Jacque Larsen     Product Highlight: Doodled Papers Is it easier to design for boys or girls?   I am inspired by EVERYTHING around me. Especially children, both boy and girl. Most of my creations are very character-ish looking. I get lots of ideas from coloring books, kids clothing, and the OLD style of paper scrapbooking. From WAY back in the day. I was a paper scrapper for over 11 years before I was introduced to digi. And as a paper scrapper I was always cutting out my own paper pieces to use on my pages. Although it is easy for me to design products geared for both boys and girls, I do find it very difficult to create products for adult and 'teenage' pages. What's your favorite theme to design? ummmmmmm see above? LOL How often do you actually scrap for yourself? If I lived in the perfect world. I'd scrap EVERY SINGLE DAY. Scrapbooking is on my mind 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's always been my number one hobby. However, as a mother of 4 active children, being involved in my church and community, (and once I started designing) creating even one page a day is impossible. I try to scrap a few pages (2-3) each week, but find myself going longer and longer before I find a few minutes to myself. and fighting.	Lauren Grier   Product Highlight: What I Like About You       Where do you get the inspiration for the names of your products? Here there and everywhere :] Sometimes it's random, sometimes a bit of a song stuck in my head.. and sometimes the entire kit is about something i want to say to someone.. and then it ends up with a really weird name to boot :p Is there a certain time of day that you feel the most inspired to design? No, not really. Kidlet and I are both major night owls- so there's no ideal time. Just whenever and wherever. :] Is there any one item or element that you don't like adding to your kits? Ex. stitches, ribbons, strings, clipping masks, etc. If I don't like making it, it's probably not in any of my kits ^_^
Nicole Seitler     Product Highlight: Le Petit Oiseau If you have lost your designing mojo, what do you do to gain inspiration? I go to sites like Colourlovers.com and browse through what people have recently made and my favorites folder. Colors always seem to inspire me more than anything else. I also like to look at home decorating sites on the web. Describe your designing/creating environment... what do you snack on? Music – what do you listen to? Dedicated space vs in front of the tv? I usually have my most productive design time after all my kiddies have gone to bed. I usually have to have a bit of chocolate on hand. But I like things nice and quiet. If I'm in the mood to listen to music, it's usually a little Relient K. If you could collab with any designer out there... who would you like to create a kit with? Hmm... good question. I'm a big fan of lots of girls at the Sweet Shoppe. I think I'd have to say Fee Jardine.... and Zoe Pearn... and Kristin Cronin-Barrow. I could probably keep going! LOL! and fighting.	Kari Hentzelt   Product Highlight: Autumn Art What do you do to keep your kits different from other designers to draw customers? To draw customers, I first focus on color... it plays probably the biggest role in how I design. I don't necessarily always center around trends, since I like my designs to stay classic. In twenty years, I want my layouts to still be beautiful and enjoyable. I design things I would like to scrap with. If I wouldn't use it on my own layouts, it doesn't make it into the kits! Is there a certain element that you seem to use over and over again in your kits? If so, what is it?   There's not a specific element I use over and over again... but I *do* love to include lots of flowers... since they're fun to scrap with (yes, even as the mom of two boys!) and they can be used to add balance to a layout. I love earthy, organic looking things.   Do you find that themed kits sell better than generic kits? For my own personal scrapping, I know I tend not to buy themed kits... so I usually tend to lean towards more generic type kits and play around with color the most. Every now and then I'll do a seasonal type kit, but that's usually as "themey" as I go! My best selling kits are the generic theme with a neutral base.