Hello all! This is a different kind of post for me today, and I have to be honest, it's a scary feeling. I've decided to begin a new adventure for myself without much idea of where it will take me or what will become of it. I'd love to be able to share this experience with all of you as I continue, so I've decided to integrate all of my love for crafting, creating, and making into this blog. Most of you probably know me from card making, and that is a passion of mine that I will continue to share with you as well. This new adventure will have me working on a much larger scale, with different tools and creative outlets. With much support from my fiancé, which I couldn't do much without, I've decided to enroll in an Interior Design program. It's an online course that will end in a certification and the opportunity to take the NCIDQ certification exam.

I hope that you'll enjoy coming along this ride with me! For more information about any of the pieces that you see here, you can always check out my instagram @ashlea_crafts

One thing I have really been enjoying lately is visiting our local salvage yard and antique sellers in my town. There are so many stores and yards to walk through, and you couldn't possibly see everything no matter how many times you've been. It's constantly changing as artists create decor pieces from scrap materials or other pieces of unwanted furniture from estate sales and such. I'll share a full walkthrough one of these days, but for now I'll just share this fun vintage Coca-Cola truck from the 1970's. It's pretty beat up and was obviously a well loved toy before it's new life on my kitchen shelving, but I love it. It was a steal at $8, and I just couldn't walk away from it knowing that it must have a great story that I will probably never know.

I also filled these shelves with useful items that I actually do use. I'm not sure if that's a great idea or not, but open shelving it still new to me so I'll keep you updated on that. This bundt pan is hanging on the wall just above the shelf so that it still looks like it's part of the unit, but won't roll around on the shelves. To hang it, I used a bronze brad that I already had and simply slid it on, this makes it easy to take off if I need it and place back on when I'm done.

These monogrammed mugs stand for, as you can probably guess, Ashlea and Rich. I thought the Rae Dunn "HOME" mug fit well with the theme, so I added it for a cozy feel. And I gotta say, I love when a cookbook can double as decor in a kitchen. The Magnolia Table cookbook is just as beautiful as it is useful. Lots of great kid-friendly recipes in there!

Thank you, again, for joining me on this new adventure! I'll be switching up my site soon to represent each aspect of my life, so be on the lookout for that. See you soon!

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Hello everyone! It's time for a new release from The Stamp Market and, as usual, it's fabulous. During our hop today we'll introduce you to the new stamps, dies, and washi (!!!) and provide some inspiration for ways you can use the products. Let's get started!

I'm showcasing the Oh So Lovely stamp and die bundle. This set has a little bit for everyone with pretty floral stamps and a fun whimsical hand that you can piece together to present the bouquet to your recipient.

The size of the bouquet in the Oh So Lovely set takes up the better part of an A2 size card. It makes creating a design for your card easy, since picking a color palette for your florals is the biggest job for the card. For my card here I chose Bubble Gum, Fresh Pink, Sea Breeze, Melon Orange, and Leafy Green for the stems.

To add a little something to the card, I used the largest stitched rectangle from the Stitched Shaker Window Dies. I love that the flowers in the bouquet seem to grow out of the frame while the hand comes from behind the frame. Finally, I added the sentiment "A Gift from me to you" to the lower left hand side of the card and embellished it all with some enamel dots from The Stamp Market.

Thank you for stopping by my stop on the January release hop! Your next stop is the incredibly talented Ivana.

You can find the full hop list just below the product links. See you again soon!

SUPPLY LIST:

Stitched Shaker Window Dies: https://thestampmarket.com/product/shaker-frame-dies/ref/44/

Oh So Lovely Stamp & Cut Bundle: https://thestampmarket.com/product/oh-so-lovely-stamp-cut-bundle/ref/44/

FIND THE FULL NEW RELEASE HERE: https://thestampmarket.com/product-category/new/ref/44/

The Stamp Market Inks: https://thestampmarket.com/product-category/color-crush/ref/44/

Caly - https://calyperson.com/

Carly - http://carlyteeminer.com/

Rebecca - https://thurstonpost.blogspot.com/

Ashlea (you are here) - https://www.ashleacrafts.com/

Ivana - http://www.ivanacreates.com/

The Stamp Market - thestampmarket.com

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Hi, friends! Thank you so much for stopping by my stop on the Pinkfresh Essentials 3 blog hop. We've got tons of inspiration for you today so let's just dive right in, shall we?

My first example today features the brand new Radiating Background 2 cover plate die. It's such a wonderful understated design that is great for so many things, but I used it as the star (or sun) on this scenery card. Whats more? I made it a shaker card! --Shock and awe.

Pinkfresh Studio is giving away $25 on this blog post and each post along the hop today. Be sure to leave a comment for your chance to win! Winners will be chosen and posted on the GIVEAWAY PAGE on December 16th. Winners must check the page and claim their prize within 2 weeks of that date.

This card came together effortlessly as soon as I saw the die. It immediately read as a sun to me, and with the center cut out I knew creating a shaker portion would be simple. I used the new Pinkfresh inks in Sunshine, Sweet Mustard, and Marigold to ink blend onto a piece of A2 sized card stock radiating outward. Once my ink blending was complete I used the cover plate die to cut from the same piece of card stock making this beautiful shining sun. I used the mountain stamps and dies from the Falling For You stamp set along with some of the trees and tent images to create the scene.

Another favorite of mine from the newest Essentials release is this Diagonal Stripes with Window cover plate die. This one would also make a simple shaker element, however I went for a more understated look to show how versatile a product like this really is. I used a piece of grayish-blue card stock to cut the cover plate out of and adhered it to a white piece of A2 size card stock. The window that it cuts from the center is the perfect frame for something like this beautiful bouquet from the Floral Vase stamp set.

I love that the die, when cut from a neutral shade of card stock, accentuates the floral image rather than taking away from it.

Finally for today, I'm showing the Ornate Banner Die from the new Essentials release. Again, I left it very neutral with a white on white design that helps accentuate the main image, which is the cake image from the Make A Wish stamp set. I love the shape of the Ornate Banner Die and that it gives a lot more interest to my card front than just a traditional rectangular shape. This die would also be brilliant for other paper crafts like scrapbooking, memory keeping, and home decor. The die also features a smaller banner, both with inner dies to cut just the outline shape, or the entire piece like I did on my card above.

I hope you've gotten a little inspiration from me today using the newest Pinkfresh Essentials release. Please be sure to leave a comment for your chance to win a $25 gift card to the shop. Your next stop is the incredibly talented Channin Pelletier. You can find the entire hop list at the link just below the supply list. Thanks again for stopping by, I'll see you again soon!

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Hello again! Today is release day over at The Stamp Market and I can't wait to share all of the goodies included this month. First, let's focus on all of the fun shaker-maker friendly products. Here, I used the Hooray die set, the Shaker Tag die, and the Heart Confetti die sets to create this fun, large party tag that is large enough to be used as a card itself.

The Something Extra Alphabet Stamp, liner and die set are perfect for creating your own sentiments like this colorful "Keep On Growing" sentiment. I used the color crush series card stock to bring in lots of vibrancy to this clean and simple card. The "something extra" in the "R" brings interest to the design.

This Heart and Hugs die set is an automatic favorite of mine. The sketched heart adds such a handmade look while keeping a simple design. I cut the hugs die out of white card stock and paired it with the same die, cut out of gold glitter card stock. I love the way the gold contrasts against the Party Pink card stock.

So many of us love the Paper Hugs dies and stamps and The Stamp Market has released a new, similar design with the Love You stamp and coordinating die. I used a pad to paper technique with the Cherry Kisses, Party Pink, and Melon ink colors, and die cut the Love You letters from the card stock. The vibrancy of the inks and the size of the die creates the card itself, making it easier than ever to create this gorgeous clean and simple card.

I hope that you've enjoyed seeing a few sneaks at the newest release from The Stamp Market. Please continue hopping along with us for more inspiration with this new release. I'd love to know which is your favorite! You can find all the links to the products below. Thank you for stopping by! I'll see you again very soon!

Supplies Used:

ENTIRE DECEMBER RELEASE: https://thestampmarket.com/product-category/new/ref/44

Something Extra Alpha Dies: https://thestampmarket.com/product/something-extra-alpha-dies/ref/44

Something Extra Alpha Stamp Set: https://thestampmarket.com/product/something-extra-inline-alphabet/ref/44

Hooray Stamp & Die Set: https://thestampmarket.com/product/hooray-stamp-cut-bundle/ref/44

Shaker Tag Die: https://thestampmarket.com/product/shaker-tag-die/ref/44