Ashley Potts +

Ashley Potts

Austin, Tx

A little more about Ashley . . .

What kind of creative projects are your favorite?

I love all sorts DIY…as long as it’s colorful and makes me smile. I lean towards home improvement at the moment as we remodel our 1975 generic home into a fun, colorful space!

When is your most productive time for creating?

It seems to hit me at the inappropriate times..I rearrange rooms before work and always start painting projects at night when the kid goes to bed!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.

What is your favorite storage tip for your creative supplies?
I love old cracker, sugar and flour containers – the metal kind from my grandmothers. They are colorful AND have special memories associated, so it’s a double whammy!

Tell me more about your home dec projects. How often do you move your furniture, art and accessories around in your home?

I move furniture, artwork and accessories around every week! Why not, if it doesn’t work..I move it again. It’s a never ending process ’round here.

When you are in your creative mood, do you listen to music, watch tv or do you prefer a quiet spot? If it is music, what types do you listen to? If watching tv, what kinds of shows?

I always have TV on in the background..the usuals are HGTV and the cooking channel. I judge the people remodeling and wonder what I would do in their shoes and when listening to the cooking shows I wonder what it would be like to actually cook!!

Handy Heart Potholder

This fun project is the Handy Heart Potholder. It was really easy to make with the pattern instructions. The rick-rack and little button are cute additions.

DIY Valentine Gifts for Dogs

Include your pets on Valentine's Day with DIY toys, scarves and tutus. Super easy projects using felt, fleece, repurposed tee shirts and more!

DIY Sweatshirt Makeover: Quick, Easy and Cozy Ideas

Here's a quick and easy sweatshirt update with style! Adjust the shoulders for fit, shorten the sleeves and add texture with a sleeve-leftover appliqué.

How to Stencil a Shirt

What American Girl doesn't like making new matching outfits? We all do! All you need is T-shirts, a stencil and ink pads, and some cardboard. Make skirts, too!

Embroidered Kitchen Towels

I used a few different stitches on these hand embroidered kitchen towels. The iron on designs are from a local creative reuse store. Fun gift to make!

Overcast Stitch by Hand

The overcast stitch for hand embroidery is a laid stitch made upright over another thread and resembles a fine cord. It is used for outlines or delicate stems.

Flat Stitch Embroidery

The flat hand embroidery stitch fills areas that are too big for satin stitch. You can achieve fast coverage of a space that needs a solid look.

Satin Stitch Embroidery

The satin stitch is made from long straight stitches placed close together to resemble satin. Take care to keep your stitches close together for this easy fill.

Long and Short Stitch

The long and short stitch fills large areas with hand stitches. It is a satin type stitch and is used to blend colors with different threads. Adds texture.

Blanket Stitch Embroidery

Blanket stitch is typically used to edge blankets and other edges like table cloths, runners, even wool jackets by hand. Place stitches close or staggered.

Beaded Gemstone Capture Jewelry

Rhodochrosite Beaded Necklace is an original design stitched using off-loom beadweaving techniques. Rhodochrosite. Peyote stitch. 20" chain. Sterling clasp.

Buttonhole Stitch

The buttonhole stitch is perfect for applique, crazy quilting and borders. This hand embroidery stitches is formed by stitching through thread loops.

Closed Buttonhole Stitch Hand Embroidery Tutorial

The closed buttonhole stitch is a variation on the buttonhole stitch and is used for borders and as an edge stitch. It can be used as an applique stitch, too.

Creative Gift Wrap Ideas

Make use of non-traditional wrapping materials or use what you already have in your closet in a whole new way to package a gift creatively.

Closed Feather Stitch

The Closed Feather stitch is a lovely outline stitch for both curves and straight lines. Often used in crazy quilting and applique, this easy stitch is fast.

Embroidery: Open Cretan Stitch

The open cretan embroidery stitch is used for borders, edges and applique. Its feathery look is light and perfect for adding surface texture to your project.

Fern Stitch Embroidery

The fern stitch is great for vegetation fill on your hand embroidery project. Vary the threads and size of the stitches to convey different sizes of plants.

Pekinese Stitch

The Pekinese stitch makes a great outline where you want more texture with its loops. Perfect hand embroidery stitch for linear surface design.