Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios Blog

Happy Valentine’s Day!

2010-02-14T21:02:09Z

Hope you all enjoy this special day with your loved ones! Here is a photo of Isaac this morning with his Valentine’s Day surprise! He LOVES balloons and couldn’t stop looking up at it :)

Tissues for Two

2010-02-06T02:41:15Z

This has been some kind of week! It started with me coming down with the flu last weekend and then Isaac getting sick earlier in the week with a cold/bronchitis. It’s been a tough week to say the least. As a first time mom, it breaks my heart to see my little one sick. I feel so helpless and just want to cuddle him back to health. I’m really hoping we all get our health back very quickly!

On a happier note, while shopping for some much needed tissues this week, I discovered these adorable tissue boxes from Kleenex. I immediately fell in love and bought every design I could find. I feel bad using them and want to keep them forever! Aren’t they adorable? These cute designs were a little ray of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy week.

Going on a Space Adventure

2010-01-21T18:18:35Z

While working on this illustration, I kept imagining Isaac’s toddler room. He is definitely going to have a space themed room.. maybe even based off the colours in this print. I also picture a dark blue ceiling with white dots as stars! …and maybe have white furniture to contrast with the dark walls? I won’t be starting on his room too soon, but I love to get the ideas going early on :)

This new illustration is available as a print in my new Etsy store. And as a side note, if anyone is interested in having a print or greeting card made from any of my past illustrations (the full collection can be viewed on my Flickr account), I’m more than happy to do a custom order. Prints are $20 and cards are $4.

I’m also getting VERY excited that my mom is flying in from Australia tomorrow night for a 6 week visit! She hasn’t seen Isaac since he was about 7 months so a lot has changed since then. I’ll have to do an Isaac update post soon :)

Sugar Art

2010-01-21T02:13:13Z

These cakes are too cute! I was just contacted by Ween from Penang, Malaysia who created these adorable decorations for her cakes. She was inspired by two of my illustrations: Prickly Passion and Be Mine! I am flattered that she was so inspired by my work and did such an amazing job reproducing the images. I had my own go at cake decorating not too long ago and it’s definitely not easy! Very cute :)

Thanks for showing me your amazing cakes Ween! To view more photos of the cakes or her other work, check out her Flickr account.

Sneak Peak at a Children’s Book

2010-01-19T00:15:54Z

For the past few months I’ve been working with Thomas Nelson Publishers to illustrate the beautifully written book entitled, ‘God’s Promises for Girls’ by Jack Countryman and Amy Parker. The book offers words of encouragement to little girls who are tackling their way through this big world.

“The promise verses in this book are selected from the best-selling International Children’s Bible^® to offer comfort and encouragement when a girl is feeling afraid, lonely, worried, angry, dissatisfied, discouraged, sad, rebellious, impatient, or sick . . . and when they need reassurance of God’s protection, love, forgiveness, help . . . and that He listens when they pray. It’s a great way for children to hide God’s Word in their hearts.” – Thomas Nelson Publishers

I really enjoyed working on this book and am very excited to see the final product. It will be released in stores on April 21, 2010 but if you’re interested, you can preorder today at Amazon. I’ve posted the cover image and an interior image, but you can also view a few more interior images in my online portfolio.

The day this project wrapped up, I was contacted to start working on a brand new book! I absolutely love this niche in children’s illustration and am excited about all the new opportunities. The new book is a sweet bedtime story that tells of the love between a mother and child. I will keep you posted on the progress :)

Hope you all have a great week ahead!

Etsy Store Now Open!

2010-01-14T01:01:50Z

Wow, this is so exciting for me! I have wanted to open an Etsy store for a couple years now and the day has finally arrived. For those of you not familiar with Etsy, it is an amazing community of artists that sell their work online.

I purchased an Epson R1900 printer over the Christmas break and have my little ’shop’ all set up in my basement. Each print and greeting card is printed on this professional printer with archival ink on high quality, archival fine art paper. These prints look stunning! Each print is hand signed and dated and will be shipped right from my studio with my own little touch!

So far there are 5 prints and 5 greeting cards available in my store of the image you see in this post, ‘A Little Princess’. The image is inspired by one of Isaac’s friends, Emi. She is an adorable little 2 year old so full of life and imagination! Next up will be an illustration for a little boy :)

CLICK HERE to visit my Etsy store!

New Year, New Goals, New Room!

2010-01-08T16:16:19Z

Happy New Year and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season :) I enjoyed having my hubby home for a couple weeks and enjoyed a bit of a break from work. Back to our regular lives now though!

One of my New Year’s goals is to start an Etsy store where I can sell art prints and greeting cards of my work. In the past, I have used ImageKind and CafePress to sell my work but I don’t get to put my own touch on the production and packaging. I am working on new illustrations to put up in the store and each print will be hand signed and dated and shipped right from my studio :) Over the break I bought a new Epson R1900 printer in order to make this all possible! I will keep you posted on the store’s progress and when artwork is available.

I posted my floorplan for our new playroom/workspace a while ago and now all my dreams have come to fruition! Although you’ll probably laugh and say it looks nothing like my original plan… isn’t that typical of any original design? lol! I was hoping to paint a mural but two things prevented that: pipes protruding from the wall and TIME. Ahhh time, if only there was more of it! Instead, I found these cute stickers from my local baby boutique that worked much better in the space. This playroom/office setup allows me to get a bit of work done while my little one ’supposedly’ plays behind me! I say ’supposedly’ because he’s still young (14 months) and likes to play with his mama. I’m hoping that this setup will serve us well down the road – and even now, I’m definitely getting more work done than I was before :)

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-22T16:05:03Z

This has been an incredible year for me personally and professionally. I have to admit that I haven’t been able to give my blog the attention it deserves but I’ve prioritized the task to post something for Christmas!

We’re having our first Christmas with none of our relatives. We’ll be having the traditional turkey dinner with a few friends over on Christmas day. I’m planning on taking a few days off of work and my hubby has some time off so we’re both looking forward to a relaxing holiday season at home.

I have lots of goals for the New Year and hope to be able to reconnect with people online. My stamp design contract with Stampavie ends early next year and I will be embarking on some new personal projects that you will hear about through this blog. I really appreciate those that have read my blog for a while now and continue to comment. Even though my posts aren’t as frequent, I love to know that there are still people out there who support my work :)

I wish you and your family a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

An Early Christmas Present

2009-11-30T00:27:28Z

…well it felt like a Christmas present anyway!

I had just finished serving Isaac his lunch when the doorbell ran. UPS was at the door delivering my very first box of products samples! I quickly signed away the package, closed the door, and squealed to Isaac. He was also very excited! I know this may sound dramatic but these are the first decor products I’ve designed and it was amazing to see my illustrations so professionally produced… and even more exciting that I could use them in my own home :)

I’ve mentioned before on my blog that I designed these products for Goodnite Moon Kids. My designs included clocks, canvas art, door hangers, and growth charts. The company offered to send a few samples my way so I requested some of my favorite pieces. Everything looks amazing but I’m most excited at how my clocks turned out. The quality is top notch and the printing/colour of my illustration is just how I wanted it. I’m planning on putting all these pieces in our almost-to-be-finished basement playroom/office.

My designs are perfect for a baby’s nursery, kid’s bedroom, or playroom. If you’re interested in purchasing any of the products I’ve recently designed, you can do so at Rosenberry Rooms.

New Stamp Character… Introducing Abigail

2009-11-24T00:27:31Z

I celebrated 2 years of blogging last Saturday and can’t believe how my career has evolved since the beginning. Starting this blog has brought forth many new work opportunities, along with many new friends :) One of these work opportunities has been designing stamps. I’ve released a fair amount of designs in the past year and am so happy with their great success. Lily and Milo have been wonderfully welcomed into the stamping world.

This brings me to introducing you to a potential new stamp character – Abigail. She is older than Lily and Milo and brings a bit of style and sophistication to the table :) I am interested to hear your thoughts of her. What do you think of having an older character? What are some things you’d like to see her doing? I’m gearing up to work on a new collection so this is your chance to get your ideas out there!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by :)