totoro is a mixture of many animals. He is part Tanukis (which is the Japanese version of Racoons), cats (pointed ears and facial expressions), and owls. Whatever he is, he was sure fun to make a card with!

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...

Today's post is especially for the dudes. :-) I thought that this set from Visible Image Stamps was perfect for a little 'Mr. Handy' Birthday card. The main theme, other than tools, for this card is embossing. I love encouraging my customers to touch and feel the cards! The metal plate rubber stamp that I used for this birthday card is from the Heavy Metal stamp set , however there is a new background stamp, Metal Plate , that is larger than the one offered in the Heavy Metal Stamp set. Its brand new so check it out! ... I had some fabulous grey paper for the metal background! The metal plate is accented with four grommets and popped off the page with dimensionals for depth.  I wanted to incorporate white again on top of the grey, so I stamped out the drill from  Heavy Metal stamp set , covered it in opaque white embossing powder, heated it and popped it off the metal plate with dimensionals after I cut it out.  Visible Image ...

All of us at Visible Image are now running a monthly challenge, so we decided to create a blog badge to award our favorite entries. We need your help! Who can come up with the best slogan for the blog badge?! Think short and sweet that packs a punch as there's limited space on a badge, and the more it relates to Visible Image, the better! There is a lovely prize involved! Would you like to enter? Pop over to the Visible Image facebook group ! Request entry to the group and send a message with the entry by October 31st to be considered! *Tell them Rachael sent you!* Hurry, there's not much time!

Welcome Back! I created this bright fall card using a number of different techniques.  First, I printed out the image, colored it with Copic Markers and blended. I used Copics because I wanted a nice bright color pop. Next I embossed a scrap piece of teal paper and used an orange ink pad to rub over the embossed surface of the paper. I think it adds a nice highlight to the embossing. Following that, I cut a paper doily in half and layered it on top of a piece of designer paper that I had pre-cut and distressed with walnut ink distress ink. I then popped the teal embossed paper off of the page as well as added rick rack ribbon in brown and orange. I popped the Sassy Studio Designs  image off from the embossed paper to give the card focus to her. The image I used was Pink Ribbon Sassy. What do you think? What's your favorite awareness holiday to craft for?

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...

Hello All! Mondays are now Monday Muse with all of us at Bombshell Stamps! Pop over and check out what Kathi and Kim have created for us this week!( They've created some fabulous projects that are sure to get the creative juices flowing!! ) You can play along every week at the Bombshell Blog. If you're hungry for even MORE awesomeness, you can check out the forum too. You can even sign up to win a $100 shopping spree.

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, ...

Ah, I made a card for World Card Making Day! How appropriate! ;) This card was inspired by the film Rebel Without a Cause. The James Dean image is from Stampers Best.  Everything else on this card was created using images from  Bombshell Stamps .  I used: The V8 Symbol and the Hot Rod Classic saying, both from King of the Road  set; The Vintage Race Car from Vintage Racing set; The Goggles and the Checkered Boarder, both from Vintage Motorcycle set; The little mini skully cross and bones from Homeward Bound set; and The nautical star from Luck & Fate set. The inside. I used the Happy Birthday banner from Banner Sayings set. I love how this card turned out! I was recently reading about James and I hadn't realized that he was only 24 when he died. So young! He's younger when he died than I am now. Sad. He was also the first actor to receive a posthumous Acadamy Award nomination for Best Actor and remains the only actor to ...

Welcome Back. Today's blog entry is for Bombshell Stamps' Pin Up Challenge. The challenge was to do Halloween Bling, but this is bling my way! Textured but simple. I wanted to use my Alter Skulls set, and I wanted to keep the bling fairly simple to showcase the background I created with a wash of color and window-card feature with small icons. The small flowers on the front are from the Bombshell Angel set. Cheers!

I've been thinking about what I wanted to do for my recent Amor di Mi Vida tag  to finish off the hangy bit. I was poking around in my craft room and found this amazing stiched ribbon that I got at Joann's forever ago and just tucked away. (Or lost, whichever way you look at it! Ha!) Anyways, the gold in it picked up on the gold in the tag. Looks pretty good, no?

I've been playing around with my new Distress Stains and I love how this card turned out. I pulled out a bunch of my wood block rubber stamps and paired them up according to theme and which ones I thought I could use because I wanted a more steampunky look. I got to use my new Charlie Chaplin rubber stamp from Stamper's Best . The quote reads "A day without laughter is a day wasted." Which is something I really truly believe. I really enjoyed creating this card, it was so much fun and I love that sense of pride and accomplishment that you get when you step back, look at your project and just give yourself a little pat on the back. I hope you enjoy this project as much as I do. Leave a comment at the bottom of the page if you like! This card is available to purchase through my store, either by clicking here or by clicking the store link to the right of this entry. Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!