Rachael's Handmade Designs

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...