Meet Kristin Aagard, the creator of this month’s DST Gold Member Kit: Sugar Rush
Kristin Aagard
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Tell us about your family.
My husband, Alan, and I have 3 cute little kiddies: Ashley (7), Sophie (5), and David (20 months). We also have a very sweet sheltie named Toby who is my constant companion. We live in the Salt Lake Valley. I work full time as a digital scrapbooking designer and I am super lucky to be able to combine that job with my other full time job as a mom to three.
How long have you been designing?
I started designing in spring of 2008.
What program(s) do you use?
I mainly rely on Photoshop (I just upgraded to CS6) and Illustrator. I occasionally use Art Rage as well.
What part of designing comes easiest to you (themes, colors, papers, elements)?
The elements are the easiest part of designing for me. I love drawing digitally and I usually have to chop my original element list down quite a bit or I’d spend weeks creating just the themed elements for my kits. I am also really drawn to bright colors and I love choosing fun rainbow toned swatches.
What inspires you?
I’m always inspired by the holidays and the seasons. My children and the photos that I take of them are probably my biggest inspiration for themes. I frequently create based on theme suggestions from others as well. I love to ask for element suggestions on my Facebook page. I get some of the best ideas from other scrappers.
If you’re running low on design mojo, where do you go to kickstart your creativity?
I wish that I had a really great answer to this. Sometimes Pinterest helps. Asking for help from friends and other scrappers sometimes kicks me into gear. I also storyboard all of my kits before I start working on them and that helps a lot too.
How much time do you allocate to designing in a typical week?
I design between 30-40 hours per week. Sometimes more. I also spend 10-15 hours per week doing the busy non-creative work. Unless I fall prey to Pinterest or Facebook and then I tend to get very little accomplished. 
What is your biggest tip for balancing design time with your personal scrapping time?
I actually don’t really try to balance my time between scrapping and designing. I just scrap when I’m feeling motivated and energized to do it. I tend to have weeks where I scrap all of my photos for the last few months all at once, and then I might not scrap again for a couple of months. I really enjoy designing and scrapping equally. So as long as I’m doing one or the other, I’m a happy girl!
What is the latest you’ve ever stayed up to finish a design or scrap?
There have been times when I’ve been working on a deadline that I didn’t make it to bed at all. But I am an early riser and I work better in the morning. So I don’t often work much later than about 9 pm.
What’s your favorite snack to have handy while you design?
I don’t usually snack while I’m working. I tend to need both of my hands to get things done. But I will admit to keeping an occasional bag of Skittles on my desk.
What book are you reading right now?
I’m reading How to Eat Fried Worms with my daughters. They love it. I had forgotten how fun it is.
Slippers or barefoot?
Flip flops in the summer and lambskin lined slippers in the winter. I don’t like to walk around barefoot.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you make your home?
Right where I am. I love Utah, especially the mountains. My parents and all of my siblings live very close by, and we are a super tight knit family. I can’t imagine being happy living anywhere else.
Which would you pick…more money or more time?
Definitely more time. My kids are growing up so quickly! I’d love to have an extra day in the week to spend just with my family!
Kristin’s Product Picks
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