Rachael's Handmade Designs

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!

  Isn’t this little love card just so cute?! I colored the Kenny K image of the crying girl with wings and paired her with some older paper I purchased from Just Scrap It about two years ago. I was glad I was able to finally convince myself to USE this paper instead of just hoard it!!! :P If you’re a scrapper, I’m sure you can relate!! Haha!!   Anyways, a simple card with a big punch. This would make a great valentine or finishing touch on a gift. Sure hope my customer likes it!   Cheers! Xo

Today's card is One for the Boys! Masculine cards are difficult for me, but I love this image by Kenny K. Its perfect for those punk little fuckers that you love to hate! :-) Just kidding!!     This was the first time that I've ever done a sk8ter boi card. :) Also, the first time I got to use my new Spellbinders nestability to create the die cut!   I love how the die turned out and I was able to create a concrete look using silver metalic paper (don't try to distress it! the ink will never dry!) and layer the papers to create depth.  I even had the chance to write in creamy white on the brick wall.  Originally I wanted to use my silver sharpie for a spray paint effect, but I couldn't find it. I cut the little skater dude out after coloring him with my copics, popped some rivets on the die cut and used some dimentional stickies to pop the little guy off of the brick wall, leaving his hand just just be glued. I also put some di...

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 

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...

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 ...

Hi Ladies! I wanted to share with you some of my first layouts. Please keep in mind when viewing these that I *just* started scrapbooking, and although it's not really that different from cardmaking, I am truly more of a card maker at heart. ;) I know, excuses, excuses, right? :P So here's my first ever layout and they're listed in order. I think I can actually *see* the layouts progressing, can't you? lol Please leave comments and let me know what you think!!!! I'd love to get better at design elements and I'd love to hear your feedback! (not completed) Comments welcome!!! Cheers, Xo, Rachael

Caio! I hope you had a GREAT weekend and are reading this and excited for the week to come. I also hope that you remember to follow this blog! ;=) In the upcoming weeks I've got some great things to inspire you. For example, I like to use recycled items in my cards, things that would otherwise be trash or not really have a use or purpose and would just go to waste. What kinds of things are your favorite to use in cards? What about art in general? I'm Ms. April over at Bombshell Stamps, which means I'm a Guest Designer. My work is featured and highlighted, and I get to present a challenge! I haven't been a part of a design team before, so it's pretty exciting!! ...I've got my bombshells out and revved up for some stampin'! And I should say, also, that I recently came upon a new Seattle band that I think you should listen to when you have a chance. They're called 'The Cave Singers' and they're really relaxed and chill music. The album I...