Smarty Mom: Ashley Brietz

I’m thrilled to introduce you to this week’s Smarty Mom, Ashley Brietz. Ashley is a mom-of-two who just last year happened into a door decor business, Whimsical Welcome Door Decor. Her handmade wooden door decorations are sprucing up people’s front doors all over town – including mine!

Her business is exploding, and it’s easy to see why. Her designs are original, the colors are fabulous, and they are just a FUN addition to your house. My kids love to swap out signs depending on the holiday and season (my fave is the “Back to School” yellow school bus!). In fact, they’re so cute and original that the Domino’s pizza delivery lady recently commented to me that I have the cutest door decorations (Yay for Ashley! Boo for me that Domino’s actually knows my house – oops!).

Ashley is a hardworking, creative, and super-talented mom and wife….just see for yourself! Smarties, meet Ashley Brietz!

Smarty Mom Ashley Brietz:

Married to: Jay Brietz – this year will be our 13th anniversary
Children: Jake, 9 and Emily, 7
Years in Charlotte: Native Charlottean
‘Hood: Dilworth
Alma Mater: South Meck/NC State

What got you into the business of door decor? A friend had a business doing signs for birth announcements and I was out walking one day last spring and she showed me an Easter Egg she was making for her kids preschool. I thought “I can do that.” I made one for me and a friend, posted a pic on Facebook and it exploded into a business. I couldn’t keep up with the orders. Everyone wanted an egg. I made about 75 in a few weeks. From there everyone wanted to know what I was going to do next so I just kept coming up with more designs for holidays and events.

What inspires your designs? Anything really. I love to just look at ribbons, fabrics, paint colors, designs on wrapping paper and greeting cards. I am always snapping pic of things with my phone and them incorporating things into designs.

How long does it take from start to finish? Hard to say. I make them in batches. I cut, sand, and prime a bunch. I start painting one and while part dries work on another etc. Now that I’ve been doing it a while I have a system worked out  and can do it more quickly.

What is the hardest part of running a home-based business? What’s the best part? Having all the things at my fingertips right at my house and being able to work in between chores, appointments, doing things with the kids etc. It can also be the worst because the work is always here in front of me and sometimes I cannot stop. I tend to work LATE into the night a lot.

Now for the fun stuff…

Favorite place to take the family for a weekend away from Charlotte? We go to my parents mtn house in Blowing Rock. Fun place to get away and spend time with family.

Fave date-night spot? We love Italian places. Mama Ricotta’s is a fave, but we also really like Toscana at Specialty Shops at SouthPark. It really reminds us of the food we ate while traveling in Italy….great memories.

Favorite web sites (besides Pinterest) to get your creative juices flowing? I like Etsy and get lots of ideas from there.

Family’s favorite homemade dinner? My kids are such picky eaters…and my husband  is pretty picky too. Probably hamburgers on the grill.

Finish this sentence: “In ten years I hope to be…” Mom to two happy, healthy teenagers…AGH!….who are doing well in college and high school.

Thank you, Ashley, for sharing your family with us this this week! Love your Whimsical Welcome Door Decor!!

And don’t forget we have two awesome giveaways for you! Check ’em out!

Win a week of FREE traditional camp from our Smarty friends at Camp Harrison!

YMCA Camp Harrison at Herring Ridge is located on a spectacular tract of land in the Brushy Mountains of North Carolina located between Lenoir and North Wilkesboro just 90 minutes from Charlotte, N.C. There are more than 2,000 acres of woods, streams, and trails centered around private, 140-acre Lake Broyhill.

Smarty Camp Giveaway!! Camp Harrison is giving away one FREE week of traditional camp – an $850 value! Click on our Smarty Camp Guide link, scroll down to the bottom to the YMCA Camp Harrison listing and leave a comment on that blog. We’ll announce our winner in our Smarty Newsletter on Thursday, 3/14. Good luck!

AND

Harlem Globetrotters Giveaway! You could win FOUR (4) tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters March 23, 2013 at Time Warner Cable Arena at 1 pm.

Click on our Harlem Globetrotters link, scroll to the bottom and follow the directions for entering – it’s easy peazy!

That’s it! The winner of the Harlem Globetrotters tickets will be officially announced on Tuesday, March 19, so make sure to check your Inbox then. Good luck, Smarties!