Rachael's Handmade Designs

Hello Crafty Friends! I created this card for the Art Impressions Spring Colors challenge (http://artimpressionsstamps.blogspot.com/2015/03/challenge-156-spring-colors-challenge.html?m=1) Thanks for stopping by today! I wanted to share with you a new greeting card I came up with featuring a new background stamp I purchased from the fab shop Dolce Stamps (it's called "wireworks" and created by JudiKins stamps <and I also purchased "John" from the same company - he's a mod guy and will be appearing at a later date!>) and a new image I purchased from Art Impressions (love love love their images!!!) I used the Yoga Yolanda set for this card, along with candy dots and ribbon in a coordinating color.  The background was stamped in a pale green teardrop memento pad. This set makes me smile because I love yoga and the quote is so true! Very cute - makes me smile and very fun to color with my copics. I'm looking forward to sending this card in th...

Welcome Back Everyone! I'm so excited to be updating you after a week of pretty much no available time to blog! I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. It was sunny and beautiful here in Seattle over this last weekend and I found myself REALLY enjoying it! It's so easy to get down and depressed as the winter months drag on, but summers in Seattle are quite beautiful in, not only Seattle, but the Northwest as a whole. It's the only saving grace in the long rainy months that we have. So I've been dead set on enjoying every minute of it!! (I'm even a little burned!) I'm proud to announce that a new line has hit the store - my Buckle Cards! You can't find anything like them anywhere else on the internet, and while there's only two available in my shop right now, rest assured that more are on their way!! Totally and completely unique! They're even a little interactive! ;-) I'm thrilled because I've made some purchases lately that ar...

HELLO! Today my sweet little shop is 2 years old! Use coupon code: anniversary for 35% off. Coupon runs through June 1st, 2011, which is also the drawing date for my free blog candy. Happy shopping! Cheers, Xo, Rachael

Hello! I'm back from my week of vacation, which was WONDERFUL! If you're interested in viewing some pictures, please click here ! While I was on vacation I ran into a shop around the corner from my boyfriend's home called Just Scrap It!  Wow! What a cute little shop! They must have everything under the sun! One line that Just Scrap It! carries that I hadn't experienced before is BoBunny. It's so adorable!! I can't believe I was so blind! Ha! So now I'm looking for new lines. What are your favorite paper lines?! Do you have any suggestions?? I'd love to hear what you suggest! Leave a comment below and let me know!! I was also introduced to Melody Ross's paper design from GCD Studio. WOW!!! And Stella and Rose Stamps?! Forgetaboutit! I'm also pretty excited to say that I finally placed another order with Kimmie. UG! Such a difficult decision! Why can't we all have an unlimited amount of cash flow?! ;) Kraftin Kimmie is by far one of m...

Welcome! Its amazing to me how many techniques you can use from one sort of craft and transpose the same technique with another sort of craft. Today's technique you might have seen in needlepoint crafts. The exciting part of Bargello is that you can re-create the look with papers!  Above: an example of Bargello. So to recreate this technique with paper, here's what you can do: 1. Select your complimentary papers. Stripes and geometric patterns look pretty and cool. I used shades of blue. 2. Cut your papers into varying widths of long strips. 3. Organize your paper strips into a fashion that pleases you, running lengthwise and glue down. Make sure there isn't any gap-osis! :) You can either tape the strips from the back or lay the strips directly onto a piece of tacky paper. 4. Cut the strips vertically. Now you can stagger the strips by moving some up and some down to create the cool effect! Tape the strips together on the back to permanently form the patte...

Helloooo Out There in Bloggerland! Thanks for swinging by! I hope your weekend was fantastic and you got some great arts and crafts done and some good family time in. Over the weekend I didn't get much crafting done, but I *did* stock up on supplies! My Paper Zone *finally* started stocking copic markers, so I picked up these beauties. I also picked up some raffia (which I haven't used before on cards, but I'm totally stoked to try!) some flowers (which I haven't found anywhere else but my trusty PZ) some rosettes, which looked fun, and a couple of stamps.  Also, the copics I ordered online came in the mail, which I was totally stoked about because it seems like I was waiting forever. With those I was able to do some trial and error stamping too!   Other than that, I have some new designs that are waiting to be photographed. I expect that those items will debut this week, so keep checking in for updates! Foillow me on twitter , flickr  and facebook  f...

Hi Everyone. I've been working on some things in the studio lately, but I haven't had a chance to take any photographs of them yet, so I'll just show you a photograph of one of the items that I *did* get to photograph. It's another Valentines Day card, simple and sweet, featuring ribbon and die cut hearts. It will soon be available in my shop, so keep your eyeballs peeled! Cheers! Xo

Hi There, Well, I'm back again. I just listed this awesome new valentines card in my shop! I wanted to share it with all of you. What do you think? This little girl has glitter on her shoes and liquid applique on her lips to give a glossy wet look! (And a diamond in her hair for a touch of sparkle!) This awesome card is attached to the handmade envelope. It's available now in my shop. Hurry, there's only one! Don't forget to follow me on FB  here  for coupon codes and sales events special ONLY to facebook fans! Cheers! Xo

Happy Holidays! New in my studio this week is Valentines Day cards. I produced several over the last couple of days, two of which are in my shop already. The third I am still working on. It's going to be so cute! Really, I can't wait to see how this one turns out. I LOVE to make Valentines Day cards (which is kind of ironic because I really detest the holiday!) and I love this new stamp set (Raychel) I got from Kraftin' Kimmie, so we'll see! Maybe my little hedgie will sneak in for an appearance as well! Also, I've ordered some new colors for my copic markers that have come. Here they are! And here's the whole collection thus far! I seem to be gathering more and more flesh/E tones. Finding that perfect skin tone has proven to be a rather challenging task! I also made a couple tag sets last night. They turned out well, but some need more work. Here's what I have so far.  More interesting additions soon to be added to the shop, so make sure to ...

Hi Everyone! I'm so glad you could join me again for another post! I've been busily working on my shop over the weekend. I made a cute little glitter dancing card, featuring Craftin' Kimmie's "Monique" stamp and sentiment. I even used a new technique for this card! To get the texture on the lower scalloped circle I first inked some bubble wrap and pressed that into the paper. The produced image is that of the mirrored bubble wrap. I liked the look of this because it was consistent with the sparkle dots on the brown background paper and it mirrored these dots in a larger fashion. Also, if you follow my flickr account then you know that I made two stampings of Monique, one darker image in black with the darker indigo blues, and one stamped in blue and colored in lighter blues. I used the darker image for this particular card and added yellow sparkles to her cane and her top hat for more contrast. Then I added the same gold sparkles to each scallop on the s...

Hi All, Well today's post is a little late, but better late than never! Below is my first Kenny K image card. I decided to go simple with this one because it was my first time using the kenny k images and I wanted to just play, so there's not much going on here. Ultimately I liked how this turned out. There's a lot of depth to the image. What do you think? Xo

Happy Monday All! Well, even if Monday is not your favorite day of the week, at least you have new things in my shop to look forward to! Over the weekend I've been a busy bee. Below are photos of new items in my shop. Don't forget to subscribe! Follow me on twitter and facebook too! :D 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 ...