Can you believe that we are already on Day 8 of our Christmas Countdown at A5D? For the next 24 hours, you will find our Day 8 Category, packed full of items marked down to only $2!!

Make sure that you find time to visit our Embellishments Category today as well, since all embellishment packs are 30% off!

Happy shopping!!

December 19^th is Day 7 of our Christmas Countdown at A5D! Since Christmas is just a few days away, we have a Christmas and Winter themed sale for you! Check out our Day 7 Category, where you will find select Winter and Christmas kits at 30% off!! Make sure to visit today, as the Christmas and Winter discount lasts only 24 hours!

December 16^th is Day 4 of our Christmas Countdown at A5D! Are you a template scrapper? If so, today is your day!! All templates are 30% off today only!! And since you’ll be wanting some new scraps to use with those templates, make sure to check out our Day 4 Category, where you will find several items marked down to only $1!!

Hi sweeties,
Anetka here to bring you this weeks Gallery Standouts..

by justka777

by irishgull

by Libria

Congratulations Ladies!
I am looking forward to seeing all the beautiful layouts in the A5D gallery this coming week!
Have a nice weekend!

xo xo
anetka!

Goodmorning,

How are you today, did you all had a wonderful weekend? Mine was terrible, but I
don’t want to bother you with all of that I am here to bring you the new featured
designer and this month it’s Alice from Red Ivy Design that we put in the spotlight!
She was so kind to awnser some of the questions we asked her so you can know a
little bit more about her

Please tell us a bit about yourself:
I am a coffee addict, a chocolate addict, a mom who loves everything creative.

What is a typical day like for you:
My day starts with a cup of coffee. Always. Then my kids wake up and they take
most of my time, so I have to try hard to squeeze in designing time

How did you get into designing?
It happened a few years back, right after my first daughter was born. I came
across some really pretty scrap kits and soon after it hit me: hey, I can do that!
Of course, it took me a long time before I made the first kit that I was reasonably
happy with.

How long does it take for you to design a kit?
That depends… on my inspiration, on the time that my kids allow me to design.
It takes me 1 to 3 weeks to complete a kit.

What inspires you?
Right now I am inspired by children’s books illustrations. I am reading lots of
those with my daughters so I guess I am inevitably influenced by them. But I
also look for inspiration in mixed media and vintage/victorian illustrations.

Please show us two of your all time favorite kits (you designed!)

And some inspiration from our creative geniuses

Donna

Vero

And some more inspiration

Helen

Donna

Do you have a specific style?
I am revolving around two styles at the moment: a playful one
(such as “About a Boy”) and a hand drawn/hand doodled interpretation of a
somewhat vintage style (such as my kit “Just Thoughts”). It’s all about my
mood really…

Do you have a vision of what a kit will look like when you start it?
I always begin a kit by doodling the elements on my sketchbook and then I
draw the final version with my tablet (which I am using more and more lately
by the way). So yes, I do have a rough idea of how it will look most of the times

Who are your scrapping/designing heros?
I really love Kate Hadfield’s doodles, Deena Rutter’s fun style, Fidelette’s out
of the ordinary drawings – to name just a few. As for scrappers I just love the
girls on my team and the A5D creative geniuses!

What is your favorite NSBR thing to do?
Hmm … I enjoy cooking, hiking during the summer, spending quality time
with my kids

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a ballerina. For many years I took ballet classes and I loved
every minute of it. I even like to think that I was good at it. It was my dream
to take it to a professional level, however my folks were against it as it
interfered with my studies, so eventually I stopped.

And no After 5 interview would be complete without this question…What is
your favorite after hours drink?
I love pina colada and smoothies with a touch of ginger.

I hope you all enjoy reading this little interview and get to know Alice a bit more!
But wait…she’s got a little suprise for you all Don’t you just like suprises?
I know I do

Alice was kind enough to offer you a little deal, she made a coupon for
you all to enjoy…go to her shop here

Use this coupon: ridfeatA5D
You can use it for all of her gorgeous goodies except for shot and bundles!!

Happy shopping and enjoy your week!!
Cheers,
Natascha

Hello There,

I hope your all enjoying the beginning of autumn .Im Wendy and i, so excited to show you our featured designer and her Beautiful designs. We also prepared a little interview with our sweet Peggy.

- Please tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Peggy,I’m 35 years old I’m French and I live on the north of France near Belgium.

- What is a typical day like for you
I wake up early everyday to do my cleaning,cooking job and I go to my Grand Parents house to do the same thing for them and maybe some shopping.
After that I’m back to my appartment to eat a little something and start to work.
I receive often visits from my friends or I love to go outside.
So the moment where I can design the most is at night when I’m all alone,I’m usually sitting on my computer until 0:00 – 1:00 morning
An ordinary day

- How did you get into designing?
I discovered digiscrap 4 years ago by searching for a traditional scrapbooking site.
I was really seduced by digi because we have so many possibilities with it.
I’ve started to make freebies on my blog and learned to use photoshop.
My dream was to sell my kits and it came true in 2008 and now I’m in the most wonderful shop on earth

- How long does it take for you to design a kit?
I’m a very slow designer I want everything perfect in my kits so it is hard for me to answer this question.
For example my last birthday kit took me 3 weeks to be complete but my wedding kit took me 1 month and a half.

- What inspires you?
Everything inspires me.Nature,movies,peoples,music ect… the list is too long I think.

- Please show us two of your all time favorite kits (you designed!)
I really love “An Eternal Story” and “From This Moment” but I always love the last product I’ve designed for the moment it is “Born to Party” but I will also love the new kit coming soon.

- Do you have a specific style?
I would describe my style as eclectic because I love so many different style and I’d like to please every type of scrapbooker.
From those who prefer a simple approach to traditional and fantasy.
I love natural,elegant or dreamy style but I love to draw too.

- Do you have a vision of what a kit will look like
when you start it?
I try to have a concept but sometimes I make something completely different.
I am addicted to elements in my kits lol so a kit could turn really to opposite than what I have imagined.

- Who are your scrapping/designing heros?
My designing hero is Lorie Davison her kits are like treasures.
My scrapping heroes are from my creative team they are so talented !!
But I also have some when I look into the galleries like mummyd ,vrtule,SusieU.K but there are so much more that I admire .

- What did you want to be when you grew up?
Oh it is a really difficult question because I wanted to do so much things
Maybe that’s why I’ve changed my jobs so often lol

- What is your favorite NSBR thing to do ?
I love reading,cooking,watching movies,playing wii with friends ,made a lot of shopping too
The thing I enjoy the most is spending time with my family.

- And no After 5 interview would be complete without
this question…What is your favorite after hours drink?
I really love Blue Lagoon cocktail and Champagne

Here are the kits in Peggy her Shop that she mentioned in her interview

Here are a few pages made by the After Five Team

page by Mummyd

page by SeatleSheri

page by Natascha

page by Veró

and the bit you have been waiting for

Peggy has kindly donated a coupon for 35% off (for kits only) valid until september 30

A5Blog35Off

Hi there,

How have you been, are all the kiddos back to school?

Natascha here to bring you this weeks GSO pages and let me tell
ya’ll…it was a really hard decission to pick out just 5 outstanding
pages since there are so many beautiful pages in our gallery!!

But I managed to get it down to just 5 amazing and gorgeous ones!

By Tammybean

By Mummyd

By Coincon

By Serena

By DolceVita

Congratulations ladies!!

We are looking forward to see all the beautiful layouts in the A5D gallery the next few weeks. Don’t forget to leave these lady’s some love. We all love the inspiration, YOUR inspiration !!! And you never know…you might be next !

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Hugs,
Natascha

Goodmorning,

I am here to bring you the featured designer of this week and it’s
our very own Danielle aka Wish Bliss Studio!! Her designs are always
fun and gorgeous and they really put a smile on my face, she is an
excelent artist when it comes to draw her cute little things! Take a
dive into her shop here and you know exacly know what I mean!

It was hard to choose just two products form her store since it’s
loaded with amazing stuff, but I managed to pick them out!
The first one is called “Everyday Good Stuff” and it’s jampacked
with such fun and gorgeous hand drawn elements, ohh and you
can pick up the papers here!

And here are two pages created by our creative lady’s just
to see what you can create with this

By Nachtamazone

By Akizo

The second gorgeous thing I chose is called “The cleaning fairy”
Well I really don’t like cleaning the house at all, but when my eyes
saw this beauty I just had to show it to you all!

Here are two gorgeous and amazing pages that I spotted in
our gallery

By Stampin Rachel

By KimberlyRae

I hope you all had fun just at looking at these gorgeous designs
and pages and I wish you all a happy day!!

Cheers,
Natascha

Howdy all,

How are you all doing? I’m doing fine! LOL  Oke I’m here
to bring you the final week of the designers spotlight and as you all can
remember ( I think you do since I saw some comments, thank you for
that) HGD by Laurie Ann is in the spotlight this month!! I also told
you that I was planning on something else for this week and and and….!!
I aksed Laurie Ann a couple of questions and she was so kind to send me
all the info I needed, she even picked out the kit that’s in the spotlight
today, thank you so much for participating in this La!! <3  Forgot one thing,
Laurie Ann also has a great gift for all of you!!!!! Look and…if you use it, please
say a big and warm thank you to Laurie Ann please?!!

COUPON: SPOTlight
AMOUNT: 25% off my entire shop!
EXPIRATION: May 4th

So just sit back and enjoy the interview

Tell us a bit about yourself
Let’s see… my faith and my family is what matters most to me.  I love all
four seasons, though summer is my favorite. I’m pretty  much a simple,
girly girl who loves jeans, tee-shirts and pretty shoes. My biggest guilty
pleasure is my French manicure acrylic nails! I enjoy Christian, rock and
country music. For TV, I’m pretty particular… I like fact based shows and
movies, especially detective type shows, although I’m always up for
watching a romantic comedy with my daughter. J When I’m not designing
I enjoy reading, cooking, gardening, sewing and creating mini albums. 

What is a typical day like for you?
I’m up around 8 a.m., let my little dog out, turn on my Krueger coffee maker
and hop in the shower. Let the dog in, make a cup of coffee and check my
emails. Then I start my house work… there is ALWAYS something to wash,
clean, fold, put away or vacuum. Around 10 a.m. I’ll eat something, do
outside errands or start designing.  At lunch time I watch the news while
I eat and back to work until my man comes home.

How did you get into designing?
While I was a CT over at KB and Friends, Kathryn Balint had asked if
I would be interested in learning how to design. The rest is history.

How long does it take you to design a kit?
Usually it takes me about four or five days to complete a kit,
although there have been times when it would take me another four or
five days just to make the preview! It’s not easy to have every element
in an eye-pleasing AND viewable way on a preview.

What inspires you?
Everything inspires me. Whenever I get product ideas, I add or sketch
them into my Moleskin notebooks; they really keep me and my thoughts
organized. I’m a list girl and I really do check things off too!

Do you have a specific style?
No I don’t have a particular style… mostly, I create what I love. I also
create kit themes that are specific for scrapbooking mom’s to help record
their families everyday life.

Do you have a vision of what a kit will look like when you start it?
Yes, most of the time I do have a vision of how I imagined a kit will look.
There are times when I have been completely surprised while on a kit
creating journey! When this happens I just go with it.

Who are your scrapping /designing hero’s?
Both my Creative Team and the A5D Creative Team’s are my scrapping hero’s!
I’m always amazed how each layout, using the same kit, is as unique as a
finger print. My designing hero’s are Lorie Davison and Dawn Inskip.  Not
only is their work BEAUTIFUL, they each have a whimsical paint style, that
is all their own and I just adore their painted peeps!

What would be your dream vacation?
My dream vacation would be going to Hawaii with my entire extended family…
I’ve always wanted to see the amazing aqua blue and turquoise water, the
majestic waves of the Pacific and sink my toes into the powdery, soft sand.
Of course tasting the native cuisine would be part of my dream too!

And no After 5 interview would be complete without this question…. What is
your favorite after hours drink?
Right now, it’s called a Creamsicle… it’s Whipped Cream Vodka and Minute Maid
Light Tangerine Orange Juice. Two to one, so one part vodka and two parts juice
and I like it on the rocks! Yum yum.

And did you enjoyed reading it as much as I did?!! Now on to the kit Laurie Ann
chose for this spotlight. She chose her favorite traditional style kit ”I pick you“.
You can check out her store here and her gorgeous gallery here.

Don’t ya just love those little creatures?!!

Here are some gorgeous pages made with this kit
By Mary

By Carly

By Nevache

I know…and I am very sorry, but I do hope you went all the way reading
about Laurie Ann and looked at her gorgeous kit and the pages that were
made!! Thank you all so much for bearing here with me and I wish you all
a wonderful week!!

Hugs Natascha

Hi Everyone!   It’s Patti here with a cool little craft idea I thought you might enjoy to do with your kids.  I know that Easter has just passed but I came across these yesterday and thought, what a fun activity and way to decorate your yard to celebrate any festive occasion.

Yarn Eggs:

Aren’t they just the cutest?

Instructions:

1. For each egg, cut twenty 3-foot-long strands of cotton yarn and blow up a balloon to a 6- to 8-inch diameter. Mix equal parts of glue and water in a shallow disposable container.

2. Cover your work area with newspaper and a sheet of waxed paper. Hold a strand of yarn by one end, dip it into the glue mixture, then wrap it around the balloon. Repeat with the other strands, randomly overlapping them and tucking in loose ends, until the balloon is evenly covered.

3. Using the clothespin, suspend the balloon from the clothes hanger and let it dry overnight. (Cover the area below it with newspaper to catch drips.) Once the egg is completely dry, carefully poke a hole in the balloon, then pull it away from the string as it deflates. Hang your finished egg with ribbon or yarn.

Have fun!!  I know I can’t wait to try this!! 

Cheers!!

(** all info and graphics from:  Disney Family Fun)