Rachael's Handmade Designs

One of my earliest memories during my childhood was watching Bob Ross as a family with my parents and brother in the evenings on PBS. Bob's calm voice seemed to put me into a trance and with just a few simple strokes, Bob had created a beautiful pieces of work that now are highly valued and sought after by collectors around the world. Bob Ross is probably one of the most influential creators in my artists collective and I still find myself just as entranced and captivated by Bob's creations on the canvas today as I was when I was growing up. Its not hard to see why The Joy of Painting has had such an enduring impact on society. (It still plays on PBS and there are millions of videos on youtube!) Bob Ross is even widely considered the grandfather of ASMR ! (Do you get the tingles? Find my favorite ASMR youtubers HERE and HERE .) One thing I found out while writing this article was that Bob Ross was once compared to Fred Rogers, which in and of itself should be considered a ...

Hello and welcome back! Thanks for popping in again. It's been a while since I have been able to post, so I thought I would share this little project with you. The other day, after creating a mess in my studio by spreading out all the paper I own, I paired up a design that was cased from a Close to Your Heart design.  I shared this little project on my Instagram the other day and they turned out so cute I decided to make a blog post about them. A few weeks ago I attended at craft sale organized North of where I live in Seattle and met some great ladies. One of them was a Close to my Heart vendor from whom I purchased a couple of scrap layouts from for my Hawaii trip from 2015 (yup - still working on it - little by little!)  She was kind enough to slip an idea book into my bag when I wasn't looking.  (If you don't have the Seasonal Expressions May - August 2016 catalog you can download it here .) Flip to page 27! I love the Calypso line, it's so bright a...

My boyfriend has an affinity for horror films so when he recently showed me the movie The Babadook, I was interested because I too like a good scary story. I was happily surprised when the story focused on a mother and child and a bedtime story that is definitely NOT for children. The Babadook is a 2014 Australian-Canadian film in which a woman and her child are tormented by an evil entity. I recommend seeing this movie (even if you are not a fan of horror) for two reasons: the story, although portrayed as a horror film, is really a story of grief and how one copes and changes as a result of being touched by the death of a loved one.  Also, this film has some great papercraft and paper engineering, as you can see from the above video. I hope you enjoyed this post because this is easily one of my favorite movies now. I hope you get to see this film! Cheers!

Have I mentioned that I love birds? Flamingo's are included! I found this rubber stamp of a cute little flamingo and thought I'd make some simple designs. I've noticed lately that Flamingos are very in vogue re: design right now. I ended up giving the above greeting card to one of my co-workers who happens to love them too. And then I found this flamingo rubber stamp at Michael's the other day which really sparked some creativity.l Its from Stampendous and I freaked out when I saw it because I knew it would make an awesome greeting card. I created a Concertina dry embossed greeting card cut on an angle (also known as a z fold card) and used some scraps to paper piece and layer the flamingo with. The scrap was a pink argyle print I liked but probably would have never used - or so I thought! (ALWAYS save your scraps!) I created depth and interest by stamping him twice and fussy cutting his wing to layer with pop dots. I thought this looked nice with the fol...

Thanks for joining me once again! I'm so happy you've come back to join me with on my blog. You've come to the right place to find Seattle's finest handmade cards! Today I've got a real treat for you - a Girlfriends greeting card. This was SUCH a fun card to create. If you have not heard about Art Impressions , then you are missing out!! I love to stamp and color these fun images to create cards that truly reflect the fun relationships in life. I loved coloring this fun image of two happy gals with my Copics! The card didn't need much else as the copics took the stage. I didn't want to overpower the card, so I kept it nice and clean. My boyfriend and I are friends with another couple and we paired this card with a bouquet of fresh cut flowers for a nice hello to our friends the last time we all got together. Its nice to make your friends feel loved and wanted.  Cheers!

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...

I first heard about Maeve after reading Kate Bolick's  Spinster    at the beginning of 2016. (At first I hated this book, but then it grew on me as Kate's story continued, but I digress.) Brennan is one of Kate's Five Awakeners and consequently, one of the people in my Artist Collective. I think that Maeve lived the life that she wanted to live and I think because of that she is a strong female role model. Suffice it to say, Maeve Brennan was thought-provoking at the least. I've included Maeve in my Artist Collective series because she inspires me to challenge myself artistically. She wrote in one way or another her entire life, even toward the end when she literally had nothing left. There are people who talk about doing something, being a creative and producing work, and then there are the people who actually DO it.  Maeve reminds me that life is short and you need to live your passion because it can all be taken away in the blink of an eye. Bein...

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...

If you are in the area this weekend, please stop by and support me and the other crafters at this event. It will be super fun and a good time.  Bartering is welcome on my gently, pre-owned items. See you there!!!

I love thank yous. They're probably one of my favorite types of handmade cards to create and give because they are so versatile. A thank you can be pretty much anything - thank you for being a friend, thank you for being you, thank you for that thing you did! It's pretty much an easy catch-all choice or excuse to send a nice greeting card to good friend. (Right, like we need more reasons send cute cards!) I'm sure you will agree that we all would like to save on postage - it can become quite expensive when cards are too layered one is sending multiple cards to multiple people. Not to mention having to make a special trip to the post office! So I kept this design layered to only one piece and created texture, form and interest with washi tape instead. Slap a stamp on it, sign it and throw it in the mailbox and you're done! 

Are you a sushi lover??? If you haven't tried it, you're missing out!! This is a card I made a few months ago featuring a number of techniques including background stamping, Copic coloring, brayering and layering. A super fun friendship greeting, the inside reads "I like the way you roll." Leave a comment and let me know what you like about this card!

Margaret Keane Margaret Keane is a fascinating woman. She is an American painter and mixed media artist known for her "big-eyed waifs" that mainly depict women, children and animals. In 2014, Tim Burton (whose Artist Collective segment is forthcoming) directed a film aptly named Big Eyes, which focuses on Margaret's personal journey with art, her marriage to Walter Keane and his subsequent fraud and misrepresentation of Margaret's work (if you have not seen this movie, you MUST !) as well as the aftermath. She's even IN the movie! Margaret has been painting successfully for more than 60 years. In my opinion, Margaret Keane is one of the most prolific and influential artists ever. She is an American icon and a Modern Master. She is 87, paints every day and lives in Northern California. You can learn more about Margaret here !

When I first read Austen Kleon's "Steal Like an Artist" and then his "Show Your Work" I was astounded at the simplicity of his ideas. If you have not read these books, then as an artist - YOU SHOULD. They are simple little books with big ideas for creatives like you and me. Moving onto Kate Bolick's "Spinster" which I read recently. At first I did not care for this book at all, however when I completed it, I found that I had rather enjoyed the read and that it got me thinking about my own creative heros in my life. So I put together a list of my creatives, with photos or snippets when applicable. Frida Kahlo Frida is probably one of my favorite artists, not only for her work but for her fascinating life. She was a surrealist (a label that she herself rejected, although her body of work is decidedly surrealist in my opinion) and which is an odd choice for my own tastes as I most definitely do NOT appreciate surrealism. Frida regarded her...

Check out my new fancy RCA Victrola Phonograph! It actually WORKS and I just about squealed when I found it. Top down Top up Inside I paid $60.00 for this piece and although it needs a $50.00 needle, it's in good shape and has a fold out speaker on the left. And it means I can listen to my Elvis records! :D And it looks pretty freakin' cool in my home. I was so thrilled with my find and I hope you like it as well!

How many pairs of vintage cocktail earrings does a girl need? One to go with every outfit!! I found these screw back vintage earrings in a secondhand store near my house. I liked this pair because they remind me of snowflakes. These stood out because they remind me of my grandmother's era, circa 1950's, waterfall dressers, and classy perfume bottles with the little poofs at the end. This pair I thought would be fun for the holidays, but I haven't had a chance to wear them yet. Other delectable vintage goods and secondhand pieces can be found at The Furniture Guy !

I adore vintage barware and collect it, so I wanted to have something to showcase it. I put together the wet bar below from an old record player, which I purchased gutted. Drunken pink elephant ice bucket. Vintage. Vintage black and pink polka dots glassware with vintage caddy. Here is the inside: my plans are to replace the doors (they are cracked) and mirror the inside of the doors. I also want to mirror the back of the entire piece and wire it so that when the doors open, the unit lights up. The bottom of the piece has a fabric covered speaker cover, which I would like to put a hinge on so that it folds downward. I want to hallow the speaker casing out and use that area for more storage. This tray will eventually be taken out. The glass piece above the tray is intact and wonderful. When I wire up the rest of the piece I would like to wire this to light up as well. Obviously, I need to take a wiring class, but I feel like this is a very do-able pro...

Need I say more? I mean, really. lol Love this image from Art Impressions  - Bonnie's art captures daily life perfectly! My two favorite lines from Art Impressions is the Girlfriends line and the Ai People line.  The pairing of the sentiments rounds it out - they're just so funny! If it Zips it Fits One of my favorite things to do with clothing or fabrics with my Copics is to create a pattern. I had a very good time designing this card with a patterned shirt and my Copics and chose something easy - a monochromatic pattern on the top, with jeans (tertiary to the secondary orange) to pop the color, with a soft pink in the background. Pink and orange go well together because they are analogous on the color wheel and its a nice soft blend. I added a half doily for interest and layering and stamped the sentiment, die cut it, distressed the edges and popped it up to create dimension. The mint green behind the doily in a lattice pattern ties everything t...