About the Writer
Welcome Aboard!
Hi, I’m Rachel Blake, and I’ve probably been in love with art and craft forever, or at least as long as I can remember. Growing up in a tiny apartment in Portland, Oregon, with just my parents, I somehow ended up spending more time with crayons, paints, and old magazines than with anyone else. I’d grab scraps of fabric, plastic wraps, anything lying around, and make a little mess of things. In that house, I carved out a little corner for my creativity, and it was magic. The smell of paint, the sticky glue on my fingers, is all I can remember from childhood.
As a kid, I would spend hours painting, crafting, and making little sculptures and collages out of scraps. My parents didn’t really get it, but I didn’t care. The joy when something actually worked was way more than the frustrations when things didn’t. As I grew older, life got much busier with school, college, and then work. Everything else started getting more priority than my little corner. Still, I kept crawling back to that safe space. Art became my therapy, my way of looking at the beautiful world. Over time, I realized how powerful art was, not just for me, but for anyone willing to try. So, I started teaching friends, hosting workshops, and the happiness I saw on their faces reminded me how contagious creativity can be.
Along the way, I learned to love my mistakes. I even gave them a name, happy accidents, because why not? I got inspired by artists, friends, strangers, literally anyone doing something creative. I realized creativity isn’t about being perfect. It’s about curiosity, trying stuff, failing, laughing, and finding those little sparks of joy. Now, as a professional craft designer and art instructor in Austin, Texas, this space has become my colorful corner of the internet. It’s where I share everything, from simple DIY projects and messy experiments to stories, inspiration, and those little reminders that creativity doesn’t need rules.