The Story Behind Artisan by the Sea

Hi, I’m Ashley.
I’m a designer, maker, and the creative behind Artisan by the Sea.
 
My creative story started in design school, where I studied graphic design—and where I met my husband.
 
What began there grew into a career in graphic design and art direction, but I’ve never really stayed in just one creative lane. Over the years, I’ve designed everything from restaurant menus and resort signage to billboards and photoshoots, photographed weddings, worked with resin and clay, illustrated, built creative businesses of my own, and most recently, started learning how to sew.
 
Through all of it, I’ve realized that the medium has never mattered as much as the process.
 
I just really love taking an idea and figuring out how to make it real.
 
These days, life looks a little different. My design-school guy is now my husband, we have a little girl and another baby due any day, and much of my creativity happens somewhere between family life, sewing projects, new ideas, and probably too many things I want to make at once.
 
That’s what Artisan by the Sea is about.
 
It’s a place where my creative background and the things I’m making and learning now can finally live together—from sewing and DIY to design stories, printables, handmade projects, and things I genuinely love.
 
I’m still learning, still experimenting, and I’m pretty sure I always will be.
 
The medium keeps changing. The part of me that wants to make something out of an idea really hasn’t.

Want to know how I got here?
 
From designing resort signage on Sanibel Island and photographing weddings to building an Etsy shop, directing photoshoots, and eventually finding my way to a sewing machine—there’s a lot more to the story.