Thursday, August 9, 2012

a new place...

Oops. I lied on Tuesday when I said I would show you my studio on Wednesday. But never fear, it is now Thursday, and here's your peek inside my new home studio! Yay!


I still need to get some things on the walls besides my awesome giraffe-a-month calendar, but I had to get the important stuff put together first!

 My fantastic handmade project table is great for cutting fabric and the built in shelf organizes all my made-to-order bags.

 Made-to-order bags from the collections and bags waiting to be sewn need to find a home instead of sitting around in boxes, but they will in time.



Designated shipping station! No more trying to fit my laptop, scale, orders, envelopes, tags, and cards on the project table at the same time. Woohoo!


Also, fabric. Organized by color. Yum.



Let me know what you think! I'd also love to see photos of YOUR workspace! Hit me up on Facebook.

Loves and Hugs,
Rachel Elise

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

a new addition...

Well, first of all:


My excuse-ridden abscence this time is actually pretty good: the Boser and I moved! We're out of our slighty old, slightly sad, slightly why-do-none-of-the-kitchen-drawers-work-and-how-am-i-supposed-to-do-laundry-in-a-space-like-this two bedroom apartment and into a lovely little 3 bedroom house in the heart of Denton!

The Boser works in Frisco, Texas, which is about a 40 minute commute, and we had long talked about moving closer to his office once our lease was up. But then we realized that we don't really care for Frisco so much. And we kind of care for Denton a lot. And we could get exactly what we wanted within our budget in our town of choice anyway so.... DENTON! YAY!

The addition of a 3rd bedroom means that the Boser gets to have a "mancave" where he can play guitars and work on his fantasy football team and play ridiculous games with Cat. And IIIIII get a happy little studio all to myself! Not sharing is the best. Sometimes sharing is not caring. Especially when you're sharing workspace with someone you're married to.

My studio is pretty much put together, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the grand reveal. Until then, I'd like for you to meet the newest member of the Rachel Elise team:


This is Connie! She is an industrial sewing machine, which is a piece of equipment I have long needed, but also long feared. Industrial sewing machines operate remarkably similarly to home sewing machines, but are more powerful and able. And also more confusing because they come with instruction manuals that assume you've worked in a sweat shop for ten years and know how to use the thing. Falseness. I do not. But a venture to visit the super knowledgeable Willard of Texas Sewing now has me and Connie getting along like old chums. (Chums? I've been watching too much London Olympics...)

Connie's home sewing machine counterpart, Bernie, has been having some issues due to overuse, but she'll be around a while longer, assisting Connie when needed. Eventually Bernie will be replaced by a new home sewing machine, but my bank account needs to catch its breath for a minute.

Check back tomorrow to see what the new set up looks like! Eep!

Loves and Hugs,

Rachel Elise

Saturday, July 21, 2012

live!...

Exciting day, my dear friends!

My redesigned website, including a shopping cart for my first collection, is now live! Hooray!




*happy dance*

Loves and Hugs, 

Rachel Elise


Wednesday, July 11, 2012

exciting times...

Oh hey friends.

I've been busy working on some new bags for the shop -- hooray! And both collections are halfway sewn... and will be available soon! To curb your Rachel Elise appetite until then, have some free shipping!



Loves and Hugs, 

Rachel Elise